I was out last night for a bit and photographed this tree in the park in Lititz,Pa. the fog made for an atmospheric treat and by using my flashlight behind the tree,I was able to get these nice rays of light shining out. The town is so appealing and while I was shooting this in the still of the night, suddenly from the town square came the “Little Drummer Boy” playing on the speakers echoing throughout the landscape. Another example of one of many neat things that makes this place so special.
This is another display from the Christmas event at Poole Forge. This display focused on a sewing related theme and includes various sewing items adorning the tree.
Christmas is fast approaching and it’s the perfect time to break out the old toboggan for some fun on the slopes. The tree on the right features colorful nature subjects such as a peacock,bluejay,cardinal and butterflies. Moonlight shines in through the window as snow blows outside on this cold winters night.
Three unique trees await the arrival of guests to the Poole Forge Christmas event.Local groups and individuals bring a tree and decorate it for this unique holiday event held bi-annually at the historic old property and money raised goes towards upkeep and improvements to the site.The tree on the right was particularly tricky for me because it was comprised of glass dishes that needed some backlight to reveal their beauty. Different pieces of glass bowls and dishes are glued to each other to form ornate decorations.
This is one of the displays set up at a Christmas tree event at a historic property.The local doll club always does an outstanding job in arranging these antique dolls for their display and this was no easy feat moving around this scene to light it without bumping anything,which would ruin my shoot if that happened. I think this won first place by the attendees who voted for their favorite.
This is the time of year when the Grinch makes his appearance and he seems to be hanging around this bookstore in downtown Lititz. The top view shows the store during hours of operation and the bottom image shows someone lurking inside the closed store behind the locked door. I thoroughly enjoy the movie “Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas” featuring Jim Carey and its elaborate costumes,makeup and props,and the town these images were shot in actually had an elementary school that has done this movie and everyone gets dressed up as their favorite character and it was always a blast to see.
Normally I would not shoot Christmas lights without snow on the ground but the local merchants association held a jingle bell trolley tour that went around town to see some cool light displays and they asked me to shoot the winning home. This home has l.e.d. lighting set to music and features over 20,000 lights that can shine in any color in the visible spectrum.The owner spent countless hours synchronizing the music to the lights and the effort was enjoyed by countless passersby.
This old building is located in a nearby town and includes this business called Scratch. Everything is made from scratch,including cupcakes,decadent ganaches and countless other tasty treats. the snow was flying the night I shot this and I could have used a nice cup of hot chocolate and a few cupcakes.
I wanted to title this home for the holidays, but I used that already on another photo. This is another example of me seeing something as I was driving and I just decided to stop and ask if I could shoot photos. Thankfully the owners were gracious enough to let me give it a whirl. Folks seem to like to hear of my escapades,so I will provide some interesting facts about this shot.Initially I was impressed with the fresh fruit arrangement that hangs over the entrance and the fruit that was in the planters by the door and window boxes,but I knew I wanted to jazz things up and I had a few items at home to bring for the shoot.
So just before the sun set I showed up with my box of luminaries, a few wrapped packages and a sprinkling can.After setting up my tripod and choosing the angle I wanted,I began placing the luminaries along the walkway,added the packages and grabbed the sprinkling can.I know you are wondering where it is in the photo,but its purpose was merely to make the sidewalk wet so it would shimmer with the glowing luminaries.My luminaries are white bags but they are inside plastic photo bags so they stay dry.A light snow the day before had provided a dusting on the bushes which definitely helped with my composition. As I was getting ready to make the sidewalk wet,I realized there was no faucet that would fill my can so I went to the next door neighbor and got the go ahead to use their faucet,and without them,the walk would have been dry.
