The Glorious Centennial Barn and My Magical Ability to Change the Seasons

One of the things I love best about photography is meeting with other photographers. I’m fortunate to have a great group of friends who are within driving distance of me, with whom I love getting together occasionally. A day in June, 2010, saw one such day … which started out raining buckets as we toured the State House in Harrisburg, PA, but which cleared up beautifully when we branched out into the countryside. The Centennial Barn at Fort Hunter, Harrisburg, is the location of this particular capture.

“Centennial Barn” … from Lois Bryan Photography and Digital Art

If you were paying attention, you’ll notice I mentioned the photo, on which this digitally hand-painted image is based, was taken in June, yet there is a distinct autumnal feeling to this one, isn’t there. Thank you, Photoshop!! It being early October as I write, I’m in a fall-kind of mood and I get to do things like change the seasons with a swipe of my Wacom pen (think of it as a magic wand, I know I do!!). Only wish I could get the thing to work on stuff like fixing dinner and removing wrinkles (the ones in real life, not just the ones in photography … and don’t think I haven’t given it a bit of thought).

This glorious barn was built in 1876 and housed the budding dairy milk business of John Reilly. Constructed with Gothic Revival details in typical German bank barn form, the structure graciously housed the 19th century Fort Hunter Dairy. Today the Centennial Barn is used as a community meeting center which may be rented for weddings, meetings and parties. It was named the Centennial Barn in modern times. My thanks to the Fort Hunter Mansion & Park website for the info.

Original photo taken with the Nikon D300 and the 18-200mm vr Nikkor lens. Lots of fun in Photoshop CS6, including a blend with a Photomatix / hdr version, then a full digital hand-painting in Corel Painter 2015 for a colorful, painterly, splashy look, including a hint of texture from Jerry Jones / Skeletal Mess.

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As always, a click on the image takes you to my main artsy-fartsy website with a view of the pic in better resolution and less horrid watermark. Also … just in case your interested … oodles of fun product types there … just in case … ….