From first light to last light we will spend the weekend photographing the best of the southern New Jersey shore areas. From the beaches, boats, and Victorian styling of Cape May to the 1950s era architecture of the Wildwoods, we will wander between man and nature refining both our technical abilities and our photographic visions.

The Jersey Shore offers a wealth of unique subjects, you won't be bored!

This workshop is aimed at beginner and intermediate photographers and the location offers a very picturesque opportunity to cover a lot of ground quickly. We will work hard but you’ll have great fun as we strive to make the weekend both a very productive learning experience and an enjoyable mini-vacation.

If the surf is up, we'll be out shooting the action.

The workshop will be taught by Henry Rowan, a national awarding winning photographer and start on Friday, September 30, 2011, at 3:00 PM (see www.hrowan.com).  Late arrivals are welcome to join as we will be shooting past dark on Friday and the workshop will run through Sunday, Oct 2, 2011, when we will end at approximately 5:00 PM.  To augment the in-the-field experience, the workshop will continue with two sessions which will be held on weekday evenings (TBD) in Bucks County. These sessions will focus on post processing techniques and critiquing the images shot in Cape May.  The goal of these sessions is to give you time to work on your images and then show you ways to make them even better.

We'll work the dunes and we'll work the light. Lots of learning and lots of fun!

Cost: The workshop is $325.00 for DPC members and $375.00 for non-members.

Deposits and cancellations: A $150.00 deposit is required to reserve a place in the workshop. A full refund will be given for cancellations prior to September 5, 2011. After that date the deposit is non-refundable unless the workshop is cancelled. The instructors reserve the right to cancel the workshop if there is inadequate participation.

Responsibility of attendee: Transportation to and from Cape May, N.J., lodging, food, and transportation to shooting locations. We will make every effort to coordinate car-pooling, but varying travel plans may make that impossible.

Fitness Level: Easy. We’ll be doing some hiking but most will be less than a mile (one way) without severe elevation changes.

Lodging: We will arrange for a block of rooms in Cape May or the immediate area with a focus on affordability and cleanliness since we aren’t going to be spending much time in our rooms.  Participants are not required to stay at the facility that we select, but we will use it as the starting point for our shoots.

What to bring camerawise: You don’t need the latest and greatest camera or $5,000 lenses to get good shots. The following are recommendations only of things you might find useful:

• Your camera – not something you want to forget!
• Your battery charger and extra batteries.
• Lenses – the most commonly used range will be from 17mm to 200mm for full frame sensor cameras and 12mm to 200mm for cropped sensor bodies. Lenses wider than those listed above can be very useful and offer unique visual opportunities at the shore.  Longer lenses will also be quite useful if the surfers are out and for birds and landscapes, so don’t leave them home if you can carry them.
• Extension tubes and/or a macro lens – lots of close-up opportunities.
• A decent tripod – this one is important! A cheap tripod is often worse than no tripod because you think you have steadied the camera when you really haven’t. (If you have Live View, put your camera with a telephoto lens on the tripod and set Live View to 10X. You’ll know immediately whether your tripod is good enough or not!)
• Polarizing and Neutral Density filters – we are going to be showing you how to shoot water motion, so if you have neutral density filters bring them along.
• Laptop computer w/ Photoshop, Elements, or similar – clear off your laptop hard drive so you have room to store the images that you shoot at the workshop.
• Card reader or other method of transferring images onto your computer.
• Flashlight – we’ll be up early and out late. Headband LED flashlights with a switchable red filter are great photographic tools and won’t kill your dark vision.

Cape May is a major stopping point for migrating Monarchs. How the hurricane might impact this annual event is anyone's guess.

For more information or to register please email Henry Rowan at hrowan@comcast.net or Maggie McLaughlin emberly796@yahoo.com.

October 2 – 7, 2011

Tidal pools in the pre-dawn fog

Join us for an exciting journey to the civilized wilderness of Acadia National Park and Coastal Maine!  Our adventure will take us from the mystic calm of Sand Beach before dawn to the foggy seacoast at Otter Cliffs to the tranquility of Jordon Pond during the prime leaf peeping season. We’ll shoot lighthouses, lobster boats, fishermen, quintessential New England villages and some of the most scenic vistas in the United States.  In other words, we’re going to have some serious fun at some seriously photogenic locations! We have set up our workshops a little differently than most others. Our emphasis is on shooting and experiencing all that the locale has to offer. Of course we will emphasize and teach the technical aspects of photography and the importance of post processing but when the “golden hours” of day lapse, we are not going to be headed to a classroom. Instead, we are going to be out there shooting away; seeing new sights, enjoying new adventures, and creating more images.

