A tense competition featuring an old Steam Tractor captivates the imagination of this group of Amish suspender wearers.
Suspense & Suspenders
Author Archives: reesephoto
A Final Gesture?
The gentleman who owned this local farm had allowed me to photograph on his property a couple times over the years. He had some custom stonework he created which resembled Castle Spires, a wishing well and other nice accents around the property. He passed away this year and within the last month I happened to drive by and see this wonderful sunflower field on his property! While I cannot say for sure this was a farewell gesture to the community, it would not surprise me in the slightest if this was the case.
Teamwork
Another shot from Rough and Tumble and what you are looking at is two Steam Tractors working as a team to keep the metal shackle in the middle from touching the ground. They both move the same direction and then the opposite and this is no easy feat with the way these machines move at different rates. If you take note the rope holding the shackle is also tied around the waste of each driver. A contingent of Amish and Mennonite kids have front row seats for the action. One note worth mentioning is the fact these guys love to blast their steam whistles which are unbelievably loud, and Let me tell you when you are looking the opposite way standing ten feet from one of these, and they pull the cord, it almost makes you jump out of your shoes!
Rough and Tumble
Rough and Tumble is an organization comprised of folks who have a passion for old steam powered machines, tractors, etc. Once a year they hold what is known as the Thresherman’s reunion which is open to the public and you can see some really cool old equipment there. There are two small steam locomotives that carry passengers around the property and there are competitions to enjoy as well. This is a shot I did of a small section of tractors on display by a barn. This was a pain to do because I did not bring my normal remote setup with me, so I had to fire the flash in the middle of one second exposures and could only guess if I was aiming correctly without the aid of my tablet feedback. I pulled it off but it reminded me how modern tools assist the photographer to reach his creative vision. Just as I was framing the shot there was a group of ten Amish girls who walked right down the middle which I captured but they were blurry due to having everything set for longer exposures. You would never guess there are bleachers just to the left with several hundred people watching steam engines pulling a sled.
Waves of Color
This local home certainly enhances the neighborhood with its bountiful display of Petunias!
Fire Breather!
This is a shot I took at the Rough and Tumble Thresherman’s reunion held last week here in Lancaster county. This is an annual gathering of Steam equipment of all kinds. This particular photo is from what they refer to as the sparks demonstration. To accomplish this effect, they put wood chips into the furnace which then shoot out the chimney as hot glowing embers.
The Twilight Zone!
Have you ever been going somewhere in your car and you see a vehicle headed the other direction that for some reason catches your attention, then an hour later or so you pass the exact same vehicle going the opposite way and you realize it’s the same spot you first crossed paths? Well this has happened to me on more than one occasion and each time I think what are the chances that this would occur and I ponder if our paths are somehow intertwined? That’s a bizarre intro into today’s photo but its similar yet different. I recently had to run and get some things about ten miles from home and on the way I passed this buggy going the other way on a back road and it caught my eye but I had no time to turn around. As I kept driving, this buggy I had passed kept popping up in my mind as I replayed over and over the opportunity I missed. So I got to the store, got my things and decided to take another route back home just to look for anything interesting I might come across. As I am coming through the town of Lititz I see the exact same buggy and we cross paths at literally the best possible spot for me to capture a nice image. It is the entrance to the Lititz Springs park and traffic is very steady along this route, but in a moment of everything coming together, the buggy turned into the park right in front of the pretty train station, and Traffic was forced to stop for a flashing pedestrian crosswalk, so I had maybe 30 seconds to frame and capture this image before the crosswalk was clear and I was forced to proceed. Sometimes I experience these seemingly impossible circumstances that present themselves in the most amazing way. There is almost no other spot along this part of town I could have captured them where it would be nothing but cars, signs, businesses in the background etc etc, but I was blessed to have this opportunity presented to me. Oh and by the way There are exactly twelve children I could count in the buggy along with their father at the reigns. They were headed for a picnic in the shady park.
Relax and Enjoy the View
A Show Inside and Out
This is a shot I decided to capture this past weekend and it features the local Performing Arts Center. The darker flowers were more abundant toward the building but then from that vantage point I basically lost any decent view of the building! I had no idea when I headed out if they had a show or not this evening but thankfully they did and I was able to incorporate the warm interior and exterior lighting. When I first arrived the sunset was starting to get good but it was only lighting up the sky to the right outside my shot and this is the best it got,which was a bit disappointing. The other thing that threw a wrench in things was a street light to the left that caused minor issues. On the positive side the manager came out to talk to me to inquire what I was doing and approached me in a very courteous and friendly manner which made for a pleasant interaction.
Relax and Enjoy the View!
Azaleas provide a pleasing border for your walk to the gazebo where you can then relax and enjoy the view.
Spring Hues
My hometown park comes to life with various spring shades.
This Church is A-Okay
This church is somewhat unique with it’s A-frame design and the stained glass front is beautifully illuminated in this late evening image.
Barns and Flower Garden
This little scene is right along the road which is barely visible on the right side. I happened past at just the right time because a few days later the weather had beat them up pretty good. This is two separate properties but I got the owners blessing and the rest is history.
Speed Racer
He may be tiny but he is ready to run with the big boys!
Welcome Home
This photo is the result of not giving up when an opportunity seems lost. I was driving toward Intercourse, Pa which has a large Amish population in the surrounding area when I noticed these Amish kids walking this pony, but the trouble was they were way back off the road in their backyard. Scenes like this just make me yearn to capture them for the glimpse it offers into the Amish lifestyle. Directly beside the property was a local produce store so I proceeded to make a loop around to see if there was a spot to park with a view of the backyard? To my surprise there was one parking spot left which was in the shade and gave an unobstructed view of the interaction. I must say these Amish siblings were doting on this pony with such a caring and gentle way that it kind of surprised me! They walked him around the yard petting him and being very gentle with him. I feel like he is a new member of the family but that is just a guess.
