Our last stop of the Historic Triangle was Yorktown, Virginia. Yorktown was an important port city during both The American Revolution and almost a hundred years later, The Civil War. Here are some images from the trip.
More images can be found in the "Yorktown, VA" gallery.
Here's some images from our trip last summer to Colonial Williamsburg, Virgina.
More images can be found in the "Colonial Williamsburg, VA" gallery.
Visited Historic Jamestown Virginia with my extended family in July. It's a really cool place to visit and was Noah's favorite of the historic triangle ( Colonial Williamsburg, Historic Jamestown, and Yorktown ).
See the "Jamestown, VA" gallery for more images from the trip.
President Lincoln's Birthday Celebration, which was postponed due to the unbelievably cold weather we've been having lately, was held today at The Buffalo History Museum.
President Lincoln recited excerpts from his inaugural addresses as well as The Gettysburg address to a good-sized crowd. The celebration continued outside with the laying of a wreath at the base the Lincoln statue as well as a rifle salute and the playing of taps on the bugle by The Company A Engineers. Everyone was then welcome to mingle with the re-enactors and have cake and refreshments.
Thank you to all of the spectators who came out to celebrate with us.
Here's a few photos from the event.
Here's a team photo of the 2015 Panthers. Congratulations on your team victory and shutout. They won 7-0.
I attended an event at the Buffalo Botanical Gardens called "Lumagination". The Gardens are ablaze with color and sound. In the waterfall room there was a laser harp which changes the lights and music when you interrupt the beams. Em had a blast for about an hour with this! Definitely a cool event! Here's some examples from the event. More images are located in the "Lumagination" gallery.
Civil War Re-enactment season is almost upon us once again. In preparation for another busy season, the Company A Engineers were running through drills at the Eames Estate last Saturday.
Congratulations to Luke Eames who was promoted to Artificer and welcome to our new member Rob Yott. It's planning out to be another fun-filled season!
Thank you Megan and Cheryl for lunch!
Join us on Sunday the 15th at the Buffalo Historical Society to celebrate Lincoln's Day.
Congratulations Luke
left to right: Sergeant Ray Ball, Private Rob Yott, Private Parker Ball, Private Noah Luthart, Artificer Luke Eames.
I LOVE Niagara Falls in the winter time! It's so peaceful and quiet without thousands of visitors and the snow and ice are so beautiful. The colder...the better. If the conditions are right you can get a photograph of the rainbow in the mist of The Falls. VERY COLD when I took this!
I recently did a shoot for the engagement of my co-worker Dustin and his fiance' Rebecka at The Buffalo Botanical Gardens. Here are a few highlights from that session.
Here's a couple of shots taken at the TCCC Lighting Demo. Discussed during the program were the difference between hard light and soft light, continuous light versus studio strobe, metering with a hand-held light meter, use of reflectors for fill light, and how to feather the light on the subject to keep it from illuminating the background.
Studio Strobe
Continuous Light
Had the pleasure of attending "Songwriter's Night" at Howdy's Country Club last night. It's a really cool idea where local songwriters take the stage together to play some original music. This allows for the artists to collaborate on song ideas or just have a fun jam session.
Performing at the event were Eric Van Houten, Matt Maloof, and Hunters Creek. The talent of these four musicians is incredible and they served up many excellent original songs during the course of the night. If you haven't heard them perform, you're really missing out!
"Songwriter's Night" is a celebration of talented original artists. It is scheduled for the second Wednesday of every month. If you're in the mood to experience some stellar original songwriting skills, then CHECK IT OUT!
See the gallery "hunters creek @ howdy's" for more images.
Matt Maloof
Eric Van Houten
Hunters Creek
Dave Statz of Hunters Creek
MB of Hunters Creek
Had the pleasure of attending several of the Piano Bar events at Mangia Restaurant in Orchard Park recently. For those of your who haven't experienced this yet, its an evening of familiar songs with a different twist...typically just piano and vocals ( and occasionally some acoustic guitar as well ). Our friends Don Lorentz ( The Boys of Summer Band ) and his son Jonathan Lorentz are there for your listening enjoyment on a weekly basis. Don't be surprised if other musicians stop by to sit in with them.
Don plays on Wednesday nights from 6:30-9:30.
Jonathan plays on Friday nights from 7:30-10:30.
Stop by for a night of fun music in a relaxing atmosphere! You won't be disappointed!
Rang in 2015 with our good friends The Boys of Summer band at the Statler downtown. Great food, great music and great fun!
Thanks guys!!
Remembrance Day was spent with the Company A Engineers and about 2500 other Civil War re-enactors in Gettysburg, PA. There were ceremonies held at many of the monuments throughout the battlefield park.
