Blessings from Above

Well folks, we have reached the culminating shot for Thanksgiving and I hope you enjoyed this little fall foliage series. I am sure your favorite differs from mine but each image was a joy to capture this fall season and hopefully in some small way it has been a blessing to enjoy the beauty around us that we often overlook in our hectic modern world. May you have a joyous Thanksgiving with family and God Bless!

Autumn Full Moon

Yes I realize the moon does not jump off the page at you but I think it is pretty awesome as a small piece of the grander scene. From the Historic old Church and its amazing steeple to the lamp posts glowing, to the Ginkgo in all its impressive color whether on the tree or on the ground, I am very happy with the way this image turned out. I love the blue in the sky and yellow on the ground,the Church rising to meet the sky and just the peaceful feel the image imparts!

Autumn Glory

This image was one I was definitely eager to capture after I noticed the potential from the road. I knocked, got permission and thought to myself this has been an amazing fall foliage year for me as a photographer and how blessed I am to have the ability to appreciate and capture this beauty so others can also enjoy it!

Dirt Road Gold

Well we are coming down the home stretch in my fall foliage feast for the eyes and this image was one I stumbled upon as I made my way along a short dirt country road. When I rounded the bend and this scene unfolded before me I had a feeling of being on one of my New England adventures from the past.The framing was perfect, the color was awesome and the small farm seems to to be saying “welcome home”! I did feel like I hit gold when I first saw this shot.

Covered Bridge Traveler

A local covered bridge is framed by warm tones as a horse and buggy makes its way home. One pet peeve of mine is the idiotic desire to put obnoxious signage all around these bridges that I usually have to take the time to clone out from my photos. The height sign over the entrance is okay but still an eyesore. I do realize there are a lot of morons out there that have no common sense so we are stuck with signs everywhere! This very bridge actually had some dimwit drive through in a truck that not only hit the entrance but this genius kept the pedal floored and made it all the way through, never pausing to take responsibility! After that the county installed these bars that hang down called headache bars, but they were not on this bridge when I photographed it? They say truckers blindly following GPS are often the cause..

Log Cabin Living

This property was a working farm for years until the owner passed away and because he never married there was no one to inherit it so he donated it to a group he was involved in called The Swiss Pioneer Preservation Associates. Their goal is to preserve the heritage that the early Swiss arrivals brought with them to the region. The old log cabin was originally a mile up the road and falling apart but thanks to the dedication of the Swiss preservation group it has a new home and solid future.

Reflecting on Autumn

This is one of those shots that looked mediocre at first but after I walked around to check it out from different angles it quickly became clear I had to shoot it! A couple things helped me capture this and the first was the wind letting up and the second was a filter. At first the wind was so strong there was not a bit of smooth water and I almost gave up but the occasional calm would appear and thankfully I got the shot. I mentioned a filter helped and that filter is called a Polarizer, which can literally transform a scene from dull to dazzling. It works by cutting the suns rays as they hit your subject at certain angles. For this particular shot, the sun was too my right at 90 degrees which is the optimum angle for the filter to cut glare and this scene was completely dull till the filter helped cut the glare on the water and in the sky. It is not adding color to the shot but by filtering out the sun bouncing around it allows the color to be seen. If the sun were directly in front of me or behind me the same filter would do little if anything but when you get the angle right it can be transformative.

The Grand Grove

This grove of trees is located at a Veterans Hospital and for me it ranks right up there as one of the prettiest and peaceful places I have come across in recent times. I was floored by the sheer amount of beautiful color that was contained in a small area but I was also struck by how peaceful it was with the hospital a hundred yards away. I saw veterans relaxing on wooden park benches and numerous employees walking the path that winds among the trees as they take lunch time to recharge their batteries and their soul!

Fence and Fall Foliage

Alright folks, with all the negative stuff going on in the world these days, I have decided to offer you a visual distraction in the form of fall scenery from this year that will culminate on Thanksgiving day with one of my favorite recent fall images! For the next eleven days I have arranged the photos so each day’s image is a little higher on my list than the day before. You can see if you agree on my arrangement or have your own favorite order! My first offering features an old rustic split rail fence that makes a nice accent for the gorgeous trees!

Just Around The Bend

I found this church a little ways away on my travels and shot it at least three different ways over several evenings. This wide angle shot encompasses most of the curved stone wall. I met the pastor and he was more than accommodating in helping me get the main shot I was after, which is not this one. For this shot I am almost on the road behind me and there is a stop sign about 4 feet to my right on a second road. The foliage actually hung around for several days while I tried to capture the place. I hope I can remember to check this out in the snow this winter. They currently have the main wall lit in blue and gold for Ukraine but the pastor hinted they might do red and green at Christmas so keep your fingers crossed for that.

