On Friday night, it was Oktoberfest at Exton Beverage Company in Chester County, and was well attended throughout the evening.
Overview of the Sierra Nevada Beer Sampling
The great music was provided by the local band, Holt 45!
The Holt 45 Band at Exton Beverage Oktoberfest
One of my favorite shoots of the night, was this view of these future ‘groupie’ girls, creating and holding up various signs of admiration of the band!
Future Groupies holding up signs of admiration
In one of the signs that you are getting old, and the torch is being passed to the next generation, these pre-teen fans started a very loud cheer when Holt 45 stated to play Lynyrd Skynyrd‘s classic “Sweet Home Alabama”, and then at the end, started to shouting “Free Bird”!
In the munchies department, there were Philadelphia Pretzel Factory’s nuggets, Pulled Pork shooters, Turkey Wraps and an awesome Crab Queso Dip provided by Riverstone Cafe in Exton!
Turkey Wraps – Oktoberfest Fest at Exton Beverage
Five sampling areas were setup for breweries to showcase their Oktoberfest lineups, and as any beer drinker knows, this is a great time to try something new.
Great Lakes Brewing Company – Oktoberfest at Exton Beverage
I only got a chance to sample three of their offering, Eliot Ness Amber Lager, Currently On Tap Burning River Pale Ale and the Edmund Fitzgerald Porter, all of which were very good.
Both the Eliot Ness Amber Lager and Burning River Pale Ale had a pronounced hop taste, but had mellowed in tartness in the aftertaste, compared to local Victory’s Hop Devil (one of my wife’s favorites), and I very much enjoyed the chocolate tones in the Edmund Fitzgerald Porter. If you can find a variety case…
Shock Top Belgian White glasses – Oktober Fest at Exton Beverage
Another new company for me was Shock Top, and their Pumpkin Wheat was very nice, with nice citric tones.
Exton Beverage sign at sunset
Once again, it was great way to end the week, and I very much encourage you to follow Exton Beverage on Facebook for future events!
I was lucky enough to have a free day to go out and do some shooting.
The later Summer, early Autumn weather has been relatively warm, and no cold snaps to set the leaves into colors yet, but I was still going to go out.
If anything, just to do some scouting.
So off I went…
I love having a GPS!
After about an hour of just driving around, enjoying the beautiful scenery of the Morgantown, Churchtown and Honey Brook areas, I headed toward Hibernia Park to find the spot I had surveyed earlier in the Summer on another GPS drive.
After parking in the small little lot, I equipped myself, crossed the bridge and down the trail to find a way to creek edge.
What had caught my eye about this section before, was the bigger rocks and swifter water flow.
I was hoping for more color in the canopy over the water, but it was not going to be…
Looking up the Brandywine – Hibernia Park
Even without the real reds and oranges of Fall, this part of the Brandywine presented many nice sections of water action, and found myself setting up and capturing several section during my creek walk.
As I crawled across a fallen tree, I noticed out of the corner of my eye, a single small white mushroom, growing in the hollowed out root ball of one of the trees.
Tree Stump with White Mushroom – Hibernia Park
Setting up my tripod for this shot, was very difficult because of the angle I needed to see into the stump, and having a stable platform to do the multiple shoots needed for HDR, but I think it was worth it.
On Saturday morning, when I was checking my email, I received a delightful email from Kristin, who just started blogging on food and interior design, as she prepares for her relocation move to Texas with her husband.
Kristin was so polite in her email, and was asking for permission to use one of my photography images in a post, and included the draft for me to review.
After reading the draft, I immediately emailed her back, that I was delighted to have her consider any of my images, and she was free to use anyone she wished!
