Happy Halloween

From Solly Brothers farm in Bucks County, Pa.

Website Updates

For those frequent visitors to my site I would like to point out a few changes.

(1) I added a "Welcome" page, which for the moment is simply a photo of historic Fonthill Castle, with a link to the galleries page. I like this kind of website entry point, although I will be juicing it up a little in the near future.

Welcome Page

(2) I added a page that shows all of the framed prints that I currently have in inventory. I've done this primarily to give people a chance who have seen my work in person to take a second look. Link below:

Frames Page

(3) Finally, I've added some new prints to my galleries.

New Work

Below is one of the newly added images, which is of a babydoll lamb at the Cuttalossa Farm in Bucks County. This lamb looks so innocent and youthful against the large outline of its mother just behind it.

Drip Drop

On a recent trip to the Poconos I found myself at the edge of a pond below some trees. The view across the pond was nothing special, but the water dripping from the trees above created interesting patterns in the water. When printed in a larger size the disturbances in the water can bee seen in all their glory.



Website: Photography by Matt Schrier

Poconos

I've taken my nearly yearly trip up north to the Poconos. I'm usually drawn to the Delaware Water Gap area, and this year I returned to the George W. Childs State Park, just a few miles from Dingman's Falls. This area has beautiful series of waterfalls tucked in a small valley/gorge. The light was very nice on this morning, and the air was still enough to let me use a longer exposure to accentuate the waterfalls.



Website: Photography by Matt Schrier

Golden Morning

As summer winds down we often get treated to foggy mornings. If you are prepared and put yourself in the right location to catch the sunbeams streaming through, you will have a good chance to make very nice images.

At my favorite local haunt I was fortunate to have the light fog hang around the trees while the full sun blasted from behind it.

I'm beginning to catch the fall foliage in Pennsylvania, and I hope to have some new images in time for my last two shows of the year. Stay tuned ...


Website: Photography by Matt Schrier

New Hope Award

The New Hope Arts and Crafts Festival was a mixed bag. Saturday's great weather was followed by some rain on Sunday. As always I met a lot of fun and interesting people, with many stories to share.

I was fortunate to receive the second place award in the photography category this year. In addition to the cash award it is very gratifying to know that my body of work is impressive enough to win an award at a high-end arts festival such as New Hope.

Below is a photo of me receiving the award.

I Spy

Prepping for New Hope

My last outdoor show of the year is coming up, and I'm busy selecting some new images to print. I've tweaked my presentation a bit over the past few shows, in an attempt to make browsing easier (and in the end to increase sales, of course). First of all I've produced two gallery-wraps (one which sold at the Doylestown show), to try a bit of a different effect. This format has become much more popular in recent years, and for certain images the result can be really beautiful. I've added them as an option on my website.

I've also left the smaller items home, in order to give me more flexibility in arranging my print bins. I've eliminated a table, which allows more room to move around, and allows customers to get closer to the works hanging on the walls.

The image below was made a few weeks ago in a local field. The flowers have died, but the birds were busy filling up on the remaining seeds. I like the early-day lighting, as well as the color tone of this image.

Doylestown Arts Festival

We had a very nice day yesterday at the Doylestown Arts Festival. The weather was great, the crowds were overflowing, and the atmosphere was electric. After a few weather-dampened disappointing shows this year this show was a breath of fresh air.

I met a lot of new customers, and a few old ones. A few family members also took advantage of the nice day to stop by and support me (Thanks Leslie, Vince, Linda, Frank and Ellen).

This image below seemed to garner a lot of interest. Bucks County still brims with farming, despite the explosion of development over the past few decades. And our local historical connections are also well-appreciated. So this shot of sheep on a wet winter day at the Thompson-Neely farm, right across from Bowman's Hill near New Hope, resonates with a lot of people.

Next stop: New Hope Arts and Crafts Festival, Sept 26 and 27.

Young Heron

While walking around my local nature center recently, on a quiet morning where I wasn't expecting anything especially interesting, I was startled when this young heron flew from near the path to a branch not too far away. Since he didn't go too far I was thinking that he wasn't really too afraid of me, so I calmly swapped lenses on my camera and prepared the tripod.

While I snapped some initial shots he preened himself for a while. Then he moved to this branch, above the walking path. Here I was able to inch closer and capture some clean shots.

I'm not sure what variety of heron this is, as I think his color will change as he gets older. It may be a white heron.

One lesson that I have learned while walking through natural areas is to always be prepared, and be wary of what's around you. I often go walking with a destination in mind, sometimes completely oblivious to what's around me. But then I may be startled by a deer or a heron or other large bird along the water's edge. At the very least have a medium to long lens on the camera if you have one.