Sand Beach

Our photo journeys “focus” on learning how to create images – not merely how to take a picture – and are suitable for all skill levels.  A priority is placed on working extensively with each individual and meeting each participant’s particular needs. If you are a beginner, we’ll work on the basics and leapfrog your skills to the next level. We’ll translate the technical mumbo jumbo into information that you can use every day. If you are an intermediate or advanced shooter we’ll work on techniques that will improve your technical expertise while emphasizing visioning and creative skills. There will be lots of learning and lots of shooting each day so rest up before hand! To augment the in-the-field experience, the workshop will continue with two optional sessions which will be held on weekday evenings (TBD) in Bucks County. These sessions will focus on advanced post processing techniques and critiquing the images shot in Maine.  The goal of these sessions is to give you time to work on your images and then show you ways to make them even better.

Bass Harbor Lighthouse

The workshop will be taught by Henry Rowan, a national awarding winning photographer with a long love affair with Acadia. Henry has a very unique vision and works from a unique perspective. “The images I create never existed and never will exist. They are combinations of angles, colors, light, time, lenses, sensors and more, which produce images that the human eye can’t see and the human mind can’t process in real life. Unlike the photojournalist, I am not trying to capture a moment in time, but rather I am hoping to create a feeling in space that conveys the essence of the subject.”

Otter Cliffs

This is going to be an outstanding opportunity to learn and create the type of imagery that you have fantasized about so let’s get to some of the specifics…

Cost: The workshop is $900.00, which includes instruction, guiding, critiques, encouragement and inspiration and entrance to Acadia National Park.

Deposits and cancellations: A $300.00 deposit is required to reserve a place in the workshop. A full refund will be given for cancellations prior to August 21, 2011 and a $150.00 refund will be given for a cancellation prior to September 1, 2011. After that date the deposit is non-refundable unless the workshop is cancelled. The instructors reserve the right to cancel the workshop if there is inadequate participation.

Responsibility of attendee: Transportation to and from Bar Harbor, lodging, food, and transportation to shooting locations. We will make an effort to coordinate car pooling among the attendees from Bangor and while on location but varying travel plans may make that impossible. A whale watch is planned (cost $60.00) subject to ocean / weather conditions and the interest level of the group.

Getting to the workshop: This photo journey will be based on Mount Desert Island in Maine, which is home to both Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. It is approximately a 10 hour drive from Bucks County or 1:15 hours from the airport in Bangor if one choose to fly in. There are a number of non-stop flights from Philadelphia International and Bangor offers some of the least expensive car rental rates we’ve seen from an airport-based facility. Travel costs to and from the workshop are not included in the workshop price.

Fitness Level: Moderate. We’ll be doing some hiking but most will be less than a mile (one way) without severe elevation changes. Be aware that the coastal trails and ocean rocks can be slippery so caution and good footware is required. Bring hiking boots and leave the sneakers and sandals at home.

Weather: To many, Maine is at its most beautiful in the fall with bright reds and yellows mixing with the greens of the pine forests. However, fog is common (and fun to shoot in!) and it can get chilly, especially if it rains. Bring something warm and waterproof because if the weather doesn’t cooperate we will still be out shooting.

Lodging: Most of the hotels, motels, and cottages in Bar Harbor are “older style” facilities rather than the type of “chain” accommodations that have popped up along the interstates. We will arrange for a block of rooms in Bar Harbor or the immediate area with a focus on affordability and cleanliness since we aren’t going to be spending much time in our rooms.  Participants are not required to stay at the facility that we select but we will use it as the starting point for our shoots.

What to bring camerawise: You don’t need the latest and greatest camera or $5,000 lenses to get good shots. The following are recommendations only of things you might find useful:

• Your camera – not something you want to forget!

• Your battery charger and extra batteries.

• Lenses – the most commonly used range will be from 17mm to 200mm for full frame sensor cameras and 12mm to 200mm for cropped sensor bodies. Lenses wider than those listed above can be very useful and offer unique visual opportunities. Longer lenses will also be quite useful for birds, critters, and landscapes so don’t leave them home if you can carry them.

• Extension tubes and/or a macro lens – lots of close-up opportunities.

• A decent tripod – this one is important! A cheap tripod is often worse than no tripod because you think you have steadied the camera when you really haven’t. (If you have Live View, put your camera with a telephoto lens on the tripod and set Live View to 10X. You’ll know immediately whether your tripod is good enough or not!)

