Around Norristown

Due to recent weather and other various reasons, it has been a while since I've been on an outing for photography. Most recently was on Feb. 1st, when I was scheduled for day one of a tutoring project with classmates from my social justice class. The tutoring would be at a K-12 school within the Norristown area, and having arrived in the area an hour or so early, I decided to take some photos. This includes the one above, which I took because I thought the stones and wrought iron detail of the window looked interesting together.

The first set of photos below were taken within the downtown part of Norristown. That steeple has to be one of the tallest I've seen in areas outside of Philadelphia.

I'm not sure what this castle-like structure is, so I'll have to find out. It's very impressive, though...and reminded me of photos I've seen of Eastern State Penitentiary.

The following photos were taken outside of the tightly-packed downtown Norristown area and into the parts on the opposite side of route 202, where many Victorian houses could be found.

Still further out from the downtown part of Norristown, I came across this old abandoned building. It had a number of "No Trespassing" signs hanging on it, so I took the photo below from a little parking lot across the road.

There is a farm off in the distance behind this house and its large barn...maybe originally part of the farm property long ago. Whatever the case, this is another building I'd love to learn more about. Some people actually go and explore the inside of old, abandoned buildings since, in some cases, people can get permission from whoever the owner is. It would be interesting to know what they find, and see what photos they take, in their ventures.

The Main Line

On Monday, January 11, I finally had the chance to work on what I call my Main Line Photo Project to capture images of historic architecture. I wasn't able to photograph everything I had wanted to, and also found a few more impressive places along the way.

Some places I managed to take photos of included this old structure below, which has a sign on the side of it that reads: "Historical Inn and Tavern." The sign also had contact info on it, but I thought I should block that out before posting.

The historical inn and tavern unfortunately didn't have the actual name anywhere on it, but I wish it did just for the purpose of finding out any history about it. It is definitely the most intriguing place I came across along the Main Line.

Another old place is this lonely, forgotten looking one below.

There wasn't anything indicating a name or any historic significance. Maybe in this case, it is just simply an old style of architecture instead of having a great deal of history. Although, given the history along the Main Line and its role in American history going back to the Revolutionary War, you never know. There may just be some interesting undiscovered stories in there.

Although I didn't concentrate on the entire building in the photo below, I liked its detail of stone work surrounding stained glass. This building neighbors an Entenmann's outlet store, which has the old-time lighting detail (below), and is just across from The Ship Inn.

So, this is what I have for the moment. I'll be taking more photos of historic architecture along the Main Line in the near future. Maybe along the way, I'll also have dinner at The Ship Inn to compliment photographing historic architecture in the area. The restaurant itself is historic as well.

The Big Snow '09

We ended up with over 20 inches of snow in the Philadelphia area by the time the snow stopped falling on Dec. 20th. That was more than the total amount from snow storms in the early months of 2009.

Below, a few before / during and after shots I took:

This wooden planter is probably just over 12 inches tall, and you can see just how much even that was covered by snow.

Another thing resulting from the heavy snow was that my internet connection was down for all but a few minutes of the Dec. 19-20 weekend. It has connection problems on and off even on good weather days, but it was worse than usual during the snow storm.

Now, in the last days of 2009, more snow is heading our way from the Mid-west according to the Weather Channel forecasts. I hope there won't be as much, although snow is being forecast for 4 days out of the coming week. My biggest concern is the commute to and from my college campus beginning on Jan. 12th, as well as the parking conditions complicated by any snow accumulation.

So, I'll be staying tuned into the latest and if I'm not back on here before then, hope everyone has a safe and happy New Years!

Snow Storm Brewing

This coming weekend, I had plans to go out to Shady Maple Smorgasbord and also do some photography in the surrounding area. I found out that the PA Wolf Sanctuary and an area protected by the Natural Lands Trust were not too far away. However, the weather forecasts began to call for not only really cold temperatures, but also a winter storm warning. It sounds like it will be a big one, with local events cancelling and people getting stocked up today.

So, in my area, the year 2009 is coming to a close with snow…much like what the early months of the year experienced. The surrounding areas of Philadelphia saw snow coming down in January, February and March this year. I’m hoping that we don’t get too much snow as we go through the next few months, what with my commute to campus starting soon. Below is a slideshow I put together of my neighborhood’s snow scenes, with images spanning from January to March 2009.

