Texaco Fire Chief gas pump at the Berks Heritage Center. Texaco introduced the “Fire Chief” brand in 1932 with claims that the purity and octane levels met the requirements for fire engines. In 1982 they re-branded the line of gasoline as “Texaco Regular”.

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to read the price per gallon on the pump but I can bet it isn’t what we are paying today.

Shot on 3-11-2012 with a Nikon D7000, 3 exposure brackets at 2 stop variance (Hand held), F6.3, ISO 100, Sigma 10-20mm lens. HDR tone mapping via NIK HDR Efex Pro, post production in Photoshop CS5 with Topaz Adjust for highlight detail adjustments on the pump.

My Wife and I made a trip down to Longwood Gardens on Sunday. It was her first time there so it was a nice splash of color for her during this long Winter.

Nikon D7000 Aperture Priority mode. F16 @ 1/250th second shutter speed and ISO 400. Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG Macro lens, hand held.

A small utility shed at Millbrook Village in Blairstown, New Jersey. At the village, the U.S. National Park Service in conjunction with the Millbrook Village Society work to show the way of life of a typical village during the 1850-1900 time period. During summer weekends a blend of NPS and volunteer personnel demonstrate crafts and activities of a typical village. From a photographers perspective, this place is like Disneyland. One could very easily base an entire photographic portfolio on this spot. Very highly recommended especially in the Fall when the colors create a backdrop that is fantastic.

For more information on visiting Millbrook Village, please visit their web site at www.millbrooknj.com/.

Shot back on 10-9-2010 as nine bracketed RAW frames at .7 stop increments and then combined into an HDR and tone mapped it with HDR Efex Pro from NIK Software.

Tonight my Wife and I made Chicken stir fry over Jasmine Rice with Bok Choy, mushrooms, baby corns, sliced water chestnuts, bean sprouts, carrots, broccoli, peas and assorted spices and secret ingredients that the CIA will not allow me to talk about.

Strobist info:

Nikon SB900 manual mode @ 1/8th power in a FotoFlex 18″ OctoDome held over the food with a boom arm on an Avenger C-Stand. Flash triggered with Pocket Wizard Plus IIs.

Nikon D7000 F11 @ 1/125th, ISO 100. Metered with Sekonic L358 light meter.

The view of part of our back yard after 3-4″ of fresh snow on the morning of 1-21-2012. The fish must be cold.

The first creation (kitchen and food photography) coming out of our new house’s kitchen studio, Chez DeGre. Pan seared Salmon with avocado, red bell pepper, sun dried tomato over a bed of provolone cheese and baby spinach. Vegetables in a orange duck sauce and salmon in an orange ginger glaze, The photo studio is one of two in the new house, the other one being for portraiture. I still have a long way to learn what I want to know about Food Photography and Food Styling but it’s something I love doing with my Wife and we both love cooking….and eating. The move from apartment to house, continues…

Strobist info:

Nikon SB900 manual mode @ 1/8th power in a FotoFlex 18″ OctoDome held over the food with a boom arm on an Avenger C-Stand. Flash triggered with Pocket Wizard Plus IIs.

Nikon D7000 F11 @ 1/125th, ISO 100. Metered with Sekonic L358 light meter. BooYa Grandma !

An impromptu portrait of my seven month old Niece Ryder on New Years/NFL Football day. Forgive her choice of team. She’s young and knows little of choosing a superior football team like the Green Bay Packers.

My Wife Denise took this shot with her Nikon D90 while I held her SB-700 flash in a FotoDiox 12×18″ collapsible softbox off to camera right. Flash triggered with Nikon CLS system.

Stoffel Wagner built this Mill in 1767 and several generations of the Wagner family operated it over the span of 200 years. The Mill is located on West Walnut Street just off of Route 412 in Lower Saucon Township which is near Hellertown, PA in Northampton County. The Hellertown Historical Society uses the Miller’s house, on the opposite side of the mill, as their headquarters and is responsible for the renovations and upkeep of the mill. The footprint of the structure is 35′x55′ with the mill being constructed of fieldstone. It is 2.5 stories high with a 2.5 story, 25′x35′ addition that forms the mill in an “L” shape. There is a park setting surrounding the mill with two mill ponds and a creek, a baseball field and park benches to watch the ample waterfowl population. The soft, golden afternoon sun is at your back as you shoot across the smaller of the two mill ponds and it makes for a beautiful reflection. This mill is a “must see”.

Shot as Nine bracketed RAW frames at 1 stop increments and then combined them into an HDR and tone mapped it with HDR Efex Pro from NIK Software. I blended several teture layers from the commercially available texture packs from Distressed Tetures and Flypaper Textures to give it the artistic look I wanted.

The Upper Edelman One-Room Schoolhouse is located on the corner of Route 191 and Bookskill Road in Plainfield, PA. It has been restored to an early 1900s appearance and is outfitted with school desks, blackboards, books and other items that would have been found in the school at the turn of the 20th century. The schoolhouse is open for tours on the third Saturday of the month from May through October from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM. The building is owned by Pleasing Valley Charitable Foundation. There is avideo on YouTube that shows both the exterior of the school and the interior as viewed through the windows.

I shot this as five bracketed RAW frames at 1 stop increments and then combined them into an HDR and tone mapped it with HDR Efex Pro from NIK Software. I blended several textures from Kim Klassen in order to get the soft, aged, painterly look I was going for.