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| New Lebanon Christian Church, Surry, Virginia. I happened upon this church on a back road, stopped and found the light was absolutely beautiful! (click to enlarge) |
Last week we had two days of glorious weather! The temperatures were in the low 80s F (~28ยบ C), the humidity was, thank goodness, low for this time of year. What else to do? Grab a camera kit and go out and find something to photograph. More importantly, get out of the house and enjoy the outdoors!
Here are a few photos from some of the places I visited.
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| Old Roger's Store. Notice the orange gasoline pump. Now a small museum. (click to enlarge) |
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| A better view of the old orange 'gravity' gasoline pump with a small country church in the background. (click to enlarge) |
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| A ‘portrait’ of the Sundog, a deadrise work boat made for oyster and crab fishing. (click to enlarge) |
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| Crab pots and baskets stacked on the stern of the Sundog. (click to enlarge) |
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| These three guys were going out crabbing. The man in the straw hat yelled, "I'm going to charge you for that picture!" I told him to “send me the invoice” and we both smiled. (click to enlarge) |
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| Of course I had to slip a train photo into the bunch. This is Amtrak's train #94 zipping along at about 79mph (127kph). (click to enlarge) |
Sometimes it is difficult for me to get out of the house to photograph. It is too hot. It is too humid. It is too overcast. It is too cold. I’m tired. I’got other stuff to do. You know the excuses we make for ourselves. Some days, I just have to make myself go out. I try to get out to photograph at least once per week. This day was one of those days. I didn't know where I was going or what I would see. I just drove and kept my eyes open for possibilities. As always happens, after feeling largely uninspired as soon as I saw my first composition, my day changes. All of a sudden, I’m seeing potential photographs everywhere. That makes me glad I got out with my kit.
At the end of the day, forcing myself to ignore the ‘inertia’ of staying at home paid off in having a very pleasant day and, as a bonus, bring home some nice images.
Join me over at my website, www.dennismook.com .
Thanks for looking. Enjoy!
Dennis A. Mook
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Nice rural Virginia scenes. Particularly the rendering of the old church. Special to see clear detail in sunlight clapboards, and the deep shadows in the front. That was always a challenge in the wet darkroom as it is now to maintain the highlights in the digital process.
ReplyDeleteAlso like the new Siemens Amtrak engine assuming on its way either to Norfolk or through Richmond. Any idea what the well built period brick building near the tracks was used for?
Thank you for your comment. I did a little research trying to ascertain what the history may be for the building in the background. I couldn’t come up with anything definitive—yet. Since the town grew up around the railroad, my thought is that it may have been a railroad related office. It is certainly not the old station. No proof of that, but the architecture and proximity to the Norfolk Southern mainline suggests it is railroad related. The train is westbound. Train #94 leaves Norfolk at 9:00 a.m. each morning and ‘flies’ through Wakefield at 79mph about 9:50 a.m. After the train passes, I almost always treat myself to an excellent breakfast at the historic nearby Virginia Diner which was originally constructed from two Surry, Sussex & Southampton Railway passenger cars. ~Dennis
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