This is my dad. He’s 77 and he spends his days doing whatever he wants to. This year he baked 600 cookies to give away to his family and friends at Christmas. Every year he says he’s not going to do that any more and every year he does it! If you didn’t get any, I’m sorry, cause they are REAL good :)

Mid-summer, I got a request from a wedding client to photograph the place where he had asked his fiancée to marry him. It’s a little orchard outside of Charlottesville called Carter Mountain Orchard, and apparently this is a place where they like to go every year to wander through the hillside picking apples while just getting to spend time together. It’s the perfect setting for a sunny fall afternoon and of course it is a special place to them.

As I walked through the orchard it wasn’t hard understanding why they love this little corner of their Earth. I thought about those places that become a part of us and how simple and charming some of them can be. It really doesn’t have to be some exotic location or paradise as long as we are with the people that mean the most to us. I’ve got lots of them.

Yesterday, I spent the early afternoon with the bride in her home as she prepared for their evening wedding. There over the fireplace mantle was the large canvas print he had given her as a wedding gift. She was eager to show it to me and I could tell she loves it. Of course I was much pleased and very relieved that she did! I asked her if she minded me sharing this image.

Hopefully, this portrait will serve as a daily inspiration and reminder  of a special place at a special time in their lives. I expect it will be a place that they can visit for many years to come and still get a very special feeling. Perhaps a visit there will become a family tradition, or maybe they will just keep this little place to themselves.

It’s just so nice to have those places that become a part of us.

There was really pretty light this morning in the garden and the sunflowers are spectacular this year. I had all kinds of volunteers from last year and there are mad crazy varieties popping up everywhere.

I went out yesterday morning as we had a beautiful red sky and I wanted to take it all in. The garden has been looking particularly delicious with all the rain we had, and the morning light was pretty incredible, so I decided to take a few shots. I love the different cool and warm shades of green together. Throw in a little yellow and it makes it perfect. Off to a wedding, now :)

Today is the second anniversary. I took this photo of Squires Student Center in the early morning of April 17th, 2007. I just hope more than anything that the parents and family of those students and faculty who were killed are finding some type of peace in their lives.

Sometimes you read about The Enquirer or The Star paying someone a million dollars for a photo of some celeb’s baby or their wedding or whatever.

Well, this is my million dollar photo. It’s my all time favorite and since it’s my birthday, I get to indulge myself and post it to the ‘ole blog. It was taken on the Blue Ridge Parkway almost 20 years ago and it blows my mind to think how much time has passed by and how quickly these two grew up. I’ve never taken a photo that I have enjoyed as much as this one and it completely captures the spirit of these two little ones . This was SO them….and still is in many ways. Whenever I look at it, I just feel good no matter what.

I have been planning a little post about all of the trail work that has been going on in Mill Mountain Park over the past two+ years. There is a small group of volunteers who along with Paul Chapman, Mill Mountain Park Supervisor, meet for trail work on Friday mornings and I was able to go out with them a few times last spring before things got a little too busy. The work they have done is outstanding and things are starting to really take shape on the once abandoned southeast side of the mountain. The Wood Thrush Trail has been open for some time now and can be easily accessed from the Star trail parking area at the bottom of the mountain. The newest trail is the recently opened Virginia Pine Trail which shoots off the soutwest end of the Wood Thrush Trail and ends up down in Garden City.

I was talking with Paul this weekend and he told me about the new trail map they have just published, so if you are interested in a great trail hike right in the middle of the city, this little map can be right handy. The new map can be accessed by clicking the image link to the left.

There are so many positive things going on in Roanoke, and Mill Mountain Park is one of the best. So, enjoy!

Cheers!

Kemper

It’s nice to get away and that is exactly how I spent the last weekend at one of the PATC cabins up near Harrisonburg. My good friend and fellow photographer Brendan Bush and his wife Nicole turned us onto these awesome cabins built and maintained by the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club. We stayed in Conley which has a spectacular view and a pretty wide open layout. They are primitive cabins so no heat or running water. Conley had a wood heating stove and a wood cooking stove, and a spring was right down the hill. Best of all, the privy had a spectacular view!

You have to pack in about a half mile from your car. We were kind of fortunate that Brendan had a 4WD as the road from the bottom to the parking area was a sheet of ice and no way would anything but 4WD make it up the hill. That was even sketchy. Had we had to park at the nearest dry spot, it would have been about a 1.5 mile pack in to the cabin. But, either way, once you get there the haul is worth it.

 Sunrise from the front porch….

Jack heading up the hill at sunset…..

a swing with a view……

gettin’ our grill on at the covered grilling area….did I say primitive???…

fully stocked kitchen, all manual…..

lots of space for the pooches…..

A little hard to sleep late…

 plenty of excercise equipment…..

and best of all….the view

Today, and for the rest of this week, I am putting aside some time each day for a project called Winter Sunflowers.

I was chatting out back this afternoon with my neighbor who is a stained glass artist. She was commenting on the beautiful colors of the park in winter. It’s hard to believe that winter is so full of color but it really is, they are just more subtle and they fool you into thinking that they are not there. The blues, purples, greens and golds are sometimes just taken for gray. But they are definitely there, creating a palette that is beautiful in its own quiet way.I always notice the winter palette more on days like today, when there is not sun, and all the colors are cool.

For me, winter is also about texture. Typically, that is what I notice first. Sometimes that’s all that’s left.

No color in the first image from Winter Sunflowers. Just texture. The big sunflower at the bottom is my favorite.

 I kinda miss the summer. I’m starting to make some plans for summer trips so that helps a bit, but I really miss the warm sun.

I was looking at the sunflowers yesterday. They are still standing in the garden because I never cut them down. The birds really enjoy them that way, especially the Cardinals. Anyway, they are obviously dead, but they still look really cool. I want to head out back tomorrow to photograph them. I may also bring them inside and make a post-mortem arrangement out of them and photograph that. I love the texture of dead sunflowers. I don’t think other flowers look as interesting when they are dead.