Categories
Chester County Downingtown Nature Photo Journal

Japanese Maple Studies

It been about 2 weeks since I have had a chance to do any picture work on the computer.

Why?

Sick…

Something nailed our household. First one child, then Daddy, then the other child, then Daddy…

Oh well…

Yesterday, I finally downloaded an processed some images, and posted them to Flickr…

These particular images were taken while waiting for my daughter to get of the bus.

Maple Japanese 101112.054

Maple Japanese 101112.054

Maple Japanese 101112.051

Maple Japanese 101112.051

Maple Japanese 101111.033

Maple Japanese 101111.033

As for technical details, they were captured in Canon CR2 Raw format, then converted to Adobe DNG, and then tweaked in Adobe Photoshop CS3.

In Photoshop, I really did not do to much, which was a nice change of pace.

For more of my Japanese Maple Studies, check out my Flickr set at:

Andrew (SDC) - View my 'Japanese Maple' set on Flickriver

Hope you enjoy!

– Andrew
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Categories
Bridges Chester County Downingtown Photo Journal Photography

Abandoned Train Bridge Over Downingtown (Pt. 1)

Abandoned Train Bridge (Downingtown) hdr 05
Abandoned Train Bridge (Downingtown) hdr 05

I had a very pleasant drive back to Downingtown via some very beautiful back roads. (Note to Self – Need to re-drive Route 163 South of Downingtown)

When I finally got to the intersection of Sugar Bridge Road and Rt. 322, where normally, I would have taken a Left on to Rt. 322, I could not.

Just in front of me, was the burned out shell of a SUV, that still was smoking and water was still being used to control the situation.

I made the required Right on Rt. 322, cut up Valley Creek Road, and on to Harmony Hill, down across Gibson, and finally a Right on to Rt. 322 toward downtown.

As the bridge came into view, I looked at the clock, and saw that I had about 30 mins till Madison got off the bus, so I made the Left on to Bradford Ave. and managed to find a small spot park just under some of the support legs.

I pulled out my gear, check the traffic, and crossed the road to the base of the extremely tall supports.

The leaves on the trees were still on the greenish side, but there where some yellows, and the wind was blowing white clouds quickly in and out of shoots.

I captured several HDR series of my location, including this one.

Another reason that I started down Bradford Ave., was to hopefully find and easy access point up to the bridge, but today was not going to be the day.

By the time I finished my captures, and packed up my gear, I had less than 15 mins to get home!

Comments

The following comments were part a topic thread on Facebook “Chester County (PA) Photography” page:

“I would be scared to death to go up there and take pics. I have been on the tracks near Commerce drive in Exton though. Good article.” – Lisa (2/29/2012)

“I live right by the bridge and trust me you do not want to go up there. Not too many years ago someone fell off of it onto 322. It is rusted in many spots.” – Elaine (2/29/2012)

Update(s)-

June 7, 2015 – I have been getting a number of hits on this page lately, so I decided to take a look and update things…
– The Link below is not longer active on downingtown.does.co
– I found this Request 1 and Request 2 request on Facebook to “The Daily Local News”
– I have tried to find more details, even doing a general search on the PA State Police site, but found nothing…
– I have found records using a different search criteria, that do suggest a person, but I’m not going to publish that…
– I have also found videos on YouTube of folks walking around the bridge train tracks >> it is illegal to do!

Oct 8th 2014Downingtown Trestle Bridge Incident << No longer active

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Categories
Chester County Downingtown

Raining… but we NEED it!

With the remains of Tropical Storm Nicole all around us, there have been many warnings of the flooding to come as the storm heads up the East Coast.

It has been raining ALL day, but I should not complain, we have needed it for over well over a month.

At least I have not had to mow the lawn lately…

But then again… I can still see the wheel tracks from the last time I mowed…

– Andrew
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Categories
Chester County Downingtown Nature Photo Journal Rivers

Nature Walk on Struble Trail

It was another warm summer Sunday, and the kids needed to get out of the house and get some exercise.

We got our water bottles together, and I filled the back packs with them.

The three of us got in the car, and headed for the Dowlin Forge Road entrance of the Struble Trail.

Once there, we parked and gathered ourselves, and the started our walk, heading North.

Near the middle of the big long curve (2.0 mile marker), there was an older couple, looking into the creek with great excitement.

As we got closer, they called us over to take a look at the big Snapping turtle near the edge of the creek.

When we got there, and looked down the ten foot embankment, one could easily see a Snapping turtle who’s shell was easily 15 inches or longer.

The kids looked with some quiet excitement, and we continued on.

We found our little creek trail, darted into the woods, and then quickly found the cold water.

It felt so good!

While the kids played at the water edge, I setup my tripod, and did these images.

Nature Walk hdr 04 (10 Aug 08)

Nature Walk hdr 04 (10 Aug 08)

Nature Walk hdr 06 (10 Aug 08)

Nature Walk hdr 06 (10 Aug 08)

As you can see, the water level is VERY LOW!

We began to walk up the creek, following the land, an area we have walked numerous time before.

When we got near the Fishing Area, I was able to capture this wonderful image.

Creek Claw - Struble Trail (Downingtown, PA)

Creek Claw – Struble Trail (Downingtown, PA)

I have walked on and around this tree many a times, but have never seen it like this!

So it goes without saying, we need some rain, and these pictures do show it!

Eventually, we got back on the wooded trail, and on to the paved section heading to the Parking Lot.

Dinner and Bed, soon to follow.

“Good Night Moon!”

– Andrew
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Categories
Chester County Covered Bridges Downingtown Photo Journal Photography Projects

Gibson’s Covered Bridge (1872) – Part 2

Gibson’s Covered Bridge (1872) – Part 2

Downingtown, Chester County [38-15-10]

I went back today after taking my daughter on a Nature walk in new area.

When we got there, she really seemed to open up to the bridge.

It was “cool”!

The sun was just hitting the water at such an angle, that light was coming up from underneath, which was very helpful!

The weeds have NOT gotten any better!

and JPEG Compression can REALLY kill a HDRI image!

Gibson-Harmony Hill Covered Bridge - HDR 001
Gibson-Harmony Hill Covered Bridge – HDR 001
Gibson-Harmony Hill Covered Bridge - HDR 002
Gibson-Harmony Hill Covered Bridge – HDR 002

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