The house on the hill

This is the hill on which my boyhood home stood. We move from there, I believe, in the Summer of 1964, maybe 1965. I'm not sure.

As a young man I use to describe the hill being 100' above the Stillwater River, it was more like 50, maybe 60 feet at the most.

The two slump rocks at the bottom were actually huge bolders made of fossils cemented together with a limestone. The one on the left actually has a divet in it which was good for a couple of young boys to sit there with cane poles in hand and fish for bluegill.

I did notice that the river is much, much cleaner now than it was when I was a boy. It looks and smells much better. We can thank Richard Nixon for that - he created the EPA.

Wisp Resort Golf

This is a reduction of a panorama shot taken at the Wisp Resort in McHenry, Maryland.
Size: 5851 x 2068. Contact me if you want a print.

JEF & Family

Here are some selected photos of their family while at their cottage.

Panoramas at Pine Lakes Lodge

The valley to the east.


The valley to the west.

The Todd - Keefer Wedding

I was a guest, not the official photographer, but...

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1946 Packard Limo

While stopping by America's Packard Museum to drop off some photos, we found the timing right to take a couple of the cars out and make some more photographs.

This time I got to drive one - it was a 1946 Packard Clipper - a limo in size. Of all the photos I made, this is one I find most appealing.

The only effects used in this image is to change it to black and white with an infrared type filter. This gave the sky and clouds a little more definition, lightened up the leaves on the tree and put more contrast on the car with the blue sky and white clouds reflecting off the black paint.

Col. Greg Johnson, Astronaut

Astronaut and Space Shuttle Pilot on mission STS-123, Col. Greg Johnson was a guest at the Engineers Club in Dayton, Ohio. I got to take a few photos of him along with fellow members of the Club. Greg said that the Engineer's Club is "the best club in the universe." I believe him.

Here is pictured with Debbie Desch Anderson (daugter of Joe Desch), Amanda Wright Lane (great grand niece of Orville and Wilber Wright), Harry Siefert (Past club President) and Harry's Grandson.

I usually wouldn't post a posed group shot - but I happen to like this one because it's balanced and I'm not too ashamed of the composition. Even though Greg is in his 'pajamas', my eye falls on the face of the youth, with an expression of "Me too someday!"

Alison

Sings, dances, acts. Incredible stage presence.

Goddess of Speed

The sculptured radiator cap became the hood ornament of modern cars. This is from a Packard from the 1930's.

Packard Motor Cars

Eldean Road Bridge

Let me tell you something about this bridge. For a covered bridge, it very long. In fact, it's believed to be the longest Long Truss bridge in existance. Long Truss. Long was a man's name who designed the truss system in the bridge. The trusses are not unusually long at all. They just are Long trusses.

Shane & Michelle's daughter rides her bike

America's Packard Museum

In Dayton, Ohio which is not known for cars but for Aeronautics, is the Citizen's Motor Car Company which was originally a Packard dealership. It has been for the past couple of decades the home of America's Packard Museum.

I have volunteered to photograph many of the artifacts and contribute to preserve the history of what use to be one of America's finest automobiles.

My father owned Packards. The last one he owned was a 1956 Packard 400, very similar to this 1955 Packard I photographed a few years back.

I have installed a little slide show so you can see some of my favoite photos I've taken at the Museum to the right of the blog. If you double-click on the slide show, it will open up and enlarge. If you would like any prints - please let me know and I'll fix you up.

Whirlpool - Any questions?

At 32' above normal, the flood waters behind the Englewood Dam (Miami Conservancy District, Ohio) creates the perfect whirlpool. Two 10.5' x 13' conduits suck air and water into a singular giant maelstrom with such force that the earth trembles beneath ones feet.

Englewood Dam in Storage

Here are two photos taken from nearly the same position. The location is Englewood Reserve, on the North side of Englewood Dam in Western, Ohio.

One shows the flooded area at 32' above normal - the other shows the water receded to it's normal level in the shallow lake that forms behind the low dam.

For more information about the Englewood Dam and other dams in the same system, check out www.miamiconservancy.org. The five dams they created nearly a century ago were high-tech at the time and have prevented many floods in the Dayton, Middletown, and Hamilton areas for many years.

Winter

Winters in West-Central Ohio are usually dry but this year it seems we've had more opportunities to get out an enjoy the snow.
This photo was taken at the Englewood Reserve upstream from the dam.