Company A training day...we get to SHOOT!?

What more could boys ask for than to get a chance to fire a gun?  An opportunity to learn how to load and fire a replica of a historical weapon.  The Company A US Battalion of Engineers did just that during a recent training day exercise.  Captain Ray Ball bravely and safely instructed the recruits by running them through loading, reloading and firing exercises with the Enfield Rifle.  It takes skill and attention to detail to load the muzzle-loader weapon.  As Captain Ball says, "There's nothing like the taste of gunpowder in the morning!"  See "Company A Training Day" gallery for more images.

Talking about ammunition.

Our commanding officer giving instruction.

At ease.

Oreo

Just a photo of our female cat, Oreo.

In a New York Minute

I went to see a friend's band last night.  The band is called "New York Minute".  They play a wide variety of music from 60's to recent, pop, country and everything in between.  They play a very diverse set list and are a joy to watch.  Very talented musicians from WNY.  I highly recommend going to see them play live!  Here are some images from the show.

We got close, then....CRACK!

Noah and I took the opportunity to get close to my favorite grain elevator to try and get some interesting images from the water while it's frozen.  We saw several ice fishing huts and it's been VERY cold over the past few weeks.  We walked up very close the nearest barge and I set up my tripod to take a panorama when we heard a VERY LOUD CRACK, which sounded like a gunshot.  At first we thought the barge had struck against the rocks but then realized that the ice had cracked beneath our feet!  We quickly made our way along the shoreline back to the rocks that we had climbed down from.  YIKES!!  I'm not sure how much of a close call that was, but our hearts we're pounding when we reached safety.  Then we both laughed out loud about our adventure and good fortune.  Here's a hand-held sweep panorama I took - this one from shore...

C-C-Cold!!

I love going to Niagara Falls to take pictures during the winter.  It's so quiet and serene and there are very few people around.  The ice can make for some beautiful images.  The thermometer read 12 degrees, but I can honestly say that after about twenty minutes outside I was FROZEN to the bone!  Here's a couple from the other day...

Night Lights at the Gardens

I spent Tuesday evening at the Buffalo Botanical Gardens for the Night Lights at the Gardens event.  This is the second year I attended.  It's a display of color unlike anything else I've seen.  Dancing lasers, animated colors all to soothing music make this an exciting event.  If you haven't experienced it, you should!  You don't know what you're missing...

See "Night Lights at the Gardens" gallery for more images.

"Mums" the word

One of my favorite places to shoot is at the Buffalo Botanical Gardens.  Here are a few images from the Mum Show.  See "Floral" gallery for more images from this shoot.

Model Shoot Using Natural Light

I attended a class at  Advantage Media Productions Studio in North Tonawanda for Natural Light Photography.  Doug Hansgate instructed us on how to make the most of available light using reflectors and indirect soft light or direct hard light for different looks.  No flash was used in any of these images.  Thank you to Doug and Madison (our model) for a day full of learning.  This was the best class I've taken yet!  See "Model - Madison" gallery for more images.

Window Light

Historical Sunset

These are images of the sunset at the Buffalo Historical Society and the Albright Knox Art Gallery.  There's also a couple of images of Rockwell Hall at the Buff State Campus.  See Sunset gallery for more images... 

Rockwell Hall - Buff State College

Kelby World-Wide Photo Walk

On Saturday Oct 5th I took part in the Scott Kelby World-Wide Photo Walk.  This event was organized by the National Association of Photoshop Professional's president Scott Kelby.  All around the world groups got together to walk a planned route and take photographs for two hours.  The walk I attended was in the Allentown district of Buffalo, NY.  It rained very heavily through the night before and into the morning but the rain stopped just in time for the event.  This provided some nice reflections and over-cast skies for diffused light.  It was fun meeting other photographers and shooting along side them for the morning.  See the Buffalo - Allentown gallery for more images... 

Angelica NY, Civil War Reenactment

On September 27-29th a Civil War reenactment was held in Angelica NY.  This was a pretty large event with many tents and camps to visit and included several battles throughout the weekend.  Artillery fire and infantry rounds sent echoes of days gone by through the encampment and the village.  With a thunderous boom you could feel the ground shake as the canons from the Union and Confederate Artillery units exchanged fire from across the open field.  The Union Calvary and Infantry had their hands full with the heavy advance of the Rebel forces and were driven back during the final battle on Saturday afternoon.  The reenactment gave on-lookers a sense of what it would be like to be engaged in a Civil War era skirmish including the sound of the bone-chilling Rebel Yell.  I had the opportunity to speak with several of the reenactors from both sides who were all very passionate about their roles in bringing this experience to the crowd of excited spectators in as realistic a fashion as possible.  VERY WELL DONE!!  Thank you to all who give their time to make sure that this time period and the people involved in it are not forgotten.  It is important that we learn from history and the sacrifices and suffering of those who came before us.  See the gallery for more images...    

Union Calvary do their best to hold back the advancing Rebels.

Confederate Artillery Battery.

Union Camp.

Congratulations Debbie & Jeff!

As of this past weekend I have a new sister-in-law.  Welcome to the family Debbie, and congratulations to both of you!  See the gallery for more images of the event. 

Beautiful Summer Evening Sunset

Spent a beautiful summer evening at The Shores Restaurant in Tonawanda with the family.  We stayed for a very colorful sunset overlooking the Niagara River.  

Disney - a Teaser...

My family took a trip to Disney in early August.  Here's a small sample of the images I took on the trip ( I shot around 1500 images ).  I shot these with an Olympus E-PM2 micro 4/3 camera as I didn't want to carry my full size DSLR.  The image quality and the compactness of this camera and lenses is unbelievably convenient.  Enjoy!  More to come... 

Cindy's Place

Epcot

DD

Fireworks over Cinderella's Castle

Tower of Terror in Hollywood Studios

Buffalo Historical Society - Civil War Day

On 08/18 the Buffalo Historical Society hosted it's Civil War Day event which included two Union Regiments and one Confederate Regiment camp.  The event included period music, fife and drums, musket firing demonstration, sewing, blacksmith, map making and surveying demonstrations and many other events.  Even the President and First Lady Lincoln were there!  It's a fun and information-packed event that I encourage any Civil War buff to attend.  See gallery for more images...

Drum and Fife

US Engineer Battalion Company A camp

36th Virginia Confederate camp

Memphis Belle

The B-17 Flying Fortress named "Memphis Belle" was in Buffalo this weekend for tours and flights.  This is the plane that was used in the movie and not the original "Memphis Belle" that was famous for being the first U.S. Army Air Forces heavy bomber to complete 25 missions over Europe.  It was very tight quarters on board the aircraft.  See the gallery for more images.

Tranquility

Just returned from a week of beautiful weather at Conesus Lake.  The skies were clear and the weather was HOT! 

In B&W.

Remembering Gettysburg, PA

This July 1st, 2nd and 3rd commemorated the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg which was the turning point of the American Civil War.  Remember the soldiers on both sides who fought valiantly and many gave their lives for what they believed in.  See the Gettysburg gallery for more... 

Buffalo Zoo

Visited the Buffalo Zoo recently.  See the Buffalo Zoo Gallery for more images. 

Happy Birthday America!

Happy Birthday to the United States of America.  Thank you to all of those who have made this country great and have chosen to serve this country to preserve the freedoms we hold so dear.  God Bless America and all Americans today!