2014 Daily Photo Project - Day 23 - 3-31-2014

Headed back to Church today.  I really like old churches, and there are quite a few of them around.  This is the Washington Chapel in Lake Lucy.  Cruised by it on my way home from work and snapped a few pics.

Another one of the steeple.  Really like the red weather vane on top.

See what I find tomorrow.

2014 Daily Photo Project - Day 22 - 3-30-2014

Not sure why, maybe it has a lot to do with the surprise snow last night, but I felt a little out of sorts.  Decided to reflect that in my photography today.  These images are a lot out of sorts.  I kind of like how they turned out though.  These of course are HDR's.  2 of them had additional, very radical post-processing in photoshop.

If I had to place an explaination for these photos being so radical, it would have to be an artist losing patience with mother nature in not giving him beautiful, saturated, white-less colorful scenes. :)

This one is taken on Tom's Run in Cook Forest State Park.

This one is taken at the fishing pond on Tom's Run in Cook Forest State Park.

A very different view of the bridge across the Clarion River in Cook Forest State Park.

Here's to overly saturated foliage. :)

2014 Daily Photo Project - Day 21 - 3-29-2014

Woke up this morning with an over-riding desire to head on over to the Callihan family farm to take a cruise around to see what I could get some photos of.  Hadn't been there since hunting season.

I took quite a few photos that I am happy with.  When I got to the back corner of the field, I got out and basked in the nice air and the quietness of the edge of the woods.  This spot was where my Grandfather sat in his vehicle this past deer season.  My Grandfather, whom I was very close to, passed away in January.

This was where Grandpa hunted from for the last time that I was in the woods with him.  He wasn't there long that morning.  I dropped my wife and son off at a spot and then drove the Jeep down to talk to him a while before heading into the woods myself.  Left him there, drove to another section of the field, got out of the car, and killed an 8 point.  The horns fell off of my 8-point when it was dying, weirdest thing I had ever seen.  I radioed Grandpa and he asked, "Did you get one Devin?"  I radioed back, "Yes, but the damn horns fell off".  Grandpa replied, in I will call his laughing while talking voice " Yeah, I've heard that one before."

I shed some tears while I snapped my photo of the day from this location.  I could swear he was in that corner of the field with me this morning and God granted me a nice view of the sky to photograph.  This image will be one of my most emotional photos personally for the rest of my life I am sure.

Before getting to this spot, I took several other photographs that I am pretty happy with.  This one is the old corn crib.  It used to be up near the barn, but as it deteriorated, one of my relatives moved it down into the edge of the woods.

This one I shot very near the corn crib.  It is some random farming machinery.  Caught my eye, so I decided to take a photo of it.

This last one is a photo taken of the barn and shed from the corn crib.

Emotional photo trip today.  Not in a bad way though.  In a remembering way.  I have many great memories with my Grandfather at the farm and the surrounding woods.  I will be back here for more photos for sure.

2014 Daily Photo Project - Day 20 - 3-28-2014

Nothing really spectacular today.  Just a simple photo that is my declaration that, and I hope I am not jinxing us here, I think Spring may finally be here.

Supposed to possibly snow tomorrow night.  But here's to hoping it's the last of it.

See you tomorrow.

2014 Daily Photo Project - Day 19 - 3-27-2014

Decided to head down the road to the Lickingville Church for a photo today.  As you can see from the photographs below, it has seen much better days.  Just think of all of the weddings, baptisms, etc. that have probably taken place in this building.  It's a shame, but everything must leave this earth one day I guess.  Not sure of the year of construction on this, but it's pretty darn old.  Probably won't be around much longer.

This is the photo that I chose for my photo of the day.  I had plans on setting up the tripod and taking a bunch of photos, but as soon as I pulled up, I saw this shot and knew I was done.  Didn't even get out of the car.

Took a few more from the car before heading back home.  This one gives you an idea of what the entire front of the structure looks like.

2014 Daily Photo Project - Day 18 - 3-26-2014

Had a very busy afternoon after work.  You know..... homeowner stuff. Blah.  Very little time for the photo project today.  There will for sure be more days like this.  Had enough time to run out and grab a photo though.  Headed to the edge of the corn field through the woods behind my house.  A few stalks stayed up over the Winter.. very few.  This was one of them.

Here's to hoping for more time for photography tomorrow. :)

2014 Daily Photo Project - Day 17 - 3-25-2014

Had the urge today to try out another HDR and an idea for a subject came to mind on my way home from work.  I headed out to Helen Furnace and took a series of shots from different angles.  The sun hid behind a cloud at the perfect time for this one.

