I was driving around some of the lesser traveled roadways on the auto tour at Valley Forge National Historic Park, looking for deer to photograph and video when I saw these “rays of God” trying to burst through the low, thick cloud cover. As I looked for a spot to park I noticed that I was about 1000 feet away from this statue of George Washington on his horse looking out over the valley. He happened to be staring right in the direction of the sun rays so I knew I had to get this shot. The only problem was I had the Sigma 50-500mm lens mounted on the D300 and all my settings were setup for photographing deer, not doing HDR landscapes. I think I set a speed record for lens changes and settings adjustments because I knew those sun rays were not going to last for more than thirty seconds or so. The wind was blowing the clouds around pretty good. I managed to get off nine bracketed shots and within twenty seconds after that, the clouds completely obscured the sun again. Thanks for sharing your sky with me George !

For more information on visiting Valley Forge National Historical Park, check out their web site.

I shot this as nine bracketed RAW frames at 1 stop increments and then combined them into an HDR and tone mapped it with the new HDR Efex Pro plugin from NIK Software.

This is the inside of the Washington Memorial Chapel on the Grounds of Valley Forge Historical Park. The chapel has an active Episcopal congregation in addition to being major stopping point on the Valley forge list of things to see. It stands in remembrance of General Washington and those brave men and women who gave so much to win our freedom in the American Revolution. I’ve shot at the Chapel before but never inside. It’s a beautiful and majestic place.

For more information on the Washington Memorial Chapel, visit their web site. For more information on visiting Valley Forge National Historical Park, check out their web site.

I shot this as seven bracketed RAW frames at 1 stop increments (setup via the Promote Remote) and then combined them into an HDR and tone mapped it with the new HDR Efex Pro plugin from NIK Software. Some post-production work with Topaz Adjust finished it off. I’m still trying to figure out the best way to line things up when shooting with the Sigma 10mm Fisheye lens. It’s a little hard to judge because what you see in the viewfinder is not what you end up with after you do the lens correction in Adobe Lightroom to take the fisheye warping out. It’s going to a little more practice until I can get just the right center point and equal width on both sides figured out.

With rain on and off all day today and ominous clouds overhead, I decided to hit Valley Forge National Historic Site on the way back from photography at the Shofuso Japanese House and Gardens. The dreary weather can sometimes set a mood that a bright sunny day can never hope to reach and sometimes a dreary mood best fits the subject matter of war. This is the same canon at the Muhlenburg Brigade encampment that I shot back at the end of may. General Peter Muhlenberg’s Brigade anchored the outer line of defense at the Valley Forge encampment from December 19, 1777 to June 19, 1778. Although no battle was ever fought between Colonial and British forces at Valley Forge, over 1,000 men lost their lives here due to severe winter conditions, dysentery, scurvy and a host of other ailments common to the times.

For more information on visiting Valley Forge National Historical Park, check out their web site.

I created this image as seven RAW bracketed frames, combined into an HDR image and tone mapped in Photomatix Pro then used the Topaz Simplify plugin for Photoshop CS4 to give the trees and clouds a painterly quality before finally applying a texture to give it an antique feel.

Thanks to alicepopkorn for the use of the free texture file Magic Veil.

The United States Memorial Arch, located at the intersection of Outerline Drive and Gulph Road, was erected to commemorate the arrival of General George Washington and his Continental Army into Valley Forge.

Revolutionary war era Canon pointed over the hill where General Peter Muhlenberg’s Brigade anchored the outer line of defense at the Valley Forge encampment from December 19, 1777 to June 19, 1778. Although no battle was ever fought between Colonial and British forces at Valley Forge, yet over 1,000 men lost their lives here due to severe winter conditions, dysentery, scurvy and a host of other ailments common to the times.

I shot this as five RAW bracketed frames then converted it to an HDR (High Dynamic Range) image using Photomatix Pro then layered and blended several free background textures from the following contributors in order to create an old fashioned feel to this.

Skeletal Mess (Painted Canvas 3)
Alicepopkorn (Magic Veil)

This small Revolutionary War era wood and mortar cabin is located near the National Memorial Arch

A reenactor playing the part of a Revolutionary War era infantry soldier near the cabins where General Peter Muhlenberg’s Brigade anchored the outer line of defense at the Valley Forge encampment from December 19, 1777 to June 19, 1778.

I’ve been listening to the unabridged audio book “1776″ by David McCullough who also narrates the book. It’s an absolutely riveting account of the armies, battles, personalities and monumental effort that went into the birth of our nation and I can’t recommend it highly enough for those of you interested in American history.

It was the first day on the job for this soldier reenactor and he really knew the part and had obviously done a ton of research on the lifestyle and day to day tasks of a soldier from this encampment. The reenactors interact with the crowd and really bring history alive at Valley Forge.

shot this as a single RAW frame, converted it to B & W using NIK Software’s Silver-FX Pro and then applied a texture containing a weathered copy of the Declaration of Independence.

For more information on visiting Valley Forge National Historical Park, check out their web site.