10.20.18

10.14.18 - Fall has finally begun in some of the higher elevations! It was 42° and raining steadily in the mountains this morning, which deterred other would-be hikers, so I was able to spend a few hours nearly all alone at these usually popular falls.

10.6.18 - I woke up at 5:00 on consecutive days to get into the mountains for sunrise at Blackrock. The first day the clouds had the mountain socked in and never let up. This morning I wasn't able to see the sun crest the horizon at daybreak, but the clouds burned off within an hour, leaving me a vista all to myself.

5.31.18 - With the flood day off from school, I spent a few hours at Sugar Hollow. Though I've been here countless times, I've never been without seeing or hearing another human. This morning (largely due to the road being mostly washed out) I was entirely alone, aside from the plethora of snakes out and about. The Moormans River was roaring like I've never seen it, not surprisingly, since we had 8-10 inches of rain in this area last night.

2.17.18

4.2.16 - I spent the bulk of the morning photographing deer and looking for other wildlife in Big Meadows. Since I've already taken my share of boring deer shots, I tried to focus on capturing unique details or silly expressions of these particular deer. The animal in the first, second, and third photos had the chubbiest cheeks I've ever seen on a deer, and he kept drooling while eating.

7.16.14-7.17.14 - I spent a few days in the Shenandoah last week. I managed to see a few bears, but they made it into the underbrush before I could get any shots off. The young boar wandered off lackadaisically, obviously unimpressed by my presence, whereas the sow bolted the second she saw me, cubs in tow. The deer were out in Big Meadows with their fawns, newly born since April when I was last in the park.

4.1.14 - April Fools' Day provided me with an amazing sunset and some excellent people-watching opportunities in the mountains.

3.31.14-4.2.14 - Let me start by saying I don't even like deer; I just couldn't find any other large animals to shoot (coughbearscough). I see so many deer in Charlottesville, Ivy, and Crozet that I usually don't think twice about these guys. In the absence of other interesting fauna, though, I tried my hand at photographing the deer. All of these were somewhere in or near Big Meadows.