“Sometimes I do get to places just when God’s ready to have somebody click the shutter.” — Ansel Adams

Sunrise over the marsh near the Gull Pond at Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Oceanville, NJ. Shot back on 7-3-2009 as seven bracketed exposures and merged to HDR and tone mapped in Photomatix, converted to black and white using Adobe Lightroom 3 today 7-18-2010. I had posted a color version of this last year but I think I prefer the black and white version more because of the amount of natural contrast in the scene.

For more information on the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, visit their web site atwww.fws.gov/northeast/forsythe/.

I had been meaning to get to this particular mill for a while and with rain and fog on this particular day(4-25-2010), it seemed like as good as time as any. Nice shooting weather. It would rain and stop, rain and stop all day long.

This mill was built somewhere between 1800 and 1830. It is located in Fawn Township near the intersection of Garvine Mill Road and PA route 425 (aka Woodbine Road). The water source is Bald Eagle Creek. What is puzzling is that on top of the hill behind the mill (the view you are seeing here) is a head race formed by the two foot high rock trough on the left, which would make this an overshot wheel but there is no current water source for the head race. It is said that the Bald Eagle Creek furnished water to the head race but given the elevation I would have to think the creek no longer takes that route. There isn’t a lot of information available on this mill on the Internet so I’ll have to hunt around a bit more to get the back story on how this mill operated and what happened to the original water source. The Miller’s house can be seen across the valley from the mill in the background.

The mill has also been known by the names Anderson’s Mill (named after the original builder) and Rock Run Mill (Not to be confused with the mill by the same name in Maryland). It was originally used to grind cornmeal and in later years became a cider mill. The original mill burned down in the late 1800′s and was rebuilt from the foundation up in the years 1899 & 1900. The original wheel on the mill was wooden and was replaced when the mill was rebuilt. The mill is currently owned by Gene Badders who is refurbishing the mill.

I shot this as seven bracketed RAW frames at .7 stop increments and then combined them into an HDR with Photomatix Pro and finally, tone mapped that image before bringing it into Photoshop CS5 and doing the B&W conversion with onOne’s Photo Tools.

Another shot from my parent’s backyard while my leg is healing. I went to the Orthopedic Surgeon today and they removed all the staples from the leg but he said I still can’t put any weight on the leg for another four weeks. My Summer is quickly evaporating before my eyes.

This is a look at the roof line, famous star louvers and ornate cupolas of the corn crib barn at the Star Barn complex located in Middletown, PA just off route 283. It was built in 1872 and there have been recent fund raising drives and organizational activities centered around moving the entire Star Barn complex to a new home in Grantville, PA where it will act as a museum and agricultural outreach of sorts. On the day that I shot this, it was extremely windy and the thick dark clouds looked like they would open up and drench the barn at any moment. I want to go back on a better weather day and capture some of the famous reflections of the barn in the nearby pond.

For more information on the Star Barn and its rich heritage, visit www.thestarbarn.com.

I shot this as five bracketed RAW frames at 1/3rd stop increments and then combined them into an HDR with Photomatix Pro and finally, tone mapped that image before converting it to black and white with NIK Silver FX Pro.

Locomotive 7002 has a long and sorted history. The original 7002 engine was built as a class E2 in 1902 for the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway as engine #2 (renumbered to 7002). In 1905, on the maiden westbound run of the Pennsylvania Special (renamed the Broadway Limited in 1912), the train was clocked by the conductor’s stopwatch over a 3 mile run west of Crestview, Ohio, at a record speed (for a steam locomotive) of 127.1 MPH. This claim is disputed by many as being “unofficial”. PRR #7002 was rebuilt to a class E7sa in August 1916 and scrapped in December 1934. When the PRR was looking for an E7 class locomotive for preservation, they refurbished No. 8063 an E7s from PCC&StL and substituted 7002’s engine number and builder’s plate. The engine was donated to Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in 1979 and put into operating order by Strasburg Rail Road where it ran for a number of years, sometimes double-heading with PRR D16 #1223. It last operated on December 20, 1989.

You can see a video of this magnificent machine in operation on the Strasburg Railroad back in 1985 by clicking here.

For more information on the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, visit their web site at www.rrmuseumpa.org/index.shtml.

I shot this as seven bracketed RAW frames at .7 stop increments and then combined them into an HDR with Photomatix Pro and finally, tone mapped that image before doing the black and white conversion with Silver FX Pro in Photoshop CS4.

Today’s snow fall, the first of 2009, brought with it the opportunity to take a snowy photo of the 209 foot long Wertz Covered Bridge which spans the Tulpehocken Creek at the Berks Heritage Center just outside Reading, Pennsylvania. The bridge was built in 1867 and is the longest existing single span covered bridge in Pennsylvania.

