Dressing Up for Autumn

I went walking up King St. in hopes of getting shots of the decorated store windows, but there was a major problem with reflections. Still, the window in The Lollipop Shop (first photo) came out well. I'll probably have to wait for a sunnier day to get the rest. So I kept walking and got some outdoor displays on residences: two "still lifes" on a front porch on King St. and a decorated fence on Queen St. Of course, Mama Gaia is the best decorator of all; the Red Maple in front of the gazebo across the street from me makes a striking image. As usual, the web album is here.

© 2012 by A. Roy Hilbinger

A Friday Wander

My usual wander on the way to the grocery store, on the Dykeman Walking Trail and through the Dykeman Springs Wetlands Park. This week I found some Calico Aster, some Barberry, and a Great Blue Heron perched in an old dead tree. You can also see the Picasa web album here.

© 2012 by A. Roy Hilbinger

A Sunday Constitutional

On my way to the grocery store I walked through the Dykeman Springs Wetlands Park to look for signs of Autumn now that it's officially Autumn. I noted lots of Fall Asters (the photo is of Bushy Asters) and other Fall flowers, including the included shot of Yellow Ironweed. I got a shot of the red bridge over the creek because even though you've seen it before I just can't resist that reflection!

And when I got home I found the feeder station out my kitchen window flocked with baby Goldfinches feeding away, plus a Chipmunk foraging among the leftovers kicked over the side into the grass below. I'm guessing he's storing up for the Winter; look at those stuffed cheeks!

As always, you can view these as a web album here: A Sunday Constitutional.

© 2012 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Finally...

I finally managed to attract Goldfinches to the finch feeder. Yippeee!

© 2012 by A. Roy Hilbinger

The Addams Family in Central PA?

I found this beauty, a brick Queen Anne Victorian, on North Prince St. near Shippensburg University behind a screen of overhanging trees and tall weeds and grass. I wonder if Morticia and Gomez are dancing through the house? If I ring the doorbell, will Lurch answer?

 

 Photo © 2012 by A. Roy Hilbinger

A Sappy Old Man Looks Back at His Childhood

Yeah, that's my family around 1958 - (from left) brother Don, Mom, sister Sue in Mom's lap, Dad, and I'm the Calvin (of Calvin & Hobbes) look-alike in my Dad's lap. The reason for this nostalgia is that Hotels.com has been using Jimmy Durante singing "Make Someone Happy" in their latest TV commercial. That just happens to be one of the tunes that made an impression on me when I was a little kid, and it got me to thinking about other songs that had that effect as well, at least before my discovery of rock, The Beatles, and the Rolling Stones. So to lead off on this nostalgic musical journey, here's the old Schnozzola:

Another song that made a big impression on me as a child was Nat King Cole singing "Smile". I seem to remember him singing that at the end of his weekly TV show. I've always loved Nat's voice and his way of styling a song, and I think his version of this tune is what set the standard for me.

Finally, like most of the kids of my generation, Disney animated movies were a staple, and they were always musical. The one bit of music that always stuck in my head was Jiminy Cricket singing "When You Wish Upon a Star" in Pinocchio. I don't know why, but there it is.

There were other musical moments in my childhood - for instance Judy Garland singing "Over the Rainbow" in The Wizard of Oz and the music as the heroes approach Emerald City in the same movie - but these three set the standard for everything I heard afterward. Lush orchestrations and lush choral passages are pretty corny by today's standards, but when I hear these I'm five years old again, and life is no longer complicated and stressful. Yup, I'm a sappy old man alright!

Bridges

Some of the bridges along the Dykeman Walking Trail and in the Dykeman Springs Wetlands Park. They range from old steel girders to culvert causeways to wooden. You can also view them as a web album here.

© 2012 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Fading Summer

Today is the last day of meteorological Summer, and tomorrow is the first day of meteorological Fall. The weather has been cooling lately; despite today's heat we're supposed to drop back into the lower 80s again next week. The Fall flowers are starting to appear, as well as various nuts and berries. Harvest approaches. 

