Red-Bellied Woodpecker

Came out to work on the computer this morning and found this guy outside the window and snarfing on my suet block. You can tell by the distinctive red markings that this is indeed a Red-Bellied Woodpecker.

Initial Attack

Earlier this week there was an apartment fire in town. From the initial dispatch you could just tell that it was going to be one of those fires. It was a little after 1 AM. As a camera guy I try to get pictures that show some action. But I also take documentary-type pictures. I try to tell a story. And sometime I'm just in the right place at the right time. This was what the crew from Engine 152 had to tackle. I debated with myself on posting it here. While I will refrain from posting complete pictures from this fire you will see some of those story pictures I mentioned. This picture has made the rounds already anyways, from our firehouse website, to two local TV news channels and, of course, the Facebook pages of two certain firefighters. 

The above picture is what you call, SOOC, straight out of camera. No cropping, no adjustments no nothing. Below is one I worked a little Photoshop on.

The End of the Day

A bonus barn for the week. I went out to get some pictures two weeks ago and this is the best of them. Taken somewhere out along Roxbury Road north of Shippensburg.

W O Hickok

I posted a picture of the Hickok water tower a couple of months ago. Since then I was back in the area and took the single shot of the entrance. The rest of the building looks old and, in places, neglected. The entrance though was very clean and inviting. I wondered if the place was even still operating or simply renting parking spaces to state workers. Well that is easy enough to figure out... start working in the middle of the street leading up to their warehouse dock and see how many trucks need to get by you. W O Hickok sits in the city of Harrisburg on Cumberland Street at 9th Street. They have been around since 1844 making high quality machines and machine parts. Who knew?

Trapped Under Ice

Sometimes the next photo-op is right there under your feet. State Game Lands, Cumberland County, Pa.

The Star Barn

Barn Charm 19. In last weeks comment section Tricia (Ms. Barn Charm) mentioned seeing a post of a barn with a star on it and what that means. I wasn't able to find the barn she mentioned but I looked into it. And from what I see the star is simply a symbol of good luck. On some farms southeast of here in Lancaster County many of the old barns have a 6 pointed star, also called a hex sign (possibly a mispronounced variation of the German word sechs, meaning six). This is the locally famous Star Barn which sits along Route 283 between the PA Turnpike and the Harrisburg Airport (heading towards Lancaster County). It was built in 1868 by banker/farmer John Motter. I took these pictures in May of 2008. First posted here.

To see what Tricia, and everyone else is up to, click on the little barn and you can take a trip and never leave the farm.

St. John the Baptist, Lansford, Pa.

One of the few churches in Lansford that didn't get closed. St. John the baptist is a Byzantine Catholic Church of the Eparchy of Passaic and was established in 1895. Sits on Bertsch Street in Lansford. And has more of those awesome gold onion domes. Hey, you can Google and Wiki it yourself but from what I can gather this is a Slovak/Ukrainian church.