Anyone up for the Amazing Corn Maze??...

Hi All,

Hope you are all had a great weekend!!

Todays picture was taken this past Friday. Wyatt would not go down for a nap, so I loaded him up in the car and away we went. Those of you who have kids understand what I am talking about and I am sure have done it.

This photo is east of the Strasburg Railroad. This is the entrance to the corn maze, a well known summertime attraction here In Lancaster County. For the fire guys who come to this site, about nine or ten years ago. I worked a brush/field/vehicle fire here in the middle of summer. It was a very dry spell and a hot exhaust from a vehicle actually ignited corn that was underneath it. Well, long story short, about 20+ vehicles caught fire and a large area of the cornfield burned, while the place was packed full of tourists. Fortunatley, no serious injuries occured and no damage was done to the maze.


I was driving on Strasburg Road when I glanced over and saw the wording in the field. I thought it would be a cool photo to take, so I pulled over onto Cherry Hill Road where the maze actually is and took the shot.

Wyatt slept the entire time and never knew a thing...


Hope you all have a great Monday!!

As always, feel free to leave any type of comments...


Stay Safe,

Woody

More From ChocolateTown...

Hi All,

This will be brief as I don't have a whole lot to say, mainly because I'm tired and it was one of those days at work..


This is a shot taken between Chocolate World and The main entrance to Hershey Park. This is the lighthouse that once sat in the pool area which at one time If I remember correctly, was just for Hershey Park Employees and then it was for the regular public. I believe the pool also was in this area of the park.

I have a history book on HersheyPark, I will look this up and post any corrected info.

With that said, I hope you all have a great weekend and feel free to leave any comments at all on these or any of the photographs I've taken, that are posted here.

The only way I can improve and get better is by your feedback...


Stay Safe All,

Woody

Beer Anyone?....

Good Morning All,

Well, I really did not have a clue as to which photo I was going to post today. I decided to post one of a mural on a building right down from my work which happens to be a local beer distributor. I always thought buildings that have paintings or designs on them like this were cool to look at and check out.


While I was working this photo up in photoshop, I decided to try an aged look on the photo. So I played around with it and this is what I came up with. I tried to put a canvas on the photo, but that decided not to work for me tonight...


So, let me know what you think..

Hope all are having a good week...

Stay Safe,

Woody

More Hershey...

Hi All,

This will be brief as I need to get to bed. More Pictures from Hershey.

The first one is a side view of Wyatt, we were sitting on a park bench in Tudor Square and I was checking something with the camera when I looked up and saw him like this, so I quickly snapped a shot off before I lost it..I think he's checking out a pretty blonde that was walking by us...


The second one was at the top of the entrance to Chocolate World. I spent about 30 minutes doing some photoshop work. I usually never have a game plan in mind when I work on a photo. For me, it's basically trial and error and I just keep trying stuff till I see something I like.

Hope everyones week is going well so far...Feel free to leave any comments/suggestions...


Stay Safe,

Woody

Updated Photo Of Wyatt...

Hey everyone..

Me again..So while I was checking my email this morning and saw I had a comment from my friend Brad Myers on the importance of cropping. I had asked for suggestions on Wyatt's photograph from my other post and Brad had suggested to crop it out to bring more of the focus on him. I had thought with the original photo that it would be a cool shot with Wyatt and Hershey Park in the background. So I made a duplicate of the photo and cropped it and I can see what Brad is talking about, once you compare the two photos. I don't think the first one is bad, but I do like the second shot better..

Thanks Brad!!

Sweetest Place On Earth....

Hey Everyone,

So today I decided to do a road trip with Wyatt and give Lisa a peacefull afternoon to herself, Hey, everyone needs some downtime now and then you know??

Today, I decided to take Wyatt to Chocolate World. I thought we could walk around, do the ride that shows how everything is made, and I thought Wyatt would like that...


Well, I was wrong...As soon as we got into the car and got into the first tunnel, boy he was not a happy camper..As soon as we were done and off the ride, he was fine.

Afterwards, we walked around for abit and I took just some random shots of things and some of Wyatt. After Chocolate World, We went up to Hershey Gardens where they have a large open field with great views of the park since it's up on the hill and your looking down, Wyatt had a wee bit of trouble keeping his balance but he was a real trooper. All in all, it was a good way to start the week..

