Photo Session Date: March 19, 2010

Photo Session Location: Winchester, Virginia

Photo Session Details: This past weekend featured the first three-day stretch of gorgeous weather of the spring season – sunny and low 70s. Everyone and everything was outside enjoying the weather, including our pet russian tortoises! My wife placed the three tortoises we have outside to spend some time basking in the sun and snacking on tasty fresh green grass. I grabbed my camera and took a few photos of one of our tortoises. I’m not sure which one it is, but I’m sure my daughter could tell you since she gave them their names (Sherma, Duncan and Stripe Pumpkin).

Photo Session Date: February 6, 2010

Photo Session Location: Winchester, Virginia

Photo Session Details: Not even two months ago I sat here and posted photographs from a blizzard in which we received 20″ of snow. I thought at the time “wow…we won’t see snow like that again for quite awhile”. Well we did…during the same winter season! The blizzard of 2010 ended today with a snowfall total of 31.5″ at my house. We were very lucky not to lose power during the storm. The snow is so high it almost reaches my waist. After shoveling paths around the house all day long, I was about to turn in for the day when the sun came out just in time to set, so naturally I had to grab my camera. Numb fingers and all, I took some photographs hoping to capture the memories of the blizzard of 2010.

Photo Session Date: December 20, 2009

Photo Session Location: Winchester, Virginia

Photo Session Details: This past weekend we received over 20 inches of snow in Winchester, Virginia. Appropriately labeled the Blizzard of 2009, I have spent most of the past two days shoveling, shoveling and shoveling some more. I’m quite thankful that I live next to farmer and contractor neighbors with equipment that is able to plow snow quite well. Despite all the cleanup and inconvenience, the snow was very beautiful. I made it a point of mine to go out the morning after the snow had ended and take photographs and was treated to some breath-taking scenery. The sunrise combined with the untouched new-fallen snow resulted in beautiful lighting and colorful hues all across the landscape. It was quite a memorable snowfall and I am happy to have these photographs to remember it by.

Photo Session Date: October 31, 2009

Photo Session Location: Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

Photo Session Details: I took my family for a half-day trip to the Shenandoah National Park. We entered from the north end (Front Royal, VA) and spent a few hours driving along the winding roads of Skyline Drive. The weather was perfect that morning with crisp blue skies, but as we made our way higher into the mountains, the low-lying clouds created some think fog that led to some holiday-appropriate (Halloween) photographs.

Photo Shoot Location: Richmond, Virginia

Photo Shoot Date: August 24, 2009

Photo Shoot Details: I traveled to Richmond for part of a tw0-day conference and stayed at the Wyndham Virginia Crossings Hotel. Despite being very tired that evening, I happened to venture outside with my camera. I was glad that I did because it was a picture-perfect night. The hotel’s landscaping was very unique, and the lighting combined with the moonlight sky made for some very attractive photographs.

Photo Shoot Location: Winchester, Virginia

Photo Shoot Date: August 8, 2009

Photo Shoot Details: During the evening I often spend time outdoors with my two daughters (one and three years old). This particular evening we were chasing moths around a bush in our backyard, when a monarch butterfly happened to flutter on by. It would land on flowers nearby, and fly away once my three-year-old rushed over to see it. She said that she wanted me to take a photograph of it, so I did not want to disappoint her. I waited for the butter fly to land, and snapped the above shot.

I also took the photograph and desaturated all of the colors aside from the butterfly’s wings to further show how bright and colorful they really are.

Photo Shoot Location: Middletown, Virginia

Photo Shoot Date: August 5, 2009

Photo Shoot Details: I took this photograph around 6:20 a.m. in Middletown, Virginia. The colors of the sun and the sky caught my eye as I was driving towards route 11, so I had to park my car on the side of the road and snap this one. My pants got a little wet from the morning dew on the high grass, but it was well worth it.

Photo Shoot Location: Winchester, Virginia

Photo Shoot Date: June 30, 2009

Photo Shoot Details: Birds have a tendency to build nests in the most unusual of places around my home. Last year I found a robin’s nest under the hood of my mini-van, with three healthy baby birds! My wife cared for them and they were ultimately given to a wildlife rescue facility in the area. This year, a mockingbird has decided to make a nest in a bush right next to the fenced-in section of my yard.

Mockingbirds are a unique species of bird. Not only do they mock calls of other birds and insects, but they will dive bomb you if you get near their nest (I speak from experience). My three-year-old daughter and I witnessed the mother bird feeding her babies the other day, so I decided to grab my camera this afternoon and grab a picture of them in the nest.

To my surprise, the baby mockingbirds are now up and about hopping around the bush learning to fly. I managed to take a couple photos of the baby birds sitting in the bush curiously wondering what I am up to:

Also, the mother bird can be seen sitting atop my house waiting patiently for me to leave:

Photo Shoot Location: Winchester, Virginia

Photo Shoot Date: May 25, 2009

Photo Shoot Details: I workout daily and for the longest time part of my fitness routine included a 5 mile run along the back country roads of northern Winchester, Virginia every morning. While some mornings were less enjoyable than others (running in below freezing temperatures, surrounded by darkness with a flashlight to guide my way), there were many mornings that made the effort worth while. During the late spring and early summer months, there were a few sunrises I witnessed that were simply breathtaking.

Since I now go to a gym for my workout routines, I have not done my traditional “country road” run in over half-a-year. However, yesterday I was able to go running outside in the early morning and was reminded of why I enjoy it so much more than a stationary treadmill. As I was returning home from my run, I had to grab my camera and travel back a miles or so to take some photographs of the beautiful scenery I witnessed.

Looking at these photographs reminds me of one reason my wife and I moved to the country: