Canon T5i, 18mm f/4.5 1/400
There’s a sense of adventure here of conquering a pile of rocks (that probably shouldn’t have been conquered, but no harm done)
What you only get a hint of in this photo is the giggles and absolute glee of this kid has he stamped over this pile of rocks to get to where you see him. Absolutely delightful.
Next week is our 27th Anniversary.
I just want to make sure you know who the only person who willingly puts up with my flavor of crazy is.
“Polarize me, sensitize me
Criticize me, civilize me
Compensate me, animate me
Complicate me, elevate me”
— Rush, “Animate”
This was a little bit of a chore trying to get this shot even, the horizon was the only thing level in this shot. The bridge is definitely NOT level. I like these low angle shots that have leading lines, like the rails in this picture. Kim had decided to walk ahead of me to get some shots of the beach (on this day, we went down pre-Elsa to see what the waves looked like—they were not optimal).
Due to the obvious weather concerns, we were the only ones on the beach. I honestly could have stayed all day, even with the rain.
A happy little discovery on the volleyball net pole. It demanded to be shot. I obliged.
I was going to post a very long impression of a guy who takes movies too seriously, but I’m fairly sure I would have had my fanatical love of Pink Floyd served back to me, so touche’.
We took a trip in the opposite direction on this day, because I had wanted to drive the Colonial Parkway, something I’ve never seen. We went in the direction of Jamestown, but as we arrived we realized we didn’t have as much time as we thought we did. There’s a lot more Parkway to see, so you’ll be seeing more in the coming months. However, we noticed a few pull off areas as we traveled, so we investigated a few. There a few nice little beach areas along this route, like this one. Off we went, cameras in hand. The next few posts will be of this trip.
This fisherman, if nothing else, was focused. There were two photographers, a family with a little kid, and a big. honking. dog down there all playing it up and this guy was just on point.
The first thing you need to know about Chase is that he is a very good boy. Chase ran up to me barking as I came down onto the beach, because Chase was protecting his family. I said Hi and made sure Chase knew I wasn’t here to cause trouble, and Chase decided I was ok and went back to the stick he’d been working on.
Chase was not amused when I took this shot, as you can see from the “Why is the paparazzi here?” look on his face.
I thanked Chase and his family, and made my way back up the slope, while Chase’s dad got on him about barking at people. I told Chase’s dad it was all good.
Chase was, in fact, a very good boy.
The car was stopped.
The dark outline of the end of the tunnel caught my eye, and I thought this might be nice. Not much else to this story other than I thought is had a Detective Eddie Valiant driving to ToonTown vibe to it.
Yes, I’m old. Why?
There is an alternate photo of this with the green of the trees left in that makes it even more Toonish, but I prefer posting black and white photos here.
This storm was just offshore, crossing over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and stayed just north of Shore Drive. I took my iPhone 12 and held it on the deck and slanted the camera lens up towards the sky. There’s so much definition in the clouds that were brought out even further when I made it a black and white photo. I feel like this could be someone’s desktop.
One of my bucket list shots has been to get the skull at the Haunted Mansion on 20th Street and Atlantic in Virginia Beach with a thunderstorm rolling in behind it. The shelf cloud didn’t have as much definition as I would have liked, and I may try this again soon, but I really like the way this came out.
A funny little note about the Mansion: I’ve never been inside. I don’t do scary stuff. However, the little skeleton in the window? That’s French Fry, and as I was wandering around taking shots, he told me I needed to put this on my Instagram. I’m not kidding. There was a recording that went in rotation full of funny scary related jokes, but I think the guy who did the voice actually got on a mic to say that because I never heard it again and I was down there for an hour.
I consider it an honor to get roasted by the little guy.
Clearly, someone melted this mirror into a Yin Yang sign, and it was just irresistible.
More memorable was the fact that this was the first cold day of the Fall. The cold temps come late in the year around here, which is fine with me. As a boy who spent a couple years in San Diego, three years in Hawaii, and two-and-a-half years in Cuba, people wonder how a kid from Maine hates the cold. Because Maine was a stop between Navy transfers for my Dad. Then we ended up in Virginia Beach, and while the winters aren’t usually bad here, I would prefer not to see a day under 70 if I can help it.