Huffman Prairie Reserve

Huffman Prairie is a natural prairie and a preserve, but what makes it even more special is that it was the very first "airfield" where the Wilbur and Orvill Wright advanced their skills as the very first aviators and developed the first practical airplane. Later, it became the very first aviation school and was used until 1916.

A trail is cut through the tall grass prairie and I was able to take some time early in the morning to photograph some wild flowers, grasses, vegetation, and even some wildlife. Here are just a few photos from my first and second expeditions.

Dancing in the Streets

Five Rivers Metroparks - Thursday night Concert at Riverscape - Dayton, Ohio

More photos can be viewed and prints can be ordered at www.photosamericana.photoreflect.com. Quality of these photos files are NOT suitable for printing - AND they are copyrighted.

Pontiac Car Show

Pontiacs, 1000's of them, are on display at the Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio. You can catch more at http://gtoaapocinationals.com/.

Perhaps my personal favorite in American-made automobiles. The Pontiac division of GM is now closed.

You can order prints of these and others at http://photosamericana.photoreflect.com

Columbia Market House

Here's a few photos from the Columbia Market House.

This is in western Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Markets are open on Thursdays and Fridays.

Lincoln Highway - Western Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

When traveling west from Lancaster on the Lincoln Highway, I first stopped at the Lincoln Highway Diner. The new stainless steel cladding like diners back in the 1950's - perhaps earlier. I had breakfast there. Not that you asked but I had three eggs, home fries, corned beef hash, toast, glass of orange juice, and ice water. I asked for some hot sauce but I decided not to wait but to go ahead and eat while the food was warm. The food was good - relative to, say, the Brunch Club in Dayton, where the same order would be excellent - as well as the service.

I appreciate their "Americana Spirit" and they certainly deserve patronage of their community and Lancaster County tourists.

While in the Diner, I saw a photo hung high on a wall of a bridge. I thought perhaps the significant of the bridge was that it may be local. It is, I found it just minutes after I left the diner. This is where the original Lincoln Highway, Old US Route 30 passed over the Susquehanna River in Columbia. It is a very nice bridge in excellent condition.

Although I have photos without a person in it, I decided that I would add the human element.

After spending quite some time there on the east end of the bridge I did the inevitable - I crossed over to the other side.

The community on the other side was unidentified. In fact, my GPS navigation system identified at as a township, even though it looked at least like a village to me. Not until I did some research did I find out that the town is Wrightsville, in York County, Pennsylvania. The Bridge is the Columbia - Wrightsville Bridge.

The GPS made it easy for me to find the right streets to take me down to the banks of the river and I found a place where there was a remnant of a canal (not shown) and a grandfather from Nashville, Pennsylvania having a good time fishing with his grandson.

The river looked a little high to me and they confirmed it. They also gave me a little history on the canal.
I appreciate the time and the conversation with them. Grandfathers fishing with their grandsons is time very well spent. Perhaps I will get to do the same when my grandchildren get older.

Photos from the Trace

Photos from the Mill

Go see Bear's Mill, Greenville, Ohio

Bear's Mill - Greenville, Ohio

Traveling east over Greenville, Ohio, I stopped by Bear's Mill, asked the proprietor, Terry Clark, if he minded if I took some photos on his property. He seemed to be delighted. It just so happens that he was just starting a tour with a group and so I tagged along. I was invited to join in for free but I made a donation anyway.

The tour was informative and entertaining. We made our way from the 1st floor all the way to the 4th floor. The group was disappointed there was not a 5th floor - that's how well it was going.
The above image was captured on the 2nd floor. When I first saw it, I thought it would make a great black and white. As I was looking at various Black and White samples, I began to miss the red wagon. I kept the color version.

The Mill is on the historic register and is still operating. It has a very nice store and a small but nice art gallery on the first floor. They serve coffee and sell home made candies and cookies. Their coffee is the Boston Stoker brand, which I purposely mention because of the delightful coffees they produce. So, I had some coffee. It was delicious.

This photo is of Terry, standing in the art gallery. His wife is an artist - she works a lot with clay and pottery. I have a feeling she has a lot to do with how well the Mill looks. I don't usually create images of others art work because it is an infringement on their rights. Because this photo is not of a particular piece, and because this is a "journal", I can display it without causing an offense.

However, photos I place here are copyrighted and if you would like to copy and send to a friend electronically - that is fine. Of course, I would sincerely appreciate it if you reference me and my blog. If you want prints - then contact me and I'll create prints from the original full size file, just for you, for a fair price. And if you would care to use any of my images for publications then - yahHOOO! I mean, let's talk.

Straight on shots like this are not usually preferred. Folks like to put a little angle to it and give the image some depth. I chose this one because what I could do with it. The original image was created with a wide angle lens standing in some grass on the other side of the street. In this image it appears that the building may be a few hundred feet away from me - but it was much less than what it appears.

The problem with a wide angle lens is that it can distort and bend straight lines. When photographing buildings, the distortion can make the building look much different than it is. Yet I, having special powers, was able to correct for the distortion and create a fairly good representation of the front of the Mill.

A good technique for making photos look a bit older than what they are is to create layers and work with the transparency of each layer. This was a simple image at first and was very easy to alter. After cropping and resizing, I created a second layer and totally desaturated the color - so it appeared as a black and white. I then gave it a sepia tone (brownish). Then I adjusted the transparency of that layer so I could see the full color version - as much as I wanted - which was beneath it. The result is an older look similar to "colorized" black and whites photos from yesteryear.

"Yesteryear". Now that's a word from... well, yesteryear.

Biking the 440

Bill - his name is Bill. Here he is at Mile Marker 228. After day four, he is now 8 miles past the midpoint of the 440 miles of the Natchez Trace Parkway. He started in Natchez and he will finish in Nashville. That's his plan.

Remnants of War

Vicksburg, Mississippi National Military Park - a memorial to the War Between the States. The Union was preserved and the United States continued on its destiny to become the single greatest nation this world has ever known. Strong enough to support their allies in defeating tyranical enemies, caring enough to help feed and clothe less fortunate nations, and selfless enough to do so without conquest.

Tulip - Yellow Poplar

This tree shadows the grave site of Alvin C. York and his family in the afternoon and late evening.

Birding for Eagles

Memorial Day, watching for the Eagles at Englewood Reserve.

Fine prints up to 12" x 40"

North Carolina

View from the Blue Ridge Parkway near Asheville

Fine prints up to 13" x 70"