It was a lot colder than I had anticipated. I’m sure the feeling will return to my hands any time now…

Shot as seven bracketed Raw frames with 1/3 stop variance and then combined into an HDR and then tone mapped the image with Photomatix Pro. I used OnOne Software’s PhotoTools Pro plugin suite to do the black and white conversion and then erased the bridge from the top layer, bringing out the red of the bridge to contrast against the snow and the black and white surroundings.

The second of two horses they have on the farm at Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, grazes in the pasture. From my Monday, 9-7-2009 trip.

For more information on visiting Hopewell Furnace, please visit their web site

Black and White conversion via NIK Software’s Silver-FX Pro plugin for Photoshop CS4.

When the furnaces at Hopewell Furnace were in operation, hundreds of charcoal hearths would turn 5,000 to 6,000 cords of wood per year into charcoal for use in the furnace. The charcoal was dumped into an area just above this charcoal house and left to cool. Once the charcoal had cooled, it was shoveled down through windows at the top of the charcoal house and left here for storage until needed. Once needed, teams of men would load wagons and wheelbarrows and haul the charcoal across the way to the bridge house where it was dumped down a hole in the floor that led to the furnace area below.

From my Monday, 9-7-2009 trip to Hopewell National Historic Site.

For more information on visiting Hopewell Furnace, please visit their web site

This was shot as nine bracketed RAW frames then combined into an HDR and tone mapped in Photomatix Pro. Then I created a duplicate layer and used the B & W filter in OnOne Software’s Photo Tools to convert the layer to B & W and finally used the brush out tool in Photo Tools to brush away the B & W on the waghon wheel to reveal the weathered colors in the layer underneath.

This bridge spans the Conestoga Creek at a length of 180 feet making it the longest Covered Bridge in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

The bridge has a single span, wooden, double Burr arch trusses design. The original bridge was built in 1848 by John Russell at a cost of $1,988. It has been swept away in flooding numerous times, most recently in 1972 after Hurricane Agnes. Waters lifted the original structure off its abutments and carried it downstream. In 1973, it was rebuilt. It is located 1/4 mile north of Hwy. 23 and Mondale Road and 1/4 mile west on Hunsecker Road in Upper Leacock Township. It’s one of the few existing Covered Bridges in Lancaster County not sporting the red outside paint scheme. The WGCB # for this bridge is 38-36-06. It is in excellent condition and open to daily vehicular traffic.

One of nine covered bridges I photographed on 9-6-2009. I shot this as seven bracketed RAW frames and then combined them into an HDR with Photomatix Pro and finally, tone mapped that image to create the final color image. Black and White conversion via NIK Silver-FX Pro.

Episode # 3 in the “Cow Chronicles” where Bovine # 9 steps forward and claims her spot as spokescow, separating herself from the pack and distinguishing herself in the eyes of farmer Martin.

Shot on a farm in Lancaster County on 4-19-2009. Black and white conversion via NIK Software’s Silver-FX Pro plugin for Photoshop.

Scorched earth and smoking coal cover the landscape on a hill side in Centralia, PA.

In 1962, a group of volunteer fireman in Centralia were hired to burn some municipal trash in an open landfill in one of the town’s cemeteries. What they didn’t know is that the landfill had a coal seem that met the surface and the fire ignited the coal, starting an underground fire that eventually over the years, caused the abandonment of the town. The fire burns to this day and has enough coal fueling it underground for several hundred years to come.

There are several excellent books on Centralia that really give a detailed account of the fire, the lives of the people of Centralia before and during the fire and the snail’s pace that government bureaucracy operates at. I, personally like “The Day The Earth Caved In” by Joan Quigley. She really paints a thorough picture of the lives of all involved in this tragic story.

There are several good videos on Centralia and the underground mine fire on You Tube including this one. Check it out for a good overview of the town and the fire. NOTE: They have the 1962 population wrong in this video but it’s still pretty good none the less.

I took this on Saturday afternoon 3-14-2009.

Statue at the Charles Evans Cemetery in Reading, PA taken on Saturday 2-14-2009.

B & W Processing by NIK Software’s Silver FX Pro

For more information on the Charles Evans Cemetery, visit their web site at www.cevans.com

Goose footprints embedded in the ice and snow at Fleetwood Park on Saturday, 1-31-2009. One of the things I am striving to do more of in 2009 is black and white compositions so here’s the first one of 2009.

Special thanks to Logotip for use of the free Smoky Light Beam texture I blended into this shot.