Cumberland Goes to War - week 2 - Planes, Trains & um...Jeeps

Weekend number two of Cumberland Goes to War was a lot of fun. Abbott & Costello (and Scoop) were in town to perform and entertain people on the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad.
A B-25 Bomber also landed at the Cumberland Airport and offered tours, flights and plenty of photo-opportunities with Rosie the Riveter and Abbott & Costello (and Scoop).



Abbott & Costello (and Scoop) pose with Conductor Richard Markle as they board the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad



The whole gang in a WWII jeep



The B-25 "Panchito" taking passengers for a fly-over Cumberland



Rosie in the B-25



Boarding the B-25 the hard way


You can see more images from the event here - Cumberland Goes to War 2009.

Like steam? A day with the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad...

On Monday I participated in a day-long WMSR photo excursion to raise money to replace John Helmstetter's barn near Cash Valley Road. So far over $40,000 has been raised and the barn rebuilding is in progress. You can learn more (and donate) here.

The excursion itself was fantastic, it was nice to be able to shoot the train in various lighting conditions and in several new locations along the line. The train also put on quite a show, the plumes of steam often blocked the sun (allowing us to photograph in the shade).
Sorry if we did any permanent damage to the ozone layer.

Here are a few of my favs from the shoot...


Early morning sun provides some side-lighting to #734



Passing the Helmstetter Farm



Nice vantage point that I was previously unaware of. West of Brush Tunnel



Another new location...west of Helmstetter's Curve



Impressive steam plume approaching Frostburg Station.

You can view more images from the shoot via this link - Western Maryland Scenic Railroad. The first 25 photos in the gallery were from this shoot.

Cumberland Goes to War 2009 - the first weekend

Cumberland Goes to War is a 2-week event recognizing the “greatest generation” and their sacrifices – both on the homefront and in battle. You can see a complete listing of all scheduled events here - Cumberland Goes to War schedule.

Here are a few photos from the first weekend of activities:


Rosie the Riveter was there...


...as were FDR and The Andrews Sisters.


There's a large encampment full of re-enactors.


Just don't forget to bring your papers.

You can see more pictures from the event here - more pictures.

Hanging out with Elvis & Priscilla

I spent yesterday afternoon photographing Elvis, the winner of the 'Prettiest Pet' contest held earlier this year at the Allegany County Fairgrounds. He was such a cute little bundle of energy, it was part photo shoot, part play time in the wet leaves. His best friend Priscilla also showed up for the shoot. Here are a few of the pics...

Rosie the Riveter Contest - we have a winner

I spent this past Saturday in downtown Cumberland photographing a Rosie the Riveter look-alike contest. What a fun way to spend the day. Along with my friends Ty (part carnival barker, part videographer) and Jen (our Rosie stylist), we ended up photographing a total of 20 Rosies.

You can view the complete gallery of contestants here.

Also, big congrats to Jordan Schupfer who won a nice prize package and who will be our Rosie poster girl in Cumberland Goes to War promotions.

Joe & Shari's wedding

Whew, it's been a busy fall...I'm finally getting caught up. On Oct 24th I had a blast shooting Joe & Shari's wedding at St John's Episcopal Church in Frostburg, with a reception at the Maplehurst County Club. Joe & Shari were both so fun to work with, it was a great time. Here are a few of the shots...

Congrats to Josh Rogers

This is a cool story...
About a year ago I received an email request asking permission to use one of my train photos as inspiration for a sketch. It turns out that the artist, Josh Rogers, won a blue ribbon and Best in Show at the Billings Montana State Fair with that train sketch. How cool...congrats Josh, keep up the great work!

A guestbook is not a toy...

Ok, a little background info. Steve & I had a Featured Artist Show at Arts at Canal Place this past weekend. We went back and forth on our show dates, we originally planned a November show, then flip-flopped and wound up with a September/October show. Then we changed the opening date from September to October....well, anyway, in the end, I ended up accidentally double-booking myself and scheduling the opening on a day that I was also shooting a wedding.

So, since I wasn't going to be there, I left a guestbook for people to sign to leave comments about the show, ask questions about the photos, etc. Well, it seems the beers were flowing pretty well at the reception, you can see the comments below. I'm not even sure what a lot of it even means, WTF does WTF mean??

...all kidding aside, thank you all for coming to the opening, and I do appreciate the comments. I had a great laugh this morning reading them when I went in to the gallery to take down the show. I really am sorry I couldn't be there, you can ask Steve, everytime I spoke to him leading up to the opening I would tell him that I feel like a jerk for not being there.

Thanks again...I appreciate your support!
Bill

Sarah & Chad's wedding

I had a lot of fun this past weekend shooting Sarah & Chad's wedding at Davis Memorial Church. On the drive to the reception, we made a quick detour out to Rocky Gap to get a few pics in the light rain. Here are a few of them...







http://merlavageimages.blogspot.com/2009/10/sarah-chads-wedding.html

Finzel Swamp - one of Western Maryland's best-kept secrets

The leaves are starting to pop here in Western Maryland, so it seemed like a perfect opportunity to take a walk through one of my favorite fall locations - Finzel Swamp.
Finzel Swamp is a little out of the way location, visited mostly by bird watchers & local photographers.
The cranberry glades are a bit past peak right now, they're mostly brown & dry, but there's still plenty of color in the surrounding trees.

Here are a few of the shots from this afternoon...








There's now a sign at the entrance to Finzel Swamp, so perhaps it won't remain such a secret location for long?

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