Family Photo Session at Sugarloaf in the Fall, Frederick County Photographer

Sugarloaf Mountain in the fall is bustling with hikers, families and rock climbers.  It holds a special place in my heart. Not only did I spend afternoons of my childhood hiking thorough it's leaves but I was also married on the mountain. A Chicago developer wanted Frank Lloyd Wright to design a parking garage for motorists in the shape of a spiral, similar to an upside down Guggenheim Museum on the mountain.  While I love Wright's architecture I am so glad that idea never came to pass.  

When one of my clients asked me to photograph their family again this fall, I suggested Sugarloaf due to it's various backdrops and fall colors.  I think their son and dog want to go back and have more time for exploring.  Here's a sampling of the session.

A boy and his dog

Family and the East Vista

Hamlet!

This boy loves to laugh!

Every kid loves a piggyback ride!

Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia, PA, Frederick County Photographer

We recently visited Eastern State Penitentiary on a tour of Philadelphia and I will say that is was my favorite stop of the trip. While a lot of the other sites were interesting and historical and I added to my US History Knowledge, this tour delighted my visual senses and I would go back in a heartbeat.  

"Eastern State Penitentiary broke sharply with the prisons of its day, abandoning corporal punishment and ill treatment. This massive new structure, opened in 1829, became one of the most expensive American buildings of its day and soon the most famous prison in the world. The Penitentiary would not simply punish, but move the criminal toward spiritual reflection and change. The method was a Quaker-inspired system of isolation from other prisoners, with labor. The early system was strict. To prevent distraction, knowledge of the building, and even mild interaction with guards, inmates were hooded whenever they were outside their cells. But the proponents of the system believed strongly that the criminals, exposed, in silence, to thoughts of their behavior and the ugliness of their crimes, would become genuinely penitent. Thus the new word, penitentiary."-Eastern State Pennitentiary

 Imprisoned Overtime (B&W)

Imprisoned Overtime (Color)

Looking Up

65

Taken for "Men" Week for 52 Frames

Golden Light

Cellblock #5

Bird and Snake, Point of Rocks Photographer(s)

I walked out on the deck at noon to eat my lunch to hear a two catbirds, many robins, a couple of red finches, a mocking bird and a blackbird all screaming at each other as they flitted between the fence and two of our Green Giant trees (like Leyland Cypress). We thought it was a fight over a nest with the catbird causing the trouble.  We observed this for about five minutes and then things quieted down.  Ryan finally walked over to the tree to yell, "I snake is consuming a bird!"  This is what Ryan and I caught on camera….I still have chills after seeing this.
Ryan said the snake is still up in the tree and trying to eat the last of the feathers.  Bon Appetit!

Great-Grandfather's Suit, Frederick County Photographer

My good friends and neighbors asked me to photograph their son before he grew out of his Great-Grandfather's suit.  It's well over 100-years old and has fine details, such as a leather button on a chain and a red cravat.  It made for the perfect photo session, especially on this little man.  Maybe it's because I know him, but this was one of the easiest photo sessions with a child ever.  It has been suggested that this is the kick off to his modeling career.

I stepped outside with him and he grabbed the umbrella which was drying out from the rain.
This was the first shoot of the morning.
After I took it, I declared, "I'm done.  I got the shot!"  Of course I'd take many more.

What a simple prop can do. 

Gone fish in'.  Yet, another prop he picked on his own.

His mother and father make a good comedy team.

Sometimes you need to work with what you have one hand.  We almost forgot to put him in his car.

A Stop on the Underground Railroad at Cooling Springs Farm, Frederick County Photographer

Along a winding country road I pass a lovely farm on my way to work.  I've known of the farm's history but never had a chance to explore it until the other week.  I have always wanted to photograph the farm, especially when their tenants in the front field were out grazing.  The miniature donkeys are no long there, but the beauty still remains.

I contacted Peter Michael and asked if I could photograph in his field for my 52 Frames assignment featuring Furniture.  He obliged and met us in his front yard at about 8am on a beautiful spring morning.  He is the 8th generation to live in the house and farm, which is known to have been a stop on the Underground Railroad.  Situated just 2 miles north of the Potomac River slaves seeking freedom were able to use the spring house on the Michael property for shelter before venturing north.

Here are some of the resulting images (with and without furniture).  Many thanks to Mr. Michael for letting me, my friend and our boys play in fields!  As the kids climbed on the hay bales I asked if it was okay, and he replied, "That's what a farm is for. "  For more information visit the Cooling Springs Farm website.

The image I used for 52 Frames, "Furniture"

The Spring House

The Approach from the South

Heading North

I invited my friend and our boys to come.  The boys explored the creek and spring house, jumped on hay bales and even played musical chairs.  

This image will printed large for both sets of brothers.

Can you hear the music?

52 Frames, January 2014, Frederick County, Maryland Photographer

The "52 Frames" project is a collaboration of artists from around the world, sharing the best of their weekly-work, according to different themes.  Below are my first several weeks in the project, with the theme listed as the title.  I received a photo critique as well for my Black and White image.  

Week 1 "Self-Portrait"

Week 2 "In the beginning…."

Week 3 "Black & White"
Photo Critique about this image may be viewed here (at the 4:00 mark).

Week 4 "Greetings from…."

Week 5 "Out of MY Comfort Zone"