Reflections

Late February I got together with Tony Sweet and a few other friends at Eastern State Penitentiary for a day of shooting.  I have shot at ESP several times and just when I was starting to think I had seen it all, the melting of the winter snow covered the floor with water, presenting me with new ways of seeing the same old thing.      

Early Fall

I wanted to share one more picture from my hiking trip in Shenandoah a few weeks ago.    While Shenandoah is famous for the sweeping vistas along Skyline Drive, I have always found the park to be much more inviting in the fog. 

First Snow

Each year around the end of September I start watching fall foliage reports.  I suspect that most landscape photographers do the same.   I usually plan to start my fall photography in the Canaan Valley area around the end of the first week in October.  When I checked the West Virginia Foliage Report, I noticed that area of the state was peaking on October 1st, literally 2 days later.   I canceled my plans to participate in a Photowalk here in town and quickly changed my hotel reservations.   The weather forecast for the weekend was snow, rain, and some fog as a bonus! 

The first stop upon arrival and lunch at a favorite location was Dolly Sods.  Near the top of the mountain the rain turned to snow and what a treat.  In the wooded setting above this was a beautiful sight!  At Bear Rocks on the other hand the snow was blowing at about 30mph.  Combine that with the Gray Sky of Death and Bear Rocks was not the most photogenic place.

The conditions in Canaan Valley were peak color but certainly not the best color.   I’m hoping other areas will have stronger color this year. 

Ghost Town Ahead

I’m finally getting around to posting a picture from last year, one of my early efforts using textures.   This is a small ghost town located in the New River Gorge area of West Virginia.   It was a cool location and I hope to return one day.