After I shot this,I drove up the road to shoot another house that had fruit,and commented to the owner that I just came from a house that also had amazing fruit arrangements,to which he said the owners of this house had seen his displays on a home tour and he had helped her get started with this holiday tradition,so the old saying,it’s a small world really is true. I lit everything with either my flash or my spotlight,including the star on the chimney.I am not sure what style of home this is,but I have always found it appealing. Close your eyes as you feel the cold night air rush by your face as you ride in the old red sleigh and listen to the sleigh bells jingle as you arrive for a gathering with family and friends. The luminaries light your way as you carry an armful of packages and the smell of the Christmas meal greets your senses as the door opens to welcome you home. Now go cue up Perry Como’s version of No place like home for the holidays,and your all set.
My photo today will be a bit long-winded but for those who enjoy my ramblings both literary and photographically,this will be perfect.I began this evening photographing Christmas displays ten miles away and was on my way home at 8pm when I called my wife to say I would be home in 15 minutes. As I drove home in the rain,I began to take note of lights reflecting on the road and as I drove by this Bank and its Community Christmas tree all lit up, I knew I had to try to capture it.
I found a store across the street with an awning that provided cover from the rain,set up my tripod and began to figure out how I was going to light the place and deal with several issues that I needed to overcome. The biggest issue I had was one lone car parked right in the middle of the shot, but I figured it was a night all but one store was closed and the person would leave soon. Well I began capturing the scene and lighting the building and then a second car pulls in, and I started to get a little frustrated.
The second car had a girl in it and she proceeded to play games on her phone for 20 minutes till some guys showed up,one of which owned the other car,and I was sure they were all leaving after they got in both cars.Well guess what,they all sat there doing who knows what for at least ten minutes until the one car left. Ten minutes later,it returns and you guessed it,more sitting there doing nothing.Now you must understand the street around me on both sides has absolutely zero cars in any space so these two in the middle of my shot were a tad frustrating.
At one point I checked in with my wife and said it might be late because I was determined to outlast these nitwits and get my shot.So at exactly twenty minutes before ten, the one car leaves and just the girl remains playing on her phone again,so I decide I am going over and offer her five dollars to just move the car already and as I ask how long till she is heading out,she answers, in a minute,so I keep my money and I think, finally. Well guess what,twenty minutes later she is still sitting there. While waiting I had some dude ask for a dollar,which I obliged and then two nights later the same guy asks again,to which I said hit the road this time.I also almost got hit right in the middle of the road because I was over by the bank and was watching a guy heading toward my camera across the street and started walking while focusing on the guy in case I had to give chase and all of a sudden I hear tires screeching and the car bumper is about two feet from me.Needless to say the woman was a little irked at my lack of concentration on the road traffic.
Well in the end all the cars left,and I was soaked but I captured the shot I had imagined was possible. After shooting multiple frames of lighting, it was literally the last 10 shots that really brought the image to its optimum. I had a couple of spots on the road that showed very little reflection or color and I figured out by blasting the buildings up high with flash that the light would reflect on those areas and that’s were the beautiful blue on the road emanated from.The final time to get this shot was exactly two hours and I think the odds of being able to duplicate this shot anytime soon are rather slim,and you can usually bank on my patience getting a great image.
With Santa looking over his shoulder,snoopy is on his best behavior in this Lititz, Pa window.This particular store called The Main Street Peddler has always been one of my favorites.The large panes,and quaint design afford a good view of the display and the lantern hanging above the door is a finishing touch.
This lovely older home has lots of little architectural details and is decorated for the Christmas season,so when I saw it reflecting on the wet roadway,I just had to stop and try a shot.There is a traffic signal that hangs right in the middle of this photo that I felt compelled to clone out so you could truly focus on the beauty of the home and not some ugly light. the street lights are so bright and are very tricky to incorporate in the shot but I made them work.This is actually a retirement home for a limited number of seniors and is quite a cozy place.
This mama bear and her two cubs are pretty cozy in the window at the Teddy Bear Emporium in downtown lititz. This image was a little challenging because I lit each snowflake individually and they were moving inside the closed store,so they were always bumping into the ones next to them causing problems while I was shooting.
Decorated doors along main street in Lititz, Pa.A Moravian star hangs over the entrance.
A very light dusting of snow barely covers the ground around this farm scene. late evening light and a decent sky combined for an appealing image.
