I have made photos of this steeple at Salem College in North Carolina on several occasions. The private college is located in Old Salem in Winston-Salem and is only an hour’s drive or so form where we live in Virginia. This time I wanted to look at the steeple from a new angle and this is what I got. The dark skies added to the image in my opinion.
Here’s the front of a historic house in Old Salem, North Carolina.
Now, here’s an image of the rear of that same house.
Had I not wandered around back I would never have known that the rear entrance to the house was at a much lower elevation compared to the front and had a very nice set of stairs going up. Since that entrance was “street-side” it was in fact perhaps the main entryway.
Nothing special here…just two images I made recently. The first one is an original cobble-stone street in Danville, Virginia…unused today. The other is…well…just a brick wall with some shadows left by the bush in front. One of the best parts of digital photography is that you can “shoot away” whenever your eye spots something of interest…whether or not anyone else besides you is in fact “interested.”
Once, many cities and towns in America had numerous small barber shops located all over. The red, white and blue spiral sign outside was beautiful when lit up and rotating at night. Inside, one could meet friends, gossip, read magazines, take a nap and lots of other things while waiting to have the friendly barber go snip-snip…hopefully keeping one’s sideburns level. This one is obviously closed in Danville, Virginia…but I thought it would make for a nice recollection of our history.
In the past, brick style buildings with rather high walls between floors, were constructed using long steel rods to add strength to the walls, by securing each end of the rod with “star-shaped” devices as seen here. I have always looked for one of them laying about so I might make it my own, but I have never been lucky that way. So, I let my camera do the taking.
What caught my eye here, other than the nice contrasting colors and patterns, is the way the two doors are situated. What happened, for example, when one walked out the one on top? Just kidding, I am sure there was once a platform present. This old building is located in the historic Tobacco District in Danville, Virginia. Tobacco was once “king” in Danville and surrounding areas…today it’s a presence seen only in decaying warehouses, log-crib curing barns, and faded signs. Other than the nostalgia involved, seeing the demise of tobacco is not a bad thing. Just my opinion.
An iconic newspaper in Danville is the Register Bee. Today it has a circulation around 15,000. Years ago, it operated in a large multi-story building in the center of town and I captured a bit of that building here. I liked the way I could frame the engraved title at the top of the building with a pink-colored portion of a building behind…with a small bit of blue sky also showing. The building today is empty, with the offices of the newspaper having moved elsewhere. Progress? I think not.
The courthouse in downtown Danville, Virginia is not that different in design from what you’d see elsewhere. So, what I did was to position myself in various locations in front, looking up the steps to the main doors. The fact that one of the doors was made of brightly polished brass, and the railing up the steps was similar in nature, gave me some contrasty colors in the photo composition. My first capture (above) is different from my second and third below. Point being to “move around” when making photos and get away from the standard “tourist-type” composition. Try to create interest in what you make.
Without a doubt the best place to have lunch if you are traveling along Route 8 through Floyd, Virginia is at the cafe on the upper level of the Harvest Moon Food Store. Natasha’s serves mostly items made in-house, including breads, crackers, sausages and desserts. At least 75 percent of the menu items are purchased locally and they choose organic and sustainable ingredients whenever possible. If the cafe appears a bit foreign to a town situated smack-dab in the midst of rural “bluegrass music” country as Floyd is, one only has to look at the large artist community also located in the area. Original pottery, oil and other paintings along with various types of metal and wood sculptures are made by local artisans…and when you eat at Natasha’s, you may see a few. The day I was there I ordered a well-done Rustic Burger (about a half-pound) with caramelized onions and melted gouda cheese on top, inside a hot fresh-baked roll…with a side order of homemade potato salad. Burp!
I am always looking for potential photos I might make of windows. Here’s another one I found recently. I especially like making these when “squiggly” antique glass is involved…and when I can position myself so I can see through the window inside…in this case also seeing “out” a window adjacent. It all made for a nice composition in my opinion.
