2024 Lititz Community Choice Calendar

Captured January 7th, 2022 at 6:20 AM. I captured this just 12 minutes after the January image on the very same early morning photo adventure in the snow.

Lititz Springs Park is iconic. All of the land in Lititz was originally owned by the Moravian Church and this is one of the remnants of that period, as the park land is still owned by the church to this day. However, the property is now run by the Lititz Springs Park board, which is made up of members selected from local churches. This board does an amazing job of overseeing and maintaining the park as well as making it a community hub for events such as the Lititz Fourth of July and Fireworks, the art show, and even a Farmers Market in the Summer and early Fall.

This scene near the front of the park features the Oehme Gazebo in the foreground, often used for weddings, band performances, religious services, and more. The train car in the background offers tours and a local rail history lesson.

I purposely avoided walking into this scene before I captured it to make sure there were no footprints, which means I had to approach it from the other side of the creek.

Captured March 31st, 2022 at 7:46pm. I decided to take a walk around town at sunset, despite the forecast of a Spring rain rolling through. In fact, the rain was a welcome break. The Moravian church is very important to Lititz. Lititz was founded by Moravians in 1756 seeking religious freedom. For a century, only members of the Moravian congregation could live in Lititz. Even after that non-members had to lease the land for a long period.

It’s because of the Moravian Church’s close historical connection with Lititz that the church itself is still an integral part of the community today. It’s also a large part of what makes Lititz unique.

The church campus is set back from Main Street and features several historic buildings, including this iconic steeple-topped place of worship.

For this shot, I purposely let many of the highlights overexpose. The thought was to add a bit of otherworldly glow and to ensure a nice cozy warmth to contrast with the cold blues of the sky and ground. The rain helped enhance the natural contrast of the grass and flowering trees.

Captured April 25th, 2023 at 7:13pm. This was part of a one-day personal project I created called “The Line” where I walked the remnants of the old rail line that ran through Lititz, then continued onto the rail trail that was created over top the unused line. This trail, called the Warwick to Ephrata Rail Trail (WERT) is popular amongst locals of Lititz, Rothsville, Akron, Ephrata, visitors, and other locals. Whether on bike or on foot, the rail trail offers a unique way to explore the area between Lititz and Ephrata.

The trail was not always this complete, however. In fact, as recently as 2018, a large section was still missing and it was only possible to go about a mile beyond Lititz before you were met with a dead end.

Plans are being whispered about a possible expansion - as of Spring of 2023, two more rail crossings of the very same track the WERT replaced were removed in Lititz. Locals are excited about the potential to park downtown and bike or hike all the way to Ephrata without leaving the trail.

For this shot, I wanted to do something unique, all the while keeping the scene recognizable as being on the WERT. It’s a very popular trail for photos, especially this section at the beginning of the trail near N Oak Street, where the trail runs through a beautiful section of trees. I chose this image out of 5 total scenes I captured of this section because it felt the most like Spring. That flowering tree, along with the yellowing sky and Spring-green leaves just called out to me for this shot. I utilized some a longer lens and some creative framing to keep distractions out of frame and purposely let the shadows go pretty dark to give the feeling of walking through the forest in the late evening, just before sunset.

Captured May 14th, 2022 at 8:24pm. The Bull’s Head Public House is a Lititz icon and as such deserves a photo worthy of its status. While walking around during a rainy evening, I happened to notice there were no cars parked in front of the Bull’s Head at all - a rare occurrence! As I walked on the sidewalk opposite it, I kept looking back for a specific angle. As I was composing, a car pulled up in front of the building. I had to act fast.

I put my camera up to my face and quickly re-composed the shot, using the light post as the far left side of the frame instead of the corner of the building. In the final shot, the car is JUST out of frame.

With this shot, I wanted to represent the personality of the Bull’s Head. It is a British Pub after all, and I felt like showing a peak at the sign at this angle, letting the warmness of the lights shine strongly over the cool damp street and sidewalk just gave it that welcoming “at-home” feel often associated with British pubs over in the UK.

Captured May 28th, 2023 at 9:11pm. Alden House Bed and Breakfast is as cozy as it is picturesque. An old, brick home on Main Street turned into a relaxing place to kick back while visiting town. This image was captured on Memorial Day weekend, when everywhere in town has American flags and banners proudly on display.

This was another shot I was just waiting for the right time to do. When I saw that the sky was clear so I could get a nice blue glow, and noticed the Moravian star with the beautiful yellow lights in the windows of the neighbor, I knew it was time.

I actually set out to shoot this scene no matter what, but as soon as I saw how perfect everything fit into what I had in my head, it immediately became a priority.