I really like it.  Still wishing for foliage on the trees, but it will come.  Notice there is still some snow on the ground. :(

2014 Daily Photo Project - Day 16 - 3-24-2014

Didn't feel very motivated to travel far for my photo today.  Could have been a bad case of the Mondays or just the temperature in the 20's again making me just want to stay close to home.  Not sure, but I ventured out onto the back patio to see if I could find anything from there.  There was a Robin in the back yard, so I put the 55-250 on the camera and waited to see if it would do anything worth photographing.

It headed for one of the trees so I started snapping away randomly.  During one of these bursts, it jumped from one limb to another.

Lucky shot.  Wish I would have had a faster shutter speed to have caught the scene better, but I still like it.

Once it got to that branch, I caught another photo of it eating some of the rotten berries that are still on the tree from last year.

Not as cool of a shot, but I like it.

We'll see what tomorrow brings.

2014 Daily Photo Project - Day 15 - 3-23-2014

Bouncing back into colors again today.  The sun was shining brightly, so the wife and I decided to take a short ride North of Marienville.  I of course was looking for something to photograph.  I read a great deal about paying attention to structure when composing photographs.  As we were driving around, an excellent location to apply this popped into my head.  We were heading past the location anyway, so I stopped.

We took Duhring Road, about 7 miles North of Marienville.   Down this road, my Brother-in-law's family owns a piece of property that used to be a CCC camp.  There is a covered bridge that crosses Spring Creek there.

I got out of the Jeep and started clicking away when I felt the need to attempt an HDR.  I have only done a few of these and don't quite have the technique down yet, so I am always looking for opportunities to practice.

This is the photo that I came up with.

I like it, but I am never satisfied.  Think it would have looked better if the trees in the background would have had their leaves on them.  I will definitely be making a return trip in the Spring or Summer to make another attempt.

Some professional photographers say that HDR images are not real photography.  Coming from an amateur like myself, I can say that a statement such as that shows to me a level of arrogance and a lack of an understanding that photography is in the end... art.  HDR is not something this photographer is going to turn his head to.

For those who don't like HDR images, here is a black and white version that I like of the same scene also.

2014 Daily Photo Project - Day 14 - 3-22-2014

The things that I liked to play with when I was a child were my lincoln logs.  My brother and I had like 4 sets of them, which enabled the building of a whole little town.  I would spend hours doing this.  Built with lincoln logs as much as other kids built with legos.

At some point nearer the end of my life, I want to build, what I would call a "trapper style" cabin.  If you have ever seen the reality tv show "Mountain Men" and seen Marty's cabins along his trapline.... that is what I am talking about.  Simple, no electric and no plumbing.  Would be like heaven to me.  Will take a lot of convincing the wife, as she does not like such rustic environments, but I have a feeling I'll win out in the end cause she loves me. :)  Right honey?  Maybe sometime in the next 10 years or so I'll buy a piece of property and make the dream a reality.

I have driven past this abandoned cabin many times.  It is just off of Route 36, a few miles from my house.  Always wanted to sneak back into the woods and take a look at it, just never did.  Decided today that since the property is not posted, there was no harm in taking a closer look.  Not sure who owns it, and why they let it get in the shape it's in, but I would consider it a crime.  It has definitely seen better days.  Wish I had one.

On an artistic note, you will notice, I took this in black and white.  Funny that I have a camera capable of capturing every little piece of color in a scene, and I find that I am developing a love for black and white.  I go to extremes, it seems.  I love saturated colors, much more saturated than most I would guess, but still love the simplicity that is a black and white image.

Here is another of the front of the cabin.  I took a bunch of color photos to, but just don't do it for me with this subject.

Till tomorrow, bye.

2014 Daily Photo Project - Day 13 - 3-21-2014

Wow.  What a difference a day makes in March in Northwestern Pennsylvania.  Yesterday we had a thin blanket of snow on everything... and today was pleasantly in the low 50's.  Took advantage of it this evening by snapping a few pictures and then taking down the Christmas lights.  Yup, that's right, just took down my Christmas lights.  Big slacker right here.

On a photography note, found a little bit of color today.  Used the macro rings again to keep gaining some experience with them for when the weather gets nice and all the flowers come into bloom.  Anyone who followed my 365 Photo Challenge last year knows, flowers are one of my favorite things to photograph.

I really like this photo.  Peering into the moss it's almost like I found a little miniature world hidden from plain sight.  I guess that's the cool aspect of macro photography.

Another photo that I took looking down on this "little miniature world".  Not as happy with this shot, but it's still a shot of color to soothe anyone else who's eyes have seen too much white the last few months.

See you tomorrow.

2014 Daily Photo Project - Day 12 - 3-20-2014

It never ends....... Winter that is.  Thought we were barelling through to Spring, but Mother Nature has other plans for Northwestern Pennsylvania apparently.  Today is the first official day of Spring and a thin blanket of snow decided to cover everything today.