• Polarizing and Neutral Density filters – we are going to be working with water motion a great deal so neutral ND filters that will reduce your exposure by 4 to 8 stops will really help. (Drop us a line if you need help selecting ND filters.)

• Lots of CF memory.

• Laptop computer w/ Photoshop, Elements, or similar – clear off your laptop hard drive so you have room to store the images that you shoot at the workshop.

• Card reader or other method of transferring images onto your computer.

• Flashlight – we’ll be up early and out late. Headband LED flashlights with a switchable red filter are great photographic tools and won’t kill your dark vision.

What to bring clothingwise: We’ll email you a list but don’t be shocked to see a hat and gloves on it. It can get cold at the top of Cadillac Mountain in the early morning – even in August. On the list you’ll see a reminder to bring good hiking boots – we’ll keep hammering this home and you’ll thank us for it. Acadia isn’t a place where fashion statements are made or acknowledged. Between the fog and the North Atlantic everyone is going to look pretty grizzly pretty quickly. Relax and enjoy.

To sign-up for this workshop please e-mail us at hrowan@comcast.net or emberly796@yahoo.com

A Maine Lily in a mountain pond

Infinite Imagery is pleased to offer a new series of workshops ranging from basic photography to complex image making. You’ll find we do things a little differently in order to create a better learning environment which blends the science of photography with the creative power of your mind. Classes are forming now and dates will soon be fixed. Please contact Henry Rowan at hrowan@comcast.net with any questions.

Beauty is all around us but it won't jump into your camera without a little help!

Anybody can click a shutter, but unlimited creative opportunities abound for those who take the time to learn the essential elements of photography as both a science and an art. This course will focus on the core elements of controlling your camera so that you can maximize its potential while realizing yours. We’ll use Ansel Adam’s Zone System as a simple way to understand exposure (say goodbye to the “P” mode forever!) and allow you to take command of your camera so it does what you want it to do. We’ll also focus on visioning, using depth of field, composition, simple lighting, and a wealth of other topics that will allow you to create better photographs right from the first day.

Equipment required: Any camera with Av, Tv, and/or manual exposure controls.

Experience Required: None.

One evening per week (7-9 PM) for four weeks.  Cost $150.00

Controlling your camera is important. Refining your vision is essential.

Once you understand the fundamentals of photography, it is time to really start examining what you can accomplish with your camera through your mind’s eye. In this workshop we’ll deal with the finer points of camera control, lens selection, and lighting control with speedlights and reflectors. We’ll also show you why you want to shoot in RAW and discuss workflow, file management, and editing options that can keep you from becoming buried by thousands of random images. Throughout the course we will work on improving the composition and tonality of your images and you’ll be amazed at the improvement that you can realize with just a few simple “tricks.”

Equipment required: Any camera with Av, Tv, and/or manual exposure controls.

Experience Required: Basic knowledge of photography with a functional understanding of exposure.

One evening per week (7-9 PM) for four weeks.  Cost $150.00

Day+ Workshops

Our Day+ workshops are a little different… and for good reason. Many workshops overload you with too much information in too short a period of time. The result? You don’t assimilate it effectively. We have specifically designed our workshops to better meet your needs by providing both pre and post-shoot work sessions. During the pre-shoot session we will discuss the technical and artistic challenges of the chosen subject. This will help you get more out of your time in the field and provide a wider knowledge base from which to experiment. The post-shoot session will provide an opportunity to critique your results as well as to answer any questions you may have.

Gardens and meadows offer an abundance of photographic opportunities and challenges.

Let’s face it, most flower pictures are boring. Anyone can take a picture of a flower, but it takes something special to make a photograph of one. In this course we’ll spend an evening going over the basics of near-macro photography followed by a day in the field shooting flowers at the beautiful Chanticleer Gardens near St. Davids. Our post-shoot session will be an evening critique to see what we did right and where we can improve.

Equipment required – DSLR, macro or close focusing lens and/or extension tubes and/or high quality close-up lens such as Canon 500D. Fast normal lenses (non-macro) with extension tubes are well suited for this type of photography. Tripods are very handy but not essential. Use of flash is not recommended for this workshop.

Experience Required: Basic knowledge of photography.

Cost: $175.00    DPC Members $150.00

The workshop will be held on two weekday evenings (7:00 – 9:00 PM) and the shoot will be on a Saturday beginning at 10:00 AM at Chanticleer.

Notes: Plan on bringing your lunch as there are beautiful picnic areas available. We will attempt to arrange car pooling with transportation costs to be split given the current ridiculous price of gas.

