I drove past this little roadside stand that was brimming with fall decorating items and knew I had to a closer look. The rustic nature of the little building surrounded by pumpkins,mums,indian corn and various fall items made for a lovely autumn scene. I photographed this after hours and was allowed access to capture the beauty without any customers getting in the way. The pumpkin photo was the image I really wanted to capture but I decided to try the mum shot first as a second image. An interesting side note worth mentioning was the stand owner was watering the mums as I arrived after hours and the driveway had a little wet area that I noticed reflected all the colorful pumpkins. After she left for home,a neighbor came out to chat and I mentioned how I wished the whole driveway was wet to reflect the scene and he immediately offered to get the hose out and wet it down. I was very grateful for his assistance and gave him a print as a thank you because I feel that little detail really added to the shot.
Fall Corn Harvesting
Foggy Travels
All Fenced In
The Wicked Witch
Our Fall Display
This is one view of our backyard fall decor this year.We usually decorate the front of our home for fall but with countless people walking the trail behind our home, I felt it would be seen and appreciated by many more along the trail who also might enjoy autumn. I arranged some mums,pumpkins and made a scarecrow figure riding a bike along with a youngster waving to trail users. Everything accents my hobbit hole creation complete with spider webs and a witch door mat. The bike rider was a logistical nightmare to get him to sit stable but a few 2x4s and some screws and he is rock solid.
Backroad Farm
Watermelon Delivery
Apple Harvest Delivery
I noticed these three Amish girls picking apples in an orchard a good distance from the road, and even using a 400mm,I knew they were at my limit to get a good shot and they were also among the trees making it hard to see them. I watched about 5 minutes and suddenly they unloaded the whole wagon and start picking more apples making me think this was not going to be a day for apple photos. I said to myself,just wait five minutes and see what happens,and lo and behold they stop picking apples and load the wagon.They had no idea I was there and as they came out of the orchard I snapped the bottom photo and to my surprise they came down the road allowing me a closer shot. I did manage to cause a missed shot because the little girl was on top of the apples for a while but when her sister saw my camera she quickly pulled her off and it was so adorable to see her up there.I should have been more patient and waited a little longer.
Mower Delivery
Wide Load Coming Through
Looking East and West
Out For a Walk
The Harvesting Specialists
Little Workhorse
Dads Little Helpers
Catch The Bus
Overlooking The Property
Ready For Harvesting
Amish Drag Race
This Amish guy on a scooter is being pulled by two mules and it almost appears he is racing the Harley up ahead. The guy on the scooter was being pulled by the mules,but he was merely moving the creatures from one farm to the next up the road. I never saw this before but I see something new every day.
Graceful Fall
The title today was chosen as a play on words after I literally fell off my truck roof while taking this scene. I wanted to gain a little elevation so I climbed onto my truck roof,which I do many times. I crouched down to brace myself and decided to move toward the edge of the roof a bit,when I go too close and momentum starts carrying me over the edge and of course my foot catches and I basically start to dive off the roof with camera in hand. Through some miracle I was able to land on my feet averting disaster. Getting old is not all it’s cracked up to be.
Cabin On Moose Lake
The title sounds good but it’s actually just an old building in need of a little TLC and it is situated by a very small pond. All the illumination you see was added by my flash or flashlight.The interior was pitch black but going around to the back yard and blasting my flash toward the rear windows lit up the interior to give it a new life so to speak.My flashlight is quite bright and attracted more flying insects this night than I wanted, and that made the shoot a little rough.
Water Wheel Reflection
Pile In
Star Light,Star Bright
This Lancaster county homestead is a real gem, complete with a star on the barn and candle light in each window. I was on my way to shoot a sunrise when I passed this spot and saw the reflection in the stream.Needless to say this became my sunrise shot, and the full moon was an added bonus as it headed for the horizon.I wish the moon would have shown up in the reflection but when it did,the moon in the sky was behind the house,which was a bit puzzling to me.I had to sink my tripod into a muddy stream bank to get the low angle but it was worth the effort.
Foggy Sunrise
This foggy morning sunrise caught my eye because of the three trees and fences but was even more dramatic when I first pulled up because there were about thirty sheep silhouetted here, but as soon as I stepped out of my truck they bolted to the other end of the pasture. The rising sun lit up the fog and made a nice scene come to life despite no more sheep.
The Distlefink
A distlefink is a stylized goldfinch and it appears in Pennsylvania dutch folk art.It represents happiness and good fortune to the Pennsylvania german people.It is a common theme on hex signs and fraktur.The word distlefink literally means thistle finch. I shot this large version which welcomes visitors to the Berks county history museum from both sides. It is in desperate need of a repaint but it still made a fun subject to light paint.The biggest problem I had was avoiding three groundhogs that made their home under the bush and kept coming out after dark, but a little blast from my flash and they would high tail it for a little bit.If you look real hard at the top photo,in the lower right corner you can barely see one of the groundhogs in the grass and I only just saw it was there as I was working on this post.
Cool Bridge
Knocking Them Out
The little squirt on the left just caught a glimpse of me sitting in my car as I snapped this image. There was still one more sister to unload from the buggy but the way they lined up little to big had me clambering to catch a shot before it all fell apart.I guess the small fry has hand me downs all set for years to come. The Amish usually have big families,hence my title.

































