The shops in downtown Lititz get all decked out for the Christmas season creating a nice environment. I was just about done capturing this store image when this couple came walking by and I blurted out “any chance you two would pose in my shot”? Surprisingly they did agree so I snapped three quick frames because it was raining and they were on their way. I lit them from behind with my flash to silhouette them and you can see that helped illuminate the rain drops coming down.
Believe it or not this is a shot I have been hoping to capture for the last four years! Fall is a favorite time of year for me and I enjoy everything from the crisp cool nights and frosty mornings to the dazzling array of autumn colors! This location in particular is one I happened to drive past each of the last 3 years and every time it was when the inventory was anywhere from half gone to three quarters gone. Well fast forward to this year and for once I caught the field full of rich color. I stopped and snapped a quick shot and asked if I could stop by in the evening to do a tripod mounted shot under softer lighting? The young lady said sure and all day all I could think about was how awesome this opportunity was going to be to capture such beauty! Well evening finally rolled around and I arrived to notice that during the day hundreds of the most vibrant plants had been taken to the auction? This minor setback was never even considered as a possibility but as the owner told me once they get to full color it is time to move them out. Well I ended up shooting a little lower angle to hide empty areas and the owners thankfully allowed me to move some plants to fill in random holes. I was just settling in with my final composition and the light was getting more appealing by the minute and low and behold here comes a tractor with a wagon down the lane to remove even more? Not knowing what they were going to grab sent me into hustle mode capturing as many exposures from light to dark before my subject potentially might disappear in front of me. They did grab a couple dozen but mostly from the area out of my shot so in the end I finally was blessed to get the shot!
As a side note I wanted to mention that the owner and his family were very appreciative of the framed print I gave them and were extremely pleased with the final image. I must say it is very gratifying when someone acknowledges your abilities and the effort put forth to rise above mediocrity. I think both shots are great but I always lean toward the images that have that “alive” with light look that is one look I love because it imparts more than beauty as you can imagine yourself getting up for morning chores or maybe getting ready to turn in after a day of hard work. Most people are more than happy to hit a few lights on so I can go the extra mile.
This is another shot of the Alden house in downtown Lititz, Pa. The star is one of many the boro used to use on their telephone poles at Christmas. There were retired and offered to the public and this one still proudly shines in all its glory on a side porch while Edison bulbs shimmer overhead.
I found a little time to capture some of the festive holiday windows in downtown Lititz, Pa and I will be sharing them through the end of the year. The first images feature Zest, a local shop that specializes in premium herbs and spices, as well as kitchen related home goods. They are one of several stores I can count on year to year to deliver a great window. I spoke briefly with the owner who told me the featured girl in the window was found at a large convention she attends. I tried to find the artist online but to no avail. I couldn’t muster the courage to ask what it cost but it was very well done.
Fall in Lancaster County, Pa has been surprisingly colorful this year despite being somewhat dry throughout the summer. Right now seems to be about prime time for foliage but hopefully some more photogenic opportunities will present themselves yet. While this scene might not be your typical roadside attraction, I found it to be very appealing with the carpet of fallen leaves and the backlit foliage. I put my tripod as low as it would go to hide not only the street but other distracting items in the background. There is a whole high school campus to my right but you would never guess by looking at the image.
This is my favorite time of the year and the last couple weeks have me running all over trying to capture what I can before the leaves are gone and Winter sets in. Fall for me is a time where the chill in the air invigorates the soul and colors transform for one last dazzling show of the season. Its taking a walk on a blustery day with leaves crunching under your feet and perhaps a warm cup of apple cider or hot chocolate to take the chill off. This shot is a good example of finding beauty if you look hard enough, it is at the end of a school parking lot but looking west toward the setting sun provided a glorious backlit shot.
A second image from the local park includes lighted lamp posts providing some warm light on an otherwise rainy and blustery fall evening!
This is Moravian Square in Lititz, PA and with a little accent flash I was able to make the yellow leaves pop. My goal was to add some light that enhanced the shot but still looked natural. I was very pleased with my result.
I often wonder how people a hundred years ago created things with such precision and only basic tools to make the item? I have always enjoyed the graceful flowing curves found in wrought iron fences, gates etc and this one at the entrance to a cemetery looked gorgeous with the autumn color behind it and the sun peaking through. If only you could have seen the position I was in to capture this, because there is literally a tree the same size as the one shown behind me and I am jammed up against it sitting on my legs two feet from the fence. I used my widest angle lens to barely fit the two swirling shapes. After five minutes in that position I could barely stand up reminding me how much of an old geezer I am becoming. As I was ready to finish up I got the brilliant idea to close the gate for another view! Only problem was the gate on both sides had long ago been encapsulated into the base of the trees and it’s days of closing were long passed.
