Category : Adventures
First off, let me say, this is the most difficult story I have worked on to date. Asylums are notoriously difficult to write about due to their sordid and often clouded histories. Truth is, most asylums are closed due to atrocities of some nature. And because of those horrors and in the best interest of [...]
As a young man from a low-income family I learned from an early age that if you break it, and can’t fix it, you go without. I guess this is where I get my smarts from. I was never afraid to take things apart and see how they work, repair, change them, etc. My [...]
Welcome to the final part in my five part series called “Going West 2012″. This five part blog has chronicled my 12 day trip to Kanab, UT, it’s surrounding adventures and back. Once every couple of years, hopefully more often as I do more of these blogs, I meticulously plan a trip somewhere with the [...]
Early in 2011 I was contacted by a central Pennsylvanian graphic artist about touring and photographing an old mill in Maryland. This was no normal mill though, this was the last completely in-tact Silk mill, left in the United States. Like a lot of abandoned sites, to tour this site, I had to agree not [...]
One of my goals on this last trip out west was to find the “not so normal”. Sometimes you can plan those destinations out ahead of time, and sometimes, they just find you. During this trip there was equal parts of both. One of the plans was to visit a real ghost town, and if [...]
First thing I want to say is that Zion was one of my favorite spots on this last trip out west. There is a reason this place is often thought of as nature’s cathedral. You truly feel as though you have died and gone to heaven while there. Every vista is majestic and spiritually uplifting. [...]
In 2009 I was “forced” out of my mild-mannered job at a local music store due to an economic down-turn and a family owned business that was not ready for the 20th century. I was faced with the decision to hit the bricks or turn my photographic hobby into something real. Well, I am sure [...]
When approaching Bryce Canyon, Utah from the west you must travel through a patch of land called Dixie National Forest. And because the forest is neither a park or monument, hiking and entry are free. With its great beauty, well maintained trails, and bike paths, that’s pretty hard to believe. The canyon shares the same [...]
In June of this year (2012), I organized and held my first Photowalk. It was a huge success with some familiar faces and a lot of new faces showing up to attend the two part walk. To educate and network was the goal and we achieved that perfectly. One of my long time Flickr acquaintances [...]
I have spent my entire life attending school, and that school is the school some people refer to as “hard knocks”. Now I am not claiming to be some tough guy from the wrong side of the tracks, but I am a firm believer in the fact that screwing up in life (to a point) [...]
Generally, I am quite long winded in my posts, but on this occasion, I am going to REALLY try to keep the words to a minimum and the photos to a maximum. After all, this story was a very visceral adventure for me and I hope it will be for you too. In 2011, [...]
In my life thus far I have only had a few things that I have seen, that I could not explain or debunk. And though I love shows like Ghost Hunters and Ghost Hunters International and what they do, I cannot say whether I believe in ghosts or not. I do believe that the spirit [...]
Who in their right mind drives their car 2427 miles, from New York to Nevada to take pictures of a junkyard in 110°F heat? That would be, me. And who also believes that there is an island somewhere that misfit toys go to be played with and taken care of? Okay, that is a little [...]
I think at one time or another, we have all felt as though we were born into the wrong age. That maybe we should have or could have lived during medieval times or even in the future. For me, I think it was the 1930′s and 40′s. Since I was a wee lad I have [...]
As some of you know, I am the guitarist for the band Wendy Owens and Renegade. We are a fairly successful band with 12 song CD out and have shared the stage with Big & Rich, Lee Brice, Trace Adkins, and Dierks Bentley. This year we put away roughly 57+ shows all over New York [...]
As some of you know, I am also the guitarist for Wendy Owens and her band Renegade which besides photography, is what I do for a living. This past year has been rough with the band having 57+ dates on the books and me trying to schedule shoots around those dates. Sometimes, the stars align, [...]
One pack of steel wool + one 9v battery + one old stone tunnel = an awesome photo shoot! I teamed up with fellow photog Walter Arnold one dark night outside of Elmira NY to film this. I can 100% say do not try this at home! We came completely prepared with our equipment and [...]
walk·er \ˈwȯ-kər\ [waw-ker] noun 1 : one that walks: as a : a competitor in a walking race b : a peddler going on foot c : a temporary male escort of socially prominent women attending usually public events d : a person or group (walkers) that intentionally moves into a photographers frame while [...]
I have to admit, after touring the west in 2010 and being completely overwhelmed with the vastness and beauty of it all, the thought of touring Maine seemed a bit, anti-climactic. Truth is, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Park History and Features Acadia National Park is a National Park located in the [...]
Well, it’s spring and an un-seasonable one here in New York. Today’s forecast was for a 50% chance of scattered thunderstorms and as of late, I have not let the weather forecast deter me from heading out to shoot. I have found that generally the most atmospheric landscape photo opportunities make themselves available when [...]
If you live in the Pennsylvania, Upstate New York area and you are a photographer, you have probably spent some time shooting in many of wonderful state parks in the area. With that, many of us have become fair weather photographers. Whether it be to protect your equipment or your rear end from freezing, [...]
Harris Hill, NY is a well-known to the Elmira, Corning, Horseheads residents as a small amusement park with a family picnic area, swimming pool, but it is also home to the National Soaring Museum. The Soaring Museum is one of only two museums in the United States focused on motor-less flight. In its heyday Elmira was thrust [...]
A while back I did a shoot at a really cool old theatre in Blossburg, PA called the Victoria. To this date it has been one of my most popular stories and galleries here on my site. Through that shoot I met the wonderful owners Tom and Tonya MacNamara and Tonya’s dad, Pete Gorda. While [...]
Wow, what a trip. It was everything I had hoped it would be and more. It was big, expansive, cozy, personal, spiritual, uplifting and more! So grab yourself a cup of joe and settle in for the trip of a lifetime. What started out as a casual conversation about “what if’s” and “why for’s”, [...]
Recently while on a road trip with my friend and fellow musician Tim Black, he mentioned to me that a small 1920′s movie theater in his home town was re-opening after many years of closure. Being very interested in historic places, buildings and architecture I asked him to forward contact information to me regarding [...]