Autumn’s Finest Show

For some reason this year has been a great time for me to find awesome fall foliage shots. I feel like I am in the ‘”zone” for finding pretty scenes such as the one above. I saw the color here when I was just up the road making a delivery and I ventured in to see if any nice compositions could be found. I drove through here last year and the color was good then, but this year it was like all the planets aligned and color was everywhere. This property is a Veterans Hospital and it seems like there are people watching your every move around the place. I tried to be as low key as possible as I meandered around this open area hoping to snap a few shots of the trees in all their glory. This locale was just loaded with trees all at peak color to the point I questioned whether I might be on one of my New England fall foliage trips?

All Aboard!

This image features what used to be a trolley/train station in a nearby town and it now is home to the local economic development team. It has a lovely courtyard on the opposite side which serves as a location for community based events to take place. The drizzly morning was just dark enough to allow the lighting to still register as autumn leaves frame the scene. Maybe a mug of warm apple cider or hot chocolate awaits your arrival inside helping to take the chill off and allow you a few moments to express gratitude for the beauty of the changing seasons!

Roadside Attraction

Fall in Lancaster County, Pa has been surprisingly colorful this year despite being somewhat dry throughout the summer. Right now seems to be about prime time for foliage but hopefully some more photogenic opportunities will present themselves yet. While this scene might not be your typical roadside attraction, I found it to be very appealing with the carpet of fallen leaves and the backlit foliage. I put my tripod as low as it would go to hide not only the street but other distracting items in the background. There is a whole high school campus to my right but you would never guess by looking at the image.

A Halloween Treat

This home has been decorated for fall and the owners have really put some time into it. The multi colored lights, 15 foot skeleton and ghosts flittering about in the trees makes for an eye catching presentation that is more of a treat to look at than a trick.

The Magic of Autumn

This is my favorite time of the year and the last couple weeks have me running all over trying to capture what I can before the leaves are gone and Winter sets in. Fall for me is a time where the chill in the air invigorates the soul and colors transform for one last dazzling show of the season. Its taking a walk on a blustery day with leaves crunching under your feet and perhaps a warm cup of apple cider or hot chocolate to take the chill off. This shot is a good example of finding beauty if you look hard enough, it is at the end of a school parking lot but looking west toward the setting sun provided a glorious backlit shot.

Summer Calm

This lovely farm and the daylilies that border the fence made a serene combination for this summer evening photo. I was also highly frustrated by the two horses who kept coming up to the fence blocking my view of the barns. They would stand with their back ends in my shot but not their heads. Every time the camera fired they would either become very attentive or just take off in a mad dash. I did miss a great silhouette shot of the one horse kicking his rear feet out to tell the other one to back off. I tried my best to horse whisper them into a good position but this is as close as I got.

Cascading Colors

This image captures one ladies love of color and gardening. I drove past here and was amazed at the sea of color flowing down from the porch to the sidewalk below and believe it or not it was much more impressive one week earlier but still very nice when I found time to shoot it. It is in a tough spot to capture with limited places to set up and shoot but I am satisfied with the result.

The Grotto

I recently did a photo to recognize a local scout who completed his Eagle Scout project. The young man laid a new paver path, made many improvements and fixed a variety of issues that time and the elements had affected at this place known as the Grotto. I honestly know very little about the Catholic faith or for that matter what exactly the purpose of the Grotto is? My impression is it’s a place to pray, find peace and practice your faith? This is located on Catholic Church property and is really off the beaten path. It is under heavy mature trees and believe me when the sun went down it got extremely dark real quick. My idea was to light the scene and create a kind of outward illumination emanating from the central figure of Mary? I do know that this young mans eagle scout project was greatly appreciated by many people.

Autumn Arrival

I am certainly slowing down when it comes to shooting, but I still thoroughly enjoy capturing new images. This photograph was taken a few days ago in our local park which year after year never seems to disappoint in it’s display of autumn color. This park is very popular and I even played little league baseball here almost 50 years ago. Not sure if I ever told this story before but down the slope on the right is a pond and when I was in my early teens a bunch of my friends and I were sledding here. It was getting late and to be funny I pushed my friends sled toward the frozen pond so he would have to take a long walk to get it back! The entire pond was frozen except one 10 foot circle of open water at the edge where a spring fed in. Guess where the sled went? It went in and sank like a rock and I cannot remember how but my dad found out what happened the same day, so he loaded me up in the car to go retrieve the sled from the frozen pond! He stood there and ordered me to start walking in till I felt the sled! I think I was about waist deep and crying like a baby because all I could imagine was getting caught under the ice and dying. Needless to say we did not get the sled but my dad drove me to the store to buy a new one and deliver it to my friend’s front door the same night! I can tell you I never did that again!