My photo for the day today is an artistic expression of disgust for Mother Nature's sick, twisted intentions.  These are buds on an Azalea bush in my yard.  They are just biding their time to greet the world with some color.  Can't wait.

I am usually not this disgusted with Winter, but this has been no ordinary Winter.

Here's to more colorful, Spring photos in the very near future. :)

2014 Daily Photo Project - Day 11 - 3-19-2014

Was too rainy out this evening to get outside with the camera, so I decided to play around with my macro rings some more.  I am much happier with the results I got today.  I snapped many pictures of many different subjects, but one just jumped out at me as I started to photograph it.  This is the photo that I used for my photo of the day for my daily photo challenge today.

This is a close-up of an old wall decoration on my home office wall of a Revolutionary War soldier.  Thought it looked kind of cool close up.

After I uploaded this, I realize I have much to learn about uploading photos to blogger.  It really sucked the life out of it.  Darkened it and desaturated the copper color.  If you are one of my Facebook friends, you can see a better version of it on my wall.

2014 Daily Photo Project - Day 10 - 3-18-2014

After work, I decided to play around with my macro rings a little bit more.  The sun was beaming down onto the back yard, so I figured I'd find a subject back there.  Put the rings and my 18-55 on my 70D and searched for a subject.

My favorite plant of all is the Rhododendron.  Can't get enough of them.  I went over to check on the batch of them on the edge of the yard and played around with various shots of the buds.

This was the one that I chose for my photo of the day for my daily photo project.

I also took a close up of this same bud.  Don't like it quite as much, but it's still ok.

This has me wishing I could afford the 100mm Canon macro lens really bad.  The macro rings "make do" and that is about it.  Have to get VERY close and losing the ability to change aperture is really annoying.  Someday maybe I'll get a real macro lens.  Will make do with these rings in the mean time.

2014 Daily Photo Project - Day 9 - 3-17-2014

Got only a few minutes today to get my photo for the day.  Got out of a Clarion County Trails Association meeting just after dark.  As I pulled out of the parking lot after the meeting, I started wondering what the heck I was going to take a photo of in the few minutes I had available before I had to get home.  I only made it a few hundred feet down Route 322 and came to a screeching halt.  I grabbed the camera, jumped out of the car and took this photograph.  I really like it.  It is the Civil War Memorial, in Memorial Park, across from the Clarion County Courthouse.

I'm really happy with it.  Just like with my daily photo project last year, whenever I think I have nothing to photograph, something seems to just pop up.  Lucky.  Hope it keeps up.

2014 Daily Photo Project - Day 8 - 3-16-2014

Yesterday's little hike got me in the mood to photograph old abandoned buildings.  My son had a friend spend the night last night.  After taking him home this morning I decided to swing by an abandoned building that I have passed by many times, but never took the time to stop and look around.

I believe this is a long abandoned garage, but not sure.  It is located on Marble-Strobleton Road near Fryburg.  In the summertime, with all of the growth around it, you have to be paying attention to notice it.  Very apparent that it is there in the Winter.

This is the photo from the one's that I took that I am using for my photo for the day.

Below is another photo that shows the entire front of the building.

Interesting old building.

2014 Daily Photo Project - Day 7 - 3-15-2014

Another one of my hobbies is hiking.  I am very active with the Clarion Chapter of the North Country Trail Association.  I am responsible for scheduling and organizing our monthly hikes throughout the year.  The route that we had planned for this month's hike on the North Country Trail was found to be covered in ice, so we decided to hike the new "Rail 66 Country Trail" in Lucinda, PA.

There are several cool old buildings along this section of old railroad grade.  The first one, I decided to try my hand at an HDR.  Wish I would have had my tripod cause it would have turned out better.  I think I need to buy a portable one that will fit in my hiking pack.  Lessons learned along the way I guess.

There is also an old train station along this trail.  I decided to go the other direction and shoot some black and white photographs here.

Really enjoyed the hike today.  Can't wait till the weather is nice so my son and I can take a bike ride.

2014 Daily Photo Project - Day 6 - 3-14-2014

Was a beautiful day today, but I waited till after dark to take my photo of the day for my daily photo project.  The moon was beaming in the sky for a little while before retreating to the cover of the clouds.

2014 Daily Photo Project - Day 5 - 3-13-2014

Heard while I was at work today that the ice was coming off of the Clarion River in Cook Forest State Park.  As soon as I got home, the wife and I loaded up in the Jeep and headed down the road.  Took this photo when I first got there.  I used this for my photo of the day today.  The picture does not do the situation justice.  The ice down the road by the canoe launch area was taller than me.  The area where I shot my pictures of geese a few days back was covered in well over 6 feet worth of slabs of ice.  Really impressive.

