Cranberry River Tributary

Circle of Light

Circle of Light, a photo by travelphotographer2003 on Flickr.

Fast moving winter clouds over a ridge in West Virginia. Nikon D800 55mm lens

Castor, Pollux and Jupiter

Castor, Pollux and Jupiter, a photo by travelphotographer2003 on Flickr.

Jupiter was exceptionally bright this morning. There was a slight mist in the air, which I assume, gave it the "star" effect as no filter or special processing was used.

Jewels of Dew

Jewels of Dew, a photo by travelphotographer2003 on Flickr.

Seeing the Orange Jewelweed blooming in West Virginia, one knows fall isn't far away (with winter soon to follow). Image made with a Nikon D5100 and 40mm macro lens.

The Milky Way over Cranberry Wilderness

The Milky Way over Cranberry Wilderness, a photo by travelphotographer2003 on Flickr.

Nature's illumination, no city lights here. Nikon D800 20-35mm lens @ 20mm, f/2.8 250 seconds ISO 3200

Frost on a Windowpane

Our apartment on Quantico Marine Corps Base faced east, overlooking a playground, with the Potomac River in the short distance beyond. A benefit was seeing the sun come up over the Potomac each morning. It may be cliché, but I often took photos of the sunrise (and still do). In fact a couple of those photos ended up in the book “Virginia A Photographic Celebration.”  I am an observer of light, because the real subject of any photograph is the light.  Without light, you have no photo. One typical February morning my wife and I were having our morning coffee, when she observed me make a mad dash for my camera.  I saw this quickly changing scene and wanted to capture it before it was gone. This was my first frost on a windowpane photo; though I still photograph frost patterns when I get the chance, I don’t feel any of those more recent images have surpassed (or even equaled) this one. Processing a frost image from this past winter is what brought this photo to mind. This image was made using a Nikon FM-2 and Kodachrome 64 slide film.  This image has appeared in a number of books through the years (including the aforementioned “Virginia A Photographic Celebration,” “Virginia on My Mind” and two books on weather).

West Virginia State Flower

West Virginia State Flower, a photo by travelphotographer2003 on Flickr.

This image was made in the rain on a late June day (my camera was under a large umbrella). This is the Rhododendron maximum in bloom--the West Virginia State Flower--along West Virginia's Birch River. I used my Nikon D800, 28-300mm lens @ 180mm, f/11, .6 second, ISO 100