For this shot, I wanted to capture that "Small Town America” feel Lititz is known for. I paid special attention to the depth of the scene and ensuring the lights in the scene were utilized to enhance the depth that was already there. This is absolutely one of my favorite images I’ve ever captured of downtown Lititz.

Captured July 3rd, 2021 at 10:13 PM during the annual Lititz Springs Park 4th of July Celebration fireworks! This is a very popular and well-known image and was the cover of the 2023 L3C. This shot was one of my backups - in fact, this was plan “D”. I had scouted several locations for fireworks around the newly renovated Wilbur Chocolate Factory building and, unfortunately, the first three scenes had the fireworks blocked by the building itself. This was my very last chance to capture fireworks as after this, I had no more scenes planned.

The Lititz Springs Park 4th of July Celebration has been going strong since 1818! It’s an annual event that happens in Lititz Springs Park filled with concerts, events, food trucks, traditions, fireworks, and more!

For this shot, I has scouted based on the height of the fireworks in previous years. The year before this event, in 2020, the fireworks were at a different location. So, all of my estimates of height and angles of sight were based on the 2019 fireworks. However, what I did not know is that the fireworks were slightly further into the park and about 50 feet lower than they were in 2019. These factors are why my first three scenes didn’t work and why the fireworks appear so low in the sky here.

Captured August 7th, 2022 at 7:36pm during a beautiful sunset at the front of Lititz Springs Park.

If you’ve been following me for awhile, you know how much a love Lititz Springs Park. I captured this while on one of my regular walks at sunset around town. The beautiful colors of the flowers here immediately stood out and pulled this shot out of my in-head list of scenes. Once I bent down and started framing the shot, I saw just how awesome the fountain looked with the yellow sunset shining through it. After I placed everything where I wanted in the frame, All that was left to do was wait for the wind to blow the flag.

This was a really fun shot to do and seeing me lay on the ground covered in ants must have been quite funny to passers-by.

I was surprised to see so few people in the park here too, considering the weather.

Captured September 1st, 2020 at 6:02pm on a drive home from Middle Creek. This was one of the luckiest “right place at right time” photos I have ever captured.

I had just finished up a trip to Middle Creek where I had to leave a bit early because of a severe storm. The road had actually flooded a bit along Kleinfeltersville Road, and I was eager to make it back home to Lititz. I’d taken Hopeland Road and crossed over 322, heading towards Brunnerville. As I reached the Brunnerville Hotel intersection I looked to my left and saw it. A rainbow. A VERY bright rainbow.

”Wow”, I thought said aloud. “I need to get that”. My mind raced about the most scenic place that was close enough to get to before the rainbow vanished. I stayed stopped at the stop sign as I thought. I probably had five minutes, maybe less. Without any particular thought as to why, I made a right turn onto Lexington Road. About half a mile later I knew I had to just stop at the first public place I could. Midway Mennonite Church. I pulled into the parking lot. It was still raining, but the sun was out. I opened my sunroof so I could stand up in my car to see over the corn, and I started shooting.

The photo itself turned out fine. But whatever technical or compositional issues it may have, that rainbow makes it shine.

Captured October 25th, 2022 at 3:43pm, this was captured on my first day back from a trip short trip to Virginia. Just a day or two after, the green truck pictured here would be moved across to the other side of the park entrance near the blue Lititz historical marker.

The Savory Gourmet Green truck is super popular for photo-ops and has become an annual tradition. A restored 1940s Dodge truck, it’s a huge draw for families as kids are quick to run over to it to explore the straw, pumpkins, and flowers in the bed.

I try capture this scene differently every year, in multiple styles. For this one, I packed in as much as I could. If you look really closely, you can see the “Open” banner on the Welcome Center, the clock framed perfectly among the Fall leaves, the Wilbur mural, tons of foliage, and even the sidewalk in front of the Wilbur building going off into the distance on the far right.

One of the staples of my work is a highly detailed scene and that was the goal here. I wanted to capture just how picturesque and full of beauty the front of the park is, especially during the Fall.

Captured November 1st, 2022 at 4:24pm as I was trying out some new lenses. This was one of the first photos that I captured with what later became my favorite lens.

This scene is one I capture on almost every walk. It feels like it’s always changing! And that’s helped by the Historical Foundation’s frequent updating of seasonal decorations.

The big draw for me here though is the color of those leaves. Every year these leaves get more and more gorgeous as that tree’s canopy fills out. The deep oranges and reds stand out so beautifully against the white and grey building. Then with the Fall decorations to tie everything together, the work was already done for me. The worst thing I could do was fight against the shot that was already in front of me. So, I settled for a composition that showed off everything I liked about the scene that also incorporated in some interesting design elements.

I made sure to include the roof as well, as it’s made of slate and really adds to the rustic feel of the scene.