This image was taken at the bi-annual Christmas show at Poole Forge mansion. I always enjoy shooting this event which includes a variety of decorated trees and this display one was among my favorites this year. It was done by the owners of a local Ice cream shop named Lickity Split. I brought the two candles with me to the shoot to give it a nice added cozy touch.
Started looking for Christmas images in the town of Lititz, Pa and this Harley parked in a shop window was the first to catch my eye.
Another rainy fall day.
This is a spotted lantern fly that is an invasive species here. It showed up this summer in large numbers and has the fruit industry in a panic. It is a pretty insect but very destructive to fruit. check out this Youtube video to see how intense they can be. All I can say is thank goodness they don’t bite or sting.
I shot this a couple of months ago and finally got around to posting it. I used a long lens which helped but as soon as they knew it was picture time, they did an about-face and headed down the lane toward home. It was very cute because the girls had doll babies they had along for the ride.
Two different shots I took at the same location but a day or two apart. The bottom shot was when I first noticed the scene and the upper is the first chance I had to come back and shoot it in the evening. Rain and wind took them down pretty quickly but I like each shot for its own appeal.
I shot this image a couple of weeks ago of one of several murals done by high school students near the towns visitors center. I used my ladder and pole setup to get up about 12 feet off the ground to capture this.
I am including a link to the magazine where I mentioned my work was being used as part of a story on Lititz. Anyone not from my area can see the nice story they did along with my photos.
https://www.lancastercountymag.com/christmas-in-lititz/
Sunlight shines through a narrow opening between buildings illuminating this maple tree in Lititz
This is a second image I shot on this very rainy night. What caught my eye was the water puddling everywhere and the reflecting lights and fall foliage. I have never seen this much water collecting in this usually dry area so I felt I needed to tough out the miserable conditions to capture this.
This evening found me shooting in the pouring rain in the Lititz Springs Park and my determination was certainly put to the test under what was basically a non-stop downpour. The whole time I was shooting I only saw one other poor soul walking through with an umbrella. There is a magazine in my area called Lancaster County Magazine and they contacted me this year to be included in a story on Christmas in Lititz in their December issue. I just saw the magazine tonight and the article was wonderful and their printing was an exact match to my images.
My hometown park was looking its fall best this past week. Two days later the leaves were almost all on the ground.
I found this pretty scene at a local park during a rainy fall day. This spot is usually dry but heavy rain left some rather large puddles that reflected the birch and fall foliage nicely. Without the reflection I am not sure I would have shot this scene. I did hit the birch, bushes and fallen leaves with some light to help their reflections to be nice and clear.
Another rainy night finds me getting wet for a good cause in the local park. I like the lamp posts along this entrance to the park and the fall color made for a nice image.
Sometimes too much rain can actually help with photo opportunities and this shot is an example of that. There is a walking path that goes right beside these maples but thanks to heavy rain, the creek which is to the right was high and runoff was collecting in several low areas. The water provided a good reflection and the sunset contributed as well. I was wearing muck boots which are about a foot high and after I finished shooting I was walking on the path in about 8 inches of water when I must have ventured off the trail and found myself with water cascading into my boots.
We have been having more than our fair share of rain this year and thankfully I had a little glimmer of enthusiasm to go shoot something in the rain this week. To look at this scene, one would think it is along a quiet street but it’s not and I shot this at what was most likely the busiest time of the day. I had quite a few 2 to 8 second exposures that were ruined by cars whipping by, but there were a few rare moments when it was clear. If you look close you can see a road going between the two buildings and while I was over in that section lighting the large pine tree and the building, I was standing on the road and had to jump on the sidewalk more than once when a car would come turning off the main road in a hurry. One thing for photographers wanting to try shots like this is you must blast the subject with too much light if you want to get a decent reflection in the rainy street because even though the building is overexposed, the reflection is perfect. You simply shoot a separate exposure for the building with your flash dialed down. Also my camera was sitting just in front of my truck on a tripod with an umbrella over it and cars flying by three feet away so that had me a little worried.
This is not the first time I snapped a shot of this quaint home and it’s probably not the last either. This was the best angle to catch the fall foliage so even though I wish more of the house was showing , I still felt this was a good angle.
This scene was shot at a local farm stand and I kept putting off stopping to ask if I could do a shot, but when I noticed their inventory was getting low I felt it was now or never. I asked the owners and they said sure, so other than having to deal with the drivers hat blowing off, it was a fun shot to do. The shadow on the wall was thanks to my flash and I also positioned my flash to put a shadow of the driver there but as you can see in the bottom image it looked more like a snowman on the wall so I decided the top one was more fall like. I really liked the way I added light to the entrance area to give some balance on the left.
