Galleries

New milestones for the Holidays

This past Saturday, December 10th, was the annual Downingtown Good Neighbor Christmas parade, and that night I processed my images into the early morning hours, and finally posted them to both my SmugMug and Flickr accounts at about 4 AM on Sunday.

Early Monday afternoon, I got a call on my cell phone from Josh Maxwell, the mayor of Downingtown, asking me if he could license one of my images. Needless to say I was very excited, and we exchanged several e-mails in regards to his request.

Josh Maxwell, Mayor of Downingtown

At around 11 o’clock Monday night, while I was still online, I noticed that the mayor had posted on Facebook the image that we had chatted about earlier in the day.

I quickly jumped up to Flickr and SmugMug to get an idea of what my view usage was, and I was extremely surprised to see that my Flickr account had already jumped to over 1800 views within 20 minutes, and with each refresh, the numbers just got higher and higher.

As I watched, I also realized, that my total number of views was reaching the 50,000 mark very quickly, and by 12:20am, the 50,000 mark had been broken!

50,000 Total Views on Flickr!

It was very difficult to go to sleep because of the adrenaline of reaching this new milestone and seeing that the views just kept climbing and climbing.

When I finally woke up later on Tuesday and check Flickr, my view count was over 8000 views.

Throughout the day, I monitored my Flickr views, and by early afternoon, I had reached over 10,000 views for a single day!

10,000 Single Day Views on Flickr!

Needless to say, this was by far the single largest days reviews on my Flickr site, and my SmugMug site had also seen a dramatic increase in views! (Final Day’s Total – 10,428)

I definitely want to thank all those new visitors and especially Mayor Josh Maxwell for contributing to these new milestones!

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December 14, 2011
2011 Downingtown Christmas Parade

Mr and Mrs Santa Claus

Yesterday was the annual Downingtown Good Neighbor Christmas Parade, which was held on a beautiful Saturday with the temperatures in the mid to lower 40s.

This year was the first time in three years, that I did not have my kids with me.

Why?

Well, my daughter was actually in the parade this year with her Brownie troop for the first time! (My wife and son decided to walk along with them!)

This allowed me to wonder around the parade as it happen, offering many more opportunities to find and capture scenes as they happened.

This years parade seemed much bigger, and from what I understand, there were around 400+ Daisies, Brownies and Girl Scouts this year alone!

Needless to say, I took many pictures, and was up until 4am this morning processing those images which can be found on Flickr!

I hope you enjoy them, and would love to hear your thoughts and comments!

– Andrew

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December 11, 2011
Creek Road in Glenmoore during the Fall

Brandywine Creek HDR 11a – Glenmoore

Because of some scheduling conflicts, I was able to spend the afternoon doing some photography along Creek Road in southern Glenmoore, Chester County PA.

The parking lot was the same one I used during my summer venture, when the heat was 101°F, and I thought I was going to pass out, but I managed to survive, and even post a few pictures along with my blog entry of said adventure.

Brandywine Creek HDR 10a – Glenmoore

Initially, I went to the right (south) as I did in the summer, but this time my intent was to go further down creek, beyond the picnic bench that I had seen during the summer.

This time, the bench was still there, and I quickly walked past, and to unknown territory.

As I walked along the trail, the water began to descend to my left, as the path continued horizontal.

There was a thick brush line that separated the dissent to the creek, which was going to be all that harder.

I must find a path down.

It was good to see, that this trail had been used heavily before, but in a fairly limited fashion recently. There were several fallen trees, and the low to mid weeds and brush, were an easy brush back as I walked along.

I also noted, that from the trail at least, things seemed still very green on certain trees in the area. There were patches of colors but tended to be in the brush group of foliage.

Brandywine Creek HDR 09 – Glenmoore

Across the creek, I could see more interesting colors, but as I reached the water’s edge, I could see signs that said quote “Do Not Trespass”.

As I surveyed the creek in front of me and how things were flowing, I started back up-stream, taking the occasional single image as just a keepsake of my adventure, and eventually I was walking pass the picnic table, and to the trail head from which I started.

I decided to head further North up the trail, and see what I could find.

The trail eventually opens up into a small little field where there are several other picnic tables and a fire pit or two.

In this area the creek slows down just enough that I saw some good reflections and I was beginning to see some color.

I continued walking north along the creek’s edge, stopping several times and capturing five exposure HDR images.

Brandywine Creek HDR 06 – Glenmoore

Several times I found myself knee-deep in water, and I was reminded that the colder months are coming, and I need to seriously investigate some fishing waders.

Finally I got to the northernmost point along the trail, and was faced with more “No Trespassing” signs, at which point, I looked at my watch, and started heading back.

It has been a very mediocre year for leaf colors in my opinion. A lot of rain and warm temperatures have definitely not helped. The lowest temperature lately has been 45°F.

I do have a feeling that were going to get a lot of snow this year…

– Andrew

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October 25, 2011
Oktoberfest – Exton Beverage Company
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 was there, and was a first time experience for me, and many others.

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!

– Andrew

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Additional Links
- Exton Beverage loves its customers by Bryan Kolesar
October 16, 2011
Columbus Day Photography

Looking down the Brandywine – Hibernia Park

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.

– Andrew

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October 10, 2011