I was trying to think of some ways I could do some post processing of the photos but I'm just having a mental block I guess. Long weekend at work and I've been battling a cold so far(I know, freaking summer and I catch a cold?!)

If anyone has any suggestions or what you think of the photos, Please feel free to leave them, especially on the 4th one of Wyatt. That was the first time I shot a photo manuel...

Hope to hear from anyone..

Stay Safe All,

Woody...

Site of the Great Manheim Train Wreck of 1896....

Good Morning All,

I just got home from work and am ready for bed, so this is going to be real quick..

I took this photo actually this past Saturday while I was heading into work. I was ahead of schedule for once and had some time to kill, so I decided to shoot some photos around the train station.

If you remember from a previous post I had, The building on the left is currently the Cats Meow bar/restaurant which used to be the American railroad hotel. It is right down the tracks next to the bar that the great train wreck happened. I actually did some reading about the subject. In the middle of the night, guests at the hotel were awakened by the cries for help. They came out of the hotel to find that the train struck a "night box" (Brad or any railroad buff, can you help me out with that?? not sure what that is..) and the train derailed..

I did some photoshop work to the photo. I did the photo with the ink outlines and then faded them to an overlay and I think it came out pretty good..


Allright, time for bed...

Have a great start to the week folks!!

Stay Safe,

Woody


PS..By the way, for any of my firefighter/photography friends that read my blog. If any of you are ever in the area and want to dine at a good place. This is one of the best restaurants around in Manheim. If you do stop by, give me a call and I'll buy the first round...

Festival and Fireworks...

Good Evening Everyone,

It's actually Thursday while I am typing this. I just got home from work not too long ago after working an eight hour OT shift. For the entire summer, my work is paying doubletime for any OT worked. Kind of hard to turn that down you know??


Anyway, These photos were taken just last week at the New Danville Fire Company Festival. Not to stray, but one of my major pet peeves is the fact that it is 2008 and we still have fire companies having to raise $$ for themselves. That's a disgrace, all volunteer companies should be fully funded by the muncipality they serve and all career departments should be fully staffed and funded and have state of the art equipment and should NEVER have to worry about being laid off.

Ok, back off my soapbox..

Now more about the photos...

The top photo is at the entrance to the New Danville Fire Company, The engine is Engine 5-5-1 and is a 1996 engine. I do not know all the specs on it yet. I thought the shot was pretty cool with the engine, the american flag and the fire company sign. I did get a little frustrated as I was attempting to do some photoshop work. I was attempting to change the background color to a white background and just have the fire station and the engine and everything else be the focal point, I gave up for the night. If anyone has any suggestions, (Hint Hint, Brian B) Please feel free to leave comments...To give an example of what I was trying to do, I got the idea from Brian's blog when he did the photo of "Borders Guy" with just the photo of the guy and the entire background white. I always thought that was a really cool shot. Maybe next week I'll try again..


The other two are obviously fireworks, My schedule is pretty packed this weekend with work and other commitments, I won't be able to do any processing. I actually read an article in the newest issue of Popular Photography on how to make great fireworks shots and I do plan do try that, I just won't have the time this week.

This is the first time I ever shot fireworks with any type of camera, but was anxious to try it with my Nikon. I think for the first time out, they did not turn out too bad, again if anyone has any suggestions on how to improve the shots or what settings to set the camera to, Please feel free to leave suggestions...Don't be shy..


I hope you all have a great weekend...

Stay Safe,

Woody

Final Post On Rigs Of Yesteryear....

Hi All,

After seven days of old fire trucks, I decided to end the series on old school with a shot of new school if you will.

I actually got the idea from Brad Myers when I was reading his blog about his wish for a tiller In Harrisburg. So I decided to post a shot of a tiller a little closer to home for him.

This is Truck 2-4 of the Eden Fire Company In Lancaster County. It is a 2006 Pierce TDA, 100 FT Aerial. This is the only tiller in Lancaster County and is also the only ladder truck In Lancaster County that is also designated as a rescue since it carries enough equipment to be able to do both.

The Eden Fire Company used to run a 1994 100 FT LTI Tower Ladder and a 1990 E-One Heavy Rescue. Due to decreasing manpower, the department wanted to consolidate services. The department now runs an engine and the truck and also a QRS for medical calls.

