Sunflower Garden

St. Luke’s Arboretum & Gardens of St. Luke’s University Health Network was established in 2020 to foster connections between plants, people, and the community. It functions as a peaceful space where patients, visitors, and staff can enjoy nature, relax, and find comfort. The arboretum features a diverse collection of trees, plants, walking paths, and benches that create a serene environment supportive of healing and well-being. St. Luke’s Arboretum spans approximately 92 acres around St. Luke’s Anderson Campus. Of this, 56 acres are dedicated to seasonal flowers, including cosmos, canola, and crimson clover. The most popular flower field is the 8-acre sunflower field, which blooms every late summer.

The sunflower garden at St. Luke’s University Hospital Anderson Campus is a beautiful sight, bursting into bloom from late July. It features lovely pathways that meander through the field, allowing visitors to get a close-up look at the vibrant flowers, along with cozy benches to sit and enjoy the view.

Full-grown sunflowers face east and stay fixed, often backlit by the sun, creating a picturesque scene.

What’s in Bob’s bag

  • OM1 Mark ll
  • OM-D E-M1 Mark Ill
  • M.Zuiko 40-150mm F2.8 Pro
  • M.Zuiko ED 300mm F4.0 IS Pro
  • M.Zuiko Digital 1.4x Teleconverter MC-14
  • M.Zuiko Digital 2X Teleconverter MC-20
  • M.Zuiko 12-40mm F2.8 Pro
  • M.Zuiko 7-14mm F2.8 Pro
  • M.Zuiko ED 8mm F1.8 Fisheye Pro
  • M.Zuiko ED 12-100mm f4.0 IS Pro
  • M.Zuiko ED 45mm f/1.2
  • M.Zuiko ED 20mm f/1.4
  • M.Zuiko ED 60mm f2.8 Macro
  • M.Zuiko ED 20mm f/1.4 Pro
  • M.Zuiko ED 45mm f/1.2 Pro
  • Manfrotto MHXPRO-BHQ2 XPRO Ball Head
  • Manfrotto 265CB CF Tripod
  • Manfrotto 290 Carbon Fiber Monopod

Burnside Plantation

This historic 6.5-acre farm-in-the-city opened doors to early American agricultural life. The property includes a restored 1748 / 1818 farmhouse, two 1840s bank barns, a large kitchen garden and orchard, a corn crib, and wagon shed.

James Burnside, originally from County Meath, Ireland, traveled to Georgia, and in two years suffered much tragedy – two devastating fires and the death of his first wife. He befriended a member of the Moravian Church in Georgia and came north eventually becoming a Moravian missionary. His daughter Rebecca died at the age of six of smallpox. The following year, he married Mary Wendover, a Moravian widow from the Moravian congregation in New York. In 1747, James and Mary Burnside decided to not follow the choir system of Moravian Bethlehem and purchased 500 acres just north of the Moravian settlement of Bethlehem. Their farm, Burnside Plantation, was the first privately held property in the settlement and first private home. In 1752, James was elected as the first representative to the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly from the newly formed Northampton County. He was a contemporary of Benjamin Franklin serving with him on the Committee for Indian Affairs. Three years after his death, Mary sold the farm to the Moravian Church, and it became Plantation #4 in the Moravian farming system. Three Moravian plantations were located in what is now South Bethlehem.

The use of the word plantation comes from a German word meaning “plantings.” A Moravian plantation was a working farm that produced crops for the entire community.

What’s in Bob’s Bag?

  • OM1 Mark II
  • OM-D E-M1 Mark III
  • M.Zuiko 40-150mm F2.8 Pro
  • M.Zuiko ED 300mm F4.0 IS Pro
  • M.Zuiko Digital 1.4x Teleconverter MC-14
  • M.Zuiko Digital 2X Teleconverter MC-20
  • M.Zuiko 12-40mm F2.8 Pro
  • M.Zuiko 7-14mm F2.8 Pro
  • M.Zuiko ED 8mm F1.8 Fisheye Pro
  • M.Zuiko ED 12-100mm f4.0 IS Pro
  • M.Zuiko ED 45mm f/1.2
  • M.Zuiko ED 20mm f/1.4
  • M.Zuiko ED 60mm f2.8 Macro
  • M.Zuiko ED 20mm f/1.4 Pro
  • M.Zuiko ED 45mm f/1.2 Pro

Flowers at the Allentown, PA Rose Garden

© 2024 Bob Hahn

A Day at the Zoo

Lehigh Valley Zoo located in the heart of the Trexler Nature Preserve, is home to more than 325 animal ambassadors representing over 125 species.

Founded in 1906 by General Harry C. Trexler, a local industrialist, the Trexler Nature Preserve has played a significant role in saving the North American bison from extinction by providing a place where both bison and elk could roam freely undisturbed. In 1935, the County of Lehigh took ownership of the Preserve and, in 1974, construction began on the Preserve’s 29-acre Zoo. In 2004, Lehigh Valley Zoological Society assumed management of the Zoo, as well as the daily management of the bison and elk herd and the palominos in the 1,100-acre Trexler Nature Preserve.

Butterflies, Bees & Wildflowers

Photos taken at the Butterfly Garden in front of the Jacobsburg State Park Visitor Center and the Hummingbird area.