I walked along the Dykeman Walking Trail today in the course of my day off errands and got these macro shots of fading Summer: a Pearl Crescent butterfly sipping on Boneset flowers; Jewelweed growing next to one of the wooden bridges along the trail; some Spotted Knapweed; and Flowering Dogwood berries. (View as web album here) Enjoy!

© 2012 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Work Scene

I took this shot of a Clouded Sulphur butterfly on a Pincushion Flower in the garden center at work with my cell phone. It came out well enough that I thought I'd post it. Enjoy!

© 2012 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Around Back

Views of the back streets, back alleys, and backyards of Shippensburg as I took the back way to the grocery store this morning. These are just some of the shots; view the whole web album here.

© 2012 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Cemetery-Hopping in Black & White

I went to the three historic cemeteries in Shippensburg today for a shoot in black & white, all of which we've visited on this blog before: Spring Hill Cemetery, the main burying place for the area; God's Acre on Prince St., which honors those who served in the military in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the Civil War; and the Locust Grove Cemetery, which served as the only  public cemetery open to African-Americans until late in the 20th Century. I kept to shooting in black & white as it seems to be the ideal medium for capturing graveyards; and I'm also staying with ISO 400 to try for the Kodak Tri-X 400 feel.

I took a lot of photos today. For this post I included the two best shots from each cemetery; if you want to see the best of the entire shoot, click here for the Picasa web album.

Spring Hill Cemetery 

God's Acre 

Locust Grove

© 2012 by A. Roy Hilbinger

On the Rail Trail in Black & White

I decided to hike up the Cumberland Valley Rail Trail today. I also decided to shoot in black and white again, this time using my circular polarizer filter because it was a fairly sunny day. And once again I shot in 400 ISO to get the feel of Kodak Tri-X 400 film. I focused on the trail itself, the surrounding farms, and made a special trip down Duncan Rd. to take more pictures of the Old Order Mennonite meeting house there. Plus I stopped by a farmer's front yard produce stand to pick up some fresh peaches and tomatoes! Here are some shots; you can click here to see all the shots that passed quality control. Enjoy!

© 2012 by A. Roy Hilbinger

To Mongul and Back

Ever since a friend at work told me he lived in a little place called Mongul, a few miles up Roxbury Road from Shippensburg, I just had to go see it. I took the scenic route to make it a loop, up Orrstown Rd. to Mongul Hill Rd., which goes up to Roxbury Rd. and the little town (or maybe village?) of Mongul itself, and then back down Roxbury Rd. to home. On the way there was plenty to see, from goats and geese to barns, creeks, and spectacular views of mountains, especially the view from the top of Mongul Hill (the hike up Mongul Hill Rd. is enough to make any cardiologist happy!). I've included a few of the best shots here, but to see the whole hike in sequence, and maybe even watch it as a slideshow, click here to visit my Picasa album of the hike.

© 2012 by A. Roy Hilbinger

Channeling Ansel Adams

From August 3, 2012

I hiked over to the Dykeman Springs Wetlands Park and Walking Trail after laundry this morning with a specific goal in mind: black and white photos in Nature. But this time I wanted to experiment. Usually I take pictures in color and convert to b&w because I really haven't liked what my camera's b&w mode produced. But on thinking it over, I realized I'd just been setting the camera on b&w and doing the old point-and-shoot. So today I fiddled until I got what looked like credible b&w shots in the viewfinder; I set the ISO on 400 in an attempt to get the look and feel of Kodak Tri-X 400, the workhorse film of professional photographers (including Adams) in the golden age of b&w photography, and I fooled with f-stop and shutter speed (just as I do in color shooting). To my delight, they produce the same quality as the photos that I convert in Photoshop. Of course I did the usual tweaking in Photoshop, as any old-time photographer would tweak things in the darkroom. Five shots ended up passing quality control: the Cabbage White butterfly on Thistle above; some Daisy Fleabane; Swamp Honeysuckle; two juvenile Mallards on one of the duck ponds; and a shot of vines and other foliage gradually enveloping an old concrete wall in Middle Spring Creek. Enjoy!

From August 3, 2012

From August 3, 2012

From August 3, 2012

From August 3, 2012

© 2012 by A. Roy Hibinger