Sunrise on the river is one of my favorite ways to start the day. When the water is calm it’s hard to image a more peaceful place. Approaching the river fills me with a sense of wonder and a profound appreciation of what lies ahead. Soon I’ll be out there among the herons and geese.
This female mallard duck rests alone on a rock in the James River as the evening sun begins to set.
I 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.
This 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.
The sun was just beginning to rise above the trees when I arrived at this small pond.
During a hike I noticed this piece of bark resting on stones by the side of the trail. I was initially intrigued by the texture and patterns in the bark itself. My first thought was to get a close up of the texture but when I noticed the bark was sitting between two shadows I thought it made for an interesting forest still life.
This photo was taken about 30 minutes after sunrise on an early December day. Our neighborhood was shrouded in fog and I hoped to capture it hanging over the river. Normally fog clings heavily to the river but this day was different. I was a little disappointed but enjoyed this view from one of Richmond’s many bridges over the James River.
