Everybody’s got one, right? Where’s yours?
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The Long & Winding Road
“The long and winding road that leads to your door
Will never disappear
I’ve seen that road before it always leads me here
Leads me to your door”– Lennon–McCartney
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Beauty
“Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.”
– Anne Frank
Passion
It’s what motivates us to sometimes subject ourselves to situations against our better judgement. It motivates us to want to come back. It makes us sometimes justify enduring the pain and mental anguish because we have an inexplicable connection with it – whatever “it” may be. We just want more and we’ll do anything we can to remain connected in any way possible because we just love it. I’ve been connected to cycling now for over 30 years and, although I don’t race as much anymore, I still love the sport and all things associated with it.
“The Hill” on the course of the ever-popular Virginia Spring classic – the Jefferson Cup Road Race in Charlottesville, VA.
Open Air Fruit Market
There’s just something about New York City that I love. I’m not really sure what it is and it may just be a novelty because I don’t actually live there. But I do enjoy it. While I was there for a conference last Fall it was a mission of mine to make it to Grand Central Terminal. And not because of anything else but to simply visit the Apple Store that’s housed inside. I just think it’s cool that the Apple Store sits on the platform above the largest rail station in the world. Very clever Apple.
The biggest of the 5 Apple stores in Manhattan wraps around the upper concourse of Grand Central Terminal.
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“The Bridges of Lancaster County”
We took an impromptu weekend trip to Lancaster County in PA a couple of years ago just to see the covered bridges. Aside from jumping back in history, it’s fun to just do something spontaneous every once in a while.
One of the 29 covered bridges in Lancaster County, PA.
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Selfie
I think my dog Waldo is learning to appreciate the fact that I almost always have a camera handy and that he’s an unwilling subject in of a lot of my images.
A new twist on the ever-popular selfie. I just always have to be slightly different.
Worship
“Worship is one of the odder things the Christian community does…
But, with worship there is the very real potential and possibility that, by God’s Spirit, I will be enlivened, nourished, purified, opened, surrendered and so will you.”
The very elegant communion table in the Boyd Chapel of First Presbyterian Church, Winchester.
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Open Arms
Welcoming “Spring” with open arms. Although 2 hours on the indoor trainer is good for me, I think I’m going to crack if this weather doesn’t get better soon. Really looking forward to normal outdoor recreational activity in the very near future.
The plants so desperately want to start blossoming.
The Badlands
Even though we really just breezed through and didn’t really get a chance to go to any of the lookouts, it really was a unique experience. It really did feel like we were out in the middle of nowhere.
The seriously wacky other-worldly landscape of the Badlands in South Dakota.
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Wall Drug
Wall Drug Store in Wall, South Dakota. If you’ve never been, put it on your list (at least if you’re anywhere near). It’s one of those places that you have to visit multiple times because you WILL miss stuff. It’s a treasure trove for kids, families, travelers and people who just like the unique. There’s stuff tucked everywhere – it’s amazing they fit that much stuff in one place. As we drove across South Dakota (and even when we were in Minnesota), we drove past all sorts of marketing billboards. It’s very similar to all the hype about and marketing for South of The Border as your travel into South Carolina from the north. But Wall Drug has that unique western flair to it. We loved it.
There’s something unique around every corner at Wall Drug Store. I poked my head into one of the doors and saw this. | Order a print of this image.
Higher Ed
Shot this one a while back, but I’m only just now getting around to processing it. I’m heading to Charlottesville next week for a bike race so maybe this begins my next collection – Higher Ed.
The main entrance to Cole Hall on Bridgewater College’s campus in Bridgewater, VA.
Discovery
It probably seems random to go back to posting images from Udvar Hazy Air & Space Center, but that’s just me right now – random. Just whatever pops into my head as I look through my huge library of images. This is, after all, a photography blog (I feel like I’ve said that before).
A perfect vantage point for photos of the Space Shuttle Discovery. | Order a print of this image.
The Wee Hours
Aside from all the obvious benefits of cycling all these years, I’ve also become conditioned to being awake for the wee hours of the morning. It also comes in handy as a photographer.
Like I said, spend the rest of the weekend shooting the good stuff. | Order a print of this image.
Postcard
The current Cape Henry Lighthouse from inside the stairwell of the original.
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I’ve had plenty of people tell me that my photos remind them of postcards. To be honest (and absolutely no offense intended), that’s more of an insult than a compliment – and here’s why (at least from a photographer’s perspective). One of the main goals of any professional photographer is to be different, to separate their work from all others. A postcard is a tourist souvenir that simply showcases where you are. You can share it with others or keep it for your scrapbook. Point is, it’s usually a simple image of the surrounding area – nothing incredibly creative (keep in mind I’m strictly talking about the image postcards, not the creatively designed ones). So even though I wouldn’t mind if my images landed on postcards some day, a significant part of me lashes out inside when I hear “your photo belongs on a postcard.”
Now here’s the disclaimer…
In my early days I actually used to go straight to the postcard racks to see if I could recreate the images I found there and I usually could. Fast forward to today and you’ll still find me looking at the racks, but now I look to make sure I’m NOT shooting the same stuff. Sure, everybody wants to take the pretty images of any locale. So once you’re done shooting like everybody else, take the tourist hat off and BURN IT. Then spend the next 15 minutes or day or weekend shooting unique images.
Travel
The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see.
– G.K. Chesterton
The symbolic passing of the torch. The original Cape Henry Lighthouse (1792) stands in the foreground and the current (and fully automated) lighthouse (1881) stands behind it.
The two Cape Henry Lighthouses standing side by side in VA Beach.
Patuxent
After leaving DC, I ventured into Maryland before heading down to VA Beach. It’s always fun discovering new places. I even drove through Hollywood and California on my way to the lighthouse featured a couple of days ago.
Drove over this bridge to the lighthouse, but had to photograph it before leaving. | Order a print of this image.
Rumble
Loads of images to go through. Long weekend. Very little sleep. Horrific road conditions on the way home. Still had a good time. Thank goodness for that ingenious invention – the rumble strip.
For the last 40 miles of my trip the rumble strip was the only way I could tell where I was. This is I-66 in VA. Average speed was about 30 miles an hour from Richmond to Winchester!
Lemonade
“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade”
So after a botched attempt to shoot a marathon this morning in DC, I figured I’d take the time and go on a proper photo shoot – and apparently it revolved around lighthouses.
My Lemonade…
The Drum Point Lighthouse at the Calvert Marine Museum in Maryland | Order a print of this image.
The staircase (190 steps) of the original Cape Henry Lighthouse in Virginia Beach | Order a print of this image.
The Middle
The middle of nowhere. The middle of the country. The middle of the road. And just past the middle of our RV trip.
Took a little digging, but I found the exact spot we stopped for some photos!
Cedarmeade Studios 