'Was looking to photograph anything that moved, and some things that didn't during a recent outing in southern York County and found this water snake looking for lunch.
After about 20 minutes it still hadn't found fish swimming over the falls. It's a good bet that a fish in its mouth would have been a better picture, but because I have the patience of a four-year old, I was off to find something else.
I probably should have stayed, eh?
Spent Sunday checking out sailboats on Lake Redman, just south of York. About a dozen boats toured the course, making some interesting photos.
There were interesting mainly because they were radio controlled model boats, but with canoes and kayaks behind, they appeared to be full-size.
As long as Justin Teague had a fishing pole in his hand, he could get splashed all he wanted on the new fishing wharf at Conowingo Dam in Maryland. On these recent miserably hot days, who can blame him for being more interested in being splashed than catching a trophy fish?
Justin laid down his pole for a few minutes and security chased him off the pier. It's for fishing, the security man said, not for wading or swimming.
Tyler Brigham enjoys cooling off at the Graham Aquatic Center during a weekly swim trip by campers from Camp Pennwood. In operation since 1962, Camp Pennwood is sponsored by the Arc of York County, and hosts children with intellectual disabilities ages 6 to 21.
Tyler is one of my favorite people at camp. It's a joy watching these kids start camp at age six and see how they progress as teenagers.
Not often do I approach an assignment and run smack into sensory overload. For a future project, I was shooting photos at the York skateboard park and hit the wall, so to speak.
Where do you start when there is so much to shoot, so many different angles and ideas and reasons for being there?
I could shoot nothing but action and get plenty of flips, like this from Dan Mentzer, or slips and trips. But the park is a social gathering place as well. About 80 boarders and bikers were zipping through the park and only one or two females, although there were plenty sitting along the sides, watching, talking, reading. Or just being seen.
The constant machismo language would embarrass their grandmothers and some truckers, but the boarders' politeness to others is logical, but still somewhat surprising. After all, these are skateboarders, and they have a nasty reputation to uphold.
In the interest of fairness, I met only one boarder who was a pain in the behind. The rest were friendly, helpful and eager to answer questions from an old non-boarder, and I appreciated their candor. But don't let that get around.
Some boards sound like bicycles with trading cards stuck in the spokes. Others sweep past without a sound. Boarders leave their boards, generally on their feet, others with a crash to the concrete. Few wear protective helmets, elbow or knee pads, but somehow manage to get up over and over again.
Boards are sold with plenty of colorful designs, but they are quickly scraped off. They sit alongside the boarders as they take a water break or scarf down a sub. One boarder pours extra mayonnaise on a ledge and makes a stupid, obscene comment for everyone to hear.
Connor Bruce, 8, wears a helmet and that's a good thing. He's been practicing tricks, and neither the trick or landing gracefully has been successful yet. But he gets up again and again and again, dragging the board-- half as tall as he is-- with him.
Take a minute or two and head down to the park at Hoffman Memorial Field. It's terrific entertainment, and you'll meet some great kids as well.
The Lancaster Canoe Club explored the islands of the Susquehanna River Saturday near Washington Boro. We saw eagles, green herons, egrets, great blue herons, shore birds and plenty of shallow water greenery, like this/these lotus. Seventeen kayaks toured the Conjehela Flats.
These photos were shot with my point-and-shoot (PS) Lumix-- I prefer not taking a more expensive camera on to the water.
Tried to find a suitable waterproof housing for the PS, but found the cheapest one cost as much as the camera. Tried a specially-made plastic bag two weeks ago, but it made poor quality photos.
Saturday, I just kept the camera in a zip-lock plastic kitchen bag to protect it from splashes-- doubtful it would have kept it dry in case of a dump. When I saw something to shoot, only then did I take it out of the bag.
Smaller waterproof cases (mini-suitcases) are available that would keep it dry should I have capsized, but they are inconvenient to use, especially when something suddenly pops up in front of you.
Roger Shaffer is 96 years old, and has hours and hours of stories to tell about growing up in Hanover Junction train station. Trains rolling past at all hours, the passengers wandering the station's lobby. He'll tell you about things that happened nearly a century ago, and he'll sprinkle in details like it happened yesterday.
Here's a video of Roger telling just a bit of what he remembers.
The earliest memory of the station was riding a tricycle around the lobby before the passengers got there. He remembers its color, the sounds of the station and the ambience of the building. And keep in mind much of this happened before World War I, before Babe Ruth, and before automobiles became the Next Big Thing.
Since the York County Park system refurbished the station, he's supplied the station with model-size replicas of the Junction's buildings and other structures.
He's an amazing source of local history.
