Tag Archives: Landscape

Hard to Fathom

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I have had a real appreciation for the Amish culture for many years, and have captured many images over the years of life in the rural countryside in my area. Generally speaking, the Amish are not very accepting of photography and Usually I try to use long lenses to keep from getting in their face and allowing them to go about their day-to-day life without intruding. The reason I share this is because both myself and my friend saw something the other week that stopped us in our tracks. We went to the mud sale to capture a few images of local culture and we were using long lenses to keep low-key, but as we stood there talking, we saw a group of people heading our way and every person was carrying a camera. The Amish seem to accept the fact that they are at a public venue and that cameras will be there and they may have their photo taken by someone in attendance so they basically ignore the occasional snapshot being taken. This group was different, as dad,mom,brother,son,daughter and everyone else in their entourage was toting a camera. We thought nothing of this till we started seeing the younger kids going right up to Amish children and shooting right in their face, and then to top it off they would show them the image on the lcd screen. The truly baffling thing was the kids seemed to enjoy seeing their picture on the screen and would pose even more. We saw a few older Amish teens stop and look at the fiasco, but did not stop the activity, so we were truly puzzled. They would use wide angles and be feet from them and laugh hysterically as each new frame was shot, and I just stood there thinking I wanted to smack the whole crew. I figured if it was not bothering them, then who was I to intervene, plus I realize we have the right to take photos, but this was about as obnoxious as anything I ever witnessed. My friend walked away at one point because his head was ready to explode, and after I asked one kid where they were from, his parents came over and wanted to be buddy buddy with me,but I basically ignored them as I was growing increasingly irritated with them. Anyway, here is another image from the auction,plus one of a portion of their crew shooting like a hollywood celebrity was passing by. Hopefully they wont be back to our state anytime soon,but i am not counting on that happening as I was sure I saw the main guy here last year,minus his family. They will probably come in a tour bus next year with the relatives.

Tulip Splendor

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Todays post for Easter features two images that I took at Longwood Gardens in the past. I wanted to go this past week to see the tulip display, which is supposed to be at peak right now, but the weather has been nothing but sunshine and breezy. Not to complain, but personally I think flowers look much better in soft overcast light with very calm conditions to allow the use of a tripod. Tulips are among one of my favorite flowers and Longwood has an absolutely stunning display each year. If you live anywhere on the east coast of the United States, you should head there this week and soak up the spring beauty.

There goes the neighborhood-literally

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This home was moved approximately 100 yards on thursday by some very cool equipment. The hydraulic setup is somehow controlled by the skid loader or someone underneath the house using a control panel. The wheels drove the house right up the hill, turning as they needed till they reached their final destination. Photo 2 includes the workers who stay under the home the entire time its moving. It was interesting to watch something like this, which you don’t see every day. I watched a huge two-story brick home get moved years ago, and they left the china in the cupboards and not a thing was broken.

I Wanna hold your hand

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Sorry if anyone is now humming the famous Beatles tune in your head, but it was the best title I could think of at the moment. This image is yet another from last Saturday’s trip to the mud sale and I originally caught a glimpse of these four behind some buggies and hoped they would head my way, which thankfully they did. Once again I was a god distance away with a 400mm,which was perfect for not invading their space. The beautiful blue bonnets are so lovely,and the middle girl is wearing the biggest safety-pin I have seen in a while. The three girls are actually the trio that I posted earlier this week, but I had no idea till I worked on the image.

Backroads Parking Garage

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The mud sale this weekend is always attended by countless county residents as well as a very strong showing by the local Amish community. Amish farms near the sale are selected to accommodate the numerous buggies and horses that need a spot to park while they attend the sale, and this farm is adjacent to the sale site along a side road. I shot this image from the side of the road and stood on a small trailer to a get a slightly higher perspective over the scene. This is only a small portion of the buggies at this farm, and the horses are kept in the field and barn throughout the day.

