A Few Images From A Recent Day

A stately and really old Live Oak tree on the grounds of Westover Church (click to enlarge)
All images made with a Fujfilm X-T2, 16-55 f/2.8 lens
22mm; 1/50th sec. @ f/11; ISO 800

Previously I posted a few images over the past week or so from a day out casually photographing on the way to Richmond, Virginia as well in Richmond.  You can see examples here, here, here and here.  The photographs in those posts were not specifically about Richmond, but they were made on that particular day.  I thought I would share a few more.  None are earth shattering nor groundbreaking.  Certainly none are great images.  They are really a record of a really enjoyable day.  Some may even be interesting!

A good photographer friend (and fellow Fujifilm shooter whose excellent blog "Two Lane Touring" can be found here) and I decided to get together and take a day to just go out and enjoy our friendship, catch up (he lives about a 4 hour drive from me), solve the world's problems and not least of all, share the photographic experience.  Often times, whether friends get together to go hunting, fishing, attend craft shows, festivals or just sit in a coffee house and drink coffee, the time is as much about sharing time with friends as it is about actually the "thing" that brought you together.  In our case, our photography day was as much about friends sharing the friendship as it was about photography.

Westover Church and Graveyard

Entrance, Westover Church (click to enlarge)
Notice the pile of rocks in the lower left corner.
35mm; 1/55th sec. @ f/11; ISO 800

We spent an hour driving to Richmond from SE Virginia, stopping along the way.  The faster way from SE Virginia to Richmond is to drive  Interstate 64.  That is, unless there is one of its normal traffic jams is in progress.  However, the much better way to drive to Richmond is on one of the secondary roads among the fields, forests, farms and small towns of eastern Virginia, passing many historic landmarks along the way.  There are three primary routes I would suggest.  They are Virginia Route 10, Route 5 or Route 60 as better options.  We chose Route 5 from Williamsburg as that is where met met that morning.

One such landmark along Virginia Route 5 is Westover Church and its adjacent graveyard.  Built in 1731, it remained in use until it was abandoned in 1803.  The sanctuary was then used as a barn.  Revived and restored in 1833, the church has been in continuous use as a place of worship, except for a short time during the Civil War.  Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler and Theodore Roosevelt have attended services in this old, rather non-descript but important building. (source: Wikipedia)

Daylilies adorning the graveyard adjacent to the old sanctuary. (click to enlarge)
22mm; 1/50th sec. @ f/16; ISO 800

This scene "had" be be converted to black and white to be effective.  The bench, just adjacent to the grave,
is carefully placed so the loved ones left behind can sit, contemplate and think about their dear departed. (click to enlarge)
This image has become one of my favorite cemetery photographs for my Cemetery Project.
51mm; 1/500th sec. @ f/4; ISO 800

Almost gone. A couple of more years and the vegetation will have consumed the
entirety of this gravestone. (click to enlarge)
32mm; 1/25th sec. @ f/11; ISO 800

James River


One of the first places we visited was the James River adjacent to downtown Richmond.  The James is wholly contained within the Commonwealth of Virginia, has its origins in the Blue Ridge mountains and flows out to sea in the the Hampton Roads which is at the confluence of the James, three separate branches of the Elizabeth River and the Chesapeake Bay.  I think it flows for about 325 miles or so.  It is navigable by ocean going ships up to Richmond at which point the James has many rocks, rapids, etc.  It is easy to see in the image below that the James was flowing heavy with silt from the red iron rich soil of central Virginia the day we visited.

The James River was running fast the day we visited.  I call this "bad water."  Not good for swimming or any other
type of aquatic activity, as far as I'm concerned. (click to enlarge)
17mm; 1/2 sec. @ f/5.6; ISO 200 (10-stop ND filter)

Tredegar Iron Works

Upon arriving in Richmond and continuing with our appreciation of history, we first stopped at the Tredegar Iron Works (TIW), adjacent to the James River.  Thankfully, the TIW is now under the purview of the National Park Service, which will guarantee its maintenance and history.  The last time I visited the TIW the buildings and surrounds had fallen into a bit of disrepair.  It is nice to see the facilities looking good once more with many visitors.

The Tredegar Iron Works, opened in 1837, was named after the town of Tredegar, Wales, from where many of its original iron workers immigrated to operate the foundry.  The TIW, was instrumental in the Civil War as it produced about 1/2 of the artillery used by the Confederate Army.  It also supplied the iron plate used to protect the CSS Virginia, popularly misnamed the "Merrimack", the iron clad ship which fought in the Battle of Hampton Roads against the Union Ship, the USS Monitor.  The turret of the USS Monitor can be seen in the Mariner's Museum in Newport News, Virginia.  TIW closed in 1957 as the demand for iron products declined with the continued rise of steel.

