Lonaconing Silk Mill

      

At first you might think that I’m a little late to the party that is known as the Lonaconing Silk Mill.  Actually I have been shooting this location since the spring of 2011 thanks to my friends Arthur Ransome andChuck  Robinson.  But I never got around to processing many of the images much less sharing them.  Here is one from my 2^nd visit early last summer.  This is an amazing location, the mill was shut down in 1957 and everything inside is frozen in time.  Unfortunately the mill is in pretty bad condition and its future is uncertain.  Being able to photograph a location that is untouched for over 50 years has been a real treat.  

Macro Studio

While walking through the grocery store this past Saturday I noticed some small bunches of tulips.  It occurred to me that it had been a couple years since I did any “macro studio” work.   This is something I really enjoy doing but for some reason I find that I don’t do it often.  I must admit that I’m feeling a bit out of practice.  I decided to use a couple of textures on top of the original shot.  It’s not that I wanted to go “grunge” but felt the basic shot was a bit boring and ordinary.    

Guest Photographer

A couple months ago I was asked to be a Guest Photographer on a site called Fotopelak.   Besides posting to Twitter, Facebook and my Blog, I don’t spend any time publicizing my work. I would rather spend my time making pictures than trying to promote my work.  In spite of this, over the last couple years I have been approached by a number of people in regards to my photography.  With so much photography on the internet it is truly amazing that my work occasionally stands out.   

After getting the request I had to decide what to share.  While I consider myself a nature photographer I decided to submit a collection of old cars.  Click here for a link to my gallery.

Hereis a link to FotoPelak’s  home page.  

Steamtown

Last October I spent a couple days in the Delaware Water Gap area of PA, but upon my arrival I discovered that peak fall foliage had already passed.  I decided to do a quick middle of the day trip to Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, PA.   While the restoration shop was off limits, there was still a lot to shoot.   If I’m ever back in that area I will certainly head back for a 2^nd visit.  

The Finale

It’s time to close out another year of sharing my photography here on the blog.   As I have mentioned several times this year, my work with the Nature Visions Expo had an unintended side effect.  It reduced the time I had available to get out and shoot but  I’m not complaining  The Expo is a prestigious event and I’m honored to do my part.  The fact remains that I need to find a way to better manage my time so I still have time to pursue my passion, photography. 

The shot above was taken at the JW Cooper School in Shenandoah, PA.  I spent the day here last August with friends Corey Hilz, Jeff Johnson, and Andy Jezioro.  The owner of the building is in the process of trying to stabilize the property and make some improvements.  It is very much a work in process and he was very kind in allowing us to shoot here all day.   Visiting this area it is quite clear that the local economy is struggling.    It turns out that at one time Mahanoy City was a boom town but that was about 100 years ago.  While the coal industry is still active, I suspect that the activity is a fraction of what it once was.   

Concrete City

If you follow my blog or know me personally, you know that I have spent much of the past year working on the Nature Visions Photography Expo.  Our Expo was held last month and I have a couple months of downtime before the planning for the 2012 Expo begins.   We are also heading into the winter months.  While there are still lots of photo opportunities during the winter, I also plan to use the time to work on images from the past year as well as do some training.  

The shot above was taken in early summer at a place called Concrete City.  Wikipedia has a nice article that talks about the place.  My friend Greg Daily and I had spent the weekend in Ricketts Glen and we were having a late  dinner, somehow we struck up a conversation with our waitress and starting getting some local info of places to shoot.  Concrete City was one of the places she told us about and we decided to check it out on the way home.   

I don’t think I would make a special trip to shoot there again, but if I was ever in that part of PA, it would be worth a 2^nd look. 

High Tide

Last week I met up with friends Tony Sweet, Corey Hilz, Andrea Phox, Charles Riter and James Indelicarto for a couple days of shooting.  We had planned this get together several months ago, but we should have invited the weatherman.   The clouds rolled in prior to our arrival and did not depart until after we headed for home.   In the end a lot of what we planned to do got rained out. 

In the shot above we arrived at the pier about an hour before sunrise and did a little light painting while we waited for daylight.   The shot above is a 30 second exposure and I used a 2 million candle power light to paint the remains of the pier.  Originally I thought all my shots would be converted to black and white, but I really like the blue cast the pre-dawn light rendered on the scene.