Category Archives: Christmas

The Wilbur

Posted by reesephoto on

I do a fair amount of shooting in the nearby town of Lititz, PA around the holidays. If you have ever enjoyed the sweet chocolate treat known as a Wilbur Bud, you may have either picked some up here or ordered them from here. The Wilbur chocolate plant was a fixture in the downtown forever but a few years ago the old plant was deemed outdated and so manufacturing moved away. The old factory was completely renovated into luxury condos and an upscale hotel called as you may have guessed, The Wilbur! I stopped in one day after I noticed their lovely Christmas tree to ask if there was any chance to photograph it? They agreed but I could not be in the way of any guests and that basically boiled down to me being about 5 feet from this tall tree with my 17mm wide angle! It was not the ideal setup but I got the shot and before I left I also captured this little festive decor arranged to catch your eye. The Wilbur company thankfully still maintains a store nearby where visitors can sample their sweet creations.

Romance is in the Air!

Posted by reesephoto on

The shops in downtown Lititz get all decked out for the Christmas season creating a nice environment. I was just about done capturing this store image when this couple came walking by and I blurted out “any chance you two would pose in my shot”? Surprisingly they did agree so I snapped three quick frames because it was raining and they were on their way. I lit them from behind with my flash to silhouette them and you can see that helped illuminate the rain drops coming down.

Quiet Night in Lititz

Posted by reesephoto on

I should have posted a bunch of upcoming shots in December but I was so busy shooting that posting these got put on hold. This image was captured on a rainy evening just before Christmas in the nearby town of Lititz, Pa. It is a close knit town that has a very strong sense of community and has a charming downtown with neat little shops. My heading is a little deceptive in the fact there were so many cars going by that I barely had openings to capture this image. My truck is parked along the curb/sidewalk with my tripod and camera at the front drivers side corner of my Jeep literally 3 feet from the cars whizzing by with an umbrella over it to keep it dry! Capturing an image like this can be practically impossible to get with one frame so one option is to do it in parts. So for example there were cars constantly on different areas of the road but not on the other areas, so I shoot till I know I have frames with no cars on one half of the frame and then do the other half till both sides are clear of cars! Then I must light the buildings which helps to make their wet reflections more visible on the road, and that requires me to physically be on the other side of the road with my flash and then I have to not only aim my flash correctly but I must watch to make sure there is no car passing between me and my camera as I fire the flash or all I get is a passing car blur. While I think of it I must apologize for my sentences that seem to go on forever. My mother writes the same way and can go from one thought to another in a seemingly endless sentence, so maybe it’s a genetic defect. I wish I could make sense of it but I have no clue?

The building on the corner with the arched window used to be a church but it went up for sale and thankfully a member of the community stepped up to purchase it and it now functions to host events periodically. The real shame is the previous owner took out all the stained glass just to make a quick buck! Take note of the house on the left which has these amazing carved embellishments over each window! One point of frustration is my wifi setup is supposed to be able to remotely fire my camera and transmit the image to my tablet at almost a football fields distance but for some reason rain wreaks havoc on the signal transmission distance. Essentially the result of that is me walking up to the church numerous times only to find I lost connection or can’t get my camera to fire and have to walk back closer to get my signal back!

Almost Alone?

Posted by reesephoto on

Last week we got several more inches of snow added to what the previous storm had given us. It was late Friday afternoon when I headed to a farm I had on my list of potential good subjects if we ever got snow again. I went to the farm at 4:00 and found my vantage point and set up waiting for dusk to arrive to get my shot. It was snowing and blowing so I had my tripod set up with a bag of weights attached and I also had my no hands umbrella setup covering the camera. I basically took a monopod, added a pvc tube that an umbrella handle slides down in and I simply velcro that to my tripod. The weights insure the tripod stays put even in fairly strong winds. I got the shot I had envisioned and noticed two hours had blown by already. I basically was feeling I wanted more snow shots so I drove around snapping here and there. I ended up deciding to drive through a local park as it was already after 9:00pm. I took a quick look through the park and realized I was the only one there except for one car with no one in it?

I was excited to know I had the place to myself and not worry about people interrupting me so I commenced to look for my shot, which you see here. It was not full moon, yet the whole area seemed fairly bright and you would barely guess this is around 10:30 at night. The contrast between the warm park lights and the cold snow created a sort of fairy tale look with the bridge leading to the gazebo! This shot was transformed by me adding light to the gazebo and the snow to bring out the texture. I really enjoy taking a scene and transforming it with light to create images that are uniquely my vision.