All was calm on this rainy night in Lititz ,PA as I looked for subjects reflecting in the glistening wet road. These old homes along the main street looked inviting with their christmas trees and lovely door decor. This town is such a neat place to walk at night and soak in the ambiance of a close-knit community.
Another store window in Lititz, Pa celebrating the reason for the season.
This image of the Bulls Head Tavern in Lititz ,Pa reminds me of paintings I have seen of Paris that show street scenes bathed in luscious light reflecting the warmth within on the rain-soaked streets. Painterly is the word that comes to mind and the contrast was pretty extreme so it’s a minor miracle I got something decent. Would have been better when the daylight was fading but thankfully it was still pouring and the reflections were great,even though I had to stay under my umbrella to shoot it. The bonus element in the scene that I like is the original 1963 london cab which one of the owners parks out front on many nights.
This Christmas window is located at a restaurant called Tomato Pie in the town of Lititz,Pa. It was pouring the night I shot this,and the main reasons I chose this view was the fact I wanted to stay dry and the overhang provided cover. Notice the many different tomatoes scattered throughout the display. This shot required some compromise because if I raised the tripod,I would get car lights reflected in the glass and the building in the distance would get cut off, and I would have preferred to be more parallel but the rest of the scene would have suffered. This would have been a good night to have a warm cup of soup and a sandwich while you watch the dedicated photographer working outside.
This is another one of my Dreamy Christmas window photos from the town of Lititz,Pa. My title refers to the fact that this shop is new to the downtown area and has a wonderful selection of home decor and holiday items,and they offer a full compliment of interior design services.The owner graciously helped me out by adding the small tree and wreath as accents to my window shop image.This image required me to use a polarizer to help remove the reflections of passing cars in the window glass and I also used a piece of foam to block reflections that were impeding the view of the gorgeous stars in the corner.This building once housed a great camera store that I frequented many moons ago,and the new owners have given it a lovely new coat of paint and made a very inviting place for shoppers to frequent.
A small vignette from a store window in Lititz,Pa
Residents in the small town of Lititz,Pa have many unique traditions that make the community special and one that I find particularly beautiful is the Lititz Moravian Church’s Annual poinsettia tree that is set up on thanksgiving weekend in preparation for the first Sunday of advent. The tree features one hundred poinsettias given in honor or remembrance of someone and stands approximately twelve feet high. The beautiful tree is only up a short period because it cannot be watered in the sanctuary.
I remembered this is the time of year the tree is assembled so I headed over to see if there was any chance I could have access to taking a photo and I was pleasantly surprised by the gracious reception shown by the Pastor to my request. I essentially was given full access to do something for an hour and these two shots are what I accomplished. The well-known Moravian star is hanging at the front but was real tough to incorporate in my composition and was unlit at the time,so I never thought about including it till I decided to light it with my spotlight,but by then I was locked into my composition. The entire sanctuary was dark for my shots and I wished the lights could have been turned on but I forgot to ask about that,so I made due with my spotlight to do everything you see here.Even the lantern in the top photo on the upper left was lit using my spotlight ,and I think it looks like a real candle in there.I feel so blessed to have been given the opportunity to capture something so beautiful. Maybe someday those who view this image will get the chance to see this display in person.
This rainy evening found me photographing shops in Lititz and to say it was a little frustrating shooting in a constant downpour is an understatement. I started shooting across the street under the overhang because I wanted to stay dry and also capture the Tomato Pie restaurant window display,and as I was finishing that shot,I wandered out into the street and saw this amazing reflection and just had to try and record it. Now there are a few things to understand and one of them is the fact that this is a busy main road and its rush hour,and my exposure times were anywhere from 8 seconds to 20 seconds. The cars were lined up in both directions and were non stop so imagine trying to find eight solid seconds of no traffic passing. Well I had exactly four shots out of about forty that were car free and thank goodness I had the shot captured and the fact that I had to stand there with an umbrella for almost 45 minutes to get this is a testament to either my dedication or stupidity.
