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Adobe Black & White Chester County clouds Fields Nature Nik Software Pastures Photo Journal Photography Software Water West Chester

Stroud Preserve Springtime in B&W

Some images taken during a recent spring time walk around Stroud Preserve.

All images were shot in ‘traditional’ HDR bracket fashion, and processed into a ‘raw’ combined HDR file.

Normally, I use Adobe Photoshop to do my B&W conversion, but since the Google/Nik Software upgrade, I now had a chance to play with Silver Efex Pro 2.

Photoshop is great for doing a straight conversion via the native B&W menu, but to explore other options, quickly, and then build on them, Silver Efex Pro is the answer.

I still used Photoshop to tweak the final files, but I ended up in a different place than I originally envisioned.

So, what do you think?

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Blogging Chester County Downingtown Equipment eWaste Google Maps Hardware Information Recycle Reference

eWaste Recycling in Downingtown area

Like many folks, I want to do my part in trying to save the planet by recycling the various things that I use, and over the years, I have collected a few things…

Sometimes it is not easy to know what to do with a collection, and things like eBay, are not the best or easiest solution, so…

So I have put together a Post on where to Recycle eWaste in the Downingtown, Chester County PA area, for those that might be experiencing a similar situation.

If know of any other ways to locally recycle eWaste, please let me know!

Borough of Downingtown

The Borough of Downingtown also maintains a website for Recycling, which include such things as:

  • Trash & Recycling on Tuesdays
  • Bulk Trash on the LAST Tuesday of the Month
  • Tree Limb Chipping on the 2nd Monday of the Month (Appointment Only)

For more information, please check the website, or their Facebook page.

Chester County Solid Waste Authority

Bet you have never heard of these folks, but they help run many of the local recycling efforts, and should be first on your list of places to check.

The map below show what is going on currently in the Chester County area:


View 2013 Regional Southeastern Pennsylvania Regional Household Hazardous Waste and Electronics Collection Program in a larger map

Additional Links can be found at their main website, chestercountyswa.org.

There is also a Facebook page, where you can also “Like” them!

RecyclingCenters.org

Doing a quick search on recyclingcenters.org, can also be helpful if you have something more unique.

Best Buy

This was another national company that I found that has an eWaste program, and has a local drop-off policy.

I called the store in Downingtown, and spoke with someone in the Geek Squad about what to do when you bring in your 3 items per day limit.

You do not need to call ahead, but you are asked to bring items to the Customer Service people at Geek Squad desk, at the right when you walk in.

If you have more than one item or need help, it is requested that you contact the Security for further assistance.

§ § § § §

Hopefully, this information will help someone else in the area!

I do plan to up-date the page as needed, so please, if you find something, please let me know!

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Categories
Announcements astronomy Ideas Information Long Exposure Marsh Creek State Park Photography Reference Science space Water

Astronomy, Photography & Marsh Creek SP

During the past several CCPaPhoto meetups, one of the more common questions has been –

Where is it legal for Astronomy and Photography types allowed to group during the night?

I finally sent an email to “PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources” asking…

A couple of days later, I got the following back –

“The park manager said that basically any approved parking lot can be used at night – the Dorlan Mill lot, the west side lot, or the Chalfant Rd. lot. Just make sure that no one is parking on the grass, or blocking a gate!”

which is great news, especially with the Summer months coming up!

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Categories
astronomy CCPaPhoto Chester County Downingtown Long Exposure Nature Photo Journal Photography Science space

Lyrid meteor showers

Lightning Boat
Lightning Boat

I had been publishing details about this event for several days on both Facebook and Google+…

and I was also hoping, that this being the third time, it was going to be a charm for the Chester County PA Photography group…

A hardy group gathered on this Sunday night (4/21)…  the temps in the low 40s, with a slight breeze… to bear witness to the fable Lyrid meteor showers…

  • Shannon Chambers McMahon
  • Margaret Smith Reif
  • Daniel Potter
  • Brian Arters
  • Andrew Seymour

Around 20:30 PM, we setup our camp of tripods, near the middle of the parking lot, on the Boat Launch side of Marsh Creek State Park, and started to peer North-East, looking for the elusive light trails in the night sky.