Getting back to that other car, I could see it across the park and noticed it start up, and then proceed in my direction. I watched as it stopped near my vehicle and it seemed the person inside was watching me? My radar was now on full alert and then I see what I thought was a big guy get out and start walking through the snow toward me. To my surprise it was a woman who was curious about what I was doing lighting up the landscape. We had a brief conversation about how pretty the snow was and then she left, but I couldn’t help but wonder how many women would venture out alone to a park at 10:30 at night and then approach the only other person there to see what they are doing? I did make one rookie mistake here and that was when I walked through pristine snow while doing another shot only to realize I wanted to shoot the snow I just walked through.                 

Romance is in the Air!

Posted by reesephoto on

Apologies for taking so long to post my Christmas shots from Lititz but here is the first. The top image is my main shot but then I started wondering if I could get any people involved? It’s funny how things come together and the couple in silhouette was going by and I asked if there was any chance they would volunteer? The young lady replied “oh my word, I stalked your house to buy a photo years ago”! We laughed, they posed and it all worked out.

Almost Missed it!

Posted by reesephoto on
I had someone reach out to me who enjoys my photos and they asked if I would be interested in shooting something on their property? I said absolutely and stopped by to peruse the options, of which there are numerous choices. The large wreath hanging on the barn has been put up for the holidays for many many years and adds a nice touch to an already picturesque barn. I was here last evening to try and come up with a game plan if we ended up getting snow overnight. We did indeed get several inches overnight and the bonus was it stopped before dawn, so blowing snow was not an issue. So I got here about an hour and a half before sunrise and decided on the angle and then waited for things to improve. Long story short, I shot the image I planned on and one or two others until I could not feel my toes and my fingers were screaming in pain. I gathered everything up, took one step and saw the lady pull in who originally contacted me. Within a minute or so, the fountain in this pond started up and what had been a frozen mess all morning with no hint of a reflection was slowly starting to reveal a mirror image! After it got clear she yelled do you want the fountain off? I replied just give me five minutes to get the shot. In what seemed like just a minute after the fountain turned off, you could see it refreezing quickly and the reflection was starting to disappear. I didn’t have the heart to ask her to turn it on again. After shooting for nearly two hours, this little chance event left me with what might be my favorite from the morning! On another note, My Mac computer seems to have bitten the dust and I am not able to post from home right now so be patient if my response time takes a day or two. The repair place says it is listed as obsolete by Apple, so even though it most likely is a simple part, they are not allowed to even try? I even offered to pay their $100 an hour fee to trouble shoot and they refused? This forced upgrade scheme is really a ripoff in my opinion.

Welcome Home!

Posted by reesephoto on
Sorry to post a winter image this far into spring but I just remembered I had been waiting to post this and just plain forgot. I had photographed the previous home of the family who now resides here and they reached out to ask if I would consider capturing their new home? I said sure and when they told me the address I instantly got excited because I knew I had been here with a fellow photographer who was hired to capture the beauty of the architecture and gardens. He said I could come along and do some shooting if I was interested. Well that was over 20 years ago and the place is so gorgeous it left a lasting impression on me. The new owners have already begun addressing issues that needed attention and the home is in good hands now. I was quite happy with the way I infused light into certain areas to make a very pleasing image that says welcome home, come on in and warm yourself by the fireplace.

The Nightmare Car

Posted by reesephoto on

This is another image that I shot this year as Christmas was rapidly approaching. It was absolutely pouring this cold and raw evening, yet I did my best to suck it up and get the shot. I thought this might make a nice shot but until I got parked, I was a block away so I carried only what I felt was necessary.  That included my camera, tripod, tablet, umbrella, flash. Not included was an umbrella for me, gloves, because it would be ten minutes at most, or my rain jacket. I start setting up and I am delighted the two parking spaces straight in front are clear. So I get my tripod set, umbrella attached to tripod, I mount the camera and start my tablet up and out of the corner of my eye I see a car pull in to the left spot to which I thought “well no stores or restaurants are open so this will be short. I shot a few exposures every few minutes as it got darker and before you know it I was approaching the one hour mark waiting on this car to leave. My hat, the hood over the hat, my jeans and who knows what else were soaked and my hands were starting to really ache. Not too long before I was calling it a night, this dude comes back to the car and 30 seconds later I was heading to my car.