The Prince and The Pauper

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As spring advances and trees and grass begin to green up, I start thinking about shooting infrared images.The green foliage turns white in infrared, creating a very unique look. I have found that some of the Victorian era cemeteries can look quite stunning when shot in infrared, and todays post is one such example. This is Calvary cemetery outside New York City, and features very impressive statuary, monuments and carved stones. I have a black backpack and often set it down while I am shooting, and more than once I have gone into panic mode as I wander a bit and realize I forgot where I set my bag. Try finding a bag amongst thousands of dark stones and you quickly remember to wear your bag when you move around. I always go with a friend, and we usually shoot different subjects, so at least once a trip I wait till he is in deep concentration looking through the camera, and I sneak up and suddenly grab his arm or talk in his ear, and of course he returns the favor. This particular cemetery goes on for acres and includes 3 million burials.The large mausoleum on the left is that of the Johnston family. the following is from the internet about this family and where my title came from.

John Johnston died May 17, 1887, seven years after brother Charles and seventeen years before his other brother Robert A. Johnston.

John Johnston led the J. & C. Johnston company, and the J. & C. Johnston department store at Broadway and Twenty-Second Street was a popular source for dress silks and other fabrics. The store was among the most successful of its time, prospering during an era when similar companies frequently went bankrupt.The fortunes of J. & C. Johnston took a drastic turn for the worse after John Johnston’s passing. Responsibility for the company passed to Robert A. Johnston, at whose helm the business failed.

Mr. Johnston possessed millions when the business came to him through the death of his brothers, but he lost all in a few years, and in 1888 the house went out of existence. He retired to his palatial home at Mount St. Vincent, on the Hudson. Later the place was sold at foreclosure and the house burned, the owner having a narrow escape. Since then he had lived alone in a barn on the property, refusing charity. He was found sick with pneumonia and insane ten days ago.”

This obituary makes tantalizing reference to the mighty structure that has fascinated folks for years: “[Robert Johnston’s] body … will be immured in the magnificent family mausoleum built many years ago at a cost of $300,000 in Calvary Cemetery.”The dismal circumstances of Robert Johnston’s death did not cost him a space in the family mausoleum. The mausoleum’s presence today echoes the success and personal fortunes of the Johnston name while housing the man who wasted it.The story is indeed interesting, as the tomb is occupied by prince and pauper alike.


Spring fishing excursion

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I thought I would share this image from the past, which is also included in my gallery section here, because now is the time of year when you see fisherman on the banks of the local streams around our area.These Amish boys heading to their favorite fishing hole is one of those images that I look back at and can recall the entire scene as if it were yesterday, even though it goes back to my black and white film days. I had been driving around looking for images when I passed this crew slowly walking down a back road, and I immediately knew it was something I wanted to record for posterity. I drove a ways up the road to a dirt lane, parked and probably said a small prayer as I waited, to let them come by me. One thing I will say about my experience with the Amish is they are keenly aware of their surroundings and these boys were no different.They were looking at my car the whole time they approached and when I finally brought the camera up for a shot, the oldest boy kicked it into second gear as he made things difficult for me to focus and frame the shot, but thankfully I got this image with him in mid stride as he pulled what I assume are his brothers and their gear. I think I was shooting with a Nikon f3 at the time and maybe got three shots off, and this was the winner. I am sure they forgot me as soon as they got up the road,but I remember them like it was yesterday. Back in those days, I would have to drive home, develop the film, hope I nailed the exposure, make contact prints and check for focus before being able to get excited about a shot. Oh the good old days of photography, which by the way I would never want to return to.

The old homestead

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This is another image from my early sunday photo adventure. Winds were a bit more than I was hoping for, so unfortunately I had to up my iso to 800, which I never like to do, but it got me in the thirtieth of a second shutter speed range, which obviously was better than using anything slower. I passed this location and turned around for a better look, and because it was around 7am, I figured it was too early to knock at the door, but luckily the owner came out at that moment as she was headed to a local antique center for the morning, so she kindly allowed me access.

Spring’s Glorious Entrance

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Weatherman was calling for rain yesterday, but when I woke it was just overcast with a slight breeze, so I headed out to look for photo possibilities. After becoming frustrated with increasing breezes most of the morning, things finally calmed down a bit and just in time for another sighting of a beautiful magnolia at peak or just past peak  . The stone home with blue shutters was a perfect complement to the pink hues of the tree, and the carpet of freshly fallen petals made it a must shoot scene.