Something that happened while I was shooting this caught my eye and it was a pickup truck that stopped in the alley beside the building and I noticed the driver got out in a hurry and seemed like he was after something. I quickly saw he was actually trying to save a duck that was trying in vain to get across the busy road and this man actually stopped traffic in both directions and guided the creature across the road to the park. this lucky duck almost got hit three different times till the guy stopped the cars and got him on his way,to which I yelled nice job.
This covered bridge has always been a problem for me to find nice compositions because of the way trees are growing along the banks.The bridge was originally located at another spot and was moved here a few years ago.I was very pleased with my result this fall as I climbed down a steep bank and using hip waders,I was able to get in the water for a better shot. I was here at sunrise and as soon as the sun hit the leaves,they literally were raining off the trees in a way I had never seen before. Thankfully many fell in this little tidal pool that somewhat held them there for a while. I returned at sunset and they all had washed away,much to my chagrin. Thankfully I had the shot already so it was no big deal.
Well it’s that time of year when I like to check out and photograph the unique shop windows in the quaint town of Lititz,Pa. This year the first one to catch my eye was the newly opened fiber arts destination with the catchy name of Ewebiquitous. I usually like to shoot horizontals but this one worked out in a vertical and features the exterior decorated window box and the sheep dressed in knitted Christmas stockings looking out the window. The owner had closed the shop for the day but graciously allowed me to come inside to light the yarn with some flash to highlight the colors.
A stone lane leads into the autumn woods
This was actually a test run for a shot I hope to do this winter with full snow coverage.It is the local historical society grounds,and I recently spoke with them to see if they had any interest in adding some holiday decorations such as a nice wreath on the door to spice up the shot and I want to bring luminaries for the sidewalk on the left. My first impression is they might be up for it. I will share a little information about the shot so everyone can understand the effort involved. First my camera was mounted on a pipe attached to a 6 foot ladder,so my camera is about nine feet off the ground so I could position the clock in the center of the main building and be close to parallel.Next I used my flashlight to spotlight the wall behind the clock to add some interest, and then I lit the lantern on the wall with my flashlight and the area surrounding it as well as the tree on the left. Things that complicate a shot like this are the brightness of the clock face which quickly overwhelms the scene at longer exposures,so you need to capture that early in the shot before it gets too dark,and there are street lights that have a terrible red cast that becomes hard to work around. Below is a visual in case anyone wants to try this crazy idea. I mounted a board to the ladder top,then a pipe fitting to that so the pipe can thread into the top. Lastly I used a bogen head and clamp to get my camera to be able to articulate however needed and it can go up or down along the pipe. The things on the camera are a wireless transmitter to fire it and a camranger to send a wifi signal to my tablet.
A stone wall and stream lead the eye into the frame from the left and the red barn sits nicely framed by a carpet of yellow leaves and maple tree.
This set of images were taken in the small town of Lititz,Pa in the area known as the Moravian Church Square. It is a gorgeous section of town that includes numerous old buildings and is right along the main street. This year I spotted a dazzling yellow Ginko tree on a friday night and took a shot or two before it got dark.I called a friend to tell him he might want to check it out,and he did just that on the next day.I called him to ask if he got anything and he said all of the leaves were off,to which I laughed and said there is no way all the leaves fell off overnight. He insisted it was true so on Sunday morning I headed over at sunrise to see,and lo and behold he was telling the truth. I was busy getting more photos in the pre-dawn light when the caretaker strolled by and said he was lighting the church and hoped that would not be a problem,to which I said go for it. The added illumination inside took the stunning scene to a whole other level in my opinion,and I was very thankful not only for the beauty before me but the ability to appreciate it and capture it. I joked with the care taker about the leaves not being cleaned up because he is a very efficient worker and keeps the property well maintained and he said the parishioners love to walk down the golden path as they arrive for Sunday worship so he leaves them lay an extra day.
Moss covered rocks lay just off to the side of this dirt road which meanders through the woods that are currently ablaze with lovely fall foliage.
Donald Reese Photography 