Deep into Winter

We're deep into winter now. The temperatures here haven't hit the freezing point for over a week, and there's a front blowing through as I type that's forecast to send the temperature plummeting and, with high winds blowing, send the wind chill index down to -10º to -20º F (-23º to -28º C) tomorrow morning. I went walking in the Dykeman Spring Nature Park late this morning and got the following photos; the bare trees, the grass stalks poking up through the snow, the snow-draped forest floor, but most of all the dramatic clouds heralding the front. It's winter, folks!

© 2014 by A. Roy Hilbinger 

More Snow in Spring Hill Cemetery

I knew the snow I showed you yesterday would have some photogenic effect on the local graveyards, so I went to look this morning. Long-time readers know my love for cemeteries and gravestones, and also of my love for photographing them in the snow; this was one more excuse to indulge that love. Heh, heh! I got some good shots in Spring Hill cemetery, but none of the shots I took in God's Acre downtown on Prince St. worked out. So here are the good shots from Spring Hill. Enjoy!

© 2014 by A. Roy Hilbinger

The Park in Snow

We got a really good snow yesterday - 5 or 6 inches of dry, powdery stuff. And today the high only made it to the mid teens, so nothing melted, and since the temps aren't supposed to get up to the freezing point in the foreseeable future, this snow should be around for a while. I went over to the Dykeman Spring Nature Park to take a look.

The Dykeman Walking Trail in snow

The bridge over the creek

Fox tracks and shadows along the Upland Trail

The bench looking out over the upland meadow

The view of Blue Mountain from the upland meadow

© 2014 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Benches

I had a strong urge to sit on a bench and contemplate Nature today. So on the way to the grocery store I walked through the Dykeman Spring Nature Park and visited a bench on the shores of the north duck pond and a bench on the Upland Trail at the edge of the upland meadow. I sat on that last one and contemplated the view.

"The Earth does not belong to us, we belong to the Earth."

 – Chief Seattle

"Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts."

– Rachel Carson

"Man's heart away from Nature becomes hard."

– Standing Bear

Photos © 2014 by A. Roy Hilbinger

The Bachelor

Male. 60 years old. Single. This is what that looks like. The guy on TV? Yeah, right! This is reality.

© 2014 by A. Roy Hilbinger

A Gray Sunday Morning

Overcast, gray, gloomy, empty, lonely... Sunday morning in Shippensburg, PA, before anyone is up and heading for church. I put my clothes in the washer in the laundromat and went for a walk, and this is what I found. I hope I've captured the mood in these shots.

My friend Arleen Hodge says I'm the one who got her into black & white photography and calls me one of her mentors. Well, she's a helluva better photographer than me; she's gone on to document the homeless in her town in a way that moves people. Me, I'm not so good with people, although I do okay with places and things. At the moment I'm limited to my cell phone camera, and I'm finding these simple types of shots, that fill the frame with no zoom and no severe cropping, work best with the limits of the lens. And they work especially well in black & white. I'm hoping I'm being as successful projecting the mood of what I see as Arleen is in telling the stories of her homeless friends.

Laundromat, Sunday morning

Portrait of the artist, reflected in the window of the Robert T. Henry Pharmacy

A lighted lamp and reflections in a window on King St.

A messy backyard and garage on Burd St.

Old graves on the site of the original German Reformed and Lutheran congregations, Orange and Queen Streets

© 2014 by A. Roy Hilbinger

A Long Winter's Nap

We got 2014's first snow of the year on Thursday night, but today was the first chance I had to go get photos of it. Naturally I went up to Spring Hill Cemetery to get those shots; I really love shooting in snow-covered graveyards! The title of this post refers to a post I did five years ago in Newport, RI, talking about the dead sleeping, tucked under a warm blanket of snow.

© 2014 by A. Roy Hilbinger