Let's Elope!

Recently I reprocessed the photos we'd taken when Teri & I eloped almost seven years ago. We'd only known each other for about 5 months, but we knew we were meant to be married. Instead of a traditional ceremony we chose to simply run off and surprise everyone.



We'd already planned an early fall getaway to Tioga County, in north/central Pennsylvania. I'd been exploring that area for years and wanted to share it with her. The scenic forests and streams are some of the most beautiful places I know. I especially wanted to show her Pine Creek Gorge, also known as the "Grand Canyon of PA." I also knew she'd love the town of Wellsboro, where we stayed at a Bed & Breakfast.



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Early October is my favorite time to go there. As I write this I can smell the fall odors of leaves, and can recall just how the cool winds feel as they rustle through the forest. There's a hushed atmosphere in the fall that has a quiet romance to it. I have to admit, it's one of the places I'll miss now that we live so far away.



Our plan was simple, drive up late on a Thursday, explore the area on Friday, get married on Saturday, and then head home Sunday. The weather can be hit or miss in October, but this weekend it was absolutely perfect! The skies were so clear on our drive up that we stopped in one dark stream valley just to get out and stare at the Milky Way.




Friday we simply ran around picking flowers for her bouquet and soaking in the scenery. We also kept an eye out for places to take our wedding photos, as well as how long it took us to drive around. Our marriage was to take place at a certain time in a park, and we didn't want to be late! That specific spot seemed to anchor our attention as we counted down the hours until we met the Mayor of Mansfield.

On the day of our wedding we donned the new clothes we'd so carefully chosen and headed out into a simply stunning Autumn day. The air was crisp, and the sky was as blue as I've ever seen it. The foliage was alive with color. We rode around to all the locations we'd chosen to take our photos, stopping to pick flowers.




Setting up my tripod, with a timer I was able to capture us quickly as traveled to the locations we chosen the previous day. At that time I didn't use flash equipment and my gear was pretty simple, but I think the images worked out well. Having spent a fun day scouting out locations also meant a stress free wedding day. We knew exactly where to go, and roughly how long it would take us to our nuptial site.





We headed there, even though we were a good hour or so early. We just couldn't wait. As pulled up to the park another car stopped as well. It turned out the Mayor had decided to arrive early as well!




As my camera snapped away at us on its tripod he conducted the ceremony. I remember the winds had become a bit stronger, and the clouds began to appear threatening rain. As he pronounced us man & wife things became a lot lighter as the clouds broke, and then two bald eagles flew overhead and made their screaming cries.



The birds then flew up the river valley, in the very direction we'd planned to explore, and take our wedding photos. For the next hour or so we would encounter them with each stop. We were usually busy taking photos of ourselves, so I didn't really even try to capture them.



As we began to head back to our B&B we were able to spot our eagle companions resting on a tree in the distance. Since we were done taking portraits my camera wasn't mounted on the tripod any longer. I was able to take one shot of them.




Sunday morning broke with us excited to be starting a new life together. We made our way back home very slowly, winding around the back roads of PA. Occasionally we'd stop to get out and explore. Eventually we made it back in time to start calling folks to let them what we'd done. I know we'd both do it all again, just the way we did before, if we had the chance.


You can check a few more photos from that weekend in our photo gallery, "Let's Elope!"

Shots from Early On

When I decided to open this site a few years ago I also thought it would be best to improve my processing skills. To that end I built a new workstation, and retrained myself in how image processing. I now find that the work I once found acceptable is now sub par.



I have been working at combing through my archives images. I always save photos by date. So I have complete sets of photos store in organized folders by day of the shoot, month, and year. I'll burn a data CD or DVD of the complete set before deleting everything but the chosen few.



I'm so glad I did it this way! Now I comb through these old data disks, reprocessing images, as well as gems I'd passed on the first time around. It also gives me a real sense of what I've been doing with my work.



Another benefit is looking at great old shots of my wife when we began this wonderful adventure.

