Two views of the same thing … one far away, the other close up. What caught my eye was the golden color of the wide mountain grass field, with the bright green bush in the center of it all.
A Favorite Blue Ridge View
I have, over the years, made numerous photos of this view near Rocky Knob above 3000 feet elevation along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia. To me, it depicts what living and farming (hard as it may be) is like at this elevation … in such a historic and beautiful region. I love it!
Mabry’s Mill along the Blue Ridge Parkway
This is probably one of the most “photographed” attractions along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia and NOrth Carolina. Whenever I go past, I MUST stop to capture an image…at least one, usually more. There is a restaurant adjacent to the old mill and it’s adjacent structures and attractions, and during summer weekends there are exhibitions given by artisans who demonstrate how milling and farming tasks were done in times past. Hard to find a place to park then. But in the winter months, the place is essentially deserted, as it was the day I was there for this photo opportunity.
Lover’s Leap View
I was stopped just below 3000 feet elevation along Highway 58 headed “up the mountain” (as it’s called around here when one goes into the Blue Ridge Mountains) at a popular location called Lover’s Leap. An old indian legend gave the spot its name. Anyway…I spotted the red-roofed farm way below, and I positioned myself so it could be seen, framed by a couple of trees. The best time to make photos in the Blue Ridge is (in my opinion) when there are no leaves on the trees. You can just see so much more, and besides the air is much clearer in the winter months at this elevation. Click the image to enlarge so you can see the farm better.
Caddy Hub Cap
Per my last post, I made lots of photos at the “old house” in Sandy Ridge, NC. I wanted to save this one for a single post…cause I like it. Click to enlarge to see some of the details that caught my eye…especially the logo in the center.
Our First Snow Day in 2012
Well…it finally came…snow that is. Best part is being able to make photos at sunrise, next best part is that it’s going to warm up today. As my Dad used to say when I was a young boy, “God brought it son and He will take it away.” For me now, that will happen quickly…thus making it unnecessary for me to have to shovel it off the driveway. Thankfully! Here’s some outside and one inside photo to record the event. I suspect this will be “it” for snow this winter. That’s fine by me, ’cause the next time it might be a “shovel” event.
This Old House
Like a moth drawn to a warm summer’s evening porch light, it’s impossible for me to pass up photo opportunities which usually exist on, in and around old, abandoned houses. I’m fortunate to be living near many such photo attractions, as I drive around rural southern Virginia and northern North Carolina, on one of my many totally unplanned but always rewarding photo road trips. A recent late afternoon journey brought me to Sandy Ridge, North Carolina…just a road junction mostly, but with an old house and its surrounding attractions you see below sitting right at that intersection. An hours driving, using $3.49 gas, brought me here, but it was definitely worth the time and cost. I hope you enjoy seeing a part of what I saw.
As an aside, for any “photo guys” who might be interested, I used a new camera to make these photos. It’s a much smaller and lighter interchangeable lens camera system, Panasonic GX1, which is taking the place of my MUCH larger and heavier Nikon DSLR I’ve been lugging around for years. So far, the camera is performing as I hoped it would. As a second aside, there is a growing trend world wide toward these lighter but still excellent performing camera systems, leaving larger more traditional DSLRs to those who make their living totally with photography.
Always look in the store window
When the suns shines just right in an antique store window, you might see something like this…as I did in Eden, NC recently.
What’s this?
Often I see things which I am not sure what they are…or what they do. Here’s an example. I think it’s some sort of valve like a fire hydrant. Regardless of my ignorance about my photo subject, it’s still pretty neat looking and made for a nice composition. You might say that the latter portion of that sentence really means I could not find anything else to photograph so that was it. Yup…that was it.
A Hanging Basket
The flowers are fake, but my photo is definitely real. When I walk around with my camera, in places that one might suspect are devoid of photo subjects, I always seem to find something interesting to capture digitally. Maybe it’s luck…maybe not.