Remembrance Day is a memorial day that has been observed since the end of WWI to honor those soldiers who died in the line of duty. The poppy has become the symbol of this day. They bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of northern Belgium and its brilliant red color became a symbol of the blood spilled during the war.
We were honored to participate in the events of this weekend including a ceremony to honor the 14th Brooklyn regiment and the giant parade on Saturday. Also had a great time with the rest of Company A.
See the gallery "remembrance day - gettysburg" for images from the event. Sorry for the number of pictures (117 total) but it was necessary to fully document the importance of this event.
Noah and I were in Gettysburg, PA this past weekend for Remembrance Day Ceremonies. Here are some examples of portrait images we took. We were on Little Round Top on Saturday for a sunset shoot and the next morning at 6:45am we took portraits at Devil's Den for sunrise (although the sun never broke through the clouds.)
See the "gettysburg portraits" gallery to see all the images from the shoots.
I'm still working on the images from the Remembrance Day events which will be posted soon.
More to come...
Here's a few images from Letchworth State Park highlighting the autumn color from this season. More images can be viewed in the "Letchworth" gallery.
Spent a week in Bedford, Massachusetts for work. The week was a rain out except for Monday night which we spent roaming around the city of Boston. It's quite the target-rich environment for photography. Great food as well! See "Boston, MA" gallery for more images.
This weekend we were honored to participate in a tombstone rededication ceremony at Forest Lawn Cemetery for Medal of Honor recipient Charles Orr. He earned the Medal of Honor at the battle of Hatcher's Run, VA on October 27, 1864 for rescuing several wounded and helpless comrades while under enemy fire. He is a true American Hero. See the gallery "Forest Lawn - Orr Tombstone" for more images from the event.
The Hull House located at the intersection of Genesee Street and Pavement Road in the town of Lancaster is the oldest stone dwelling in Erie County, New York. It was built in 1810 by Warren Hull for his family. It is a unique piece of local history. The Farmstead includes the house and a barn, animal pens and the family cemetery which resides deep in the woods.
The Hull House Foundation sponsored a Civil War Twilight Tour which had visitors escorted through the house and grounds by candlelight. The grounds were illuminated by lanterns and several stops along the path showcased events from that time in history.
The historical incident that our group was part of involved a young William McKinley bringing rations to his famished troops. He was commander of the 23rd Ohio Infantry who's men were exhausted and hungry after days of heavy fighting during the Battle of Antietam. "Billy" McKinley risked his life to bring his men rations consisting of coffee and hardtack (crackers).
See the "Hull House" gallery for more images.
The Little Red Schoolhouse in Lancaster hosted a living history event which showcased displays and demonstrations of what life was like back in the time of the American Civil War.
The Little Red Schoolhouse.
Schoolhouse interior.
Sounds of fife and drum filled the air!
A Confederate Artillery Battalion demonstrated what everyday life was like for a Rebel soldier including rifle firing and how to load the mortar unit.
Confederate Artillery Battalion.
FIRE!!
The fine points of loading the mortar.
A Union Surgeon showed spectators the crude medical instruments of the time including a bullet probe and bone saw. Discussions included common soldier illnesses and ailments including Scurvy and malnutrition, Dysentery, and infections, Gangrene and amputation.
Primitive and crude medicine of the time.
Discussions of surgical instruments and elixirs.
Union Engineers discussed the importance of road-building, field obstacles, mapping and surveying and how each of effected the life of the infantry soldier especially in combat scenarios. Loading and firing the Enfield Rifle was shown.
Company A Union Engineers with General Grant.
FIRE AT ELEVATION!!
It's obvious from this photo that the high point of the day for this young man was being able to hold the musket!
There was a bayonet drill and talk of the design and effectiveness of the bayonet as a deadly and gruesome weapon.
Bayonet lunge!
The triangular design of the bayonet leaves a gaping wound that is hard to close with sutures making first aid on the battlefield extremely difficult.
President Lincoln, Union General Ulysses S. Grant and Confederate General Robert E. Lee were present as well.
From the "History | Town of Lancaster website" - The “little red schoolhouse” on Bowen Road and William Street was constructed in 1868. The one room schoolhouse was built of locally-made brick and was heated by a pot-bellied stove in the center of the room. Each desk has its own ink bottle hole. The school was in operation until 1948. A fire in 1968 destroyed the roof and building interior. With a goal of restoring the building and preserving its history, the Lancaster Historical Society was formed in 1973. Work was completed in 1978 and the school continues to be open to the public to date.
See the "Little Red Schoolhouse" gallery for more images.