By looking at these photos you would never guess the front door is about twenty feet from a heavily traveled road. There is a small bookstore across the street that I had stopped in when I noticed the pretty spring color around the house. My mind immediately started imagining what the possibilities could be and how fleeting the shot might be because spring blooms can fade fast depending on the weather. I waited a day because I saw rain was forecast and I pre-visualized the image I was going to try for!

There is a small pizza shop to the left and anyone getting pizza must have thought what a nut job I was shooting in the rain with an umbrella mounted to the tripod. The owners could not have been more welcoming in allowing me to do this series, and they were more than happy to turn on every light on the property if thats what I needed done to get a great shot.

The closed bookstore parking lot provided a great rainy reflection of the home in all its illuminated glory and I am very happy with the result, but one lone parking lot light that was seemingly as bright as the sun came on at exactly the time it was really getting balanced but I was fairly certain I had it in the bag already. The second image is the side yard and the owners have created a beautiful place to relax with friends and family. The third photo features the opposite side of the house where the driveway comes in between the house and the stunning barn that was added fairly recently. The bottom image is the backyard view and includes a beautiful pink dogwood that provided the perfect compliment to the cozy backyard space. I got a small tour inside and the front doors were just beautiful as was the entire space.

The parking lot in the top image did have white parking space lines, a couple orange cones and 2 concrete blocks that I gladly cloned out!

I shot this same location several years ago but I don’t remember the pink dogwood blooming at the same time as the beautiful purple Iris . As usual I requested some light inside and the owner happily obliged. This spot is not as relaxing as it may at first seem because about a foot to my right is a busy road with cars whizzing by. My one tripod leg is literally in the gravel just off the blacktop. I chose to put a few led road flares on my tripod and along the edge of the road so hopefully my camera was not going to get obliterated by someone not watching the road. I fired my camera using my tablet from both across the road in my truck and from the yard when adding flash.

I have been photographing Lancaster County scenes for 40 years and have many great memories of capturing the local Amish and Mennonite communities. Their traditional simple attire always made for great images of a way of life not everyone has the opportunity to experience. A few years ago someone somehow associated with Penn State and its various community off shoots came up with the brilliant Idea to provide these obnoxious orange vests to all one room school kids. The obvious goal was to increase visibility and safety, which no one can argue with, but after seeing a group [the Amish] that tries to downplay attention, it just amazed me they accepted this to the degree they did? Personally I was never aware that any problem existed and quite honestly it would not matter what color you were wearing if someone is looking at their phone while driving. So now you know my stance on obnoxious orange vests and this photo is a rarity for me to shoot but they did coordinate with the vibrant azalea!