Old Salem

I stopped by Old Salem today on my way home to take a few quick photographs as the sun was starting to go down. I mainly did more "detail" shots, but I plan on going back soon and photographing some more...

Buster

Buster is my neighbors dog, and when I saw him the first time, I immediately knew I wanted to photograph him. He's got that scruffy look that I love, and his crystal blue eyes are amazing!
Buster loves doing his "watchdog" duties on the front porch.
I love the wild look in his eyes in this photograph!

"Can I Photograph Your Rocking Chairs?"

I pass by this little old farm house every day on my way to and from work. Older houses have always appealed to me, especially if they have a "rocking chair front porch". I'd been noticing in the evenings the shadows cast by the rocking chairs and really wanted to photograph them. Today I finally worked up the nerve to ask the owner if I could photograph the rocking chairs.
This neat old wooden flower pot really stood out to me also. I love the light!

The Little Things

I love experimenting with focus and aperture. I am definitely pro-f/2.8! Shallow focus just has a way of making everyday things (like my front porch railing, above) look interesting.
I love coming home to my dogs after a long day at work. They were outside today when I pulled up (my husband got home before me and was in the backyard with them) and they just acted so thrilled that I was finally home. If that doesn't make your heart happy, I don't know what does!

The Rosebud Building

This photo was taken as the sun was going down over Business 40 from a parking deck in downtown Winston Salem. It's the Wachovia building, which is a pretty well known building in Winston. I read that the architect designed the building to look like a rosebud.

Bamboo

Bamboo has always been an interesting plant to me. I love the way it looks! I photographed this bamboo mini-forest around 5:45 PM but I'd like to go back and photograph it around 7:30 AM. The edges of the bamboo seem to be glowing more in the morning... now I just have to force myself to wake up early on a Saturday morning! I played with the saturation and colors of the bamboo in PhotoShop to amp up the greens.

The Three Amigos

These are our three lovely little dogs, Sparky, Holly, and Maizy (left to right, top row). They are a handful, but a lot of fun and very loving! My main goal with photographing our dogs was to get a good portrait of Holly. She's very nervous around the camera, so I had to hold a treat right over my lens to keep her from running off. As you can see, I recently gave Maizy a haircut... one ear is a bit longer than the other. My husband wants me to fix it, but I just think it gives her some character!

Wedding Rings

I have been wanting to do some photographs of our wedding rings for a while, but wasn't sure how I wanted to photograph them. My husband has an old student dictionary from 1938 that his grandfather used when he was in school. I decided to use the dictionary as a "backdrop" for the photographs, and I really like how they turned out. My biggest issue was that the next word after "marriage" was "marrow" and I had to avoid photographing that word... nobody wants marrow in their wedding ring photos!

Photo Restorations

I scanned in several old family photos a while back, and I've been working on restoring them. I love seeing old pictures of my family, and they always make great gifts at Christmas and for birthdays.
From left to right, Judy, Steve, Matilda Mae (Nanny Mae), Abner (Papa Ab), and Linda (my mom, the baby).
Showing my mom's age with this photo that is dated June 1961! She's posing with her sister, Judy, and brother, Steve. My mom is the little one in the middle.
My mom's mom, Matilda Mae (you've seen her photo before, on my "About Virginia Mae Photography" post).

Welcome to the World!

Flies (for Fishing!)

My brother, Steve, handmade all of these fishing flies. I photographed them and framed them for my parents.

Habitat for Humanity