The Magnificent Magnolia

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Today started out with dense fog enveloping the countryside, and unfortunately I did not get a lot of time to seek out foggy scenes in the early morning hours. I did come across this lovely magnolia tree in full bloom at the Hibshman farm in Lancaster county,Pa. The farm includes the original farmhouse,wash-house,stone barn, tobacco shed and barn, and a second farmhouse. The oldest section dates from 1750,and the second section was built around 1801. I knocked at the door to get permission to snap a few shots and a caregiver there was very accommodating. The sun burst out shortly after I arrived, so I was hoping for better light but it was somewhat soft light for these shots. This farm was preserved from development  and is listed on the national register of historic places. The magnolia blooms will soon be completely on the ground after blooming early this spring. For budding photographers following me, I want to mention to be critical when composing your shots,and if you take note here, I made sure the chimney on the house did not overlap the branch. little things like that can make or break a shot sometimes.

Amish Crescendo

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A few days ago I mentioned wanting to share an image of some Amish girls that I photographed at the mud sale, and todays post includes three of several from a series including these young ladies. Let me start by explaining how these images came to be and why I chose the title. I had been wandering the auction grounds looking for possible photos when I noticed that there were some Amish teens starting to play volleyball in the field adjoining the auction, so I walked in the general direction to check it out. Upon getting closer, I noticed guys playing volleyball and girls in multi colored dresses nearby watching the boys. As I stood there taking in the culture, I noticed four old tractors at the end of the field that were going to be auctioned later in the day. I thought to myself, it would be so cool if one or two of these Amish teens would venture over to the tractors and check them out.

Well no sooner did I think that, when I notice a small group of Amish girls get up and head in that general direction. I immediately began moving behind a row of parked cars in the direction of the tractors in the hopes of getting one good shot before they noticed me. I stayed below the radar for a few minutes watching to see where they were going and to my delight,it was the tractors. As the group reached the tractors, two by two,they paired up on their own tractor and began goofing around, and having a good time with each other. They acted like they were plowing, driving, racing and even made putt putt sounds at one point. I quickly snapped a shot, and thought to myself, this is one of those moments that I cherish as a photographer and was so grateful to be there in that moment.

I figured I would snap a few shots and they would stop doing what they were doing after they saw me, but to my surprise they seemed to be totally unfazed by my snapping photos, and it almost seemed as if they were savoring the moment in front of the camera in a way, because as each moment ticked by, the image got better and better as they moved together onto one tractor to make small talk and have fun. Granted I was using a 400mm at a distance, but we made eye contact multiple times as we each laughed to ourselves in the moment. Experiences like this are forever etched in my mind, and provide me with memories of a culture and lifestyle that I find very special and worthy of respect. One thing I have seen countless times with the Amish,is the fact that they are more satisfied with simplicity than we are with every gimmicky gadget that occupies our time. After I left the spot, I kept thinking I would have loved to talk with them, listened to their perspective on things and even offer them prints, but I realize we come from two different worlds and even though they tolerated me, that was only because we were in a public venue that day.

The crescendo part of my title is because I literally felt like the time with these girls kept building to a visual peak as I snapped away. The multi colored dresses, the pleasant atmosphere, and a great group of Amish friends, all came together is this brief moment in time, which I was lucky enough to be witness too. It is definitely one moment on my photographic journey that I will not soon forget.These images are totally un-choreographed and ones I could not have planned out any better if I was given the chance.

Foggy morning sunrise

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This weekend included another mud sale in the region, and the day started with heavy fog, which quickly burned off to reveal beautiful sunny skies. I would rather have overcast to shoot people pics, but you take what you can get. I arrived at the sale location almost an hour and a half early so I could park reasonably close to the sale, mainly because I absolutely hate taking shuttle buses to and from an event. The image shown here was the first image of the day  and was taken as I walked the hundred yards or so from where I parked to the sale site. I liked the receding trees in the early fog and the sun making an appearance. I will share some Amish shots from the sale over the next few days, which includes a great image of some Amish girls I photographed,so stay tuned.

The Pied Piper lives

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The barnyard debacle yesterday was shot at the same location that I shot this image. This lady came out from the nearby barn carrying this bucket, and the chickens quickly got to stepping as they anticipated an easy meal. I had said hi to this lady a few minutes before and made some small talk about the goats, so I was a little hesitant to shoot this image, but I could not resist the temptation when I saw the scene beginning to take shape.