Rickett's Glen is a uniquely beautiful and challenging place to shoot.

2 1/2 hours north of Doylestown you will find some of the most beautiful waterfalls on the East Coast in Rickett’s Glen State Park. Within the park there are 22 named falls and old growth forests of immeasurable beauty that have lulled many an unsuspecting photographer into producing mediocre images. This workshop will address the technical basics of waterfall photography but, more importantly, we will focus on the creative and visioning elements necessary to produce high quality nature photography. As many photographers have already discovered, it isn’t as easy as it looks!

Equipment Required: Any camera with Av, Tv, and/or manual exposure controls but a DSLR is strongly recommended. Lenses from ultra-wides to medium telephotos (16 – 200mm) will be useful. Neutral density filters, tripods, and remote releases are strongly recommended and will be mandatory for blurring water flows.

Experience Required: A good working knowledge of photography is required to make the most out of the challenging conditions you will encounter.

Special note: This is a “Get Up Early” workshop and we will be leaving the Doylestown area at approximately 5:30 AM.  Rickett’s Glen is a physically demanding environment with significant elevation changes and often has slippery conditions. You must be in decent physical shape and be prepared to be very tired by the end of the day. The park’s footwear recommendations and warnings must be adhered to.

Cost: $175.00    DPC Members $150.00

The workshop will be held on two weekday evenings (7:00 – 9:00 PM) and the shoot will be on a Saturday beginning at 8:00 AM at Rickett’s Glen.

Notes: Plan on bringing your lunch as we will be eating outside. If you forget, we will pass a general store that usually has good sandwiches as we change locations. We will attempt to arrange car pooling with transportation to be split given the current ridiculous price of gas.

The Jersey Shore offers an abundance of photographic opportunities of all types.

Even if you aren’t a “shore person,” the New Jersey coastline offers a wealth of photographic opportunities and is great fun. This is a basic workshop so we’ll focus our pre-shooting session on the fundamentals of photography and addressing any nagging questions that workshop participants have. On the day of the workshop we will arrive at Seaside Heights before dawn and photograph the ocean at sunrise. From there it is on to the still somewhat empty, but always colorful, boardwalk for the morning light and, if we are lucky, we’ll catch some surfers at Casino Pier. As the crowds arrive we’ll flee south to the solitude of the dunes on Long Beach Island and finish up the day there by early afternoon. The main focus of the shoot will be on design and composition and meeting the challenge of using the strong colors and bright light of the shore to their best advantage.

Equipment required: Any camera with Av, Tv, and/or manual exposure controls.

Cost: $175.00    DPC Members $150.00

Experience Required: None.

The workshop will be held on two weekday evenings (7:00 – 9:00 PM) and a ”Get Up Early” shooting session on Saturday. We will be leaving the Doylestown area approximately 2 1/2 hours before sunrise and will car pool to save on transportation costs. Bring sunscreen!!!!

Getting shots of butterflies is easy. Getting good shots of butterflies isn't!

If you want to take “field guide” style pictures of butterflies this probably isn’t the workshop for you. If you want to create unique, artistic photographs of these winged wonders then by all means sign up. The workshop will focus on both the technical and the creative aspects of butterfly photography and you’ll find we do things a bit differently. The pre-shoot session will focus heavily on the technical aspects of near macro photography and the importance of controlling the various visual elements in the frame. We’ll shoot in one or more locations throughout the day (it’s not necessary to get up before dawn for butterflies, they like to sleep late – hurray!) depending on where the little rascals are hiding and then review the results in the post-shooting session.

Equipment Required: DSLR with a medium telephoto or longer. The lens should have an MFD (minimum focus distance) of 6′ or less and/or you can use extension tubes to reduce the MFD.

Experience Required: Basic knowledge of photography.

Cost: $175.00    DPC Members $150.00

The workshop will be held on two weekday evenings (7:00 – 9:00 PM) and the shoot will be on a Saturday beginning at approximately 10:00 AM at a location to be determined by the butterflies.

The workshop and courses above will be taught by Henry Rowan. Henry is a national award-winning photographer who lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where he is often seen shooting in the gardens and meadows that grace this area. His subject matter tends to be very eclectic and he has gained a following for both his unique sports imagery as well as his distinctive portrayal of the nature and what he refers to as “The Little World”…  that special place where butterflies and bugs roam mostly unseen amongst colorful flowers.

