Tag Archives: Photography

Autumn at the Farm

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Autumn color will soon be a distant memory and even though it was not a banner year for color here in Lancaster county, there were pockets of nice color sprinkled around the area. This farm is one I have noticed the last three fall seasons and every time I waited a bit to long and mother nature would throw a curve ball. This year I noticed it transforming, then forgot about it for a couple days and when I checked it was already dropping! I left work this day with no intention of going here but as I headed home the sky started to light up and off I went. When I got there the sun was a perfect ball with some time left till it would hit the horizon. If you look at the first image, just off to the left behind the white fence is a pond and the sun was a perfect reflection in the pond! Trouble is To see the reflection you had to back up until you were at a neighboring house to see it. Well I rang the doorbell and of course no one was home so I had to concede the shot wasn’t happening! So the sun went down, the sky got decent but I really wondered what the view from down at the pond was like? I knocked and prepared for the worst but the Husband and wife couldn’t have been more welcoming. They basically said have at it, and as the light faded I managed to get two images with the third being taken a little earlier. The ironic part of my adventure was the owner told me the house I wanted to shoot from was his sons! hopefully one day I can pull that shot off.

It actually Happened!

Posted by reesephoto on

Hello again, I finally captured a few new photos to share. I had a scheduled evening photo shoot at a township park here in Lancaster county and I had just completed the shoot. As I got to my vehicle, a van pulled in beside me and out climbed 6 exuberant young Amish girls who headed toward the back of the park. Now out pops the driver, who is an older gentleman carrying a camera headed where they were last seen. I can’t remember in all my time in Lancaster county ever seeing Amish having what appeared to be a photo session? I watched from a distance as they each posed for photos in several locations.

My wheels were turning wondering if it’s possible they may head to the opposite side of the park where there is a nice covered bridge? I decided I was going to go there and wait and see if I might get lucky. I had envisioned getting brave and asking them to walk holding hands through the bridge and perhaps do a simple silhouette of them if they ever came to the bridge? I grabbed my camera and went and sat on the concrete abutment at the entrance to the bridge. Fifteen minutes went by and I started thinking this isn’t happening when all of a sudden I hear voices from the other end of the bridge. They could not see me sitting there but Trust me this next part blew my mind! There was some giggling and chit chat when all of a sudden I hear one say “why don’t we hold hands and walk side by side to the other end? Tell me what the odds are that they literally spoke my idea into existence as I was sitting there? I made up my mind I was going to wait out of sight till they were in the middle of the bridge and then pop out and get the shot I wanted! Well of course my camera decided to miss focus and every single one was fuzzy!

So they hung around deciding what to do next so I said any chance you will repeat the walk? They hesitated but said sure and I got them walking, then they came back to the photographer and an impromptu piggy back session started which I also captured! The only thing I could think of was maybe it was Rumspringa time which as I understand it is a time of seeing what the world has to offer with little restraint from the elders. Years ago I watched beer cans get tossed by the dozens out of a buggy and that I know was Rumspringa time.

Lancaster County Traffic Jam!

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Lancaster County has a long history of farming and a long list of producing savory fruits and vegetables. Driving the backroads one can come across a wide variety of scenes that play out on a regular basis. This particular day I was heading home and as I approached this S-curve in the road I pulled over to figure out what was coming up the road in the distance. As you can see it was an Amish buggy that was dictating the pace for this harvesting team consisting of a large tractor that was pulling a large grain bin and behind that was a Combine and they both were headed to their next job. I was hoping they were going to pass the buggy and I could get the small buggy right beside the massive machines but they were taking it easy, probably because they saw the camera ahead. Harvesting has certainly changed a bit around here and what used to be a family affair out on the wagons has switched to hiring these crews that come in and harvest huge fields in very little time compared to the old way.

Waiting Paid Off

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This image started out with the goal of getting the sun setting behind these trees along with a cool sunset. Well I got the sun setting but it was very intense even up until it dropped below the horizon. Not too long after the sun went down my mind started wondering if there was any chance a buggy might come by to balance out the composition. The thought no sooner entered my mind and I suddenly heard a buggy not too far away. My camera was locked on the tripod pointing the opposite direction, so the bottom image shows all I could do to renegotiate before the buggy trotted by! So I had to ponder what my chances of a second buggy coming by were? I composed my shot with enough space on the right to fit a buggy and decided I would wait a maximum of forty five minutes. I think I had about ten minutes left when I heard the clip clop clip clop headed my way. I shoot manual most of the time so in a situation like this I would adjust exposure as the light level drops, so when the opportunity arises all I need to do is fire the shutter when the horse and buggy reaches the spot. For this image I probably blasted a series of maybe 14 shots starting when the buggy is almost past the tree until it leaves the frame. even doing that I had maybe three shots where the horse looked good and it was in the right spot. You can get an idea how intense the sun was, even while being partially blocked by the tree!

Trotting in a Winter Wonderland

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A Mennonite buggy passes by a snow covered Lancaster county farm scene with temperatures in the single digits. When you complain about your car heater taking too long, imagine yourself driving this! I had a couple shots with the horse having all 4 feet off the ground at once which no one thought possible till it was captured on film in a test setup long ago.

