On November 1st, I met up with a few Lensbaby photographers while I was back in northeastern Pennsylvania, visiting my parents. We had grand plans for this meet-up and while it didn’t exactly go as originally envisioned, I had a great time getting to know Christine Kapuschinsky Johnson and Rick Ormonowski in real life after knowing them online for a year or so.
Our original plan was to get a larger group together, along with some folks willing to model, and head to the ghost town of Centralia. Years ago, due to a long-burning underground coal mine fire, the town had no longer become safe to inhabit due to cave-ins. What remains are some abandoned structures and long-unused streets covered in colorful graffiti – which would have made colorful interesting subjects, or backdrops. Alas, it was not meant to be as 2 days before, the weather was looking nasty, cold and wet and we had to make the call. We chose to table the Centralia trip and to meet for lunch and do some urban photo walking in downtown Hazleton instead, near Christine’s house, where we could also duck into some cool historical buildings to shoot if it got too cold and wet.
It ended up being, of course, almost 70 degrees and warm and dry…talk about the forecast not hitting the mark! We had a really tasty meal at a tiny little dive restaurant that basically looked like someone’s house, run by a very sweet elderly gentleman who made a mean cheesesteak. We talked photography, growing up in PA, Lensbaby, and more, ate our lunch then hit the streets. Below are some of my favorites from the day, all taken with the super versatile can work for almost anything Burnside 35. Next year though, we’re going to make Centralia happen!
Next up in this month’s Lensbaby blog circle takes us back to the beginning with Katrin Bechold’s post where she takes Burnside 35 to Chicago’s Botanical Gardens.
Looks like you had a great day regardless Keri, the Burnside is perfect for this type of photography!
LikeLike