Simple Things

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This Amish buggy heads down the road enjoying the beauty of a late winter storm.This storm dropped between 8 and 12 inches of snow,which laid on trees for almost two full days thanks to very light winds. I set up my tripod along the side of the road and waited for buggies to pass as they headed to the seasons first mud sale,and I chose this spot because of the gorgeous background. If you look real close you can see the added bonus of the little girl standing up front in the buggy to enjoy the snowy view,and sometimes the simplest things are the most memorable.

End of the Ice Age

Posted by reesephoto on

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I was lucky enough to get permission to shoot some photos on this amazing property that has lots of lamp posts.old buildings and a great layout and I will be sharing several in the days ahead. I decided on my title after going here for a second day and being very disappointed when I got there at sunrise only to find all the icicles were no longer hanging like they were the day before. I went on saturday to photograph here and saw this view after the sun came up,so thankfully I captured it or I would be very upset. We have had bitter cold for weeks and these must have slowly been forming for a while,but yesterdays warm up must have caused them to fall because they were all neatly piercing the snow on the ground sunday as I stood in shock at their demise.

Sometimes I see photos and then think about them afterwards and this shot had me wondering what I could do with it using my light painting technique before dawn but that will be for my imagination I guess. If someone had bet me they would be gone in a day,I would have taken that bet. I did a similar shot sunday morning at daybreak with the lampposts glowing and that should be a winner I hope. Now that we got a good snow I am ready to welcome spring with open arms and the coming week is supposed to average around 40 degrees,so the snow will be fading fast.

Patience Rewarded

Posted by reesephoto on

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A few days ago I commented about wanting some more snow this year yet, and lo and behold we got a significant storm that left the region in a glorious coat of white. I shot more beautiful snow scenes in the last two days than all winter before that point. The night it snowed I was out shooting till almost ten at night in a landscape with literally no cars out and about, and then before and after work hoping to get as much captured before it melts. The scene shown here was yesterday morning when the temperature in my truck displayed -6 as I left at 5am to seek out images. The image above was shot later in the morning when it warmed slightly and this shot was captured as I was ready to give up for the morning.

I found this sweeping vista with the road curving into the distance and I had seen a lot of buggies heading to the seasons first mud sale, which is basically an auction held in the spring by various fire companies and the local Amish attend in large numbers. It is called a mud sale because the ground is usually a sloppy mess when they are held,so anyway back to the photo.I set up here with the hope a buggy would pass by and because this location is many miles from the sale I had no idea if a buggy would even be on this road? After 20 minutes of standing in the snow,I gave myself a three-minute countdown to leave and just as I did that I heard the clip clop sound in the distance. I basically looked through the lens and waited for the buggies arrival in the scene and was really excited when I saw the young lad being pulled behind on his wagon. He was probably going to be a runner at the sale and runners help the buyers haul their goodies to their cars which often times are a mile or more away from the sale site due to parking craziness in the country. He seemed to not mind the bitter cold ride and if you look closely you can see someone inside the buggy peeking out the back to either look at me or talk to him. Hopefully I can get to the new images to share before the tulips are blooming,so stay tuned.

Reflecting on Winter

Posted by reesephoto on

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This less than spectacular shot was taken on my way home the other night and the wet road reflecting the color in the sky is what caught my eye at first.As I climbed out of my truck,I heard a buggy coming and figured I would silhouette him in the bright section of the road.The setting sun was still shining on the barn,which contrasted with the cold snow.This has been a rather cold winter with the average temperature for february being 9 degrees but I still would have liked to see more significant snow storms for photos. My hope is the extreme cold somehow killed all the stink bugs waiting in my shed but from what I have read they are pretty good at surviving bitter cold.

Shine Your Light

Posted by reesephoto on

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Dawn arrives to silhouette these trees against the morning sky.The sun rose way to my right so I tried using my flashlight to replace the sun and it actually worked.I used my tablet to fire my camera and look at the shot and then simply moved till I was in the right spot.This is one powerful little flashlight.

Wreckers from the Past

Posted by reesephoto on

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These old tow trucks sit in a lot slowly rusting away, and after driving by them numerous times I decided to stop and ask to shoot them. The owner said I was not the first one to stop and he gladly agreed to let me snap a shot. The color version was done with my spotlight after it was pretty dark and the other was done with my infrared camera. The color shot took maybe twelve different exposures with the light till I got the whole truck lit.I would rather do 3-10 second exposures than 1-30 second exposure because if I mess up with the light I hate waiting thirty seconds till I see the error. These old classics probably have many stories they could tell of coming to the aid of many a motorist over the years.

A Warm Seat Awaits

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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.

The Park Bench

Posted by reesephoto on

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Might be a bit cold to sit and enjoy the park in Lititz,Pa right now, but this was a great photo spot during the lititz fire and ice festival to sit with friends for a snapshot.The colors in the ice come from playground equipment behind the ice sculpture.

Cross Your Heart

Posted by reesephoto on

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Another ice sculpture from the Lititz fire and ice festival this past weekend. This particular one was located in front of the post office and despite my complaining over the brutal temperatures,the upside was there was no one else out to get in my way while I did the photo. Brutal cold just makes the whole process more complicated,from batteries that die too quickly to tripods that are harder to operate to fingers that hurt so bad you almost want to scream,but you push on because you love the experience. I guarantee every time I see this image, I will instantly remember the whole experience including the bitter cold.

The Apartment Complex

Posted by reesephoto on

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Fresh snow adds a delicate accent to this colorful housing development for birds. Everyone must be staying in bed because the snow is still on the holes. The poor resident in the top unit probably still thinks it is night-time because his hole is covered.

Warm Heart on a Cold Day

Posted by reesephoto on

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This shop window in downtown Lititz was the only hint of something warm on an otherwise brutally cold day yesterday. A light dusting of snow added a nice contrast on the sidewalk.The only other folks I saw were three guys clearing the sidewalks and one of them had nothing more than a single sweatshirt on. Now I know common sense is in short supply these days but seriously who wears only a sweatshirt in 3 degree weather with a wind chill of minus 18?

Lititz Fire & Ice Festival

Posted by reesephoto on

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Last night a light snow moved into the area and since the small town of Lititz,Pa was holding its annual fire and ice festival this weekend I decided to brave the elements and get a few shots. I woke at 5 am today,went back to bed and laid there pondering the choice of staying nice and cozy in bed or going out into 2 degree weather with thirty mile an hour winds that made it feel a wonderful minus 18 degrees. Well I finally mustered the enthusiasm to get bundled up and head out and this shot of old man winter blowing his air was very apropos for the day. I lit this with flash and intentionally did a shot to cast the shadow onto the snow for added interest. Ice is very tricky to light and getting the right angle takes a little work to reveal the carving details.

I shot for about twenty minutes till my two batteries were drained, and then I sat in my truck with the heater warming them up to bring them back to life for a few more shots. I bounce back and forth between really enjoying mother natures intense weather and asking myself what possesses me to go out in weather like this? Inevitably I must take a glove off to change camera settings and today that was a really numbing experience after about a minute of the glove off. The upside was there was only three other brave souls that I encountered taking photos of these things and they all had cell phones. The guys who carve these do a great job using a variety of tools from chain saws to grinders to blow torches and the event is always packed with visitors from near and far.