I don’t know when its considered frostbite, but I turned my heat on to warm up and my hands were aching so bad as they slowly warmed up.  I remember hearing how intensely painful extreme frostbite is. To think a block away I several sets of gloves sitting ready and I could not move and risk my tripod walking away.

2019 Draws to a Close

Posted by reesephoto on

I visited a long time friend this past week who lives in Manheim,PA and when I drove through the town square I was struck by how charming it was so I decided I needed to come back and try and get a shot before everything got taken down. The bottom image was my first attempt and was taken the next evening after my visit and to be honest I thought this would be it. That all changed when I was heading out and looked back to see the top image in my rear view mirror. I knew it was supposed to continue raining all night and through the morning so I set the alarm for 5:30 am and headed over hoping that morning traffic would not make it impossible to get the shot. If you look at the top image, you can imagine what having one car parked in the foreground would do to the shot. All the reflections in the wet street would be blocked, so when I saw it was clear I quickly got set up and started shooting so I would have something at least. To my surprise no one parked in front and before long the black sky started to brighten as daybreak inched closer and the shot I envisioned came to life. I hate pitch black skies and if I had shot in the dark, you would not even see the trees that stand out against the blue sky. For the bottom image I used a polarizer to cut glare on the wet brick and because of that the reflection of the tree really popped against the backlit brick. Maybe next year I can get lucky and have a snowy version of the square. Here’s wishing everyone a Happy New Year! Continue reading →

Lititz Christmas Window1

Posted by reesephoto on

 

I have been fairly active shooting scenes relating to Christmas in the town of Lititz, Pa but not as on the ball posting them, but hopefully this will be the start of sharing new images. This shot features the window of the Atlas general store which has a cool display of what appears to be rolled paper made into trees.

Bundle Up

Posted by reesephoto on

I will be sharing my images from the town of Lititz,Pa over the next week or two and they are all done using flash and light painting techniques. I go for a somewhat nostalgic feel and my hallmark effect is the cool versus the warm. This shot features a yarn shop that had a sheep in the window and a tree with knitted hats and scarves.

The Pharmacy

Posted by reesephoto on

ephrata-royers-pharmacy

ephrata-royers-sign

This local pharmacy has been an anchor in the local business community for years and since I was doing a little photo series on shops in the town, I felt it was a definite choice for photographing. I went inside to see if they would like a shot done and I asked if I could add some garland above the one sign to give it a little more seasonal feel? They said certainly,and I set out to capture the top image on a very nice December evening. I really wanted to do a shot of the entrance as well because it has this neat old curved metal sign that been there since the 1930s and has eye-catching orange lighting behind it. The employees were all very helpful and I was told the sign could be set to stay illuminated all night so it was ready to shoot at dawn the next morning and they would also leave a few inside lights on as well to look like they were open, and as we were talking the pharmacist said yeah the weather looks like it will cooperate as well. I went to bed thinking how I was going to do the shot and when I woke to my alarm at 530am, it was pouring outside. I knew it was going to be a treat trying to get this in the pouring rain and the following describes the ordeal.

I brought an 8 ft ladder, and on the top of it I thread a steel pipe that goes up another 6 feet and then I mount my camera anywhere I want along the 6ft pipe. I recently bought some inexpensive plastic camera bags that are made specifically to protect your camera and lens while shooting in the rain and that is how I started the shoot but I noticed the image on my tablet had rain drops on it and realized the rain was blowing onto the front of my lens, so I now had to strap my umbrella to the steel post as well to keep the front dry.Now the thing about this whole angle you don’t realize, is that there is only ten feet from the pharmacy door to the street behind me and my ladder is literally sitting on the very edge of the curb as far as it can go. So my camera is about 12 feet off the ground with an umbrella strapped tight above it and on top of that I must climb the ladder,try to compose and focus at that height and not fall to the ground,all in the pouring rain. This was shot with my widest angle,which is a 17mm and it was just able to get the composition with the decorated street light and the sign. It is a minor miracle this even turned out because even with the umbrella,it was still getting rain on the lens occasionally which meant I had to climb the ladder,dry the lens off and pray that I did not shift anything while doing all of that.To my surprise all images were in register from the shoot.I love rain and the reflections it provides but I still have not come up with a foolproof rain shooting strategy. The sign also posed serious challenges because it picks up every reflection of light,color etc and the blue light from early morning was what I liked in the end. I tried lighting the letters with my flash but I found out chrome doesn’t play nice with flash and there were very few angles that the added flash looked decent on,so in the end I just waited till the ambient light matched the sign light and was as balanced as possible.