We knew that the constellation Lyra would be rising around 22:00 PM, and the darkest hours where hours away, at 03:37 AM Monday (4/22), just before the moonset…

A potentially long ‘school’ night for the Parents…

Group Picture of Light Painting
Group Picture of Light Painting

Light Painting

During the general chatter of a meet-up, someone mentioned that they had sparklers with them… knowing, that I have been wanting to do a Light Painting session!

With giddy delight, we lit some of the sparklers, and started to trace words and shapes in the night air.

With a little further guidance, the apprentices took over, and the light ‘markers’ began to dance in the darkness.

Lightning Signature
Lightning Signature

And we experimented!

  • Sparklers – A tried and true favorite of every celebration!
  • LED Head Lamp into Glass Jar –  Please Post the “Heart Beat”
  • LED Flood Light – The magic marker of the night

Many ideas and jokes were tossed about as folks tried different things in an effort to capture something new and different.

Finally, as the Phillies baseball game ended, the last of the group backed up and headed home!

Light Logo
Light Logo

Once again, no new discoveries in the skies of Chester County, but Light Painting maybe the next big thing!

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Categories
Blogging Chester County Creeks Downingtown Personal Reviews Science

Red Streams Blue at UHES

Back in March, Madison brought home an announcement about the Brandywine Valley Association doing their “Red Stream Blue” program for the fourth-graders at her school, and they were looking for some parents to volunteer their time for the day.

If you have been following my photographic work at all, you’ll know that I have preference for running water, and I have been to a variety of places in Chester County, so this seemed like a fun opportunity to get to know the local environment a little bit more.

At 9 am on April 3rd, we gathered in the faculty lounge at Uwchlan Hills Elementary School for the morning training session.

We had a delightful instructor by the name of Connie Shapiro, who walked us through the eight stations that we would be presenting to the children later in the day.

During the program, parents and students are taught about the cycle of water as it falls from the sky, lands on our roofs, lawns, driveways and street, then is channeled into gutters or streams, and into the creeks, through water treatment plants in local townships, and finally into the Atlantic Ocean.

Connie cheerfully explained each stage of the water cycle, and answered questions as we prepared for the afternoon presentations.

After the initial morning training, we then got to choose which stations we wish to work at, and I selected Station 4 Macro-invertebrate Mayhem!

This was the station with all the bugs or should I say larvae, nymphs, snails and worms.

The good stuff!

After lunch, we set up the eight stations in the fourth grade pod, and fine tuned what we were going to say when the kids during our 10-12 minute presentations.

To say I was nervous was an understatement, and thankfully I was joined by Eileen Hazard from the Brandywine Valley Association (BVA), as she brought in another bucket full of critters she had collected on her way to the school!

Finally it was time to begin.

In the main meeting area, with all the teachers, students, volunteers and BVA folks, Connie started in, and captured the interest of a room full of fourth graders quickly. Robert Struble, Jr. gave a short little introduction to the program, just before Principle Giering was partially mummified to illustrate how much water our bodies contain.

At the conclusion, Eileen and I rushed back to our station, and made the final preparations.

I asked Eileen, if she could please demonstrate first, because I was not sure what to say in such a limited amount of time. Each group was with us for only about 10-12 min, and there was a fair amount of information to cover in during such a limited amount of time.

When it became my time to demonstrate, I was glad that I was sitting at a table. The table hid my rapidly twitching legs, as they moved up and down like pistons in a car.

I was surrounded by a group of fourth graders, and if you have not done this in a while, it can be very intimidating.

Thankfully I recognized a few faces, or in other cases they recognized me, which helped ease my nerves as I began to speak.

When the second group arrived, my daughter, Madison, came running up, and give me a big hug and kiss just before my demonstration. Some needed reassurance for me.

It was delightful to see the children so happy and inquisitive, and I was very surprised with the lack of screaming, as many of these kids were being introduced to these ugly critters for the first time!

During the two hours of the program, we did eight presentations, for nearly 100 children, as they rotated from one station to another.

There was a final group wrap-up meeting, and we broke for the day.

If you happen to have the time, and chance, I strongly recommend that you volunteer in this program.

There is no doubt that during the course of the day, you will learn something about the streams, creeks and rivers within the Brandywine Valley and how integral they are in our local environment.

You will also get to work with some wonderful parents, neighbors and BVA Staff, and if nothing else, you do get a chance to work with children, and maybe spark some sort of curiosity into science!

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