Photographically, Henry’s style is well defined but somewhat difficult to describe. He plays with movement, light, and color in unison to create images that are easy to identify as his. The driving theme of his work is his concept of Non-Existent Imagery:

“The images I create never existed and never will exist. They are combinations of angles, colors, light, time, lenses, sensors and more, which produce images that the human eye can’t see and the human mind can’t process in real life. Unlike the photojournalist, I am not trying to capture a moment in time, but rather I am hoping to create a feeling in space that conveys the essence of the subject.”

Working within this framework provides a great deal of artistic freedom and fosters a worldview that is both individualistic and offers unlimited creative opportunities. After years of working with a variety of film sizes from large format to 35mm, Henry is now solely shooting digital images and utilizes Canon professional equipment.

Henry taught his first photography workshop way back in 1978 and founded an extensive arts program in Perth Amboy, NJ. He has spent years as a professional photographer doing corporate presentations for clients such as AT&T, Merck, Ciba-Geigy, Audi, and numerous other major corporations. If you would like to see a collection of Henry’s images please click here.

We are seriously considering, and trying to gauge the level of interest in, adding extended week-end and/or week plus long “learning experiences” (aka Photo Journeys) to a number of photographically fascinating locales. These include:

Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia.

Acadia National Park in Northern Maine.

The Lighthouse Coast of Nova Scotia.

Please e-mail Henry at hrowan@comcast.net if these or other trips are of interest to you.

We will be adding other instructors and other workshops in the near future. On the drawing board are courses and workshops for…

Adobe Elements

Adobe Photoshop

HDR

Equine Photography

Please let us know if you are interested in these or other subjects by emailing us at hrowan@comcast.net.

PS. I know our titles are off-center by 5 pixels on some browsers but I have no idea why. I could spend six hours trying to figure it out or I could spend the same time shooting. I choose the latter.  :)

The second weekend in May finds Philadelphia playing host to the largest collegiate rowing event in the United States, the Dad Vail Regatta. Named for Harry Emerson “Dad” Vail, a famous college coach of yesteryear, the event has run continuously since 1934, with a respite for WWII. It attracts over 100 teams from the United States and Canada and for two days thousands of athletes battle other teams, the weather, and the Schuylkill River itself. The two-kilometer course bends under the Strawberry Mansion Bridge and follows the Kelly Drive through Fairmount Park, which is exceptional in both its natural beauty and its scale.  The racers finish up in front of a newly refurbished grandstand area replete with food vendors, sponsor’s areas, and tents of all sizes and colors put up by the students and alumni of the various schools who are racing.

Fairmount Park is as much the heart of Philadelphia as Center City is.

All in all, it is a very festive environment and a perfect place for couples or families to spend some quality time in a very pretty setting. The walk up the river from the Art Museum to the finish line is over two miles and will take you past the world famous Boathouse Row and to the makeshift “Rower’s Village.” This is where the teams prepare for the races and where the boats enter and exit the water.  It is a beehive of activity and well worth a visit – but be alert to the teams moving the boats along the sidewalks as it is a lot easier for you to move out of the way then it is for them to change course to avoid you.

The river scenes may be bucolic, but...

The racing action is frenetic.

Since it is a bit of a hike up to the “Rower’s Village” and even farther to the start finish line, many people take advantage of one of the frequent, and free, shuttle busses. Open air and double-decker buses loop through the ball fields of Fairmount Park, where the remote parking lots are located, and then head south on Kelly Drive (one-way and closed to most traffic) with stops along the racecourse.

Taking advantage of the best vantage point from which to watch the races.

Once you get to the race area the level of intensity goes through the roof as the athletes prep themselves and their boats for the grueling competition ahead. The Dad Vail hosts 2, 4, and 8 person boats for both male and female contestants. The boats themselves appear to be simplistic slivers that are barely high enough to keep the water out (usually), but are, in reality, complex marvels of modern technology. These racing sculls (as the boats are known) utilize kevlar/carbonfiber skins sandwiched over nomex honeycombs and are often coated with the same epoxy resins that are used in the space program. If they sound expensive, that’s because they are. A 2-person competition scull will set you back $10,000 while an 8-person scull that will keep you competitive will go for $30,000 and up. Of course there are less expensive boats, but the problem is that there are also much more expensive boats. While the quality of the crew is paramount, the equipment does play a role, which puts well-funded programs at an advantage.

The boats matter but your teammates matter more.

