Halloween Nightz

A little over a decade ago, my wife started the tradition of Christmas light cruising around the winter holiday season. Ever since then, I have enjoyed taking photos of the various enchanting light displays that are put on at parks, zoos and other suburban areas throughout Ohio. Many of which can be seen here as example. But last year, we decided to change things up and start a new tradition of Halloween light cruising. So here is the first series from taken throughout Columbus suburbs in 2016. Enjoy the Charms of the Season!

Halloween Nightz series

Forgotten Wonders Beneath the Trees • vernal series re-emerging

Well it's been about three years since my last update to my ongoing Ohio fungi series and five years since I have updated my spring installment of the series itself. Twenty new images from 2013-15 have been added to the original installment of Forgotten Wonders Beneath the Trees. Although spring may not produce as many colorful and edible species as there are in the summer and fall seasons, it is a very enlightening time of year to finally get out into nature and enjoy the first charms of so many beautiful species unveiling themselves for the first time after a long winter. And if you're lucky enough you might find some choice edibles along your path!

Forgotten Wonders Beneath the Trees : vernal series re-emerging

Reflections of the Silverball

A little over two years ago, I discovered the charm and allure of the silverball and all things wonderful under the glass. I have been hooked ever since thanks an outstanding community of pinball players here in Ohio and grateful to all who I have met along the way. Especially those who have been generous enough to let me play pinball in the coolest of public locations and in their homes. In addition, I have been fortunate enough to visit several Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Chicago arcades and pin locations, events and expos. Through this I have had great opportunities to capture and play some of the rarest machines out there for both pins and arcades along the way. While enjoying documenting outstanding players enjoying the games. This has only helped fuel my passion for this stellar hobby I immensely enjoy and constantly re-exploring to this day. Which brings me to my new photography directions that have been taking shape these past few years. So here is the first of this new ongoing series that focuses on the silverball itself and the realms of light these games can reflect to the player.

Special thanks to John Geiger at Arcade Super Awesome & Ed Beeler at PA Pins!

Reflections of the Silverball series

Forgotten Wonders Beneath the Trees • fall series re-emerging

The fall season can not only produce a vast variety of colorful and engaging species, but a wealth of delicious edibles such as lion's mane, hedgehogs, chicken of the woods, hen of the woods, puffballs, honey mushrooms, oysters, lobsters, beefsteak, plus a variety of milk mushrooms, chanterelles and boletes. This series covers fall season finds in Ohio from 2012-2015. Fruiting periods usually start in late September through mid to late October depending on rainfall patterns. Enjoy the charms of this gorgeous season!

Forgotten Wonders Beneath the Trees • Fall series re-emerging

Forgotten Wonders Beneath the Trees : West Virginia Summer series

The West Virginia fungi series covers my two trips with my wife to the northwestern Monongahela National Forest in the amazing summers of 2012-13. Those summers produced an overwhelming amount of rain which made good for a vast diversity of species to be found. I have never witnessed to this day such a diversity of fungi species all in one weekend like that in my entire life of photographing them. I want to personally thank former OMS President–Walt Sturgeon for his lead on the area and perfect timing to this treasure trove of species. Without Walt's lead, I may have never encountered many of those species on just a regular trip out to West Virginia as many summers can be quite dry with little to no species fruiting.

My wife and I love West Virginia and have also enjoyed helping out with the West Virginia Mushroom Club's excellent foray in 2013. They do these annually every year and have an excellent line-up of speakers and fungiphiles gather from all over the states and locally to enjoy the charms of the forest and bring further knowledge to others that love fungi as much as we do. So the next time the heavy rains arrive in the summer, you might want to plan a quick trip down there as it's well worth it!

Forgotten Wonders Beneath the Trees : West Virginia Summer series

Forgotten Wonders Beneath the Trees • summer series re-emerging

Well it's been about three years since my last update to my ongoing Ohio fungi series. This series along with my upcoming West Virginia fungi series has been a project in the works due to amount of editing and identification work through hundreds of photos taken from the summer of 2012 to the fall of just last year. As with most hobbies, the deeper you go into it, the more work you create for yourself. But finally the new additions to this series will unfold this year and next as I will be posting each season again to show you what beautiful gems you can find on the forest floor and where you may find them in Ohio.

I have long anticipated to get this series out there and the summer installment is by far my very favorite time of the year for finding the most colorful and enchanting species out there. Fungi colors can range the entire visible spectrum between the months of late June through August in most regions of Ohio if you look in right places at the right time. Plus this season is the best time of year to truly find a diversity of edible species contrary to what so many may believe to be is in the spring and fall seasons. You can find a diversity of edible boletes, chanterelles, russula and lactarius species alone, along with oyster, trumpet, lobster, parasol, hedgehogs, bear's head and lion's mane. Summer is the season for fungi, so next time you are out in nature keep your eye to the forest floor for some of these species. Enjoy the charms of summer!

The new additions to the Summer series can be seen starting on page 2 here:

Summer series I updated (2012-15)

or directly from my photo stream here:

eyelyft photostream

wonderland of lights V

A little over a decade ago, my wife started the tradition of Christmas light cruising around this time of year. Ever since then, I have enjoyed taking photos of the various enchanting light displays that are put on at parks, zoos, shopping centers and other suburban areas throughout Ohio. Last year, we took a break from the usual places we would normally visit and enjoyed some of the smaller suburban displays instead. Enjoy the Charms of the Season!

wonderland of lights V