The Hunters lair

Posted by reesephoto on

poole-forge-2016b

This is the second image I shot at the mansion tree event. I originally was not really interested in shooting this room,but I decided to see what I could do and am rather happy how it turned out. A good place to snuggle up on a cold winter night while you dream of hunting.

Sleigh Ride Friends

Posted by reesephoto on

poole-forge-2016a-copy

Well it is the time of year I simply love taking photos of all things Christmas related, and the coming weeks will feature scenes from a holiday tree event as well as scenes from Lititz ,Pa and shop windows there. This is the first shot featuring two bears riding in a very nice miniature sleigh as they head through some deep snow at the mansion tree event.

A Warm Seat Awaits

Posted by reesephoto on

lititz-fire-ice-2015j

Actually a warm seat awaits across the street at the Tomato Pie Cafe in downtown Lititz ,Pa. I photographed this ice sculpture yesterday and thanks to a stretch of bitter weather, it is still hanging around from last weekends fire and ice festival. The cafe recently added sunday hours and judging by all the footprints in the snow,it seems half the town was headed there. I light painted the scene to add some texture to the snow on an otherwise overcast and flat light morning. I would have preferred fresh untouched snow but folks must have been out and about saturday night leaving all the tracks so it works for a cool shot. This was the first day temperatures climbed to the freezing mark and seemed downright balmy while I shot this.

Keep The Lights On

Posted by reesephoto on

historical-society-luminaries2

This is the second image from the historical society property. It was dark at this point so I had to use a long exposure of between 30 and 60 seconds to get the sky to show some color. The texture in the snow is from being shoveled but it still looked decent. the lamp-post had to be lit with my spotlight because it does not seem to work. This former residence is now part of the historical society property and now houses all the research data and information for those researching the history of the area.Of special note is the large clock on the right side of the image,which once stood a few blocks away at a bank until it closed and has now been situated here as yet another piece of history to enjoy.

Illuminating History

Posted by reesephoto on

historical-society-luminaries

This is my second attempt at shooting this location,which is a local historical society.This time we got just enough snow to cover the grass so I went for the shot in case we get no more snow this year. I took my own luminaries along to add a little seasonal cheer.I drove by the location two hours before and nothing had been shoveled but when I returned the walkways were done but that was okay.Numerous cars slowed to look and several people walked by and asked what the special occasion was and I said just a photo shoot going on,and they all said how beautiful it was with the luminaries.Tomorrows post will feature a second shot I did after this one from up the sidewalk looking the opposite way.Special thanks goes to Cynthia for turning on lights inside for the shot.

Gingerbread Courtyard

Posted by reesephoto on

rlps-2014-gingerbread2

 

Every year the folks who work at RLPS Architects come together to create a spectacular gingerbread creation,and I have been lucky enough to be invited to shoot along with the main photographer who always documents this for them.Each year I walk in,I just stop and stare at all the details and funny little vignettes they come up with. This scene of a town square is just one small corner of the creation. The following paragraph is from their website and describes the display better. I did not do too good a job this year with my shots but it’s always fun trying.

Drawing from images of Scandinavia, employees and their families spent countless hours transforming various edible materials into picturesque cottages, unique shops and mining operations. The candy structures are positioned along a fishing pier made of pretzels and mountains forested by ice cream cone trees coated in sugar sprinkle foliage and icing snow. The raw building materials for these creations included over 70 pounds of Charms hard candy, 30 gallons of icing and more than 50 pounds of candy, pasta, crackers and cereals.