When you go to the event, you will see that the four and eight person boats actually have five or nine people in them respectively. The extra person is called the Coxswain (or Cox, for short) who is charged with steering the boat, making tactical decisions on the course, and providing encouragement to the crew. They also act as a human metronome, and using a microphone and speakers built into boat, will shout a cadence to keep the oar strokes in harmony. After listening to the commands and demands of the cox (who is “just sitting there” while the others row ever harder) it is easy to see why the cox is often thrown in the water to celebrate a victory and it is a wonder that they aren’t just tossed out somewhere along the course on a more frequent basis.

Keeping the boats going where they are supposed to is a lot harder than it looks.

Events like the Dad Vail Regatta don’t just happen, but require an enormous amount of work. While the competitors are training all winter long to get in top physical condition, the organizers are working just as hard to make the event seem effortless and hassle-free. Over 160 races are run throughout the two-day event and that would seem to be the easy part! Transportation is provided, roads are closed and detours are routed, quality food vendors are selected, sanitation facilities set-up, police and emergency personnel needs are established and met, and then there is trash pick-up, parking, signage, volunteers, safety boats, judging, and a myriad of other issues that must be dealt with.

The reason we bring this up is two-fold. First, the organizers of the Dad Vail do a first-class job and, from what we understand, it is getting ever better. Our hats get tipped to these fine folks. Secondly, it costs a lot of money to put on a show like this. It may be free to the spectators but this event is anything but free with costs mentioned in the $500,000 range. Here we have to once again tip our hats, this time to Aberdeen Global Asset Management. With the event in serious jeopardy of leaving the state due to lack of funding, Aberdeen stepped in to provide primary sponsorship and kept the event in Philly.

Sure, you get thirsty after a race but this seems like overkill.

The local economy owes Aberdeen, the City of Philadelphia, the Dad Vail Regatta Organizing Committee and a host of others a huge thank you for working to keep the race on the Schuylkill River. Not only will the banks of the river remain lined with spectators, but more than $16 million a year pours into local businesses as a result of this event. True treasures are rarely defined by their monetary worth alone and such is the case with the Dad Vail Regatta. It is an event well worth attending and we urge you to mark your calendars for next year’s races now.

This is certainly one event we want to make sure stays in Pennsylvania!

The Penn Relays get the front page because it is the event that solidified the concept of The Treasures of Pennsylvania and thus is very special to us. For several months I had been pondering an extensive photographic project that reflected the heart and soul of Pennsylvania, but had not found a focus that wouldn’t be consumed by the vastness of the state and the diversity of its people. While on the train into Philadelphia to shoot the Penn Relays for some motivational images, I decided to kill the idea and move on. However, upon getting off at one of the oldest stadiums in the country, the huge crowds and enormous energy immediately struck me as did the thought that this was a treasure for a struggling Philadelphia and was bringing in millions of dollars of much needed income to the city. It was one of those “lightbulb” moments when everything gelled and the concept was born.

While the Treasures of Pennsylvania may have promotional benefits for those places and events that we include, you should be aware that we don’t do tourist here. That is not our intent. You won’t find your typical overview pictures or shots of smiling folks holding hot dogs. The images that we have chosen and the copy that we use are selected to convey a sense of place or purpose, rather than being a literal depiction of what you might encounter at one of the Treasures. To that end, we think you will find that each of our contributing photographers portrays the world around them with unique vision and we would recommend that you take a look at their wider bodies of work.

What does it take to be listed here? It has to be something that is really, really good. It can be an event, a place, a person, a group, or perhaps something that isn’t easily categorized, it doesn’t matter – it just has to be special and something that would be sorely missed and fondly remembered if it disappeared tomorrow. The one thing we won’t do is celebrities. They already get enough press, so we will save our space for those people who are true gems, but who move among us unrecognized.

Some may ask why there is an emphasis on Eastern Pennsylvania Treasures. The answer is simple. We live here, so it is the logical starting point. We will add Treasures from other areas as they are submitted and as we travel. If you know of something that we should include, please let us know and we do accept submissions.

All of the images on the site are copyrighted and we enforce our copyrights, so please see our terms before you download them without permission. The images displayed are very small sized files designed to facilitate the rapid loading of pages and are not suitable for reproduction. Most of the images are available as gallery prints in a variety of sizes and are also available for commercial usage. Links at the bottom of each article will take you to galleries of the contributing photographers where you may order full resolution images or prints. If you don’t find the particular image that you are interested in, please contact us at admin@treasuresofpa.com and we will track it down for you. As you might guess, a number of our photographers also accept commercial assignments, so please feel free to contact us about engaging their services.

And finally, photographs from the Treasures of Pennsylvania collection are available for display in galleries or public spaces. Again, please contact us if you are interested in setting up a showing.  On that note, I hope you enjoy the site and will feel free to comment and add your thoughts.    Best Regards,  Henry

Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area.

