Photography

Photos and photography

01
Nov
2015

Kingston NY Photos

Espous Meadows LighthouseI just posted some photos I took while in Kingston, NY. For those keeping count, this short vacation to the Catskills is the third time we’ve wound up at a German festival at a ski resort. I swear it’s not intentionally planned that way, but really, who can resist delicious German food? Of course, it included a scenic chairlift ride, but one difference at this festival at Hunter Mountain was the Doxie Derby. How often do you get to watch dachshunds racing??? Some ran to the finish line, some ran away! This trip also included a walk across the Spectacular Walkway Over the Hudson, a boat ride on the Hudson river and some time in downtown Kingston before we headed out of the Catskills and off to Norwalk, Connecticut.

Check out my Kingston photos here.

Posted by Michael in Photography, Site Updates
06
Sep
2015

Tall Ships Photos

Back in June there was a tall ship festival in Philadelphia and the Camden waterfront. When I was a kid my parents would sometimes take us to a park along the Delaware River to see the tall ships when they were coming to Philadelphia. We also got a see them once or twice in Baltimore. So this was a fun chance to check them out up close and bring back some good memories too.

I would have liked to go aboard a few more ships, but the crowds were insane. We chose to go aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Eagle.

You can see the photos right here.

Posted by Michael in Photography, Site Updates
06
May
2015

New Mexico Photos

Hot Air Balloon The photos from my vacation in New Mexico are now online. There are also a few short videos including a video of the highlight of the trip… a hot air balloon flight! Beside the balloon flight, we visited San Lorenzo Canyon, Socorro, the Trinity Site, White Sands National Monument, Albuquerque, Acoma Pueblo, Route 66 and the Sandia Peak. Throughout all of these locations we ate more New Mexican cuisine than you can imagine. We might’ve gained a few pounds, but it was totally worth it!

Click here to view the photos and be sure to check out the hot air balloon video while you’re there.

Posted by Michael in Photography, Site Updates
26
Apr
2015

Improvements to Website Photo Albums

In preparation for posting the photos from my vacation in New Mexico (soon, I promise!), I’ve completed a major upgrade to all of the existing photo albums on my site. Both the thumbnails and large images have been replaced with larger versions and I’ve removed the 1990s-esque frames that were around the images. Those cute little white frames may have been appropriate in their day, but they are no more.

Now that Apple is sadly replacing Aperture and iPhoto with their new Photos app, there may be more changes coming in the future. Of course, as always, I will hang on to the old programs as long as I can!

Posted by Michael in Photography, Site Updates
01
Dec
2014

Gatlinburg TN Photos

LeafPhotos from my trip to Gatlinburg, TN are finally posted. The foliage was less than colorful, although I suppose green is a color. However, it was a fun trip. We spent a lot of time walking around downtown Gatlinburg visiting various stores and tourist destinations, dining at great restaurants, sampling moonshine and just people watching. We also took the aerial tramway up to the Ober Gatlinburg ski resort for their Oktoberfest and spent a day visiting the Gatlinburg Craftsmen’s Fair. We spent one morning in Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg’s slightly more obnoxious and touristy neighbor. The trip was rounded out by some time in Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

Check the photos out here.

Posted by Michael in Photography, Site Updates
20
Jul
2014

San Diego Photos and Video

I just posted a few albums of photos from my trip to San Diego. While out there for a week on business, I added an extra day to do some sightseeing. Even though I didn’t have a ton of free time, I managed to see much of the downtown area, tour the USS Midway, take a boat tour of the northern part of the bay and go to the amazing San Diego Zoo. I also got to spend quality time with old friends and coworkers and we ate ate incredibly well throughout the week with meals of Mexican, Italian & Thai food! I’ve also included a video of the adorable pandas at the San Diego Zoo.

The photos can viewed right here. Enjoy!

Posted by Michael in Photography, Site Updates
19
May
2014

New photos from Havre de Grace, Maryland

Concord Point LighthouseLast year I visited Havre de Grace, Maryland for their annual seafood festival. (View those photos here.) This year I went back to revisit a nearby restaurant that sells amazing crab cakes that we discovered last year. While down there we also made a second visit to the great waterfront promenade/boardwalk along the area where the Susquehanna River meets the Chesapeake Bay. We climbed the Concord Point Lighthouse and also made a side trip to tour the Susquehanna Museum at the lock keeper’s house from the old Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal. The weather was beautiful, the wildlife was plentiful and this little town on the bay made for a relaxing and fun day. The photos from this year’s visit are now online and ready for your viewing pleasure. Click right here to check them out.

Posted by Michael in Photography, Site Updates
13
Apr
2014

Two Albums of Center City Christmas Photos

RiverRink

I posted 2 new albums from the Christmas season. They’re a little late, but 2014 has been a busy year so far.

For the better part of my lifetime (20 years to be exact), every Winter the Grand Plaza at Penn’s Landing is converted to become the Blue Cross RiverRink. I’ve seen it on TV over and over, but have never visited it. I would likely pose a severe danger to myself and others if I strapped on ice skates. However, this year, they built an entire village around the rink called WinterFest. So we went and checked it out. It was a lot of fun. With the amount of trees and decorations they brought in, you’d never know you were on Penn’s Landing. Check out the photos and a video right here.

This year we visited a newer Christmastime event in Center City Philadelphia, The Christmas Spectacular on the giant video screen in the lobby of the Comcast Center. It was kind of neat. It’s good to see some of the money I give to Comcast every month given back to the community. You can view the photos and album here.

Posted by Michael in Photography, Site Updates
14
Oct
2013

What I did on my summer vacation… in photos

I just posted four new albums of photos. They are all a result of my summer trip to North Carolina.  Our trip was slightly disjointed with stops independent and unrelated stops in more than a half dozen cities spanning three states. As a result, the photos are broken out into separate albums.

Our vacation was primarily based around visiting cousins on both of sides of my dad’s family (the Torettas and the Gattis) who live in North Carolina. Photos from the Raleigh-Durham and Pinehurst areas are right here.

After leaving North Carolina, we stopped in Charlottesville, Virginia and visited Thomas Jefferson’s home, Monticello and James Madison’s Montpelier. Photos from that part of our trip can be found in their own album here.

Continuing north, we stopped in Maryland to visit The Maryland State Barbecue Championship and Festival in Bel Air and the Havre de Grace Seafood festival. Between sampling the amazing food at each festival I took photos that you can view here.

Our final stop was in Rising Sun, Maryland to visit the Plumpton Park Zoo. Besides visiting this cool little country zoo, we also stopped and visited the dairy that makes the amazing ice cream that we found at the seafood festival. The Rising Sun photo are here.

Posted by Michael in Photography, Site Updates
28
Sep
2013

Conowingo Dam Tour Photos

Conowingo DamMy family and I have been driving over the Conowingo Dam coming and going from my uncle’s house for many years. I never knew too much about it. While at the Havre de Grace seafood festival we signed a petition in support of the relicensing of the dam. As a result we were notified about an open house and tour being held down there. It was a fun day and the tour was extremely interesting. I’d never been inside a hydro electric plant before and really knew very little about the history or workings of the Conowingo plant.

Posted by Michael in Photography, Site Updates