Groundhog Regrets

A few days ago, we were on our way out Powell's Valley Road heading somewhere not so important after all, when I saw something that I should have gone back and photographed. I thought... well, the camera I have doesn't see things the way I do... everyone else is ready to get where we're going... there's a hundred excuses not to do it.

The scene? Amber waves of grain. Literally. It was sunny, the grain was ripened to a golden hue in the bright sunlight, the breeze was blowing, causing the grain to wave in the sunlight. And between the fields of grain was bright green fields of corn. It was an awesome sight in it's own way.

Today, they baled that grain into haybales. That photo op that I had the other day is gone for good.

Early this morning, on the way to work, I stopped and took a photo. I took it with two cameras, and I am hoping the other camera did an even better job - but we'll see. As it is, I am proud of this photo:


As I started to drive back down the road, I spotted another splash of blue against the golden backdrop of grain. It was an oh-so-very bright bluebird... Very, very pretty. Experience tells me if I'd stopped, and gotten out with the camera, there's a good chance it would have flown away before I got focused on it, and my daughter was ready to be at her friend's house already, so I drove on.

But maybe, it wouldn't have flown away.

But what really baked the cake (so to speak... ) was this afternoon on the way HOME from work. I thought, "I have some time to kill... I am going to drive up to Boyd Big Tree Preserve, and look around. I did, too. After I pulled of Route 322 onto Fishing Creek Rd, with my destination in mind, I looked over and saw the coolest thing.

I have yet, in the eight years I've been in Pennsylvania, to take a good shot of a groundhog. Yes, there's Puxtahawney Phil, but I've not seen him. But here was a groundhog, not waddling through the grass like we usually see, but rather, next to the road, his paws up on this weed that was more of a bush than a weed, biting at a branch very above his head.

I haven't ever seen a groundhog behaving quite that way. But I was driving too fast. Like the bluebird, I had the feeling that if I stopped, he'd run away, so I didn't. But that was the straw that broke the camel's back. I drove to Boyds, even took a couple photos - one or two might be okay.

But after I left, I pulled out my cell phone and jotted a note to myself... the subject was "groundhog regrets".

Central Pennsylvania Photobook

I still need to finish posting my individual sections here, but I am going to skip ahead and post photos of the finished copy of the photobook I just had published. Feel free to leave a comment or email me at arkansawyer@gmail.com for more information.

All images and the photobook are copyright 2005-2008 James Wheeler and/or Karen Oudeman.

Photobook 6: Wildlife

Post six of a series of photographs I am going to use in an upcoming photobook. All of the photos in this series were taken by me in Dauphin County Pennsylvania and its neighboring counties, between 2005 and 2008. Occasionally I will also post paintings based on my photographs. The artist behind these paintings is my friend, Karen Oudeman, from Gouda, the Netherlands.

This is the the section entitled Wildlife. In my time in Pennsylvania I have been lucky enough to see many various creatures. I have just very recently photographed a porcupine and elk in the upper part of the state, and have seen black bear there, as well as here near home. However, in this collection - I am only including area scenes - and I have not had the luck to catch a bear with my camera.

However, there are many interesting creatures - from deer and ring-neck pheasants to many types of insect. I love to go out on lunch breaks to local nature centers in the hopes of finding some "nature" and sometimes I am successful. :) I hope you enjoy this collection - it does not do justice to the many diverse species of animals and insects to be found in the area.

The text on the section introduction page reads as follows:

Central Pennsylvania has an abundance of wildlife. White-tail deer are very common in the area, and one of my favorite pastimes as a photographer is to stop and photograph a deer as it stops to look at me (but all too often it runs off before I get the camera in place). Other mammals, waterfowl, amphibians, and reptiles are fairly common in state forests and park areas such as Wildwood Lake in Harrisburg. In Powell's Valley, ringneck pheasants are a very common sight. Various species of insects and bugs may be seen, from common bees and butterflies to the saddleback caterpillar. This area is an animal lover's paradise.




























All images copyright 2005-2008 James A. Wheeler or Karen Oudeman.

Contact me at arkansawyer@gmail.com for information on obtaining copies of any of these prints or information on the upcoming 160 page photobook, which will be a "coffee table" style hardcover book complete with paper sleeve cover, initially priced around $60 - which to my cheapskate pocketbooks seems high until I compare the cost to that of eating out at a nice restaurant, which for a family can quickly exceed the cost of this book, and is quickly forgotten.

The series so far:
Photobook 1: The Story
Photobook 2: The Church
Photobook 3: Farmscapes
Photobook 4: Country Living
Photobook 5: Waterscapes
Photobook 6: Wildlife