I did some photoshop work with this. To be honest, I really did not have a game plan as to what I wanted to do with it, I was playing around for about 30 minutes till I got the look I liked...


Enjoy your Thursday Folks, I will be working OT tonight from 3 to 11, so I'm not sure what I will have up for Friday..

Stay Safe,

Woody

The Bully's Buddies...

Good Morning Folks,

That's right two more Bulldogs to the mix.. Both CF Macks...


The first one, Lancaster County Engine 5-4-3 is a 1969 CF Mack belonging to the Lampeter Fire Company. This engine still does active duty today and currently runs third out on all of Lampeter's calls they are one of the few engine company only houses in Lancaster County. I believe that this engine first came from the Cheltenham Fire Company down In Montgomery County PA.


The second one, Engine 83 from the FDNY. To be honest, I really don't know alot of the history of this engine, Other that it did active duty in the big apple, went to a local department in upstate PA and now is privatley owned...


That is all I have for today folks, I worked till 0400 this morning so now I am hitting the rack for a few hours..


Have a great day!!

Stay Safe!

Woody

Bully Of The Block...

Good Morning All,

This is the former Engine 4-10-1, I believe it is a 1960 or 1969 C Model Mack. This was the first out engine for the Witmer fire company for many years untill, again my memory is starting to go..I think the late 90's or somewhere in early 2000, 2001..

This engine also did service as the reserve Foam 6-3 while the Lafayette Fire Company's Foam unit was out of service for an extended time and the brothers at Witmer were kind enough to loan the engine to them.

I believe this engine is now privatley owned by a former chief of the department...

I will finish up with Old Engines this week and next week will be either photos that I have photoshopped or something new I tried for the first time the other night, photographing fireworks..

I hope you all have a great day and please, feel free to leave any comments..It's the only way I know If I am doing something right or wrong..

Time for bed...

Stay Safe,

Woody

PS..On a different note, for all the firefighters that look at this site..Here is a link to video of a General Alarm Fire In Lancaster City. I just walked into work and sat down and this was the very 1st call I took..Wish I would have been off, would have rolled in to get photos..Oh well..

Total 4 houses lost...

Enjoy the video..

http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/18/223194

Engine 6-3-A..The 49 Comes Home...

Good Morning All.

I hope you all had a great weekend and for those that are dads, hope you had a great fathers day.

As promised, I am still posting more photos of old school rigs from the recent firemans parade held in Strasburg Pa.


Todays photo is the 1949 Chevy Pumper, owned by the Lafayette Fire Company. 59 Years Ago, The Fire Company brought the Chevy body and contracted with The High Welding Company, now known as High Steel to build the body. This was the very first piece brought by the fire company and was designated Engine 6-3-A.


When the pumper was finished, a mistake was discovered when the members arrived and found that the pumper was Orange and not painted Red. The members liked the color orange and decided to keep it that way, and all future apparatus was painted orange.


I'm not sure when the 49 was sold, but I do know the piece did service with the Armstrong Fire Brigade and I am not sure what happened with the piece after that.

I do know that just a few months ago, a member of the fire company saw the piece sitting outside a farm just north of Quarryville and saw that it was for sale for a reasonable price. The member contacted the other members and they decided to purchase it and bring a piece of their history, back home where she belongs. Granted, it was painted red, but I do know plans are in the making to paint it the "right" color that all fire trucks should be.. : )


I hope everyone has a good day today...

Stay Safe..

Woody

Dad...

Hi All,

I know I said this week would be on fire trucks, but since it is Fathers Day weekend, I wanted to take today and tell you a little bit about the greatest man I ever knew, my dad...

Back in December of 2006, a week after christmas, my dad was diagnosed with Lung and Bone Cancer. At the time we were still going through the adoption process and had not been selected yet. My biggest fear at the time was that my dad would not get to meet my future son/daughter. That all changed on April 3, 2007 when I got to call my dad and tell him he was a grandpa. I think he was the happiest man on earth, considering the fight he was in dealing with the cancer. This photo was taken at my parents house on Fathers Day Last Year and Is one of my favorite photos.

My dad was always supportive of me being in the fire service, he always came to any parade our department was participating in. I can always remember seeing my dad with a big smile on his face as we would go by in the engine or truck.