It certainly is quite evident that my photography has taken a back seat to everything else in my life right now and my posting on here is practically non-existent, but I did capture this pair of Amish sisters helping get their roadside stand ready recently. Something I saw while waiting for this shot to come together reminded me how the Amish sometimes seem to have a different view of danger as it relates to their kids. When I first pulled off the road to decide what I might shoot, the mom, her teenage daughter and these two little ones were all working together trimming pumpkin stems and arranging things. The thing that really caught my eye was the girl with the pig tails was holding a knife with a blade that was almost a foot long? She was not just holding it, but crawling up and over piles of pumpkins with it in her hand and she would slip or trip several times and it was making me nervous just observing, but mom seemed just fine with it?
Most of those who visit my website know I have been battling depression for a while and this year has been particularly hard on me because of numerous things that currently rest on my shoulders and it all feels like a huge anchor dragging me down. I have days where I wonder if the way I feel will become intense enough to where I will just decide I’ve had enough and call it a day? The mind is a very powerful thing and some days I feel absolutely worthless and think I have not done a single thing that amounts to anything in my life and why bother and then several hours later it seems to relent and I am glad I did not let it get the best of me. For whatever reason a lot of artistic types fight very similar battles to mine and those who have departed strike very close to my heart and I completely understand their decisions. I know I am not alone with these problems and realize many are much worse, so life goes on.
I have no idea why I feel the need to share some of this stuff but this post today reminds me that one of the things that brings me great satisfaction is my photography and being creative but that passion is being overwhelmed by these struggles. The above photo was taken back in July and I now finally found the enthusiasm to share it here so that gives you an idea of where I am at.
The shot was one I saw earlier this particular day when the light was terrible so all I could think about was would the owner let me into the yard to shoot it that evening? I was completely surprised that the owner was very receptive to letting me take this and offered to turn porch lights on and even dimmed them to the perfect level for me. This log cabin sits right by a creek and is a great place to sit and sip lemonade on hot summer evening or perhaps hot chocolate as we head into fall.
This shot pretty much sums up how I feel these days, fairly frequent bombardment of very dark thinking and I rarely have the enthusiasm to go out shooting these days. Wish I could share more images like before but most days I feel like staying to myself. No one really understands this and just thinks your some eccentric nut job because you avoid interaction quite a bit. At least night-time gives me a break while I am sleeping.
This beautiful wishing well is a new addition to Historic Poole Forge near Churchtown ,Pa. The wishing well was a concept that executive director Dawn Ekdahl had for quite some time as a way for the many photographers who visit here to donate a little extra change to help keep the place looking great. Doing a project of this caliber takes money and talent and thanks to a generous donation from a local family, it came to fruition. The Ansbach family provided the financial support and dedicated a plaque which reads, In memory of a great lady. Janet Tobias Ansbach. A loyal wife, mother, and a great friend. One crucial part of this was finding a great stone mason and the result speaks of his talent. How someone can fit so many odd-shaped stones into a circle that is so tight and perfect is incredible. A local machinist and steel smith named Mike Malamon created all the inside mechanics to keep the water flowing as well.
I just happened to be rounding a corner when this little scene unfolded before me. Amish around here have been making these painted wooden flowers in a variety of hues, and I was lucky enough to get mom restocking the supply while her young daughter looks like she is ready to bloom as well and give walking a try.
I was in the area last year where this home is located and there was a painted bicycle with flower baskets in the front yard that caught my eye . I knocked and was greeted by a very nice lady who said I could gladly photograph the bike. I commented on the nice porch she had and she said she had plans to paint everything in the coming year. Well fast forward to a week ago and I drive by to see that it has in fact been painted and is full of flowers as well. I knocked again and was told I could gladly shoot the front, so I came back that evening and did this shot. One nice touch is the porch lanterns use tea lights and they actually come on with a hand-held remote. I love the color choice utilizing the greens and purples and the complimentary pink petunias. My theory is the lady who owns this place uses her landscaping and decorating ideas as a way to relax and counter the exhilarating work she does as a wing walker? Thats just my theory but after watching her perform on YouTube at air shows, it’s not for the faint of heart and very few people are able to perform on top of a plane wing as she does. I would need a lot of gardening to de-stress from such an occupation.
Clouds billow above this local farm as the sweet corn grows higher and higher.
This local funeral home always does a very classy display celebrating the 4th of July. It is so tastefully done that I just had to capture it.
Oh how I wish we had a little of this right now. Today is forecast for 98 degrees and crazy humidity. On the upside, my friend from Vietnam says this is cool weather where he is from. These are Mennonite men clearing snow for the Sunday service.
This is a restaurant in the small town of Lititz, Pa called the Tomato Pie Cafe and I actually was shooting a different shot across the street in the rain. I finished the shot I was after and as I turned to head to my truck I noticed the usually busy street was practically bare.I rushed to get set up and the one lone car that was parked to the left of the tree pulled away and I knew everything was coming together. It was pouring the entire time and although my camera had an umbrella protecting it, I was not so lucky as my second umbrella broke as I tried to open it, so I had to run around in the rain using my flash to light the trees which gave nice reflections on the road. I got drenched but it was worth it to get the final result.
Donald Reese Photography 