Shot this set of images after a summer storm came through. You usually have to scramble to capture a fleeting Rainbow and the local park was very close so I was able to get the Rainbow and twenty minutes later I shot the opposite direction to get these clouds! It was actually a double Rainbow but the second one never got as bright as the main one.
Getting on my stomach to get a shot these days is pretty rare but I always liked this local church so I went for it. This shot was taken with the Nikon 14-24 which is a great lens.
This farm is very lovely and the coneflowers across the street were an added bonus!
Pardon my delay in posting things from last month but here is the small town of Lititz, Pa getting all decked out for the 4th of July. The day I decided to take a few shots the wind was fairly strong and even better it was consistent.
This building at Rough and Tumble houses several old Vintage pieces. The one in the foreground is an old mail Postal delivery sleigh! I believe the R.F.D stood for Rural Free Delivery
This set of three photos are from the Swiss Pioneers farm days in Lancaster County and they are demonstrating using a horse on a treadmill to power machines processing hay. They also had four horses walking in a large circle that was a variant of this idea. These horses have been part of this event for several years and they seem well taken care of and they seem more powerful in their musculature.
This is another image from the Rough and Tumble Thresherman’s reunion held recently. It appears as if the small Steamroller in the middle is ready to take on the Big Boy to the right. All these old Steam Machines have such nice design elements making them not only hard working but pleasing to the eye as well!
An Amish family sits to enjoy the tractor parade at the Swiss Preservation society’s annual farm days.
The three boys operating this half scale steam tractor seemed to have everything under control as they maneuvered around at Big Springs farm days. The youngest of the three had it easy riding in the wagon behind the tractor. The upper photo shows the big boy tractors in the background.
Each year a property owned by the Swiss Pioneer Preservation association holds a two day event at the big spring farm, a property that was given to the Swiss pioneers when the gentleman that owned it passed away with no remaining family. This photo shows a group of mennonite young ladies piled into this old pickup truck as they lead off the ever popular tractor parade.
This Steam Tractor caught my eye because it seemed someone took very good care of it. I heard one man explain it is rated for 25 horsepower which seems like very little till he said it was able to pull as much as 25 work horses which is rather impressive.
This huge engine is located at the Rough and Tumble site and was removed from a natural gas supply station and completely brought back to working order by the men at Rough and Tumble. I think I heard them say it will run for 6 minutes on a twenty pound tank of propane.
A family rides their steam tractor as the sun sets behind them.
Tractor games are part of Rough and Tumble’s Threshermen’s Reunion. These two are in line to compete on the main show track.
These two power house steam tractors were a small sample of the machines on display at Rough and Tumble’s Threshermen’s Reunion.
Here in Lancaster County we have the Rough and Tumble Engineers Historical Association which holds events for the general public several times a year. This past week they held their 78th annual Threshermen’s reunion over a four day period and the place was packed with massive Iron Machines from the past. At the close of the evening Friday night they do what is referred to as the sparks show! Let me tell you it is impressive but a nightmare to photograph. If they started this an hour earlier, the results would be amazing but they wait till its completely dark and then shut the lights off and fire them up. Picture a total nightmare of contrast and this is what I dealt with. The tractors are all black or close to it, add light out, and then shoot bright red hot sparks into the sky and you get the idea. The only way I was able to get detail with tractors is to shoot from a tripod and get a couple exposures before the sparks started.
The top image was near the time the sparks started and they left off a lot of steam which looked kind of cool at 3 and 4 second exposures. Being from Lancaster County you grow up seeing young kids at work on farms which teaches work ethic etc but at this event you can see how dangerous some of this equipment has the potential to be and it sort of amazes me no accidents ever happen at least that I know of. If you look at the tractor, you see a large belt that goes to a large steel cylinder with blades on it behind me on the left that you cant see. I was like 6 feet away when it started up and it had no cage around it so at the velocity this thing was spinning at would have completely shredded me to nothing if I fell into it. Another thing that struck me after it got dark, these massive steel wheeled behemoths would drive the dirt paths and you literally could not see anything in front of them in the dark but most know to give them a wide berth.