Come and sit a spell

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This was a last-minute photo selection for today, as I was busy dividing iris clumps in our garden this evening. This recent shot featuring a rocking chair was calling my name to sit down after two hours of digging in the dirt. The darn warm temperatures have everything starting early, so I am trying to keep ahead of the garden chores, which seem to get harder every year.

Spring Frolic with the kids

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Today I realized that even at my age I can actually still learn something new. I picked this image that I shot in the last couple days to post here, and I assumed that since the adult goat had horns, it must be the father. As I was getting ready to write my description for the photo, I thought maybe I will google the possibility of a female goat having horns. Low and behold, they actually can have horns, so this is momma goat leading her three adorable little offspring across the pasture. They had a little episode with the large Llama from yesterdays posting, and for whatever reason that barnyard bully kept antagonizing and chasing the mother goat, so she would give the all hands on deck call to the youngsters, who would follow mom to a spot of protection. It’s interesting how one is white,one black and one a combo.

Dad?

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With warm temperatures making an appearance more frequently, signs of spring are becoming a little more regular throughout the region.This recent shot features a baby goat and a Llama in a local barnyard and I just came up with the title after contemplating what is going through this tiny goats brain. These critters are absolutely hilarious as they get their feet under them and begin to explore their world.I have better shots from this shoot, but wanted to share this one today.

Cape Porpoise Nightmare

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My mother recently joked about an experience I had in maine a few years back, so I figured I would share the memory here. My wife and I were on a new england vacation, and had stopped in Cape Porpoise in Kennebunkport Maine to look around at several shops and I also wanted to do some photography. While there my wife got the brilliant idea to do a whale watch, but the idea of going 25 miles out to sea in a small boat was not my idea of fun,but since it was clear blue skies and totally calm seas, I said sure. We headed out and kept going and going and going, and about halfway out it gets cloudy, and I thought no big deal. When we are nearing the whale area, the captain comes on the loud-speaker to say conditions look like they are going to deteriorate and we wont be staying long. Well things did deteriorate rapidly and just as my wife tries to shoot a whale coming out of the water, I grab her to tell her how horrible I am feeling,and she basically says go get sick somewhere else so I can enjoy the whales. Anyway, the waves were rolling now at 6-8ft and the whole way back in, the captain literally was riding the waves with his boat till we crashed into waves ahead of us. I was certain we were going to be lost in this storm, and because I was sick, we sat on the outside of the boat as everyone huddled inside with life preservers on. The two parts of this trip that are the most indelibly etched in my mind are when I went inside to use the bathroom, everyone was watching me head to the door, and as I open the door, this poor woman is standing there with her clothes around her ankles and the whole crowd looking at her. I thought who lets a door unlocked in that state?  The second memory is of these two teenage girls who stood on the very top of the boat in the front and screamed with utter joy as we crashed into each wave. I thought we were dead and they were having the time of their lives, so I guess it’s all in your perspective. Needless to say whale watches are no longer high on my to do list. I remember getting to shore and hearing a crew member say, the captain told them it was the worst conditions he had ever navigated, but I am not sure what that meant since he was only about 25 years old. This photo was taken that day, but its nothing earth shattering.

Mud Sale Season

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Spring is rapidly approaching, and in Amish country, that means it is mud sale season. For those who have never heard of the mud sale, it is basically an auction held by numerous fire companies in the spring, and is held in the farm fields, which are usually a sloppy mess from spring rains. This weekend I hope to attend one to shoot a few Amish images, as they attend in large numbers and come with the understanding that cameras will be around, and tend to not be particularly irritated by that. I still try to stay low-key, shooting with longer lenses , and tend to snap a shot and move on, as to not over stay my welcome, so to speak. Each weekend or so in the coming weeks, a different fire co holds their own sale across the region, and items range from buggies to bird houses to horses and everything in between.I have included 3 shots from last years mud sale season. The two boys shown were truly stuck in the mud and were giving it their all to get loose during an extremely muddy sale.

