Clouds and shadows

Near Pratts, Virginia 

On the way to Yoder's Country Market to buy a pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving last week, I took the wrong road and drove for a couple of miles before I realized my mistake. When I pulled off the road to turn around, this scene was before me. I liked the arrangement of the clouds over the Blue Ridge Mountains and the way the late afternoon shadows stretched across the field.

By the way, the pumpkin pie was delicious. In fact, by Thanksgiving day, the pie was all gone.

Tree, fog and powerline

Gum Spring, Virginia

Harvest is done

Greene County, Virginia 

A couple of days before Thanksgiving rain and wind stripped the last of the leaves from the trees. It looks like winter now, although the weather has been unusually mild for the past week. While taking a walk early Thanksgiving morning this scene reminded me that the harvest is in for this year.

Thanksgiving 2011

We will be taking a short Thanksgiving break for the next couple of days, but will resume posting on Monday, November 28. Hope you will visit again then, and thanks for reading Photography In Place.

A year ago, I wrote a short memoir called Thanksgiving Morning 1959 about spending Thanksgiving morning with my Dad. This year's Thanksgiving story is called The Last Turkey Hunt and it starts just below the break. Hope you enjoy the story and have a great Thanksgiving.

November moon

Greene County, Virginia 

In the comments to the picture of a Ginkgo leaf in the Leaf light series, a reader shared a link to a fascinating article in Harvard Magazine about the the ancient origins of the Ginkgo tree.

"The Ginkgo biloba is one of the wonders of the natural world, a “living fossil” whose arboreal ancestors date back to the Jurassic period."

Read the entire article here.

Last days of autumn

Greene County, Virginia 

Over the past couple of weeks we have had cold weather and rain, stripping the leaves from the trees and muting the colors to winter shades of brown. This picture was taken three weeks ago up in the Blue Ridge Mountains, a reminder of the last days of autumn. Thanksgiving is just around the corner.

House on the bluffs

Vicksburg, Mississippi

Small log outbuilding

Bogue Chitto, Mississippi

Last week I posted a series of photographs called "Leaf light" and a couple of people were interested in the technical details. So if you are interested in how those pictures were shot, a brief explanation follows below the break.

Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad Depot

Vicksburg, Mississippi 


  After the historic Mississippi flood this spring, work resumed on making the old Depot building into a transportation museum. The first floor was flooded, but when I was there last week, the repairs were well underway. I was not able to go inside the building, but I could see through the windows that fixtures and display cases were installed. The depot is on the National Register of Historic Places.

May 2011

November 2011

 For more pictures of the flood, see here and here.

Red caboose

Behind the depot - Vicksburg, Mississippi 

This picture was taken last week behind the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad Station in Vicksburg, Mississippi. During the Mississippi River flooding in the spring, the water came up to the platform of the caboose.

Above the waterfront

Vicksburg, Mississippi 


For a change of pace from all of the autumn leaves, this week we will have some pictures from a couple of recent trips to Mississippi, including a visit to the Vicksburg waterfront to see how things are recovering in the aftermath of the record flood earlier this year.

Hope you will stop by, and thanks for reading Photography In Place.

Leaf light #6

Wild cherry - Greene County, Virginia

Leaf light #5

Wild cherry - Greene County, Virginia

Leaf light #4

Redbud - Greene County, Virginia

Leaf light #3

Ginkgo Biloba - Greene County, Virginia

Leaf light #2

Wild Cherry - Greene County, Virginia 

Leaf light #1

Redbud leaf - Greene County, Virginia 

Recently I was sitting on the deck in the sun and idly picked up some leaves that had fallen around my chair. The leaves had been off the tree for some time and did not look too colorful, but when I held one of them up so that the sun shined through, I was amazed at the beautiful and subtle colors revealed.


I call this series "Leaf light" and will  post a sunlit leaf every day this week. Hope you will  stop by and visit.

October snow #5

Turkey Ridge Road - Greene County, Virginia 

Back down the mountain, close to where we started, and there is no trace of snow. From fall to winter and back again, all in a Saturday afternoon.

Thanks for reading Photography In Place.

October snow #4

Pocosin Mountain Road - Greene County, Virginia

October snow #3

Mountain farm - Greene County, Virginia 

October snow #2

Pocosin Mountain Road - Greene County, Virginia 

Driving up the mountain, I began to see snow on the ground at about 1500 feet. This picture was taken at about 2200 feet. At this elevation, the trees have already lost a lot of leaves, but the autumn colors were still shining through the snow.