I spent most of this past week working on editing some photos. One of the groups of photos I edited was from Bowman’s Hill Tower in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

Spent a few hours this past fall climbing the tower and hiking in the area, mainly in Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve.  This isn’t the first time I’ve been there, but the first time I’ve made it there during Autumn to see the fall colors.

I was not expecting so much yellow and was hoping for a little more variety in color. This may be a reflection of the drought we had this year as across the county the color were not as vibrant or diverse as in years past.  

The Cuttalossa Farm is located in Solebury Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Sometimes you just have to take a day off from work and go for a drive down a winding dirt road.

I had seen many photographs of this mill over the years but never knew the name. A few months ago, I came across an article about the mill with a tiny photograph and finally had a name and a location. Thanks to google maps I was able to add it to my list of places to photograph.

I found myself with a day off of work and decided to spend the morning shooting some landscapes. The weather was not ideal, but since this location is surrounded by trees in a valley, I figured it was worth checking out.

Before heading out, I checked the sun angles just to see if there was anything interesting the sun might do that day.

A great free resource to do this is the website The Photographer’s Ephemeris (TPE). Even if you don’t have the opportunity to shoot at the best times of the day, it’s still good to know for reference where and when the light will be optimal. If nothing else, it helps to have this info in the back of your mind as you’re walking a site. This allows you to take note of geographical features and how they make work with the light in the future.

The road leading to the mill is gravel. As you cross over the Cuttalossa Creek, the forest opens to reveal the spring house sitting in a small field. Though the mill and the estate are the focus points of the site, I found myself drawn to the little spring house. The bare tree trunks connected the tiny house and the green grass to the larger canopy bursting with green leaves above.  

My time at Cuttalossa was peaceful, not a single person was around. It’s easy to see why so many have been drawn here and inspired by these surroundings. This place has a sense of being that changes with the seasons. Because of the timelessness of this place, there is no “best time”, each season will have it’s own character. The stillness of the mill and the permanence of the water will be a constant contrast to the surroundings.

Definitely going to make an effort to return throughout the year.

  In the last post I mentioned shooting a fawn (with a camera) a couple weeks ago. He / she? is the prime suspect for stealing our blueberries. I saw him lying in the yard and wanted to see if he was okay, it was late in the morning and he was alone. I guess he was just waiting for me to go back in, so he could finish off the rest of his breakfast.  

  The other morning while running errands, I drove by the Churchville Nature Center and decided to stop for a few minutes to check out the garden area. I always end up here in the colder months and the garden area is pretty bare as a result. I had only planned to stay about a half hour, but I had my camera with me and well……Two hours later, I was on my way. The above shot was on one of the nature trails. Most of the trails are handicap accessible.

The garden area is filled with native plants and habitats. This includes several ponds complete with resident wildlife. I captured the Bullfrog peeking out at me after several failed attempts to sneak up on him. Dragonflies and butterflies were quite plentiful, though I wasn’t able to shoot any on this trip. 

I don’t consider myself a nature photographer, but after hanging out in the garden stalking this frog and a chance run in with a fawn last week, I might start to get into it a little more. 

These were all shot with a Canon 70-200mm F4L lens. Coming from a street photography background and shooting 24mm and 28mm primes, this lens feels like telephone pole. But, even at 200mm, I still needed to be right on top of the poor frog. Now I have a whole new appreciation for nature shooters and their giant lenses. Not to mention their patience.  

Recently wrapped up the renderings for our new 2016 catalog. The images were created in 3ds Max and rendered in V-Ray. Post production compositing and editing were done Photoshop and After Effects. The catalog is almost entirely digital. Every scene, feature, and detail is 3d modeled and rendered. Existing products from other manufactures, such as the pendants and sconces in the cover shot, were also re-created digitally in order to achieve a consistent visual flow.

The lines of furniture we specialize in are applicable to many styles of retail environments. The visualizations of these spaces represent complete designs in order to allow the client to understand how the different collections can be used. Styles range from classical to modern with transitional pieces also available.