Take Flight

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I decided to go see what the snow geese situation was this evening, and I was lucky enough to see them take to the air en-masse several times. Several people mentioned that overall numbers may be declining as several weather fronts have come through and many times the birds follow these currents northward. It’s hard to see any detail in this small a photo, but it was great to see hundreds of birds take to the air at once. I shot the image at f8 at a 2000th of a second, and this is only a tiny percentage of the group.

The Fairground Organ

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This image hopefully showcases what I consider to be a very beautiful Bruder Fair Organ from the late 1800s. The owner was gracious enough to let me photograph the piece, which has the most lovely colors on its carved surfaces. The founder of the Waldkirch organ industry was Ignaz Bruder, 1780-1845, and he was the master teacher for several german organ builders, and four of his sons founded the business Gebruder Bruder. Two of those sons, Wilhelm and Arnold, founded their own organ factory under the name of Wilhelm Bruder Sohne. I assume this piece was done by them because that name is painted across the middle, above the figure. I did not hear the organ play,but I bet it really resonates for blocks when it does play. I am by no means an authority on these organs, but doing a little research on the net, it was hard to find two organs that looked the same, so quite possibly each piece was one of a kind. The craftsmanship is simply mind-boggling. I light painted the whole room to give it a dreamy look. Can you imagine anyone having the ability or desire to create such a masterpiece today? It not only is beautiful to look at, but the music it produces most certainly delighted countless crowds way back when as well.

Goat Island Rescue

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We had a decent amount of rain over the last two days,so my mind started thinking about all the heavy storms we had in the last year, and this image came back to my memory. What appears to be a lake, is actually a field for this herd of goats, and over near the green grass there was a tiny stream that severely overflowed its banks. As the goats were down to their last few feet of pasture, the owners came out with the tractor and cart. They loaded the young ones in the wire cages, and persuaded the nervous parents to follow them to higher ground. It was comical to watch, but the waters were still rising,so they got out at just the right time.

The Guardian Angel

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Sometimes I must just pause and contemplate things that may be coincidence or may be something more. Most of my posts are pretty light-hearted in nature, but today I was asked to photograph a guest speaker at a local school. That speaker was a survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp, and the stories he relayed to the students were simply heart wrenching. He spoke more candidly to the adults afterward and the ordeal this man went through and survived is nothing short of miraculous. The coincidence part I mentioned is because I post a shot last night about a guardian angel, and today this man told numerous stories of his days at Auschwitz, and how he was saved many times by a guardian angel. It just struck me that I could have posted that image a month from now, but I chose last night.

I will share two stories he offered for anyone brave enough to read. The first Story involves him finding a tunnel that the German Shepherds had dug,which went right under the electrified fence. He had made up his mind that he was going to try to escape and either die trying or live upon his escape, and the day before he was planning his attempt, eleven men had done the same thing and were caught outside the perimeter. He said every man was made to parade with a sign saying they were glad to be back inside,and then they were lined up to be shot. Before they were shot, the commander asked for eleven volunteers to join them, and if no one volunteered, he would be selecting 50 men himself. He said in less than three minutes, eleven men had volunteered, and then all 22 men were shot in front of them. He still made his attempt the next day,and upon exiting found a boot on his neck, but after making some conversation in german with the man about his family and children, he was given the chance to get away by this man, and once again the guardian angel was there.

The last story I will share of his experiences is one where he was in italy after his escape, and one day he was stopped by german soldiers and questioned. He spoke perfect italian, but the men refused to believe he was a native of the town, and immediately took him to the wall for execution. He said the commander gave the order to prepare to shoot him, and out of nowhere comes a Priest yelling at him and giving the performance of a lifetime. He said this man was so dramatic,saying he had been looking for him and he was supposed to get to the church to do his work. He had no idea who this man was, and as the soldiers stood there in a puzzled way, the priest led him away by his ear no less, and at a safe distance told him to run for all he was worth. Again the guardian angel was there.

He sat 15 feet from Hitler at the 1936 olympics, and watched him turn his back on Jesse Owens, and he also watched Joseph Mengele decide who would live and die on numerous occasions. Hopefully I did not upset anyone with my post today,but to hear this man tell of his journey was something that just left me with a sense of utter sorrow for all those who suffered.

