Picture This!

Do you enjoy taking photographs? Sure, who doesn't? But have you been feeling lately that there must be more to life than posting pix of yourself (and/or your kid and/or your cat and/or your hobbies) on Facebook?

Now, thanks to two sites on the Trails of History, there is more.


Eckley in Winter
PHMC/Eckley Miners' Village, photo by Chris Deemer

Starting on Sept. 20, photographers are invited to enjoy and capture the beauty of fall foliage at Eckley Miners' Village. (Yes, I know the photo above isn't fall foliage but it's one of my favorite shots of the village.) Please register at the visitor center during regular business hours (Monday-Saturday, 9-5, and Sunday, noon-5). You'll be asked to pay $5 per day (which is a bargain) and then you're free to roam (please remember that some of the houses in the village still have people living in them).

Entries will be accepted through December 1st and must be printed for submission. The winner will receive a $25 cash prize, a certificate, and a complimentary one-year membership in the Eckley Miners' Village Associates.

J Tower (originally located in Lemoyne, PA, now in Strasburg)
PHMC/Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, photo by Ryan C. Kunkle

Those of you who love to take photos of railroad people, places, or equipment will have a chance to show off your work through the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania's photo contest. Entrants can submit up to three photos (shots taken in 2012 in Pennsylvania, please). A panel of judges will select a youth division and adult division winner in each category (people, places, equipment) to receive a $100 cash prize. All entries will be included in the Museum's 2013 changing exhibit (opening in the spring) either as a framed print or as part of a video slide show. (Go here for details about the contest.) Entries will be accepted through Jan. 31, 2013.

So get out there and start snapping (see kids, in the old days, we called them snapshots--you can look it up on the google).