More Ricketts Glen images.

2010 Penn Relay images including Usain Bolt, the world’s fastest human.

Chanticleer Gardens.

Longwood Gardens

The Yuengling Brewery

We’ll also be covering the Devon Horse Show, May 27 – June 6 and hope to do the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum’s 20th Anniversary World War II Weekend in Reading on June 4-5-6.

Also on the agenda is to try to add some of Pennsylvania’s classic racing venues including Maple Grove, a dirt short track, and the big daddy of them all – Pocono Raceway. As an aside, Pocono Raceway is building a solar farm that will handle not only their needs but provide enough extra power for 1,000 homes. Our hats go off to them and we appreciate their commitment to leading the way towards a clean energy future. Hopefully, we will be able to include the solar farm as a Treasure of Pennsylvania in and of itself.

Remember, May 15th will be opening day for the Tinicum Park Polo Club.

Article by Wayne Beck and Photography by Henry Rowan

Mercedes, Porsche, Ferrari, Cobra, Corvette, Bugatti... they are all there and more!

Treasure hunters often spend their lives searching for rare finds that may elude them forever.  Yet sometimes treasures sit right in front of us and we remain completely unaware of their existence.  A good example of this can be found in South Philadelphia.  Normally, areas like Penns Landing, Fairmont Park, or Penn Square spring to mind when thinking about visiting the cultural or historic sights of Philadelphia.  However, it’s when you look beyond the usual that interesting discoveries often reveal themselves.  In this case, hidden in plain view, just north of the airport, there lies an unassuming, two story, brick building that houses one of Pennsylvania’s recently unearthed gems, The Simeone Foundation Museum; a unique and affordable destination for a day trip.  There’s no need to make a huge investment in time, energy, or financial resources to uncover it.  No archaeological digs or deep ocean dives are necessary.   Just hop in the car and go.

Once inside the museum, you leave the present behind as you’re transported back in time to experience the great age of amateur sports car racing.  You enter an era that began at the start of the twentieth century and spanned seven decades.  It was an era where great engineering, design, bravery, and creativity yielded some of the most beautiful examples of thoroughbred sports cars ever fashioned in both Europe and the U.S.  Their purpose, to test the mettle of both man and machine as they raced through an age that is now largely gone.  That era began to vanish as the sport was slowly transformed, in part by corporate sponsorships with goals that had less to do with the original intent of these contests.

Through the vision of one man, Dr. Fred Simeone, there now exists a truly extraordinary assemblage of some of the world’s finest examples of rolling sculpture that can be gathered under one roof.  A seventy-five thousand square foot factory that once housed an auto engine remanufacturing company has been transformed into a wonderful venue to display this gathering of fine sports cars and racers.  Like most museums, there is a theme here and that theme becomes quite obvious as you enter the display area.  The first thing you see is the written philosophy of what this museum is meant to convey.  It states, “There are few illustrations of the effects of competition as dramatic and beautiful as the evolution of the racing sports car.  This is the theme of the Simeone Foundation Automobile Museum, a 501(c) 3 nonprofit corporation whose mission is to educate the public in the beneficial effects of the spirit of competition.”  Well put.  And in an even more succinct phrase, the museum notes “The first race was conceived when the second car was built.”

The cars here are not just simply scattered around the area, but are presented in dioramas that convey the environment in which they competed.  To racing enthusiasts, there is an aura that surrounds places like Watkins Glen, Le Mans, The Nurburgring, Brooklands, Targa Florio, and the many other racing locals that are represented at the museum.  Dr. Simeone has recreated the spirit of these locations in the dioramas. The cars appropriate to each venue are arrayed in these settings front and center.  Coiled on the salt bed, poised to strike, is a 1964 Cobra Daytona Coupe, looking now, just the way it did in 1965 where it set 23 land speed records at Bonneville.  Nine Le Mans racers sit side by side, angled in front of pit row, waiting for the drivers to sprint across the track and bring them to life.  From exhibit to exhibit you enter into a world where these cars lived in their prime. Between the exhibits, scores of poster sized, black and white photos depicting racing scenes, hang at eye level.  Peering into the faces of those who put their lives in peril countless times to improve the breed, one truly gets a sense of what this place is about, competing and winning!