Storm is Building
While this local Church is very pretty with the Parsonage located right beside and the flowering pink tree to the left, trust me when I say the hideous power lines that were in the original image which I painstakingly removed one by one made this lovely scene downright ugly.
Church and Purple Iris
I have always admired the beauty of this local old Church but the way the steeple is mounted almost hanging off the front has always baffled me. There has to be some logical reason why it wasn’t mounted ten feet back but other than it having ornate woodwork in the front, it is a mystery to me. The patch of purple iris shown here was almost too close to the church for a good shot including the church but I am satisfied with this result. An interesting observation I made is no matter where I moved the steeple on that roof it did not look as good as at the edge!
Pleasing to the Eye
This little patch of tulips makes an appearance every spring and it always pulls me in to get a shot. It is literally 3 feet beside a highway of super busy traffic on an Amish property.
Tornado Warning!
This was captured on Memorial day evening and features a nice red barn and house and the properties small pond located just below. The bottom photo caught my eye a week or so ago and I stopped to see if I could try to capture the sea of yellow. The owner was very friendly and said sure so I asked if I could return to try a pond shot sometime and he said sure whenever, even if we are not home which I appreciated. That brings us to Monday night when possible storms were forecast so I decided why not head out here. I was thinking maybe lightning reflected in the pond or whatever possibilities might develop! I arrived with a dark sky behind the barn and the occasional rumble but really no lightning to speak of. I set my tripod as low as it goes at the edge of the pond with my camera and then added a big golf umbrella I velcro fast to the tripod. I then add a small bag with about 30-40 pounds of weights in it to the tripod and umbrella to keep it from taking off!
After I have my composition locked and focused, I go back to my truck for added safety and remotely operate the camera. It was looking more and more like a flop with the storm just languishing in the distance and the chance for a good shot becoming less with each passing minute. I was a couple minutes from throwing in the hat when I noticed a beam of light below the storm where it was starting to light up. Well the light got better and better till the point I shot this frame and just like that my phone lit up with an emergency Tornado Warning and I could see the rain coming in so I made a beeline to grab my camera before everything let loose. It got pretty windy with heavy rain for a few minutes but thankfully no Tornado developed. All in all I was very happy with the result of this evening of opportunities.
A Tale of Three Brothers
once upon a time there were three brothers who started a hauling business. They ran into trouble when they assigned mechanic duties to the youngest brother and scheduling to the middle brother! The mechanic had trouble keeping his suspenders on so he was worthless on the mechanical jobs and the middle brother liked to take naps most of the day. This frustrated the elder brother who has an expression of disgust.
A Very Picturesque & peaceful Home
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!
Challenging Photography Session at Brunnerville Road Farm
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.
Majestic Grape Hyacinth Blooming in Lavender/Purple
I was driving the back roads when I glanced between houses and noticed this lavender/purple flowering plant growing in a large patch amongst the trees. They went very high up and I found them quite appealing. The top image is taken from the road and that was as wide a shot as I could get without including houses on each side. The Azalea was much bigger on the left but I needed to crop off the bricks of the house showing through. The second image was looking up the stream towards the neighbors property where you can just see the bridge shown in the bottom photo looking the opposite direction. I had to talk to three separate homeowners to get access to shoot but all were very gracious. I am leaning toward it being Grape Hyacinth but I may be wrong.
Amish Communities Embracing Orange Vests: A Photographer’s Perspective
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!
Scenic Church and Dogwood Trees: A Captivating View
This small town Church and the Dogwood trees framing the view beckoned me for a shot. What you don’t see are the ridiculous amount of power lines I had to remove to end up with this undistracting result. While it can be a tedious effort to remove them, I decided it was better done on the computer than with a chain saw! The property where the dogwood is located required me to step into the yard a few feet. A lady was walking out a connected driveway there and I asked is this your home? She said no but followed it up with what did you want? I said just permission to step in the yard to photograph the dogwood and Church and instantly she says go ahead? She says to me ” isn’t that beautiful”, I respond except for the obnoxious wires, and she says you can do it if you want it bad enough. She gave me the kick in the pants I needed to indeed make it happen. By the way I think she lived there!
A Serene Spring View
These flowering trees provided a pleasing photographic accent to this local Church scene.
Spring in Bloom
Spring is continuing to unfold day by day and being observant helped me get this shot. You see this is located on a dead end road in the country and as I was driving on a connecting road I caught a glimpse of a dash of pink in the distance. I made my way to this road and was treated to not only the tree in full bloom but the old barn and the patch of daffodils! I maximized the impact of the small patch of flowers by getting in close with a wide angle creating what I thought was a well balanced spring composition!
Rare Opportunity!
This property has what I think is a pretty porch and also a barn/garage on the left. I am standing in the middle of a two lane highway to shoot this but since practically no one else wanted to go out for a drive in this snowstorm, I had almost the entire road to myself to meander about. On a regular day this would be a real undertaking to achieve.
More Flurries Flying!
A little wider view of the Historical Society research library. This was a private home years ago and the owners saw my photo here and dropped me a line. They mentioned it was built in 1929, so it’s 100 year milestone is only a few short years away. I hope I look this good at 95 but since I will be below ground at that point its not likely!
Flurries Were Flying
This is the research library for our local Historical Society. The flurries were blowing pretty hard and just about every 5 frames or so I had to clean my lens. The Museum is next door and that is where I walked by a room that had a mannequin dressed that no one told me about. This was during an evening shoot there and my mind was already imagining the possibilities! The big clock on the left used to be just up the street at a bank.
Donald Reese Photography 