Groundhog Day

They dragged poor old Punxsutawney Phil out of his den this morning; supposedly he saw his shadow and retreated, meaning six more weeks of winter. I don't know how he saw his shadow; it's been a solid overcast all day, and Punxsutawney is only about 150 miles up the road. The kleig lights from all the TV cameras must have freaked him out. But the prediction looks to be good. It certainly looks and feels wintry here, and we have more snow heading here early tomorrow.

I went walking in the Dykeman Spring Nature Park this morning to get Groundhog Day shots. I was undecided between color or b&w, and decided to go with both, but only post the color ones here because in this post I want to emphasize Mama Gaia's paintbrush at work in the midst of a typically nondescript season. If you want to see the b&w versions as well, click here to go to the web album. Meanwhile, enjoy the colors of winter here!

The wooden bridge over Gum Run, which joins up with Branch Creek a little farther downstream

Branch Creek in the Dykeman Spring Nature Park

Looking across the north duck pond

Looking north down the length of the north duck pond

The wetland north of the north duck pond, with Martin house

© 2014 by A. Roy Hilbinger

While Walking Around

These are things that caught my eye while walking around on errands today. I'm really liking black & white photography lately; in great measure that's due to having lost my good camera and having to learn to deal with the limitations of the camera on my cell phone. Black & white photography turned out to be the best way to present photos taken with the phone, and I've been having so much fun with it that I'm almost tempted to not buy a new camera. Heh, heh! The operative word in that sentence is almost; there's no way I'm going to give up taking my macros, and my bird portraits, and other things that the cell phone camera just can't do. But this experiment in working within strict limitations has been very good for my photography, and the cell phone photos will keep coming even after I get my new camera in a couple of weeks. For now, here's the latest batch.

Branch Creek on the other side of King St.

One of the narrow alleys of Shippensburg

An abandoned factory complex

The stairs, rails, and windows on the side of Messiah Methodist make an interesting pattern.

© 2014 by A. Roy Hilbinger

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

Farewell 2013

I was trying to think of a way to commemorate the new year here, and got the idea to get some shots in Spring Hill Cemetery to symbolize the passing of the old year. It was overcast, cold, and breezy with fleeting snow showers while I was there, so the atmosphere was perfect for the mood I wanted to capture. And of course I'll use any excuse to go photograph in a cemetery! Heh, heh!

© 2013 by A. Roy Hilbinger 

Textures

Inspired by the bridge planks shot I took last week, I went wandering around town this morning in search of more texture shots. Here's what I found

Fieldstone house wall, typical of houses built in the 1700s and 1800s

Glass block window

A cobblestone retaining wall

Bare vines climbing a wooden barn wall

An old brick house wall

© 2013 by A. Roy Hilbinger 

Miscellany

I went walking in the Dykeman Spring Nature Park today, doing some wildcrafting; I was collecting Staghorn Sumac bobs and Asian Bittersweet berries to add to my feeders to add some extra nutrition to what I feed my bird buddies in the back yard. While I was wandering I was taking pictures. Unfortunately the following two were all that worked. I did them as black & white because it felt right with the snowless world hereabouts being reduced to grays and browns.

The old wooden planks on the bridge over the creek

One of the copses out in the middle of the upland meadow

© 2013 by A. Roy Hilbinger

More Snow

We got more snow yesterday, and this time it didn't turn to freezing rain. We got between 3 and 4 inches, most of that falling between 4 pm and 7 pm. I was off today, and I decided to pass through the Dykeman Spring Nature Park on the way to the grocery store. Here are the best of the shots I took.

Entering the Dykeman Spring Nature Park on the Dykeman Walking Trail

Looking out of the tunnel on the Dykeman Walking Trail

Fox tracks by the Upland Trail

Trail bench on the Upland Trail

A dramatic sky over the upland meadow

© 2013 by A. Roy Hilbinger