The main remaining building and National Park Service entrance.  A museum is in a building
just to the right. That is a water wheel in the lower right of the image. (click to enlarge)
21mm; 1/480th sec. @ f/5.6; ISO 200

Part of the original foundry apparatus. (click to enlarge)
41mm; 1/105th sec. @ f/8; ISO 400

Part of the original foundry apparatus. (click to enlarge)
33mm; 1/40th sec. @ f/8; ISO 400

Part of the original foundry apparatus. (click to enlarge)
16mm; 1/150th sec. @ f/11; ISO 200

An original 19th century sandstone and brick wall.  I liked the Lamb's Ear growing out of the cracks. (click to enlarge)
55mm; 1/280th sec. @ f/8; ISO 200

Hollywood Cemetery

Angel sculpture resting with the soul of the departed. (click to enlarge)
26mm; 1/500th sec. @ f/5; ISO 200

From Tredegar, we traveled to one of my favorite places in Richmond, the Hollywood Cemetery.  Why a favorite place?  I have had a fascination with cemeteries and graveyards for many, many years.  In fact, years ago, I started a Cemetery Project which can be seen on my website, here.  Whenever I travel, I try to seek out and find old cemeteries as the layout, headstones, monuments, sculptures, epitaphs, etc. are a reflection of the culture at the time, both culture of place and culture of time.  I find the headstones, monuments, epitaphs, sculptures and cemetery grounds wherever I travel a fascinating study of our country.

I've been to Hollywood Cemetery a number of times and I always see something new and quite interesting.  Sometimes I find sadness in the grave of a child. I try to photograph what I find that stimulates an emotion in me.

This small child's grave saddened me.  The family, a friend or another placed two tiny shoes on the headstone.
I suspect they were the child's during life.  Very sad as this child really didn't get an opportunity to live. (click to enlarge)
55mm; 1/200th sec. @ f/5.6; ISO 200

This statue was among several graves that belonged to children.  Poignant. (click to enlarge)
53mm; 1/320th sec. @ f/2.8; ISO 200

The Hollywood cemetery is adjacent to the James River.  Between the James and the cemetery is part of the old canal constructed to serve Tredegar Iron Works.  Also, the CSX Railroad's mainline to central and western Virginia runs next to the James.  Being a railroad aficionado since I was a boy, I've wanted to photograph a train on this S-curve for some time.  This is the first time I've seen a train on these particular tracks.

The S-curve with two CSX trains, a coal train bound for Newport News terminals to be shipped
overseas, probably to China. Also, a grain train. The tracks are adjacent to the cemetery. (click to enlarge)
55mm; 1/420th sec. @ f/5.6; ISO 200 (heavily cropped)

Carytown

After a time in the cemetery, we decided we needed some sustenance and headed over to the Carytown section of Richmond.  Quite eclectic and full of energy, diverse with lots of bistros, coffee shops, murals painted on building walls, street vendors, colors, shapes and activities.  It reminds me of one of the neighborhoods in New York City, but on a bit smaller scale.  That day was the first time I photographed in Carytown and I want to go back when I have more time just to wander, walk the streets, stop, take in the unusual and stand waiting for something interesting to happen before me. A nice bonus is that there is a viable, healthy working Camera Store—Richmond Camera—in Carytown!  Talking to one of the young men working there, he was very well versed and knowledgeable in photography.  Kudos to Richmond Camera.  A pleasant surprise!

A serene smile from the "King of Pops?"  Maybe should be the "Queen of Pops." (click to enlarge)
Interesting body language by both of them.  I sense a bit of hesitancy to approach this young lady by the young man.
33mm; 1/250th sec. @ f/11; ISO 640

Getting going! (click to enlarge)
44mm; 1.250th sec. @ f/11; ISO 1250

Had lunch at this restaurant.  This sign is located behind it on the wall facing the alley. (click to enlarge)
Excellent food, by the way.  I had a patty melt with Russian dressing included.  That was interesting.
25mm; 1/400th sec. @ f/5.6; ISO 200

I saw the couple looking intently at something a mobile phone, spotted the painted mural, then
realized the mural was of a couple of "love birds,"  nicely complimenting the "love birds" below.
This was a "from the hip" shot.  Just pointed the camera toward them and pressed the shutter
before I was seen, as that would have changed their behavior if they were aware of my presence.
55mm; 1/250th sec. @ f/11; ISO 320

I look for unusual color, shape, object juxtopositions such as this as part of my "Eggleston" project.
55mm; 1/250th sec. @ f/11; ISO 640

At the end of the day, I was quite satisfied with not only my photographs, but the entire experience.  Even though I mostly photograph alone (as many of us do), I found sharing the experience with a fellow photographer and good friend even better.  We look forward to doing it again.

Join me over at Instagram @dennisamook or my website, www.dennismook.com.

Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

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