The Guardian

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Since I posted an infrared shot yesterday, I got to thinking about spring and shooting with my good friend Morrie. Each spring, we make a couple of day trips and weekend excursions to shoot some of the amazing cemetery statuary that exists in our region. The statuary is absolutely breath-taking in some of these cemeteries and many people find the images I shoot in infrared to be very moving for some reason.Spring is when the temperatures are most pleasant and the grass greens up to provide great effects in infrared. Todays image features a mausoleum ,with what appears to be a guardian angel on top. One can only imagine the cost of this statue, which has to be at least 8 feet high,by as much wide, much less the building, which is made of granite. Until just a few short years ago, I never knew such beauty even existed in cemeteries, but if you go to most major cities, you can find such places. In Victorian times, cemeteries were places to congregate for picnics and family activities, but today, many cemeteries are being lost to neglect. Benjamin franklin once said, ”show me your cemeteries,and I’ll tell you what kind of people you have”, and once again I think we need many more men like this in charge once again. One trip to a big city cemetery thats abandoned and you quickly realize how right he was.

Dramatic Skies

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My image today features intense cloud formations that were blowing through the area, and lasted just long enough to allow me to run and get my infrared camera/filter combination. I actually think the clouds were more intense when I first saw them, but I am quite happy with what I got here. The shot was done using my old Nikon D70, which was excellent for capturing infrared images when used in conjunction with a Hoya r72 infrared filter. The downside is the fact that you can barely see through the filter,so essentially you focus the shot on your tripod and then add the filter on the lens before shooting. Exposures usually run from 1 second to 8 seconds at f16 in most situations,and you must remove the filter every time you do a new image. As things soon turn greener, Infrared effects will get even better.

A Stitch in Time

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I spent the morning sunday shooting with my friend larry who is light painting master, and we each did our best to do something unique at our local historical society. I chose an old sewing machine, and friends Margi and Dan loaned me several antique sewing items to help bring the shot to life. I used small pen flashlights and my big spotlight to accent the pieces, and the shot took me nearly an hour and a half to do. The best I could figure was this sewing machine is one made by the man who got the first patent for a lock stitch design in 1846, and his name was Elias Howe. Mr Howe had to defend his patent in court from 1849-1854, because he found that Isaac Singer, and Walter Hunt had been selling a facsimile of his machine and lockstitch design. He eventually won the case and won considerable royalties from singer. I can imagine the many hands that worked diligently on this machine in the late 1800s and early 1900s, creating garments and necessities for the family. My grandmother was a great quilter and I remember her working countless hours on her old sewing machine doing patches,and a few times over the years she would relay the stories of how a needle had gone straight through her finger and nail while sewing.

Grain Silo Sunset

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Today both myself and my good friend Larry did some more shooting in the machine shop, but for some reason my decision-making was a bit out of whack, because it took me nearly an hour to pick something to shoot. Because of that indecision, I stayed at the machine shop till right near sunset, and then as I began heading home, the sky started to look promising. I decided to head to these grain silos in the hopes of a good sky, and it turned out to be an alright shot I guess. I like the varied hues of the old and newer silos and the warm vs cool tones. Once again I climbed on top of my truck roof to shoot this, and todays winds of 40 mph plus made for some tricky shooting up there.

The Bloated Sea lion

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Since we are now into the weekend, I thought maybe its time to share another one of my misadventures near water. That blurred man in the lower photo is me standing on a beach in washington state alongside one of several dozen huge tees washed ashore. My morning started out with my wife and I taking in the beauty along the washington coast, and as you can see, sunny blue skies were in abundance. I said, lets walk all the way down to that island, which you can see in the background of my image, and I calculated it to be only a half hours walk. Well, we walked and walked, rested and walked, and as we get within a hundred yards of the island, you could see a fog bank quickly coming in off the ocean. I thought oh that’s neat, but that was only up until the fog got so thick that you could only see 10 to 20 yards in front of you.