Of course, Dad did not always understand the way we did things at times in the fire service. I can remember a time when my department was on a barn fire and Dad was reading about it in the paper, he turn to me and say "Wood, why on earth did you guys have sixteen fire companies at this barn?? Was it that big???" I'd say, yeah dad, we had sixteen companies there, but ten of those companies were for their tankers since there are no hydrants close by. He sit for a second, pondering that and then say "Well, that makes sense"


On March 25th, 2008, I received the worst phone call ever in my life. My dad had lost his battle with the cancer. The following days were nothing but a blur, with trying to make arrangements, calling family members and helping my mom deal with things and get things in order.


I guess the main reason I started this blog, I had been watching fellow bloggers Bradley Myers and Brian Bastinelli for awhile, just checking out there sites and learning more about the history of the Shippensburg Fire Department. This blog has been my therapy so to speak by helping me direct my thoughts toward something else, I miss my dad everyday don't get me wrong, by doing this blog, it helps me to deal with the grief and is been helping me move forward so to speak, If that makes sense??


Well all, I hope you have a great weekend and I will start back Monday with more old school rigs..

Have a great weekend!!

Stay Safe,

Woody

The Reo...

Good morning all,

As promised, continuing on with Old School Fire Trucks. Today's photo is of the Neffsville Fire Company 1936 Reo Seagrave. Here is some brief information about the piece. Info is from Neffsvillefire.com;

1936 Reo Seagrave

Retired from service
Still competes annually in parades and pump competitions
Has earned numerous awards

500 GPM pump
500 gallon water tank
Hard sleeve hose
150’ feet of 1 1/2 inch hose
200’ feet of 2 1/2 inch hose
1 hose adaptor to hydrant
2 (2 1/2) discharges
216 inch wheel base


This rig, along with the 1927 deluge both travel up to the annual Pump Primers event In Harrisburg each year. I believe the Reo is already entered for this years event. I am sure the Deluge is as well, I have not heard official confirmation though.

You know, even though I am not an "Old" timer per se. This statement kind of tells me where the future of the volunteer fire service is going. While I was sweating taking pictures of all the rigs that went by, I ran into an old friend who is also "retired" from the volunteer fire service and now is more of a buff, like me. While we were talking about one of the rigs that went by, a kid who was probably no more then 18, walked by and was complaning about the old rigs and made the remark along the lines that the old rigs were crap. As much as my friend and I wanted to take Junior to school, we thought better of it. If you ever heard the phrase "2/20" by Chief Billy Goldfeder, you know what I am talking about and that fit this kid to a tee.

I was then thinking to myself, that probably half these rigs that are retired could probably outpump and run circles around the current rigs today. Especially the 38 MACK I posted about earlier In the week...(Sorry, I am a MACK fan, had to throw that in there..)

Allright folks, time for me to hit the sack...Hope all have a great day and feel free to leave any comments...

Stay Safe All,

Woody

35 Years and Counting...

Good morning everyone,

Sorry this post is up late this morning. We had some WICKED storms that rolled through here last night and knocked out power and the Internet most of the night and only got it back up about an hour ago. Glad I was not working last night...

Todays rig is a 1973 International from The Refton Fire Company, Lancaster County Station 5-9 and is designated as Engine 5-9-5. The rig is still in active service today..

Sorry this post is short folks, but I must go now and get ready for work..

Hope everyone has a great day!!!

More Old School....

Good Morning All,

Hope everyone is having a good day and trying to stay cool in this heat. As promised, more photos today of all the old school rigs from the parade Saturday held here In Strasburg.

Todays photo is of a 1927 deluge that is privately owned by Laverne Stauffer of the Neffsville fire company. The rig is being driven by his son, Don Stauffer, Chief of the Scullville Fire Company In New Jersey. Both guys are true class acts in the fire service. Laverne is, in my opinon, one of the legends in the fire service here in Lancaster County. Laverne served as a Chief of the Neffsville Fire Company for many years and for many years afterwards, served as the Chief Engineer of the company. The rig that Laverne owns was the very first piece of apparatus ever owned by the Eden Fire Company in Lancaster County.

With regards to yesterdays post, I found out that the rig is a 1938 Mack and did service In Lancaster City from 1938 to 1970..


That is all for today folks, stay safe and cool....