Played around a bit... until my fingers were frozen that is.  Found a little chunk of ice on top of the large slabs that caught my eye.

This is a huge slab of ice basking in the sun.  Gonna take a little while for this one to melt.

I'm a thinking this isn't going to be a problem today......

Can't wait till it is though.  Anxious for my first float of the year.

2014 Daily Photo Project - Day 4 - 3-12-2014

Got a cheap set of macro rings a while back and hadn't really had time to play with them yet.  Today, the weather turned nasty again which made taking a photo outside after work pretty much impossible.  Decided to give these rings a shot.  Macro rings are basically a cheap way of turning a normal lens into a macro lens.  Until I can afford a real macro lens, they will have to do.  Definitely gonna be a learning curve with them.  No ability to set the aperture among other little things.

The photo that I used for my photo of the day today was this one of my wife, Ashley's eye.  She was very patient with me and I'm somewhat happy with the results.  With the lighting and handholding the camera, I didn't get the detail in her eye I wanted to, but she was tired of trying.  Thanks honey, I love you.

I also played around with some shots of the freezing rain that collected on our living room windows.  They turned out rather odd.  Almost like little asteroids.

Will definitely be messing around with these rings a little more to see if I can get better results in the future.

2014 Daily Photo Project - Day 3 - 3-11-2014

After getting home from work, I made a homemade pizza for the family, and then loaded up my tripod and camera in the car.  Headed 5 minutes down the road to Cook Forest State Park to see what I could find for my photo today.  Didn't take long.

The Clarion River is still mostly frozen with very thick ice from the very cold, long Winter we have had.  But with warmer days sneaking in a few at a time over the last week or so, there were areas of flowing water.  One of these area was near the canoe launch by the park office.

I was going to stop and play around with shooting an HDR of the bridge with the ice in the water, but my plans immediately changed when I opened up my car door.  I found a flock of geese hanging out on the ice near the only patch of flowing water.

This was the photo that I selected to use as my daily photo for my daily photo project.

Right before I shot this one, I caught one at the exact moment that a goose broke through the thin ice on it's way into the water.

After I had taken 70 or so shots, the geese decided they had taken enough of my rude intrusion.  They also decided that it was time to run me off.

A fun little Late-Winter evening in an almost completely deserted Cook Forest State Park.

2014 Daily Photo Project-Daylight Savings Time - Day 2 - 3-10-2014

One thing I learned last year when completing my 365 Photo Project, is that there are photo opportunities everywhere, you just have to be looking.  Took a short ride on a few back roads around my home and brought the car to an immediate stop when I saw this tree.

Really like how the sun lit up the moss in the branches of the tree.  It's almost like they are glowing.  Nice addition to the bland brown and white landscape that is the woods of Northwestern Pennsylvania right now.  Happy little find in a field by a camp on a little back road.

2014 Daily Photo Project-Daylight Savings Time - Day 1 - 3-9-2014

In 2013, I completed a 365 Photo Challenge.  This consisted of taking a photo for every day of the calendar year, starting on January 1st and ending on December 31st.  I shared this adventure on my personal Facebook site and really enjoyed it.  I took this challenge mainly as a way to finally learn how to use my dslr camera, but along the way I discovered that I really liked the artistic aspect of experiencing others feedback of my photos.

When the challenge ended, I found myself missing the every day search for a photograph.  I knew that I wanted to do another daily photo project this year, but just didn't know how I wanted to structure it.  After some thinking, I realized that the least enjoyable parts of my 2013 daily photo project were the first and the last 2 months of the year.  It is incredibly hard to get off of work and find an opportunity to find a picture with only minutes left of daylight every evening.

So I decided that in 2014 I will take a photo every day during daylight savings time.  It works out perfectly in my opinion.

So today I took my first photo of the day in my new photography project that will simply be titled "2014 Daily Photo Project-Daylight Savings Time".

This morning, the wife and I loaded up in the Jeep and headed for Tionesta, PA to see if I could find some interesting pictures of the ice on the Allegheny River.  Got there to find the same thick, flat, boring ice we have seen for months now.  No flows yet.  So I pulled into what at one time was supposed to be the Pennsylvania Fishing and Hunting Museum.  At this location, the owner of the property erected a lighthouse and I figured while I was here, might as well make it my photo for today.

The octagon shaped "Sherman Memorial Lighthouse" stands fifty feet high and is sixteen feet in diameter at its base.  While most existing lighthouses are made of masonry or concrete, this lighthouse is composed of timber framing, vertical beams and OSB and Styrofoam board.

It takes 76 steps up a circular staircase to get to the lantern room and the observation deck that encircles it.