What’s in Bob’s bag?
OM-D E-M1 Mark II
M.Zuiko 40-150mm F2.8 Pro
M.Zuiko ED 300mm F4.0 IS Pro
M.Zuiko Digital 1.4x Teleconverter MC-14
M.Zuiko Digital 2X Teleconverter MC-20
M.Zuiko 12-40mm F2.8 Pro
M.Zuiko 7-14mm F2.8 Pro
M.Zuiko ED 8mm F1.8 Fisheye Pro
M.Zuiko ED 12-100mm f4.0 IS Pro
M.Zuiko 17mm f:2.8 Lens
M.Zuiko ED 60mm f2.8 Macro

Manfrotto MHXPRO-BHQ2 XPRO Ball Head
Manfrotto 265CB CF Tripod
Manfrotto 290 Carbon Fiber Monopod
UV Filters

Frogs at Jacobsburg State Park

Located in the Hummingbird area of the park is a small pond with frogs. I went there recently to photograph Hummingbirds, I did not find any birds instead I found frogs.

What’s in Bob’s bag?

  • OM-D E-M1 Mark II
  • M.Zuiko 40-150mm F2.8 Pro
  • M.Zuiko ED 300mm F4.0 IS Pro
  • M.Zuiko Digital 1.4x Teleconverter MC-14
  • M.Zuiko Digital 2X Teleconverter MC-20
  • M.Zuiko 12-40mm F2.8 Pro
  • M.Zuiko 7-14mm F2.8 Pro
  • M.Zuiko ED 8mm F1.8 Fisheye Pro
  • M.Zuiko ED 12-100mm f4.0 IS Pro
  • M.Zuiko 17mm f:2.8 Lens
  • M.Zuiko ED 60mm f2.8 Macro
  •  Manfrotto MHXPRO-BHQ2 XPRO Ball Head
  • Manfrotto 265CB CF Tripod
  • Manfrotto 290 Carbon Fiber Monopod
  • UV Filters

Aruba Underwater Photo Safari 2018

This was our seventh Aruba Photo Safari. This year we spent more time touring and photographing the island. In the sixteen years I have been visiting Aruba I have never seen the water as rough and currents as strong as this year. Carlos from Mermaid Sport Dives told us it was because of high winds and storms out in the Atlantic.

Barcadera Reef

Barcadera Reef

Dantchi’s Delight Reef

Photos Around The Island

Olympus OM-D/EM1 Mark II in a was PT-EP14 Underwater Housing and PPO-E04 Dome Lens Port use for the underwater photographs. Lighting was two Fantasea Radiant 1600 Video Lights. OM-D/EM1 Mark II was used for all the land photographs.

What’s in Bob’s Bag:

OM-D E-M1 Mark II
M.Zuiko 40-150mm F2.8 Pro
M.Zuiko Digital 1.4x Teleconverter MC-14
M.Zuiko 12-40mm F2.8 Pro
M.Zuiko 7-14mm F2.8 Pro
M.Zuiko ED 12-100mm f4.0 IS Pro
M.Zuiko 17mm f:2.8 Lens
M.Zuiko ED 60mm f2.8 Macro
ED Zuiko 8mm f/3.5 Fisheye Lens
Zuiko 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 ED Lens
MMF-3 Four Thirds Adapter
EC-14 1.4x Teleconverter
Olympus Tough TG4
Pen E-PL7

For more information Aruba Underwater Photo Safari 2019 visit our website
www.underwaterphotoclasses.com/workshops.html

Columcille Megalith Park

While I was searching for a place to photograph fall foliage I cam access this wonderful park located near Bangor, PA.

A land of myth and mystery located in the Appalachian Mountains of eastern Pennsylvania. The park rooted in Celtic spirituality and inspired by the Isle of Iona off the coast of Scotland. It’s an outdoor sanctuary open to the public as a sacred space for quiet meditation.

St. Oran Bell Tower

St. Oran Bell Tower

 

Thor's Gate, Columcille Megalith Park, Bangor, Pennsylvania, United States, © 2017 Bob Hahn

Thor’s Gate

St. Columba Chapel , Columcille Megalith Park, Bangor, Pennsylvania, United States, © 2017 Bob Hahn

St. Columba Chapel

Megaliths, Columcille Megalith Park, Bangor, Pennsylvania, United States, © 2017 Bob Hahn

Megaliths

Bell, Columcille Megalith Park, Bangor, Pennsylvania, United States, © 2017 Bob Hahn

Bell

 

 

Hoover Mason Trestle Re-visited

The Hoover Mason Trestle in the evening.

The Hoover-Mason Trestle at Sunset

Moon rise at the Trestle

Hoover-Mason Trestle

Location: SteelStacks, 711 First Street, Bethlehem, PA 18015

Hoover Mason Trestle

Hoover-Mason Trestle

The Hoover Mason Trestle, at the former Bethlehem Steel Plant, used as a narrow gauge railroad to carry the coke, limestone and iron ore to make the iron from the ore yards to the blast furnaces. Now a public walkway designed to be a museum,  community recreation resource and attraction.  The trestle stands 46 feet tall and 2,000 feet long. Opened on June 25, the Hoover Mason Trestle located along the blast furnaces with one entrance at the Visitor Center and another at either end of the Gas Blowing Engine House providing access from the Sands parking lot or PBS 39 end of the campus.

The Hoover-Mason Trestle was completed in 1907 and named after the Chicago-based engineers who designed it. For over 80 years, cars delivered raw materials including limestone, iron ore, and coke to the blast furnaces. Men worked around the clock, in three shifts, emptying carloads of materials into storage bins below.

The blast furnaces operated continuously and required constant feeding of materials. Tons of limestone, iron ore or pellets, and coke would be loaded into the furnace in layers. Hot air was blown in near the bottom to fuel the reaction.

Hoover-Mason Trestle

The Blower House generated the “wind” for the blast furnaces. Inside this building, rows of giant gas-powered engines pumped pressurized air out to the stoves. The stoves heated the air before it was forced into the furnace. This hot pressurized air reacted with the coke (fuel), producing intense heat and carbon monoxide.

Hoover-Mason Trestle

Location: SteelStacks, 711 First Street, Bethlehem, PA 18015