Through The Viewfinder

I was assigned to shoot the 20th annual Hempfield Black Knight Invitational track and field event at Hempfield High School stadium on April 13. I was told there would be a Navy helicopter flyover after the national anthem.

The past few weeks I’ve been finding a variety of broken nuts on the stairs and railing leading up to my apartment.

On a recent trip to Washington, D.C., I was in a creative rut. I hadn’t worked or shot any photos for fun for months because I was so busy with work and life. Although there were photos I planned to take on my trip, I just couldn’t bring myself to take them for some strange reason.

When you go hiking with two wildlife biology students, you expect to see some critters. Such was the case Easter weekend when we were with my son Jordan, who is specializing in ornithology, and his friend Cheyenne Brooks, who’s specializing in herpetology.

I received an email from a friend about an Amish crew installing new cedar shake shingles on the Boehm’s Chapel in Willow Street.

Spring is in bloom at Perelman Park in Manheim Township. Ficaria verna, commonly known as lesser celandine or fig buttercup, is beautiful, though it’s considered an invasive species. The plant is poisonous if ingested raw and potentially fatal to grazing animals such as horse, cattle and sheep. 

On New Year’s Day, I was sent out to photograph the pork and sauerkraut dinner at Pequea Valley Fire Department’s Kinzer Station. When I arrived, I spotted a good number of horses and buggies lined up — at least 20.

I took this photo during the benefit motorcycle ride for Michaela Scharff on Aug. 27, 2023. I wanted this image published not only because I love the chrome on Harley-Davidson motorcycles but as a reminder that the weather is getting warmer and there will be more motorcycles on the road.

This week’s Through the Viewfinder is something I’ve been wanting to photograph for a little while. My neighbor Bob Graybill has a 1-year-old border collie named Sage, and they play catch with a Frisbee-like disc in a common area near our homes. This particular day, I was upstairs in my home…

Last spring, I was at Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum and photographed a straw hat hanging on the wall. It was a very dark location, and my shutter speed was really slow. When I went to submit it, I realized there was too much camera shake in the image, so I wanted to re-create it.

I’ve wanted to photograph the fountain that sits in front of The Clubhouse at Willow Valley Communities for many years. Sitting along Willow Street Pike and Locust Lane, you can’t help but notice the artwork atop the fountain, and more so when the fire burns beneath.

The “Apotheosis of America” was painted by Constantino Brumidi in 1865 at the end of the Civil War for $40,000. It was soon after the new dome on the U.S. Capitol building’s Rotunda in Washington, D.C., was completed. The figures, up to 15 feet tall, were painted to be intelligible from clos…