One last little tidbit from the evening, I grabbed a burger and fries and sat under a dining tent, across from me was an Amish gentleman and his 8 yr old daughter. We chit chatted a bit and the daughter wanted to go but dad says not before he takes your picture? He asks her can he take your picture, she says I don’t care? No matter how long I live here I still am surprised at the changes I see over 40 plus years taking pictures.
Today I thought I would share an image I captured last week at work. We had an old warehouse beside our main building that needed to come down for several reasons. I would go out every once in a while to capture the progression of the demolition. this was the second day and the interior of the building is already on the other side of that wall completely collapsed into the basement. So I go out and talk directly to the guy working the excavator who is basically down below where the wall is missing. I ask him are you going to pull that remaining wall down into the center of the debris and he says definitely in a few minutes. So I immediately walk uphill by the cedar tree on the left and proceed to walk to the right! So I am about where that high bouncing cinder block on the left is and I am looking at the wall and notice it start to oscillate so I start walking a little faster just in case and boom, it all comes crashing down toward me! I had a 14-24 wide angle on, had exposure set already and when I saw it coming I turned my camera toward it and fired a sequence hoping to capture something as I retreated. Since I was shooting wide angle I am pretty sure those blocks were even closer than they appear here. When the wall hit the ground it exploded with some decent energy, enough so several cinder blocks actually went about 8 feet inside an open garage to the left and I remember contemplating running in there when it all started. For me it was not one of those heart pounding adrenaline rush moments, but when I look at the force behind the flying blocks, I am pretty sure that could have been a life altering impact. My guess is the operator was trying to pull something off the other side and exerted a little more pressure than he intended. To top it off my boss was standing to the far right 40-50 yards away watching it all. She said you do anything for the shot?
This Chapel is one I always thought was so pretty and having the dogwood in bloom added a nice extra touch. Their is a hideous small structure that covers a set of stairs going to the basement near the front three windows that I could not let stand so I removed it. Whoever built this obnoxious addition should be run out of town as it has no visual appeal!
This is a farm I photographed months ago and the owners were very friendly and said stop back anytime! Well I happened past last week and noticed the flowering trees so I took a couple shots. I would prefer overcast for these but the sun did not want to relent for me.
This flowering tree has a very graceful flow to it!
This property used to be run down and neglected but a few years ago it was sold and the new owners have transformed it into a real gem within the community. The wife takes much pride and joy in decorating the porch for various times and events taking place through the year and her husband is right there to help insure things go as planned. The gorgeous flowering tree only added to the beauty.
A local funeral home had this lovely patch of tulips in bloom.
A red barn is framed by a patch of mustard and a flowering tree.
This is a small town Church that is somewhat of a challenge to get a decent shot of. I noticed this small patch of tulips across the street so I snapped a quick shot. There are about a million power lines that I removed to end up here. This is a very busy road as well so its hard to get a no car shot.
I have been a little busy this spring doing mulching and spring cleanup and subsequently I have not had time to look for spring scenes. This last week has been popping with color so I did manage to capture a few to share! This is a local cemetery where my Grandma is buried and last week her daughter, my Aunt was laid to rest here. I happened to glance at the cemetery while driving by and noticed this one section seemed to be alive with color. It is not my favorite view of the church but since this section was the only one with the spring display, I had no other option. For all I know these are all gone by now as I heard a mower somewhere on the back side of the hill.
This is the Square in Lititz, Pa after a fluffy coating of snow created a lovely scene.
Believe it or not this is actually a color photo taken after a fluffy snow covered everything in a picture perfect coating the night before. I shot this as I headed to work after being out for most of the night and being totally exhausted from lack of sleep.
This beautiful property is the home of a local therapeutic Horse riding Facility. I was given permission one bitter cold morning to go into this pasture to capture the sun coming up behind these magnificent trees. The Horses were all comfortable inside the stable while I was outside freezing to capture this shot. We had a nice coating of shimmering ice on top of the snow for a week or so and one warm day took the shine away slightly but this will do.
Donald Reese Photography 