This tastefully decorated farmstead is something I have been trying to shoot for 3 years now and this year we finally got snow for a few days to add some appeal. I have two images from two different days here and I will elaborate why. I spoke to the owner the night it snowed and she was very welcoming in letting me roam around. I had surveyed the options and made note that the icy pond was frozen and non reflective and the owner told me it was so beautiful a week ago without the ice.

Well I made the best of my first visit and got a couple snow shots but the weather forecast the next day was to turn warmer, include heavy rain and strong winds so I knew I was coming back in the hope the rain would bring back some reflection. This evening tested my resolve as it was pouring the entire time, yet I was holding the umbrella at almost a 45 degree angle because the rain was blowing sideways. As my escapade progressed I was walking around the pond with my tripod and camera over my shoulder when I started walking by a pine tree that put me on the ground thanks to a wire support I never saw!  Camera never hit the ground but it was close. So it gets dark now and I head to my truck to pack up, I see another shot reflecting in the driveway and off I go to set up. By now the wind was really starting to blow so I decided to set my heavy tripod as low as possible with the legs spread almost straight out.

So I mount the camera, simply lean an umbrella against the tripod with nothing locking it fast. I take my tablet and walk 40 feet to use it to fire the camera while I light the house!  So it goes like this, hit the button, flash fires,image loads to tablet and you see what you just took, all while far from the camera. At about 10 frames in I look at the tablet and instead of seeing the farmhouse image, I see nothing but a set of squiggly lines?  After my initial bewilderment, I looked over at my camera and see my tripod and camera had completely blown upside down thanks to the umbrella! Never in a million years did I imagine that was possible but the good news is,when it flipped it landed on the strong bracket my camera is attached too and nothing was damaged. So as you can see the rain did bring back a reflection even though the snow had all melted.

Each year I gravitate to Lititz, Pa to shoot some of the quaint shop windows. This year decorating was not as good as some years thanks to Covid and its effects on store owners. Here is one shop that always does a nice job.

I have been out shooting Christmas scenes this month but unfortunately I have been experiencing episodes of being depressed, which rears its ugly head this time of year in particular and due to that, I have not bothered to share anything. So before we are into spring, I felt I would get them on here.

This store window is in a nearby town and the gnomes caught my eye. The store is owned by Laura the Cookie Lady who won food networks Christmas Cookie Challenge last year along with the ten thousand dollar prize. She does amazing things and her tasty decorative creations sell out quickly. Check out her work at http://www.lauracookielady.com

I was out driving in the country recently and took notice of some different looking cloud formations. I found the old tree on the left and the clouds looked great with it. I go up the road to turn around and till I parked and walked out to the tree, the whole dynamic had changed just like that. So as I walk back to my car I see a buggy coming and I thought go for a silhouette shot because it is all sky behind the buggy. Well it turned  out not to be quite all sky, so the silhouette isn’t perfect but I did get lucky with the sun being partly blocked by clouds allowing it to be seen instead of some blown out white blob.

Actually the other tree is king of this hill but I shot this because its not always easy to find trees that almost the entire tree is silhouetted against the sky.