The intent of Dr. Simeone is not just to recreate an era, not just to display these exhibits as art, but also to reveal how they looked in action.  So on the last Saturday of each month, weather permitting, several of them are trotted out the back of the building to run free on the three acre back lot.  Watching and listening to these machines as they are fired up, gives the museum goer a brief glimpse at what some of these vehicles were capable of doing when given free rein on a race track.  Each month different marques are bought out.  So if you go often enough, you will get to see many of the cars run.

These demonstration days reflect another aspect of the museum’s principles… education.  Since the exhibits are not intended to be just static displays, the cars are also employed as “vehicles” to teach.  The Simeone foundation works with schools, providing education programs for their students.  To date, local high school physics classes working in conjunction with the U. of Penn have used the facilities, as have the Drexel University fashion design students.

The museum has been open to the public since June 2008.  While still a fledgling institution, its vision is clearly defined and as the museum evolves and grows, additional programs will be developed.  Dr. Simeone has numerous ideas for the museum, including opening a library to researchers, increasing the endowment, and adding driving simulators for students, so that they can learn traffic accident avoidance.

From time to time, the museum presents additional auto retrospectives.  Recently, an exhibit called “The Best of Britain” was in progress.  Thirty significant racing and sports cars were being featured from England.  These additional displays rotate in and out; so going back more than once often yields new treasures.  When there, you can either tour the museum on your own or call in advance to arrange for a guided tour.

Okay race fans, hop in and buckle up, because there’s more here.  Do you want to host a large corporate or social event?  Need a place for business or club meetings?  Well, the museum is an exceptional location to hold affairs like these.  There are facilities to seat more than five hundred people for catered affairs right in the center of the displays.  Holding an event surrounded by this vast collection of automotive history provides a unique ambiance for almost any gathering. There are three acres of free parking and it is handicap accessible.  In addition, the upstairs has meeting rooms with A / V facilities for smaller gatherings or meetings.

To inquire about the rental facilities, arrange tours, get directions, or just see more of the museum, visit their web site: www.simeonefoundation.org or call them at 215-365-7233. They are located at 6825-31 Norwitch Drive, Philadelphia, PA 19153 and the museum is easily accessible from either I95 or I76 as well as local streets from Center City Philadelphia.

Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines!

If you have never been to a bicycle track race you might want to ask the person next to you if they can explain what is going on. The racing takes on a number of formats, many of which may seem a bit odd to the uninitiated. It all starts to make sense after a bit, once you accept the fact that the riders are completely nuts, and you’ll soon know the difference between a Keirin and a Madison.

The price of admission is low, the food concessions are reasonable, and the beer is cheap, making it a great destination point for families, dating couples, and bike enthusiasts alike. The Velodrome is officially known as the Valley Preferred Cycling Center and is located north of Quakertown and west of Allentown with easy access from the Northeast Extension of the Turnpike and the Route 78 corridor.

For more bicycle racing images, please click here.

Throughout the state, valued natural and man made resources are at substantial risk as society struggles to find the proper balance between perceived human needs and responsible environmental stewardship. Very often, it is small groups of people dedicated to protecting their tiny part of the world that are the only thing that stands up against, and in the way of, powerful corporate and governmental interests intent on changing the landscape of their communities forever. In many cases, the stakes are extraordinarily high and both our history and our future are at risk.

While some may ridicule these preservationists as merely being NIMBYs (not in my back yard), to us, in most cases, they are heroes protecting a multitude of Pennsylvania’s treasures and they need all the help that they can get. After all, if you are not willing to try to protect your own backyard, who do you think is going to do it for you?

To that end, this section is designed to be a portal to information on the groups doing important work to protect our resources and the individual threats that they are working to eliminate. Clicking on the links below will take you to websites where you can get more information on the listed topic.

If you are involved in efforts to preserve one of Pennsylvania’s natural or manmade treasures and would like to be listed, please e-mail us at admin@treasuresofpa.com and include a brief description of the situation, the link to your information, and a photograph that visually represents what you are trying to save.

This section is dedicated to the real Lorax, Robert Sugarman. He used his exceptional legal skills and brilliant mind to defend the land and protect the people. We all thought Loraxes were immortal but we sadly found that they are not. Bob passed away in 2008.

Click on the links below for resources at risk in the various regions of the state:

Southeast

The Brandywine Creek – Chester County

Northeast (under development)

Central (under development)

Northwest (under development)

Southwest (under development)

This beautiful waterway and important source of drinking water is under a real threat from a huge, proposed development in Wallace Township. Click on the picture below to visit our good friends, The Guardians of the Brandywine, for more information and details on how you can help.

Photograph by Beth Christman

New threats are occurring all too often so please check back frequently for updates.