 

The Abbey in Cape May

Posted by reesephoto on

cape-may-the-abbey2

Headed to Cape May for a day to shoot the many Victorian homes that make the town such a popular destination year round.Even though there was no snow to be found,the town was still dressed in its Christmas best and was very neat to see. This place is located right in the downtown and is referred to as “The Abbey” and If Senator John McCreary were somehow to return to Cape May today, he wouldn’t have much trouble recognizing his summer residence. Standing proudly at the corner of Gurney Street and Columbia Avenue. A Scottish immigrant who made his fortune in coal, McCreary was one of many wealthy Philadelphians who chose to summer in Cape May. With the arrival of the railroad in 1863, Cape May became a popular resort for the upper classes. These visitors did not, however, stay in the huge hotels that Cape May was famous for at the time. Instead, they built huge wooden homes, “cottages” and “villas” where one family could retreat in privacy. I photographed the home from across the street and included an arrangement with a bow that was situated on a pillar at a church. I saw on the net that the average rental price at this home for a week in peak summer is $12,500, so I most likely will not be seeing the inside anytime soon. In contrast,I slept overnight in my truck there and was as cozy as most people in the fancy houses right next to me and I shot this at daybreak while everyone else was still sleeping.

Beautiful Shapes

Posted by reesephoto on

lititz-bell-home

This home is another gem from the town of Lititz,Pa. It shows what real architectural style can look like and what is lacking in todays cookie cutter home construction.The wrap around porch is amazing, the dome is super sweet as is the peak on the left. Seeing the reflection in the wet road made me stop to get this shot on Christmas eve as I headed home from a family get together.

Banking on My Patience

Posted by reesephoto on

enb-bank-tree-reflection-copy

My photo today will be a bit long-winded but for those who enjoy my ramblings both literary and photographically,this will be perfect.I began this evening photographing Christmas displays ten miles away and was on my way home at 8pm when I called my wife to say I would be home in 15 minutes. As I drove home in the rain,I began to take note of lights reflecting on the road and as I drove by this Bank and its Community Christmas tree all lit up, I knew I had to try to capture it.

I found a store across the street with an awning that provided cover from the rain,set up my tripod and began to figure out how I was going to light the place and deal with several issues that I needed to overcome. The biggest issue I had was one lone car parked right in the middle of the shot, but I figured it was a night all but one store was closed and the person would leave soon. Well I began capturing the scene and lighting the building and then a second car pulls in, and I started to get a little frustrated.

The second car had a girl in it and she proceeded to play games on her phone for 20 minutes till some guys showed up,one of which owned the other car,and I was sure they were all leaving after they got in both cars.Well guess what,they all sat there doing who knows what for at least ten minutes until the one car left. Ten minutes later,it returns and you guessed it,more sitting there doing nothing.Now you must understand the street around me on both sides has absolutely zero cars in any space so these two in the middle of my shot were a tad frustrating.

At one point I checked in with my wife and said it might be late because I was determined to outlast these nitwits and get my shot.So at exactly twenty minutes before ten, the one car leaves and just the girl remains playing on her phone again,so I decide I am going over and offer her five dollars to just move the car already and as I ask how long till she is heading out,she answers, in a minute,so I keep my money and I think, finally. Well guess what,twenty minutes later she is still sitting there. While waiting I had some dude ask for a dollar,which I obliged and then two nights later the same guy asks again,to which I said hit the road this time.I also almost got hit right in the middle of the road because I was over by the bank and was watching a guy heading toward my camera across the street and started walking while focusing on the guy in case I had to give chase and all of a sudden I hear tires screeching and the car bumper is about two feet from me.Needless to say the woman was a little irked at my lack of concentration on the road traffic.

Well in the end all the cars left,and I was soaked but I captured the shot I had imagined was possible. After shooting multiple frames of lighting, it was literally the last 10 shots that really brought the image to its optimum. I had a couple of spots on the road that showed very little reflection or color and I figured out by blasting the buildings up high with flash that the light would reflect on those areas and that’s were the beautiful blue on the road emanated from.The final time to get this shot was exactly two hours and I think the odds of being able to duplicate this shot anytime soon are rather slim,and you can usually bank on my patience getting a great image.

A Night in Paris

Posted by reesephoto on

lititz-bulls-head

This image of the Bulls Head Tavern in Lititz ,Pa reminds me of paintings I have seen of Paris that show street scenes bathed in luscious light reflecting the warmth within on the rain-soaked streets. Painterly is the word that comes to mind and the contrast was pretty extreme so it’s a minor miracle I got something decent. Would have been better when the daylight was fading but thankfully it was still pouring and the reflections were great,even though I had to stay under my umbrella to shoot it. The bonus element in the scene that I like is the original 1963 london cab which one of the owners parks out front on many nights.