“Road Trip” Series

At the foot of Mt. Hood in Oregon, at a mountain resort we had spent the night at toward the end of my journey to Oregon, I came across the strangest thing. Near a golf course, a long, long way from home, was a red phone booth straight out of London. Completely authentic, worn and weathered, and still plastered with information on the inside that proved its genuine British heritage, I couldn't help but be mesmerized by how out of place and gorgeous this old phone booth was. So I stepped inside, held my camera toward the windows, and took some photos. Everyone knows the deep, characteristic RED of a London phone booth, and I just had to make that the highlight of this piece. So here you are; a London phone booth, somehow transplanted to an Oregonian mountain resort, at the foot of a volcano.

This HDR photo is another of those beautiful, empty roads out in Ohio's Amish Country, outside of New Philadelphia OH. This was taken in late October, 2011. It's so beautiful out there, more so than I had ever imagined. I was taken out to Amish Country by my friend and his mother, and hadn't a clue that such sights could be found out there. I asked my friend's mom to stop the car, as we were alone on the road at that point, and I nabbed this shot, just like I had gotten the other Amish-themed photographs in my store. I want to go back so badly, maybe this time in the summer, when the grass and trees are that much greener and more vibrant. I promise, I'll take pictures! :)

Pennsylvania has some of the most gorgeous countryside in America. From its many farms to its plentiful covered bridges and winding roads, a trip through Pennsylvania's countryside is utterly refreshing. We saw plenty of beautiful things during our trip out to Pottsville, but it was this particular road, out in the middle of Pennsylvanian nowhere (or Pennsyltucky as we call it here), that simply captivated me. Perhaps it's the road leading into the unknown, or the dimming sunlight that set the environment into a blaze of colors...I'm not sure, but I knew I had to take a photograph and share it with the world.

I have yet to really take a great photograph of the place where I call home; suburbia. I love where I live, the Monroeville area that is just to the east of downtown Pittsburgh proper, far enough to be out of the city limits but close enough to still be considered a part of the 'burgh! This photo really makes me happy though, as it shows off, once and for all, just how wonderfully beautiful the sunsets can be here. Even with all the cars, even with all the hustle and bustle, and the enormity of the famous Monroeville Mall (Featured in the original Dawn of the Dead) behind me, there are still scenes of beauty like this one to be had! I'm starting to like autumn more and more, if only for the pretty sights like this! :)

We were driving in a convertible Mini Cooper that night, just headed to find a nice place to hang out, and enjoy the beautiful weather. I had my camera with me, and on our way to the summit of Mt. Washington, the sky had already acquired this incredible and surreal glow. My finger ITCHED so much; I wanted to let the camera go crazy, seeing a sky like the one that hung right above me. But there were so many bridges, so many obstructions, power lines, and other objects in the way that spoiled the splendor of such a sky. Then, as we got to the top of the mountain, overlooking the city of Pittsburgh, I saw my moment through the windshield. I held up my camera, the shutter clicked, and now you can see what I saw, too! :)

So, I had finally made it. All the way to Oregon, from the distant forests of Pennsylvania. It is extremely fitting then, that this view right here was my very first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean, in all its raw beauty. The location: the quaint resort town of Seaside, Oregon. It was just the coolest feeling, knowing that the largest ocean in the world was spread out before me, and that my first view of the Pacific had everything to do with the statue you see in this photograph. The statue stood in the middle of this small roundabout depicted the famed explorers, Lewis and Clark, as the pair had for the first time reached the Pacific Ocean, themselves. The view was nothing short of majestic, the shorelines plentiful with a contour and texture that I'd never seen before; there were actual mountains, it seemed, jutting into the ocean. Up until this time, the only beaches I had ever seen were the smooth, relatively featureless ones in the Carolinas, Maryland, and Florida. Shortly after I took this photograph, I discovered a truth about the northern Pacific that should have been obvious; the water is FREEZING! I spent the better part of the day reeling from the strange dichotomy of being at a beach, in the hottest months of the summer, and knowing that some of the coldest water I've ever been was right there, across the beach. Even more bewildering was the fact that people were playing in it like it was nothing.

