Mornings in Colonial Williamsburg

If I didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn, I would miss all these morning views. 

 The Geddy House (below) recently received a new paint job. I love the light shining on the siding.  

Thank you for visiting. 

👑

Mornings at Colonial Williamsburg

Today was a beautiful morning at Colonial Williamsburg.
The light was amazing, and I felt like I was in a fairytale.
Does anyone else ever feel like they can't handle all the beauty?
I don't know how to explain it. It was so pretty that it hurt.

These photos were taken around the George Wythe House.

Thank you for visiting. 

🌳

3D Printed Camera. Say Cheese!

Today I bring you the cutest little non-functional camera you'll ever see. ↓

Here it is on the printer, and before Jason took a black sharpie to it↓

You can see in the picture above, the reel with the filament on it, and how it is fed into the printer. This is a gold filament, which is slightly shimmery. 

It's a magnet, too!  Jason designed it with an indentation in the back to insert a magnet for his IN/OUT board at work, where he is a photographer.

...and for scale. Say cheese! ↓

Here is the magnet on our fridge. You can see the texture that is the result of lines of filament being laid down. ↓

This is the second 3D object that Jason designed himself using the free 3D design program, Tinkercad.  My next post, I will show you a few functional prints that he's made. This 3D printer comes in quite handy. 

📷

Thanks for visiting!

It's a New Year

Happy New Year! 

I felt I should post a current photo to reflect the season, since the last time I posted was at Halloween. I have tons of Christmas decorations I photographed to post here, but it's too late now. I'm past that. Maybe next Christmas. 

For now, here's a frosty photo from our January 2013 Honeymoon in Paris, Virginia. It was taken nearby at Sky Meadows State Park, which I would love to go back and visit in the springtime. ▼

We have big snow expected for our region of Virginia. My husband just informed me it now has a name, "Winter Storm Helena", as he pondered, "When did snow storms get names?" That I do not know, but he also tells me that Jim Cantore is coming to the area to cover it for The Weather Channel. Should be interesting. 

Okay, maybe ONE Christmas photo. 

Here is our Dickens Christmas Village set-up this year. One of my(our) favorite holiday traditions. ▼

Okay. One more, and then I swear, I am getting off this computer. This is our small Colonial Williamsburg Village. Dept 56 has retired them, so they are hard to come by. ▼

Here's to a serene 2017, and enjoy the snow if you are so inclined. I know I am.  

❄

Thanks for visiting. 💟

These Trees

I have been passing by these trees for years. Every time I do, I tell myself that I will photograph them from the perfect vantage point in all four seasons.  I have yet to do so.

I don't know exactly what it is about them.
They are especially sculptural at this time of year,
but really, they stand out in all seasons. 

I think I might even have some photos of them that were taken years ago with my film camera.
It will take some digging to find that out.

I don't even know what kind of trees they are. Sycamores? 

I do love seeing them, though.
They are like old friends.
If you ever find yourself on the corner of Francis Street and S Nassau Street in Williamsburg,
maybe you, too, will see why I like them so much.

☻☺☻

UFO Sighting or the sequel to 'Up'!

We were enjoying a recent Saturday night outside at The Mariners' Museum while watching The Delorean's (a popular local 80's band) play when we saw something strange in the beautiful evening sky. 

(all photos by this guy)

It was hovering way off in the distance... 

 

...just above the moon.

 

You can see it here above the moon. ^

This is the best we could see with our naked eyes. ^

We just sat and watched it as it slowly disappeared into the distance, 

and my first thought was quad-copter. Attack of the Drones!

Previous photo zoomed in 100%. ^

Once Jason processed the photos, it was obviously not a quad-copter. 

But then, what was it?

Is it a para-glider? An airplane-shaped hot air balloon? 

....or as Jason said, "a dude in a lawn chair w/ 100 helium balloons". 

☺

The Sun Tries to Interrupt The Rain

 Thanks to Jason for making me look outside last evening to see the beautiful sky 

as the sun was trying to peak through the rain. 

☺

Accidental Pictures

I was going through my online photo albums and found a lot of "accidental pictures". We've all done it. We have our cell phones or real cameras in hand to take a picture and then something happens and without knowing it we've snapped an unintended picture. I found them to be really interesting, especially as a grouping, and thought I'd share them. This might even become a regular series ...because we know its bound to happen again.

I love it when the camera somehow bends the light like in the photo above.

Thanks for visiting. 

A View of West Point, Virignia #2

Yesterday I posted about the Nature Trail in West Point. 

Today we take a drive through the town.

There are many beautiful homes in this historic little town. Love this house that Jason photographed.

West Point even has a public beach. Yes, that's all of it. 

 Home-ownership here has it's privileges.  This is all private property above.

 I love the roof on that house to the left.

 Saturday morning it was a ghost town. 

We both agree that they need a coffee shop in this town. Anyone want to take care of that? 

Everyone that lives in the downtown area has to come here to the Post Office to get their mail.

Every town needs a water tower. 

And behind the water tower is the Town Hall, Courthouse, and DMV.

 One thing this small town has an abundance of is churches.

The town's main stage.

Not only is the town of West Point quaint, but it's also industrial with a Paper Mill on the west side across route 33 and the downtown area. 

Lots of potential for our photowalk. If you would like to join us on Saturday October 5th  for the 6th Annual Scott Kelby Worldwide Photowalk, please visit our page here to sign up for our walk in West Point, Virginia.  If you'd like to join a walk in a city near you, please visit the main photowalk site here. 

Join Us: October 5

Urbanna, Virginia

As promised yesterday, here are my photos from the World Wide Photowalk on October 13th in beautiful Urbanna, Virginia. As I did last year (which I just realized I never blogged about! So, it seems I was even less with it last year than I was this year!), I again used the incredibly fun lens, Muse by Lensbaby, which I spoke about here. It bends the light in so many delicious ways. 

This was the most gorgeous day, and I had so much fun just wandering around the town with my best friend. aww. sap. ;) 

 No,  he's not forgetting something. Jason made his own pinhole lens out of a camera body cap.

I had no idea I would love the below picture so much until I started processing it. The focus on the textures of the greens and blues and yellows on the bottom of the boat, and those bright yellow jacks (or whatever they are called) holding up the boat, just make me smile. The blur all around the edges with that blue shadow on the bottom left. I just love this photo, which is why I chose it for my entry in the contest.

Alas, I did not have the winning picture for my city.  Oh well. I guess it's not about the contest, really, is it? You can click here to see all the submissions from our walk as well as the winning photo.