Virginia Photo Blog

The eye and the brain want something to look at, and sometimes a puzzle is just the thing. That's what reflections do - they give the brain a problem to solve. What's going on in the reflection? Where am I standing? What am I supposed to be seeing? Am I looking inside or outside? Am I missing something? Does any of it matter, or is it enough to have some pleasing color and light? Here are some reflections from around town. Gear Photos were taken with a Nikon D750 paired with

State and local officials prepared for the one year anniversary of the Antifa riot in Charlottesville by declaring a preemptive state of emergency for the weekend of August 11-12, 2018. The downtown pedestrian mall was fenced off, roads were blocked with dump trucks, parks and recylcing centers were closed, and a long list of "Instruments of Riot" were banned in the city. The Governor and city Police Chief were determined to prevent any violent clashes between Antifa and supp

The edges of downtown fray rather quickly. A few blocks off the downtown mall puts you in the working areas. There you'll find the side streets, back streets, back doors, back walls, small businesses, apartments, parking lots, restaurants, unfinished buildings, and the daily life of the city. From the tops of the parking garages you can scan the surroundings and see the rooftop lawns and a bit of the countryside. There is a lot of grit downtown, and a bit of beauty, and some

The downtown pedestrian mall runs from 2nd street to 7th street. The Omni hotel anchors the west end, and the open air pavilion anchors the east end. There are 120 shops and 30 restaurants on the mall, as well as an indoor ice skating ring and several theaters. Main street was converted to a pedestrian street in 1976, and the mall thus began life as a closed venue. Today, several cross streets permit traffic, but not all. It was completely renovated in 2008. It's a mix of res