Susquehanna Sunset

Hello. Last evening I decided to visit a nearby place called Breezyview Overlook at Chickies Rock in Marietta, PA. I needed to unwind after a busy work day any ways. What better way to unwind that to capture the beauty of a sunset! Breezyview Overlook is located off of Route 441 North (off of the Columbia/Marietta Route 30 West exit) heading towards Marietta, PA. It's a worth-while stop especially, if you would like to see a magnificient view of the Susquehanna River.

Hello and welcome to another segment of my Photo Journal. This past Saturday, my brother Brian, and his girlfriend came to visit. Since this was the first time that both of them were in the area, we decided to visit the Amish Homestead. There is a restaurant that serves Amish style food, a unique gift shop, a petting zoo, the Amish Experience Theater, and a snack shop that sells the best soft pretzels we ever tasted. The Amish Homestead is located on Route 340 near Bird and Hand, PA. Attached is one of my images taken at the tourist attraction. Have a good week everyone.

Valley Forge

Hello and welcome to my blog. This past Wednesday and Thursday I had the opportunity to visit a few new places to photograph. My friend, Beth, and I spent Wednesday morning at Chesapeake City Maryland and the afternoon and Thursday at Valley Forge National Historical Park Pennsylvania.

Chesapeake City is a small fishing village of sorts with a marina, bed and breakfasts, unique shops, and victorian-style homes. Although we chose to visit Chesapeake City in the morning, the better time to visit is late afternoon, evening.

Valley Forge National Historical Park is the place where General George Washington, and his 12,000 man confederate army made camp during a harsh winter, in 1777. Valley Forge has many photo opportunities. Not only did Beth and I photograph army huts, historic buildings, and the Arch, we also photographed a lush waterfall, whitetail doe and fawns, and a witness tree ( a sycamore tree that has been there since the revolutionary war.) The photo is a stitched image of this unique tree.

Amish Country Side

On Saturday June 13, I went to a photo workshop sponsored by Ed Heaton and his wife, Kelly. We went to several PA Dutch Country locations taking various photos of this beautiful countryside. I photographed this image of the Amish Buggy during the workshop. I set up my shot, making sure to include a fore, mid, and background. I also wanted to keep the back ground as plain as possible.

Spring Time

Spring arrives at 7:44am Friday. Hooray! The birds are singing, the temperature is rising (slowly maybe), the sun is shining (or at least trying to come out). The time for outside activities is upon us.

Just yesterday, on my way home from work I noticed purple wild flowers along President Ave in Lancaster, PA. I was actually surprised to see flowers already.

So now that Spring is in the air, what is there to do? Another place to visit and photograph are mud sales. Every Spring, various areas of Lancaster County hold mud sales. These sales are normally sponsored by local fire companies. The locals, including the Amish, come to these mud sales mainly to purchase things like tools, machinery, arts and crafts, Amish buggies, and an assortment of food. Some of us go to the mud sales to hunt for photo opportunities. Last year, my friend Pat and I attended the mud sale in Gap, PA. This was my first time going to a mud sale and it was quite the experience.

Both of us came back home with several photo memories that day. (We even photographed the Amish, although discreetly since the Amish believe that it's a sin of vanity to have their photo taken.)

For more info on the mud sales, please visit www.padutchcountry.com.

Charter Day

Good afternoon and welcome to another post to my Travel Journal. Today, I would like to discuss Charter Day. Charter Day is when some Lancaster County travel hot spots are open to the public at no charge. Ephrata Cloister, Landis Valley Museum, and The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania are three places in Lancaster County that you can visit for no charge on Charter Day.

If railroad trains of yesteryear is of interest to you, then heading over to Strasburg is where you want to be. Enjoy celebrating the 327th birthday of the Commonwealth, by observing Pennsylvania made and operated historic trains.

If you would like to witness how the Ephrata Cloister Congregation lived their lives, visiting their grounds is the place for you. One of America's earliest religious communities, the Ephrata Cloister was founded in 1732 by German settlers seeking spiritual goals rather than worldly possessions.

Of course if you want to know the life of the Landis Brothers, then making a trip to the Landis Valley Museum is where you would like to spend the afternoon. (Please see my blog on Landis Valley.)

The Railroad Museum of PA is located at Route 741, Strasburg, PA across the street from the Strasburg Railroad. For more information, please visit www.rrmuseumpa.org. For info regarding the Ephrata Cloister, please visit www.ephratacloister.org. The website for Landis Valley Museum is www.landisvalleymuseum.org.

Longs' Park

This past Wednesday, I went to Longs' Park in Lancaster Pennsylvania. I've been to this park several times, but although it's February, the temperature was nearly 60. I wasn't the only one taking advantage of the warm weather. There were others...couples walking hand in hand, mothers watching their children playing on the playground. Some were just relaxing, enjoying the nice breeze.

Of course, I went to the park to take photographs. Before I go somewhere to take photographs, I try to visualize the type of images I would like to take. Although I did this, the subjects seemed to come to me as I was walking. The subjects in question were seagulls. A lot of seagulls. I didn't count them, but did I really have to? (The image above is one of my first images taken on this day. The seagull was standing on a park bench rail. It didn't even notice me approaching and it didn't fly away after I took the photograph.) There were mallard ducks as well. There was a thin layer of ice on the pond...it was humorous seeing the seagulls and ducks waddle their bodies on the ice. I took 20 photos while at the park, then I decided to call it a day. (I really wanted to go home so I could view my images on my computer and find out if I had any keepers.)

Longs' Park is located off of Route 30, Harrisburg Pike Exit. The park is open from sunrise to sunset daily. Signing off until next time.