Camping the Bluffs Above the Mississippi

Freja looks out over the Mississippi.

After weeks of rain almost every day we were eager to get outside and explore. Teri took some vacation time, and I reserved us a campsite at Nelson Dewey State Park. We'd never gone before, and all we knew was that it was on some bluffs overlooking the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge. That and being only about and hour & half from home made it very appealing for a short trip.

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While the actual "camping" wasn't the remote wilderness experience, it was relatively private. And I have to admit, driving into a prepared site makes camping with a 5yo a helluva lot easier! We even set up a dining fly, which made it bearable as the gnats were in HUGE swarms! All the recent heat, humidity, and rain made for a perfect insect breeding season. Also, camping from Monday till Wednesday on a holiday week, July 4th falling on Thursday, meant the place was pretty deserted!

Freja & Teri enjoy a bug free breakfast & coffee. So glad we packed the dining fly!

So we drove up on a Monday, spent a night listening to a pack of coyotes, and had a full day with no real plans on Tuesday. Instead of driving around, looking for something to do, we chose to simply stay in the park. I loaded all our food, kitchen crate, camera gear, toys, and my favorite chair onto the jeep. We then staked out a picnic shelter over looking the Mississippi River, doing nothing but playing, eating, and watching the birds fly around. I believe we spent about seven hours total just relaxing.

Freja gets herself a snack.

The view was amazing. I can't even begin to describe how much I enjoyed looking down onto a "wild" river, it's banks flooded from all the recent rain. As the day passed the light changed, making the character of the view alter as well. The only sounds were the ambient ones from the surroundings as there were very few people about.

Overlooking the Mississippi.

A bald eagle soars over head.

We all enjoyed the relaxing setting, and having it basically all to ourselves was wonderful. The kid was able to run around playing. We had a chance to really spend time together, as my kid would say, "as a family!" I know I had one of the best days ever. I think we'll do some similar excursions, where we simply go somewhere and just relax. No worries, no hustling, no having to be anywhere.

In the late afternoon we headed back to camp. There we all took showers, another good thing about campgrounds, and waited for that "golden hour" before sunset. We decided to go on a hike through the Dewey Heights Prairie. You can read that link to learn more about this unique landscape. All I can tell you is that it was incredibly beautiful! There were so many flowers, and the views were spectacular. Also, as a photographer, it was like Candyland with the way the setting sun lit up the landscape!

Freja & Teri head down the trail, flowers all aglow from the setting sun.

The girls check out the view of the Mississippi.

Looking down river towards Cassville, Stonefield Historic Site in the Foreground.

Teri fretted the whole time that my camera bag was going to cause me to fall over, and tumble off the cliff!

Wednesday we packed up after breakfast and headed home. Instead of going directly there we wandered our way along the Mississippi. Along the way we stopped a few times, once to find fossils along a washed out stream bed, another to dip our toes in the Mississippi, and finally to snack in Wyalusing State Park.

All in all it was a perfect trip, and we didn't even have to go very far. We can't wait to explore more of the state!

Combing the Archives

I've been finally working on getting my older work back online. After initially setting up this site in 2011, and then retraining myself, and also building a new workstation, we then moved 800 miles. Needless to say, this put a damper on combing through my archives in search of "gems."

Thankfully when I am done processing images from a shoot, I eventually archive all the shots taken onto DVD. While I delete the unused used images from my hard-drives, I always have a collection of the original shoot. Starting with the 2003 collections, I have been going through those old disks. What I am finding is that there are some decent shots I'd ignored.

Using much better techniques for processing images for presentation, and having stricter color management, is resulting in much better image quality. Of course, it's a very tedious project, and I am just now starting to rework 2006 shots. In the end, I believe it will result in a much broader body of work. I'll then have more time to write posts on this blog.

Also, I am still shooting the daily photos. I just haven't had time to process them, or write stories. Hopefully, with effort, I can be done with the archives soon. I really only have to get to 2011, when I began using this new site.