Brewery in the Rain

Recently I posted a shot of this brewery/restaurant and I got lucky when two things came together. The first was a rainy evening and the second was they are closed on Mondays. The more you look at the details in this place, the more impressive it becomes. From the multiple lamp posts to the black and red inlaid tiles on the sidewalk to the gorgeous painted accents this is an amazing location. They do have accent lighting on many areas but I lit up the entrance, the steps going down and a little on the facade. I feel like the owner may live on the top floor where the room is lit in the middle.

A Glimpse into A.I.

This post is a little different than my normal photography but I wanted to share my experience thus far when it comes to A.I.. Obviously A.I. is here to stay and it is certainly presenting challenges when it comes to artists and creative individuals. I have a subscription to Fotor A.I. and for me it is simply something to use to bring my imagination to life and create anything I can envision in my mind. The problem artists are experiencing is this technology is so good, it can create paintings, photographs,music etc etc and it is quite amazing in what it can do to the point no one knows reality from Computer generated anymore.

The comparison images here were done because my wife and I are participating in a Christmas tree decorating event that is held every two years in an old Iron masters Mansion. 8 years ago I started what has become a very popular destination along the rail trail behind our place. It is known as the Gnome Village and I built numerous buildings revolving around all things Gnome.It has impacted not only kids but adults as well who seem overrun by reality and are looking for a simple escape to just let the imagination roam free. If you are on Facebook, we can be found at Railtrailgnomes. Anyway getting back to the event, I offered to be a participant in this years decorating event and we are doing our display with a Gnome Christmas theme. My wife loves to remind me I always go overboard in creative endeavors and since I have real photos of the mansion and grounds, I decided to use A.I. to create scenes where the gnomes are on location. I simply uploaded this covered bridge photo of mine from the property, add the prompts to direct A.I. what I want to see and in about 10 seconds it creates the second image! I plan to put these images in our display for a bit of humor.

I know we are in uncharted waters with A.I. and there are already amazing breakthroughs in Medicine as an example but lets hope the good will outweigh the bad which there will be plenty of for sure. Another observation I have made is the music that A.I. is creating is simply unbelievable. You take any artist you really like, buy their album and there will always be songs you love and others you can’t get into. One day I listened to maybe three dozen songs in a genre that I like, and out of 36 songs, maybe two didn’t hit the mark. I have no idea how the music A.I. gets created but everything from lyrics to the musical arrangement is stunning. Being the old fart that I am I generally view technology such as the internet, phones etc as being a part of what is making us less social and compassionate as devices demand our total attention. A.I. will most certainly not reverse that trend. Being in my 60s I have seen so many changes from when I grew up till now. I will stop rambling now. Share you thoughts if you like

Across the Road

I have wanted to try some sort of shot of this old home for a while. I happened by last week and this neighboring property across the street had this maple that was on fire. After a day of work I head here and I parked in the restaurant lot beside the maple and went and asked permission from the homeowner to be on the corner of their yard to do the shot. They graciously agreed and I set up to capture the scene. Now what you don’t see in this image is the homeowners car that was parked right in the middle of the shot at that stone wall. I had high hopes they might move it if I asked nicely but I got a solid no on that question. At this point I was thinking why am I even attempting this but I went through the motions anyway. Got home, downloaded the files and started to work on the image. I was about a minute away from deleting the whole shoot when on a crazy whim I thought I will give Photoshops new A.I. generate feature a try. On the first attempt it got rid of the car , built the wall that was hidden by the car and I just sat and stared in total shock at how incredibly clean it completed the task. the tree was lit by me using flash as well as the shine on the driveway. By looking at my photo you would have no clue that dozens upon dozens of cars were flying by here on their commute home. Its not too bad when your exposure is like a quarter second but when you start doing 8 and 10 second exposures, you get halfway and here come the headlights! Often when a car comes mid exposure i will block the lens with my hand and then move it when the car is gone.

The Brewery

I happened to take a right turn in this town and happened upon this striking old building Bathed in sunlight and dark ominous clouds. I really hope to get back here on a rainy day and get those lamp posts shimmering in the wet pavement.

1

1w1w

The Nick of Time

This rail trail path is one I drove by and happened to notice the bright fall foliage. I was here maybe 5 minutes when I started hearing something in the distance. Well it wasn’t very long till I saw a township employee heading toward me clearing the leaves with a backpack blower.

Autumn at it’s Best

This big old Ginkgo Always puts on a beautiful display in autumn and his little buddy the Japanese Red Maple is there to add his accent to the scene. This is located right beside a busy road and every year I wonder what percent of passersby even notice its spectacular fall color? It could probably use some pruning down low but the growth helps hide the neighboring house behind it.

The Leftovers

It’s a shame all these pumpkins go to waste every October in Lancaster county. I guess its a combination of more pumpkins than there is demand, and keeping prices higher to get more bang for your selection. I guess it is easier to bring in a wagon load to sell at 5 dollars a pop than it is to bring 5 wagon loads in at a dollar a pop.

Autumn at the Farm

Autumn color will soon be a distant memory and even though it was not a banner year for color here in Lancaster county, there were pockets of nice color sprinkled around the area. This farm is one I have noticed the last three fall seasons and every time I waited a bit to long and mother nature would throw a curve ball. This year I noticed it transforming, then forgot about it for a couple days and when I checked it was already dropping! I left work this day with no intention of going here but as I headed home the sky started to light up and off I went. When I got there the sun was a perfect ball with some time left till it would hit the horizon. If you look at the first image, just off to the left behind the white fence is a pond and the sun was a perfect reflection in the pond! Trouble is To see the reflection you had to back up until you were at a neighboring house to see it. Well I rang the doorbell and of course no one was home so I had to concede the shot wasn’t happening! So the sun went down, the sky got decent but I really wondered what the view from down at the pond was like? I knocked and prepared for the worst but the Husband and wife couldn’t have been more welcoming. They basically said have at it, and as the light faded I managed to get two images with the third being taken a little earlier. The ironic part of my adventure was the owner told me the house I wanted to shoot from was his sons! hopefully one day I can pull that shot off.