I cannot definitively say this is a racoon hugging a tree stump but its my best guess. This sculpture was part of the Ice Festival in Lititz and I knew as it got darker the light from the Chandelier was going to help bring some internal color out. Another cool sculpture of ice to celebrate Winter activities.
This is another shot I did on New Year’s Eve in Lititz, Pa. It is the former production factory for Wilbur Chocolate which moved manufacturing locations and thankfully someone had the vision to revamp it into luxury condos. Just behind me is the Wilbur Chocolate retail store that still offers Wilbur Buds and other goodies. I already had two angles captured of this building and was ready to leave when the rain got heavier and started puddling and providing lots of reflective possibilities. The camera was fairly low which put it in the splashing rain zone which added to an already challenging shoot. The bottom photo is my attempt at creating a more painterly look like a painting on canvas. I have two more angles to share from here. One little bit of luck was the fact that I went back to shoot some more two days later and three quarters of the front had white tents set up for outdoor dining so I caught a break on that one.
This is another image that I shot this year as Christmas was rapidly approaching. It was absolutely pouring this cold and raw evening, yet I did my best to suck it up and get the shot. I thought this might make a nice shot but until I got parked, I was a block away so I carried only what I felt was necessary. That included my camera, tripod, tablet, umbrella, flash. Not included was an umbrella for me, gloves, because it would be ten minutes at most, or my rain jacket. I start setting up and I am delighted the two parking spaces straight in front are clear. So I get my tripod set, umbrella attached to tripod, I mount the camera and start my tablet up and out of the corner of my eye I see a car pull in to the left spot to which I thought “well no stores or restaurants are open so this will be short. I shot a few exposures every few minutes as it got darker and before you know it I was approaching the one hour mark waiting on this car to leave. My hat, the hood over the hat, my jeans and who knows what else were soaked and my hands were starting to really ache. Not too long before I was calling it a night, this dude comes back to the car and 30 seconds later I was heading to my car.
I don’t know when its considered frostbite, but I turned my heat on to warm up and my hands were aching so bad as they slowly warmed up. I remember hearing how intensely painful extreme frostbite is. To think a block away I several sets of gloves sitting ready and I could not move and risk my tripod walking away.
Another shop window all decked out in seasonal decor in downtown Lititz, Pa. A week after I shot this, the shops all got Christmas trees with lights placed at their entrances which would have jazzed this up.
A few minutes sooner to spot this would have helped but I managed to get parked, set up my gear and get the shot just as the warm glow on the barns quickly faded out of sight. This would be nice in snow as well.
I happened to drive by this nice Mail Pouch barn a week or so ago and the fall foliage was at it’s peak so I knew with all the windy days we have had, I better get on trying to capture it while it lasted. This is actually an evening shot and with a little blast from my off camera flash, the leaves revealed their lovely fall hues. I do have a few more from here on sunny days that I hope to share soon as well.
Folks say they enjoy reading about my photography escapades so here is one that happened to me recently involving this scene that I took notice of earlier in the day. First thing is the end of this story includes the most unbelievable bit of timing I have ever had!  This particular day I noticed this gorgeous tree by the church and knew I needed to be elevated because I was looking uphill quite a bit. I park, walk up to a house across the street that has a yard that would fit the bill. I rang the bell to ask if they would allow me to stand in their yard and no response from inside, which I assumed meant everyone is at work? No Problem, the work day ends and I head out to shoot this spot and of course I stop to inquire at the house because all the lights are now on.
I rang the doorbell once and because the TV seemed loud I gently knocked on the wooden door as well? No response whatsoever, so I move to plan b which is to put my tall tripod on my truck roof and get my elevation that way. I am busy across the street lighting things when I see a guy who appears to be writing down my license plate? After he does that he starts heading my way and the first words out of his mouth are “why have you been pounding on my door all day”? I said if you call ringing your doorbell twice, pounding, we might have a difference of opinion. I explained wanting to get permission to stand in the yard, and my tripod was on my roof in plain sight for him to see and he says “well I called the cops twice already tonight” I said “for what” and he goes off about his daughter was home and she was terrified!