Old School Fire Trucks....

Good Morning All..

I know I said I was not going to post today, but I'm not real tired yet and I am somewhat coherant, so I decided to post photos of all the old school fire trucks that were in the recent Lancaster County Firemans Parade..


I'm sorry, no photoshop work done..too tired to expand that energy today..


These photos are of Lancaster City Bureau Of Fire, Engine Company 6. To be honest, I did not know City Fire had this piece of equipment. I knew they used to have an open cab American Lafrance but was suprised when I saw this in the parade line. I am currently attempting to find out info about this rig and when I do, I'll post it..


You know, after seeing rigs like this, sometimes I wish I was a little older and started my fire service career back in the 80's or late 70's. I think that would have been a great time to have been a firefighter and alot more fun....


Well folks, I am starting to nod off as I type this...So I am going to hit the rack for several hours. I hope you all have a great day and as always, feel free to leave any comments...

Tickets Please...

Good Morning All,

Since I most likely won't have a post up on Monday, I decided to post today and hopefully that will tide you over till Tuesday.

This photo was taken last night down the street from where I work. I ran down to the local restaurant to get dinner and as I was walking out, I happen to notice our "conductor" sitting at his post and I decided it would be a cool picture. Post processing, I know I need to practice more. Tonights photo, all I did was crop it down and added some color to enhance it abit and that is it.

The photo is taken in front of the historical Manheim Train Station. Just to the left of me is the "Cats Meow" Restaurant. I'll have to do a little more research, but from the history I do know, The train station was an actual running station back in the 1800's and was the site of the "Great Manheim Train Wreck" I think back in the 1800's where two trains collided. The actual restaurant itself used to be known as the American House Railroad Hotel.

Allright folks, It's time for me to hit the rack so I hope you all do enjoy your weekend and stay safe!

As always, don't be shy, feel free to leave any comments...good or bad...

History Lesson...

Hello everyone,

Well today is Friday. I hope this weekend goes quick. I work today, off on Saturday and I am pulling a 16 hour shift on Sunday, starting at 2 P.M. and ending at 6 A.M. Monday morning. So I'm not sure If a post will be up on Monday.

So I stopped at the local Turkey Hill store to pick something up for the wife and I noticed they had a book on the shelf called "Turkey Hill, A family vision" I am a history buff, especially local history, always have been. So I decided to buy and the book goes through the history of how Turkey Hill was named and the history of the company. The Turkey Hill Dairy plant is a short ten minute drive from my house, and has some very pretty scenery right in the area of the plant and just north of it. The area around the plant is also called Turkey Hill. Here is how the area got it's name; All info Is from the book;

In the soft warmth of the early spring afternoon, several canoes glided silently along the Susquehanna River. The Indian scouting party was seeking a new site for their village. The tribal wars were pushing their people farther and farhter south. The land to the north was no longer able to provide the harvest necessary for their survival, and it was time to search for new hunting grounds to provide the food and furs needed for trading.

As they scouted the flat land just north of a rudge that jutted to the river's edge along the eastern shore, they saw the ground was fertile. Several older men paced off the area where the new village would be built, and the younger men scouted the surrounding area of signs of game. The river was teaming with fish and supported ducks and geese, while the land held much wildlife. Along with deer,beaver and raccoons, they found wild turkeys on the hill to the south of the flatlands. The flock was large enough to support their people for many seasons. The indians named this ridge south of the river plains Turkey Hill.

The first people to settle on Turkey Hill were an Indian tribe called the Susquehannock or "people of the muddy river."


The area was sold off by Willam Penn in 1768 and in the deed it is named Turkey Hill.


The first photo was the Turkey Hill name at the entrance to the dairy plant. The other photos were taken just north of the plant along the Susquehanna River Just south of Washington Boro.

Well, I hope you enjoyed your little Lancaster County History Lesson and hope you all have a great weekend!!

Stay Safe!!

Woody

Terror In Amish Country...