Main Line Photo Project

As viewed from the St. David’s exit of the Blue Route, this is a photo I took of some insignia detail that crosses over Lancaster Avenue. Taking this exit is the way we often go when heading out to the areas of Wayne, Berwyn, Devon and Paoli. A recent drive heading toward those areas from Exton, PA inspired the idea for my Main Line photo project.

I was coming from a family dinner at the Cracker Barrel in Exton and afterwards followed Lancaster Avenue / Route 30 back to the towns mentioned before. Along the way, I noticed a number of historic structures dotting either side of the road often referred to as the Main Line. Although a passenger on this particular trip, I didn’t get to take photos of these structures as most were in difficult spots or noticed at the last minute.

However, I managed to map these structures out with the help of Google Maps and made note of anything nearby when next approaching them. The street view feature also helped in finding some places to get off the road to capture images of these intriguing old structures. Now if only I could find out about the history of each one to go along with any photos. There are always the historical societies…and whatever I find out, I’ll add in a future post.

I have to say that I’ve been interested in this stretch of road, and the area surrounding the Main Line, since my high school days. That is when I first started to see the areas of Wayne, Berwyn, Devon and Paoli on a regular basis. Back then, I remember thinking, “I would really love to live around here someday.” The back roads are so scenic, but I love to see the little shops right along certain parts of Lancaster Avenue as well. Overall, when going through this area, I can feel of real sense of the local history and American tradition.

In the near future, I’ll head back up for a drive along the Main Line and look for my planned out photo stops here and there. A couple of the structures I want to get photos of are abandoned and have no historical markers onsite. These types of old buildings always draw me in, wondering what the history is behind them and if they’ll be restored to their former glory. In the meantime, they inspire my imagination about their stories going back to various times.

Check back soon for photos and any history I can dig up.

Autumn's Artistry

This year was the first time I really got the chance to capture the vibrant colors of Autumn using my digital camera. Most photos were taken by chance, rather than on outings specifically looking for colorful scenes of Autumn in my area. It is past peak time for leaf-peeping throughout the mid-Atlantic and northeast regions, according to Fall foliage maps on the weather.com Web site. So I am looking forward to next year’s round of leaves changing from green to many vibrant, warm shades.

My slideshow of Autumn leaves includes photos from River Winds restaurant in New Jersey, Marcus Hook Park, and downtown Media, PA. Among the last few photos in my slideshow are a few taken from inside my car as it started to rain one evening earlier this month. The rain drops gave the view I had of the red leaves gave it somewhat of a mystical, ethereal look.

With a little luck, maybe I’ll get to do some Autumn leaf-peeping around scenic New England…which I have never visited before. I’ve always wanted my first visit to the New England states to be during the season of Autumn, a classic time to go. Another place I’d love to visit during Autumn next year is the historic New York town of Sleepy Hollow, along the Hudson River.

But for now, hope you enjoy the photos in my slideshow of beautiful Fall foliage!

A Parade for Veterans Day

On Veterans Day, I went to downtown Media, PA for a parade honoring and saluting those who serve in our military. My family has some military history within it, so anything veteran-related is close to our hearts. Both of my grandfathers (no longer living) served during WWII; one in Europe and the other who served in Pearl Harbor when the attacks happened. Then my dad went on to become a part of the 101^st Airborne during the Vietnam War. He was not able to get the day off from work on Veterans Day to go to the parade, so it was just my mom and I attending.

While at the parade, I was able to get a number of patriotic photos as it is another subject area I like to photograph. Anything that has that All-American spirit to it is inspiring to me, so when I see something symbolizing America, I want to represent it in my favorite form of art. In the slideshow below are some of the photos I took at the Veterans Day parade, along with the last two photos in the slideshow. The first of those two is my dad’s 101^st Airborne hat and a bag of brochures from the PA Veterans Museum.

The very last photo in my slideshow was taken on the way home from the parade and has some extra background to it.

Shortly after 9/11, I spotted a message in a heart-shaped sign and the American flag hanging on someone’s wooden picket fence along Pennell Road. The stretch of road with one lane in each direction is usually pretty busy, so getting a photo wasn’t easy. It is on the passenger side of the road when heading in the direction of Baltimore Pike from Aston, PA; with no place to pull over out of traffic. But on Veterans Day this year, I had an unusual moment of being the passenger at a not-so-busy time of day and with no cars behind us. So I could finally photograph the patriotic display, a display that speaks volumes.