Now in most situations fog would not bother me, but guess what?  As soon as that fog hit us, you could literally see the tide starting to come in, and on a normal beach one would just move up on the boardwalk or something similar, but considering the entire length of this beach was strewn with trees that had trunks 10 feet around, it was quite clear,we were not getting over them, and had to get back to the parking lot quickly. I was like a marine corps drill sergeant, telling my wife to keep moving as fast as she could, and carrying all my gear was really wearing me out. We went on and on, and waves were washing ever closer the entire time, and the final straw was realizing the little sign marking the parking area was nowhere to be found in the fog. we had no idea if we passed the lot a half mile ago, or had a half mile to go, UNTIL we saw the lovely bloated dead sea-lion that was washed up right at the path. luckily we noticed this poor creature at the beginning, and I can truly say I was never so glad to see a blob of blubber as I was that day. My heart was just pounding as adrenaline and survival instincts were on high alert.

The calming feather on rounded stones image was taken the same morning, up the road a bit after our little nature hike. The whole ordeal was magnified in my mind as it was happening, because we had read many signs warning about getting trapped in coves etc along the beach at high tide. Just another great memory around the peaceful waters.

Hats off to the simple life

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I have always had a great respect for the Amish and their way of life, and even though they are not big fans of being photographed, I continue to capture the images that present themselves. I have seen so many things in the Amish community over the years,and I have countless memories of those experiences. The Amish have problems just like the rest of the world, and they have some very friendly characters and some unfriendly ones as well. I have watched younger kids get the greatest joy out of the simplest things, and know they are usually more content with an old tattered item than the person who has every electronic gadget. I have been invited onto hay wagons to shoot at harvest time, as long as faces are not shown, and have seen empty beer bottles flying out of buggies while a boom box blares inside. Hopefully I can share more stories and images of my experiences in the future. This buggy/ hat rack was captured a while ago on a sunday drive in the country, shortly after the men headed inside the barn to begin worship. I took this with a long lens from the road, but the day I took this, a tourist with a little point and shoot pulled up, got out and was on his way to the barn door when I basically told him to get the heck off the property. He must have figured it was some sort of scene that was staged for tourists. This was really the only buggy that everyone seemed to pick to place his hat, and looking at the shot now, I counted 32 hats scattered about.

Bottom of the food chain

Posted by reesephoto on

The other day I posted an image from my Canadian Rockies photo trip a few years back, and I got to reminiscing about the experience I had at Moraine Lake, which is shown here. As usual I like to travel in the fall, because I thoroughly enjoy the early mornings with frost and the fresh air this time of year, and I always wait till the bitter end to make any sort of reservation. This trip I decided I would stay at the moraine lake lodge with my wife for several days to take in the mountain grandeur, but I was quickly told we were not staying there after hearing it was almost 400 dollars a night. I stood my ground and we stayed one single night in a room with a fireplace looking out at this lake. To me it was worth every penny,as I woke to head out before dawn to shoot under a lovely sunrise.

Let me explain a bit about my one and only trip to a place where you can be the main course on the menu at any moment. When we arrived, there were two nice sized bears in the parking lot roaming around, which gave me reason to ponder my usual early morning escapades. Signs were everywhere to travel in groups of 4 or more, and make lots of noise. Upon checking in, I said I wanted to hike the 30 minutes or so to this lookout to shoot sunrise, and the girl at the desk said you have two options. First was simply sleep in, and the second was to carry a bottle of pepper spray that was about the size of a small fire extinguisher. I opted for the spray, headed out at dark in the morning and was totally alone for at least an hour. I made so much noise going up that trail, hand on the trigger just in case, and a few prayers said along the way. I kept thinking all they will find is my gear, a chewed up pepper spray bottle, and a bear taking a nap. It really was nerve-racking, but the view up here was unbelievable. I have never seen such aqua/turquoise color in water ever. The angle of the rising sun was less than ideal,but it was sweet nonetheless.

The following day we stayed at a B&B in Banff, and the owner showed us his scrapbook of a mountain lion he shot under his porch. The thing was being held under its front legs and was taller than this guy,who was pretty darn tall. Its kind of humorous, because I started seeing signs for mountain lion activity in places we hiked and I would extend my Gitzo tripod legs all the way out,thinking I would whack this thing if it got any bright ideas. Someone said if they are stalking you, you would never know it till they pounce. Nothing gives you a better sense of being alive than to know you are not the king of the mountains and you better tread cautiously.