This photo was taken beside Cloud Gate, at Millennium Park in Chicago, IL. I love the way the mirrored curve of Cloud Gate reflected off of the city around it, curving it and distorting it. I then took that idea that the mirror curved the world around it, and wondered what it'd be like if all the color existed only inside of that mirror, leaving the rest of the world colorless. This photograph was featured (In full black and white) in the 2010 issue of Penn State Greater Allegheny's "Absence" art magazine.

There are truly wonderful things that one can find during a drive down Oregon's Highway 101. Take this photograph for instance; a dream willed into solid reality, thanks to the wildly varied, utterly remarkable diversity found all over the state. This scene could be found literally off to the side of Highway 101, where a scenic overlook treats passers-by to this view; a steep cliff leading down toward the seasonably cold waters of the north Pacific, gulls flying off into the distance, waves crashing hundreds of feet below.

Ah, the New River Gorge Bridge...one of my favorite places on Earth. This beauty is an HDR photograph taken from the observation deck of the New River Gorge Bridge near Fayetteville, West Virginia. For many years, this was the world's longest single-arch steel bridge, spanning 3,030 feet over the New River, 876 feet below the bridge. Truly an amazing sight to behold. This photo was taken at sunset, on our way home from Myrtle Beach, SC. The observation deck this was taken on, actually sits beneath the bridge deck, down a long, long, winding series of stairs through the West Virginian woods. I don't recommend you try and run back up those stairs if you're carrying a bunch of camera equipment; it's a WORKOUT!

This is another view of the long, impressive approach toward Mt. Hood, in northern Oregon. Seeing this mountain was the first time I had truly understood just how enormous mountains really are; nothing we have here in Pennsylvania quite compares. The thing with mountains like this, is that you can see them more or less anywhere you are in the state. In Pennsylvania, there isn't anything at all that can be seen from such a distance. That was why, the first time I saw Mt. Hood, upon landing in Portland, I thought to myself "Gee, that isn't so far away". How wrong I was! Even this view here, the mountain is still roughly half hour to an hour's drive away, along some of the most awe-inspiring terrain I've ever had the privilege to explore.

Ah, Trillium Lake. This was possibly one of the most peaceful spots I have ever been to in my life, gentle waters lapping at the stony shore with the majesty of Mt. Hood looming in the background, wild hawks, eagles, and ospreys gliding in the breeze above. Oregon is, if nothing else, a tour de force of all the beautiful things nature can create, somehow jam packed into such a relatively small place. The geographical diversity, truly, is a thing to behold. If you ever get the chance to go to Oregon, please, I beg of you, GO. Sights like this are a dime a dozen there; a photographer's wonderland, really.

This is an HDR photograph taken in Amish Country, outside of New Philadelphia, OH. Taken in late October, 2011. We had been driving along in a friend's pickup truck through the beautiful fields, along these fine gravel roads, bumpy and rocky...and there, right out the front window, was this scene. I told the driver to stop, since we were the only car on the road, and through the windshield, without even stepping outside, I took this amazing photo. To date, this is one of my favorite shots that I've ever taken!

Road trip time! This time we were headed out across the gorgeous autumnal Pennsylvanian countryside on our way to Pottsville, and some delicious Pennsylvania Dutch cooking. On our way, my fears as a photographer had started to manifest themselves in the form of gloomy, overcast weather and torrential downpours. Cold, wet, and looking ahead to a day where I likely wouldn't be able to catch anything on my camera, I nearly gave up hope. Then, the clouds quite literally parted and out burst forth this gorgeous rainbow, spreading itself over the hills in the distance, as enormous modern wind turbines twirled about eternally in the distance. The sunlight spread across the valley, bringing light and color to the multicolored trees...and after leaning out the front window of a moving car, I managed to catch this shot.