Hi All,

Hope you are having a good week. I decided to post a few more photos from the Red Rose Drill held here a month ago. Weather was crappy and I could not get out and shoot anything so this is what I am posting for today. Plus, Brad was wanting fires to photograph so I decided to help him out. This week is the Lancaster County Firemans Covention/Parade which takes place this Saturday In Strasburg. For any Fire Apparatus Buffs that happen to grace upon my site and are looking for some rigs to photograph, Come down to Strasburg. Neat town, also very historic. If you do decide to come, Depending on where you are coming from the best way to get here is to take Route 30 to Route 896. Head south on Rt 896 and that will take you right into town. I will be there Saturday photographing rigs and I will post them next week. The other reason I decided to post some pictures of a fire, In my 18 years of being in the Lancaster County Fire Service, it has always held true that the week prior to the parade, some department in the county gets a working fire. Been quiet so far, but still have two days to go. We shall see...

Anyway, getting back on topic. The first photo is of the burn pit at the training center. The second photo is of the Hempfield Fire Department, Engine 7-19-1 arriving at the fire.

The last two photos which I cropped is of personal advancing the line onto the fire. The nozzleman is the son of a coworker of mine. His name is Zach and is a great kid. Zach loves everything about the fire service and has grown into a outstanding firefighter and young man. For those that have been in the fire service a long time, I am sure you'll agree with me when you see a young kid come in to the firehouse for the first time, you can usually get the feeling If the kid is gonna be great or just an average wingnut who just wants the chance to run a blue light and does not care about the traditions or brotherhood of the fire service. Zach was destined to be great In my opinion. Zach has also taken his service one step further and has enlisted in the Air Force for four years and I believe he leaves In July for Basic Training. Stay safe Zach and your fire service brothers are proud of you!!

And as always, Thanks for visitng my site. It's appreciated and feel free to leave any comments...

Got water??...

Good morning all,

This particular photo was taken at the Lancaster County Public Safety Training Center during the Red Rose III Terrorisim Drill In May of this year. I was asked to serve as the photographer for this years event. I got to see alot of neat stuff again this year and how much equipment is available in the event a incident would happen in our area.


I believe I was watching one of the military personal walking with a flashbang device to set it off and I happened to glance in the direction of the fire and saw the hydrant in between the two posts with the fire in the background and thought that would make a pretty cool photo. I cropped it down some and added some color, but other then that, I really did not do much photoshop work at all do it.


Time for bed and I am off the next two days, so hopefully I can get some more photographing in. What I don't know yet...

Stay safe everyone,


Woody

Time standing still

Hi all,

Hope everyone had a good day today. I just got home from work. Pretty quiet for the most part on Fireboard. Only thing we really had was a working Silo fire.

Todays two photos. This is another example of cropping and before and after shots. The photo is of a clock that was donated by the Rolex Corporation to the Lititz Springs Park for the 250th anniversary of the town of Lititz. The clock is located right at the entrance to the park right off of Broad Street, which is just located north of the square. I had an image in my mind on how I wanted the shot to look. Originally, I had wanted to be more in front of the clock, shooting straight up with nothing but blue sky in the background.

As you can tell, I was not paying as much attention as I should have and kind of caught the shots on an angle with the Wilbur Chocolate Factory in the background.

By the way, they make excellant Wilbur Buds. If you have never been to Lititz. It is a neat little town. Very historic. Lititz also holds one of the largest July 4th celebrations in the area where the town pretty much shuts down for the day and they have stands and lots of great food right along Main Street. If you ever decide to go see the fireworks, let me know and I'll fill you in on best places to park where you can avoid some traffic(not all though).

Anyway, getting back on topic. I cropped the photo as much as I could to focus in on the clock. I also did some minor photoshop to bring out more color in the sky.

Let me know what you guys think. If anyone knows any tips on how I could have cropped the remainder of the factory out of the photo, PLEASE feel free to leave your ideas. Hopefully, Brian B. looks at the photos and will share his wisdom...


Time for bed, stay safe!!

Ducks out of water

Hey everyone,

I hope you all had a good weekend. After talking with Brad Myers about the importance of cropping. I decided to head out and do a little practice. The above two photos were taken at the Lititz Springs Park. The bottom photo is the before shot. I had Wyatt with me and we were sitting watching the ducks walk towards us, the above photo is the after shot, after I cropped it and did some minor photoshop work to bring out the colors more. I was pleased with the results. I know the photos are reversed, but it took me awhile to get them posted this morning as blogger was acting up and I could not get on to my site or anyone else's for that matter.

Let me know what you guys think...

Enjoy your day..