Nashville, Tennessee

After a short flight from Harrisburg, my mother and I arrived in Nashville where we would spend a few days before renting a car and driving down to Alabama to visit family. I had not been to Nashville for several years and two new buildings really stood out- Bridgestone Tower (images 1-2) and JW Marriott Building (images 3-7). I love architectural and city photography (and good BBQ), so I had a blast spending a couple days here. Unfortunately my planning was a bit off as the SEC basketball tournament was going on and there was a Predators game as well. So the city was quite congested with humans.

-Mike

Strasburg Railroad Museum

As a kid, if I wasn’t out side getting dirty and bruised riding by bike or playing sports, I was inside playing video games, playing with my Matchbox cars, Legos or Lincoln Logs. But mostly, I was playing with my Lionel train sets. Surrounded by lit-up Department 56 buildings and other miscellaneous buildings, trees, model cars, roads, fake snow, tunnels and bridges, I ran my Wabash freight train and Pennsylvania passenger train all the time. The old steam engines lit up and smoked. It was my favorite toy and so many memories were made. Aside for waiting for trains at crossings, I do still love them. Especially museums and other places that preserve old trains. It was also exciting to see a really neat Lego city with electric Lego trains and of course the Ghostbusters car and Mystery Machine.

This museum is about 45 minutes from where I live and I enjoy going once or twice a year, followed by a visit to Shady Maple.

If you’re a train buff and live near Lancaster County, or are visiting, it is worth your time to visit.

-Mike

City Island - Random Trip

I call this a random trip because some unexpected heavy fog moved in over the Susquehanna River, making it a prime opportunity to go capture some spooky shots of some of the bridges that connect City Island to the city of Harrisburg. Standing on the island you could not even see so much as an outline of a building or mid-rise tower in the city. No lights poked through and vehicles were invisible.

In the many years of my photography hobby I have realized when I have opportunities like this I have to jump on them. Fog isn’t the most common thing in the world around here, so when it gets to this extent, it’s worth peeling myself off the couch or away from the video games to get out and explore.

-Mike

City Island, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Photo Walk

Took some time today to get a little exercise in walking around City Island in Harrisburg, PA. This is a great place to bird watch, photography the city skyline and just find interesting subject matter as you wander around. There’s a small beach, some entertainment, a train to ride and is home to the AA baseball affiliate of the Washington Nationals, the Harrisburg Senators.

There’s also some wooded areas to explore. As a kid I would go look for frogs and other critters in those woods.

-Mike

Old Bedford Village - Christmas / Winter Photo Walk

There is no place like this during the Christmas season. Unlike a lot of people my age, I love rustic and antique looks. Old Bedford Village fulfills this for me. From reenactors inviting you into their homes showing you how meals were prepared, what types of Christmas presents were exchanged and how they kept cozy in the winter time to tradesman such as blacksmiths, gunsmiths, potters, chandlers, doctors, pharmacists, woodworkers, shop keeps and so forth this place has it all in terms of providing an authentic rustic, old fashioned colonial type feel. The majority of the homes do not have any electricity and are only heated by maintaining their fireplace. A lot of trades buildings operate similarly but for safety purposes do have some electric light.

Years ago, somewhere in the mid to late 90’s they would first have you sit with a bunch of other people as they served an awesome hot meal. If I can remember correctly, it was ham, turkey, potatoes, vegetables, gravy, dinner rolls, cranberry sauce and a drink. However, they have not done that since about that time, which is disappointing. It was great to fill up before walking around the village.

-Mike

Koziar's Christmas Village

I’m probably going to offer a fairly unpopular opinion, but I think this place is highly overrated. Don’t get me wrong- they bring it with the Christmas spirit. There’s over 1,000,000 (yes, one million with an M) lights, indoor and outdoor train sets (very low detail, nothing special unfortunately) and a decently cool little village to walk through with a decoration in every which direction you look.

I guess the reason I’m not super into this place like a lot of others are is once you’ve seen it you’ve seen it. They do very little with what they have to change it up annually. I by no means am taking away the effort and hard labor that goes into this set up. It’s definitely impressive in that sense. I just wish there was a little more variety every year.

The most amazing part of this place is when it comes into view on the drive. You’re on some pretty twisty back roads and all of a sudden a panoramic view of vivid colorful bright lights slips into view. If you’ve never been here that is the part that gets you really excited to visit. And in all honesty- it’s worth the visit.

This was, I believe, my third year visiting. These are only a few images I got this time around.

Check Koziar’s out here.

-Mike

Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania

I wish this trip could have lasted longer. There is so much to explore here. However, I had to get home for a job interview and didn’t even think to just bring my laptop with me to take the interview at my hotel.

During this trip, in addition to checking out several trails and overlooks at the “Grand Canyon of PA” I visited the small towns of Mansfield and Wellsboro.

The three some hour drive was not bothersome and actually was pretty scenic in some areas. I can’t wait to revisit this are of the state- especially during the fall months.

-Mike

Harrisburg Afternoon / Night Photo Walk + Capitol Building Fountains

Crossed the Susquehanna River today to explore Harrisburg a little bit with my camera club. The main goal of this trip was to capture some images of the capitol building’s fountain. The fountain is illuminated by different colors and looks absolutely awesome at night time.

I decided to show up a little earlier in the afternoon so I could walk around and get some extra photography in for the day.

-Mike

Ashcombe Farm

Ashcombe Farm is located on the outskirts of my home town, Mechanicsburg, PA. They have a wonderful farm store and a ton of green houses. They have a whole outdoors section for yard work, ponds and so forth.

On occasion they invite my photography club out to explore their property and grab some fun images. I particularly like the antique tractors and checking out the green houses.

-Mike