Painfully Beautiful

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We finally received a measurable snow and with it came some rather bitter temperatures. What you are seeing here is not snow but Hoarfrost. Hoarfrost Needs certain conditions to develop and these include brutal cold down in the single digits, very little if any wind and water vapor to freeze on objects already cold. I headed out this morning before sunrise and as I started my Jeep the temperature read 14 degrees and I thought to myself that’s not as cold as they had predicted? A mile down the road it had dropped to 9 degrees and I realized 14 degrees was in my garage! So I traversed the back roads looking near creeks and streams and only found very light Hoarfrost. I kept driving and thinking about spots in low lying valleys and this location came to mind. It was 10 miles away but I decided to see if by chance it might and boy was I happy when I came down the hill and all around the creek was coated in a thick layer of hoarfrost and no wind at all to destroy the beauty! I crawled under an electric fence and was waiting for the Amish farmer to yell at me to get out of his pasture but I think he knew I was just trying to capture this unique opportunity plus I kept shaking my frozen hands trying not to scream at the intense pain I was in, so he may have been enjoying my misery from his warm living room. I plan to give them a large print for being understanding. Oh and by the way when I got back in my Jeep I noticed two things, one the temperature was now minus 7 and when I went to put the vehicle in drive, it was already in drive! In my excitement I had pulled off the road, left the Jeep running for the heat when I was done and I never put it in park! Thank goodness I had pulled into a small pile of snow which held everything in place while I was preoccupied shooting for at least a half hour! The crazy thing is if it would have started rolling it was pointed directly at the creek embankment which dropped off 20-30 feet to the creek below.

Chilly Sleigh Ride

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With temperatures in the teens and single digits these brave souls decided it was time for a sleigh ride through the country. The horses and their passengers all were creating vapor trails as they exhaled their warm breath into the frigid air. I heard the bells jingling in the distance long before I saw them but I knew it meant only one thing was heading my way.

An Awesome Evening

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Recently I referenced a snowy night where I stayed out till three in the morning because it was so pretty everywhere. This old farm was owned by a nice guy named Wayne who passed away last year. He had left me photograph the property a time or two and he was always very accommodating. Thirty years ago a photography friend of mine captured this place with an old sleigh in the front yard and that image has lingered in my mind how it was captured and the feeling of it being a place for family to gather. I usually don’t like to do shoot under pitch black skies but this evening had kind of a magical feel and the sky was very luminous!

Explore Your Options

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Every once in a while I offer some insights on how I end up with the images I share here and this post is one of those times. I used to drive around for hours looking for subjects, but these days I find it harder to allot time to just look. So this particular day I was hoping to get a couple fall foliage shots and was driving the area when I noticed this tree lined farm lane with maple trees just past prime but still very colorful. I pulled off the road so I could walk over to the entrance to the lane and get a tree framed view of the barns. I snapped a couple angles and was walking back to the car when I saw a buggy coming. I thought this will be awesome with my original composition plus a buggy added to the equation! So I sat in the car camera pre-focused, exposure set, ready to blast a series of shots and the top image is the best result of that series. This is not the first time I have found my calculations for a shot turned out to be way off. First the shots I got with the full buggy showing literally blocks the entire farm scene, and even with a fast shutter speed the buggy moving right to left in front of me had some motion blur.

So as I evaluated my error and considered the lay of the land around me I decided to climb a hill behind me. As I got up the hill I noticed that bright area of fallen leaves to the left of the tree and thought if I could get one more buggy passing, I could get what I was after! I waited maybe five minutes and not only did a buggy come but he actually turned into the farm lane which made him stand out clearly against the fallen leaves giving me more than I had hoped for. Surprisingly this is one of my favorites from this fall season because of several points. First I feel the composition is perfectly balanced, it gives you a feeling of going home, the yellow maples, two red barns and two red maples just make a pleasing autumn scene and the horses eating in the pasture add a nice touch! So explore the options wherever your journey takes you!

A Final Gesture?

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The gentleman who owned this local farm had allowed me to photograph on his property a couple times over the years. He had some custom stonework he created which resembled Castle Spires, a wishing well and other nice accents around the property. He passed away this year and within the last month I happened to drive by and see this wonderful sunflower field on his property! While I cannot say for sure this was a farewell gesture to the community, it would not surprise me in the slightest if this was the case.

Teamwork

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Another shot from Rough and Tumble and what you are looking at is two Steam Tractors working as a team to keep the metal shackle in the middle from touching the ground. They both move the same direction and then the opposite and this is no easy feat with the way these machines move at different rates. If you take note the rope holding the shackle is also tied around the waste of each driver. A contingent of Amish and Mennonite kids have front row seats for the action. One note worth mentioning is the fact these guys love to blast their steam whistles which are unbelievably loud, and Let me tell you when you are looking the opposite way standing ten feet from one of these, and they pull the cord, it almost makes you jump out of your shoes!