Chihuly Boats

photograph of a Chihuly exhibit of glass in a boatThese boats are filled with Chihuly glass work and displayed on a mirrored surface.  The effect was a dazzling display of color reflected as if the boats were floating in still water.

Seed Pod

photograph of a seed podI can’t identify the plant which produced this seed pod but I can confidently say it wasn’t a dandelion.  It was low, leggy bush with dried up leaves when I took this photo in November.  Regardless of my ignorance, I thought the plant’s seed pod was worthy of a close up photo.

Jones Run Cascade

photograph of a cascade along Jones Run in Shenandoah National ParkThis cascade along Jones Run in Shenandoah National Park provided an interesting photographic experience.  My friend was smart enough to stay at the top.  Despite my better judgement I decided to hike down a little farther from the trail.  Just as I was thinking I needed to be careful on the leaves and wet rocks, I stepped on a patch of wet moss covering a large, flat downward sloping stone.  As the moss gave way I began sliding down the rock face, watching my camera bounce off the stones beneath me and hoping I would be able to stop myself.  Fortunately my slide came to an end before I got to the actual waterfall, about 6 feet beyond the point from which I took this picture.

Forest Sunrise After the Snow

photograph of a snow covered forest at sunrise

Snow fell on Richmond Thursday night.  A few inches accumulated but it was nearly all gone within 24 hours.  I took the day off Friday and hiked through Pocahontas State Park.  This photo was taken as the sun rose over the forest.  The park was beautifully covered in snow and I had the place to myself.  I hiked for 5 hours and never saw another person the entire time.

Smyth County Courthouse

Low light image of the Smyth County Court House in Marion, VAI drove by the Smyth County Court House in Marion, VA and thought it would be a great subject.  When I came back to take pictures it seemed sort of boring in the light of day.  The building itself is pretty impressive but the lighting was all wrong.  I didn’t take a single photo that day but decided to come back after the sun went down and found it much more interesting at night.  This photo was one of the first I took.  As the evening went on the sky quickly grew darker and became black in the photos.

Blue Ridge Chandelier

photograph of Dale Chihuly's Blue Ridge ChandelierThe Blue Ridge Chandelier was one of the Chihuly works on display at the Virginia Museum of Fine Art (VMFA) in the fall of 2012.  This photo gives some perspective of the size of the chandelier, which is 18 feet tall.