RlPS architects did another stunning gingerbread display this year again. this subway scene was below the street scene above.

This is the Historic Ephrata Cloister, and every year around Christmas they offer lantern tours of the site. I stopped by to see if they would consider letting me do a shot with the lanterns sometime and because it was at least an hour till the tour was starting,they said I could do a shot right away if I wanted. I was under the gun to quickly get set up because the sun had already set and it was getting dark quickly. All the lanterns were sitting by the visitors center so I had to position them along the path and light them as well in a few minutes time. I set my camera up, and decided to use my tablet to operate the camera on what is called live view, where it opens the shutter and gives me a live shot of the scene,so I just looked at my tablet and positioned the lanterns where I thought they looked good from the camera position. Anytime you have light like this,you have to shoot at the right time so you can hold detail in the bright flame and match the ambient light. There is a period of time that lasts maybe five minutes where everything is balanced,but it does not last long. Would love to do this shot in the snow sometime,but there was just enough moisture on the walkway to give a little reflection of the warm lanterns to give a nice result without snow. The two lamp posts were also dark because they have some sort of electrical problem and the grounds keeper said they have no idea where the problem is, so all the old posts are out right now. I lit the posts with flash to bring them to life and save the day.

Another one of my store Christmas window shots from this year.

A simple entranceway offers a warm inviting view in downtown Lititz.

This nativity welcomes patrons to the local eye doctors office.The folks here were nice enough to let me inside to blast my flash out the window to get the light rays on the ground.

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Santa pulled his sleigh right up on the porch at this home,which was all decorated for the Christmas season. Santa had the sleigh loaded up with presents and children were nestled in their beds dreaming of their stockings filled to overflowing.

Nice light,gorgeous woodwork and Christmas lights downtown are all the ingredients for a picture perfect shot. This is a local bake shop,hence my title.

These three trees were part of the mansion event and the wood floors were reflecting the colors nicely. I went outside and used my flash to cast the shadows up on the ceiling from the windows

This looks like a great place to cozy up by the fireplace as the cold winter winds blow outside. A toboggan ride down the local hill, some hot chocolate and then a warm blanket to take a nap and you are all set. This is one of the displays at the mansion event I shoot every two years.

there was more than diamonds shimmering on this December night at the jewelry store. The colored balls were shining brightly and just had to be captured.

This little shop window was decorated with a musical theme.You had Elvis,the Beatles and more. I lit this with my deer spotlight.

This store window has been lovingly decorated for the Christmas season. It is a challenge shooting through a huge piece of glass that wants to reflect everything around it, but a little effort and you got it.

Several buggies make their way through town on a Sunday morning as the Christmas decor provides a welcoming atmosphere.

This is a small town nearby and I shot it on a sunday evening to get the traffic free road. I lit everything with wireless flash.The building across the street was an old hardware store for decades and now has been lovingly taken over by a family that decorates all three floors windows for passersby to enjoy. It is no longer a hardware store though.

Same tree as yesterday but from the opposite side.Now if I could just get someone silhouetted in the window?

An Amish buggy heads down a country road as it passes under the outstretched limbs of a giant old tree. They do not come much larger around here and this one dominates the landscape along this stretch of road.

This is the third image from the mansion Christmas tree event.It features the local doll club display which is always a favorite of mine. A friend always said they creep him out,but I always get a feeling of nostalgia when I see the scene the club creates.You have to see this in person to see the level of detail they put into the layout.I lit this scene entirely with my deer spotlight with a diffuser on it.

One interesting note on this image is I am given a key to get in this place to shoot and I always come around 5 am when it is dark so I can set up my gear and start shooting before the window light overpowers the shot. I arrived this saturday and decided to use the restroom first,which is located down the hall from the doll display. As I rounded the corner here, I saw the huge live tree with all its decorations laying on its side on the floor and all the decorations were scattered everywhere. There is a running joke here about ghosts in the mansion and I have heard a few strange sounds over the years but nothing to make me high tail it,and yet that’s the first thing that crossed my mind. I knew they turn off all the trees before closing up so everything was in order the night before.

I thought to myself there is no way on this earth they are going to believe this tree just fell over on its own and I thought they will think I did it and they will never let me in again. I called the lady who runs everything and she was extremely nice about it and asked if I would stay and help her right the thing. Well as it turns out, we stood the tree up in the stand and I started turning the bolts in the base and the bolt in the front kept turning forever until I realized it was totally stripped. All I can say is thank goodness I could show her that,and more amazing was the fact that the tree fell in the very best possible direction,missing the entire gingerbread area and only lightly hitting the two dolls on the left. I returned the following morning to shoot the now fixed doll display and would you believe the bathroom light and fan were running as I got to the back of the mansion. It was a little weird but it’s just one of those stories from the mansion.

This was a spur of the moment shot I decided to do on a miserable rainy night this week. It features a beautiful mural done by a local artist on the local VFW building. I lit the house on the corner with flash to get the cool reflection in the wet road.This is another road that is hard to capture without traffic getting in the shot.

I got a call from someone I know who always has something nice to say about my work and she had a request to capture a shot of her hometown main street Christmas decorations. I knew the street was super busy most of the time and the street lights are very bright,so they tend to become way too bright before the rest of the scene settles in. I told her I would think about it, and then because I tend to be the type of person that likes to get things done, I went the same night and tried to find an angle. I picked an angle up the hill behind me and twenty minutes into the shot,I noticed this better angle and so I started over here. This image is comprised of maybe 8 to 12 individual shots to get everything right. One shot was just of the sky and the bright lights at the right exposure and then I shot a series of images capturing most of the street without cars and their headlights in each area of the street. The hardest piece was the area on the near left that is a post office and it had two cars parked there for nearly 45 minutes. They finally left and I could capture that area without ugly vehicles there. I had an umbrella on a pole over the tripod the whole time but it was a very raw and wet night,but in reality I was glad I made the effort and it turned out to be a great photo thanks to the shimmering road and the festive lights.

Take a real foggy night,add a very bright flashlight and you can have loads of fun light painting.It is quite amazing how you can create rays of light if you have enough fog and the right angle with your light.Wish I had more nights to play in the fog. The three lit trees are the proud trio.