I calmly explained all I wanted was permission and he cooled off and said I could now stand in his yard if I wanted. Like that was an option after all the overblown action he took. So I get home later that night and my daughter asks, were you taking pictures on some guys porch? She said the cops called to talk to me? So the next day comes, I check Facebook and notice there are several people contacting me on messenger? They say I need to check this Facebook page that has security cameras from around town because this guy posted me ringing his bell to see if anyone knows this guy that he thinks is breaking into his house?
Okay now I am ready to take some sort of action because this idiot is making claims that could affect my reputation. Recapping, I rang his doorbell twice, knocked and was holding my camera the second time I stopped, all of which he reviewed on his porch camera and he still does not have the common sense to process what he sees? Lucky for him he had the brains to take the video down in a timely fashion. It seems people are getting more ridiculous every day and logical thinking is non-existent!
If by chance you stayed along this far, here is the unbelievable timing part of this story. There was one lone white car parked to the right uphill from the one lamp post, and I think I was there almost an hour and a half shooting and waiting for the cars owner to hopefully show up and get it out of the shot. Couple neighbors walked by and said it did not look familiar to them so I waited another 10 minutes till I had an appointment. Are you ready for it? I walk across the street to my truck, not a soul in sight, I reach up to grab the tripod legs to get the camera down off the roof and within 5 seconds of me moving that tripod, I hear the car horn beep and the doors unlock ? It was a mailman who just got off of work and within 30 seconds that car was just a bad dream to me. All I could do was laugh how utterly unbelievable this unfolded. Oh and yes I did end up Photoshopping that car out of the shot!
I got lucky and found this local covered bridge surrounded by fall foliage. It had just the right amount of fall color, from the fallen leaves on the wet road to the trees both near and far.
I just caught this foliage before wind and rain literally stripped the tree bare the following day. Years ago I was photographing in here at night and a couple ghost stories were shared, then I went up to the second or third floor, only to walk by a room, glance in and see a figure of a woman in an old dress, which about stopped my heart. Turns out they had a dressed mannequin up there. It would have been nice to mention her! This building houses the museum for the local Historical Society.
This is Zig’s bakery in Lititz, Pa and the area I found myself as the skies started lighting up. I have never been here before so I ran around aimlessly trying to find an angle and the only small puddle in the lot was what I settled on. To complicate matters my tripod only goes as low as a foot or so, so I was forced to set my camera on the ground and put a water bottle and towel under the lens to get the angle right. The lower photo shows the sky after it had peaked but was still very beautiful. We have had several amazing sunsets in the last week, and this was the only one I had my camera along to capture.
Hello all, been quite some time since my last post here but thankfully I was motivated enough to go out for a fall shot or two. This photo is the result of persistence and timing. Let me start by saying I was on my way to work the preceding day and saw these lamp posts lit up amongst the fall foliage so I pulled in, got my gear out,set my tripod up and as soon as my camera hit the tripod, the lamps all went out? I laughed to myself on the impeccable timing, and then wandered around to see if there was a sensor controlling them. I did not find one so I knew I was coming back that evening and I did get a few shots but it was a little breezy and less than ideal. Fast forward to the following morning and I headed here long before sunrise because there was a heavy fog and I was eager to capture something. I experimented for a good hour until the ambient light started to increase and that was when I captured this shot. All of a sudden on the other side of the bushes I heard a literal army of backpack blowers headed my way. There were 3 or 4 guys with backpacks and one guy pushing a rolling blower that was really moving leaves. The crew noticed me and graciously left me continue for 10 minutes and then within a few minutes, the entire yard and parking lot were completely bare. The one gentleman told me the tenants fuss like crazy if there are leaves laying around. So I got the shot thankfully and hope you like it.
I spent two hours this week at the Rough and Tumble historical associations threshermen’s reunion in Lancaster county,Pa. This event features all kinds of old steam engines and rusty iron machinery from the past. To see these incredible machines in operation is something to witness and their whistles are a whole other story,and after standing right beside one when the whistle blew,I can tell you it is something you wont soon forget. These two beauties were lined up at dusk and even though I came upon them later than I would like,there was still enough color in the sky to try a shot. The engine in front is a 1913 Frick Eclipse steam tractor owned by Jim Wright and the one behind is a 1912 Aultman Taylor steam tractor owned by Gary and Russel Bingaman.Â
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.
This home is another gem from the town of Lititz,Pa. It shows what real architectural style can look like and what is lacking in todays cookie cutter home construction.The wrap around porch is amazing, the dome is super sweet as is the peak on the left. Seeing the reflection in the wet road made me stop to get this shot on Christmas eve as I headed home from a family get together.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Donald Reese Photography 