Portsmouth Island

Cape Lookout National Seashore, North Carolina 

There are more pictures from my trip to Portsmouth Village earlier this month, and I will be posting the last of them next week. Hope you had an enjoyable Thanksgiving and thanks for reading Photography In Place.

Visit Photography In Place Print Gallery to purchase a framed print of this picture. Un-framed prints and note cards are also available.

Thanksgiving 2013

Greene County, Virginia 

Wishing everyone a peaceful and enjoyable Thanksgiving.

From the Photography In Place archive, here are a couple of Thanksgiving stories from past years:

The Squirrel and the Crow

A brief fable about the importance of being thankful.

The Last Turkey Hunt

A turkey hunt in the mountains of southwest Virginia nearly 40 years ago.

Thanksgiving morning - 1959

Remembering my dad on Thanksgiving morning.

Portsmouth Village - three windows

Portsmouth Island, North Carolina

Portsmouth Village

Henry Pigott House - circa 1902

Henry Pigott was the last male resident of the village. He died in 1977

Theodore and Anne Salter House - circa 1905

Portsmouth Village

George and Patsy Dixon House - circa 1875

Portsmouth Island lies about five and one-half miles south of Ocracoke, North Carolina. The village is located on the northern tip of the island and is accessible only by boat. There is a private ferry that will take you to Portsmouth from Ocracoke. Only two other people rode the ferry with us and they turned back at the onslaught of mosquitoes that greeted us at the island, leaving us with the village all to ourselves. Alone with a couple of hundred million mosquitoes, but it was a lovely November morning in a unspoiled and historic area..

Tom Gilgo House

Portsmouth Village

Flue cover inside Gilgo House

In 1753 the village of Portsmouth was established on the northern end of the Core Banks of North Carolina's Outer Banks. Ocracoke Inlet was one of the most important shipping lanes for ships arriving on the coast, but the shoal waters required that deeply laden ships be unloaded into smaller shallow draft vessels to pass through the inlet. Portsmouth Village was a lightering port handling cargo passing through the inlet. In 1846, a hurricane deepened the inlet at Hatteras and shipping shifted to the north. Portsmouth Village, once the largest town on the Outer Banks, began to decline.

After the last resident left in 1971, the village became part of the Cape Lookout National Seashore. Today more than a dozen structures still stand in Portsmouth Village.

Lionel and Emma Gilgo house - circa 1926

Washington Roberts house - circa 1840

Third Sunday - November 2013

Portsmouth Island, North Carolina 

Portsmouth Methodist Church - 1915

Build in 1915 to replace an older church that was severely damaged by a hurricane in 1913, Portsmouth Methodist Church served the inhabitants of remote Portsmouth Island as a spiritual and community center.

In 1944 a hurricane left the building leaning slightly to the right but the building still stands today in the uninhabited Portsmouth Village. The last resident left the island in 1971.

Yellow wood

Greene County, Virginia 

Yesterday morning the temperature here was 21 degrees (F). There was frost on the kitchen window and the water in the birdbath was frozen solid.

A few patches of autumn color remain, but most of the trees are bare and the brown leaves clinging to the oak tree in our front yard shiver in the cold. I am not quite ready for winter but the sudden cold sends me to the closet for a sweater and I am reminded of the pleasures of the winter season. The juncos will be here soon.

Whatever the season where you are, have a good weekend and thanks for reading Photography In Place.

Autumn Ferns

Greene County, Virginia

A couple of weeks ago I was in the woods looking at the autumn colors. In the trees the leaves were turning and the woods were beautiful. On the forest floor, weed and bush glowed in the late afternoon sunlight.

Morning sunlight

Greene County, Virginia 

Sycamores

Greene County, Virginia 

It's Friday once again and winter is almost upon us. We are looking forward to a few sunny days this weekend with mild temperatures. There is still plenty of autumn color about but the leaves are falling, and soon the woods will be bare.

Hope you have a nice weekend, and thanks for reading Photography In Place.

Please visit Photography In Place Print Gallery to purchase a print of "Sycamores."

Morning, with swan

Greene County, Virginia 

Earlier this week the lake was enveloped in fog. Fog usually presents some interesting photographic opportunities, so I grabbed the camera and set out. I worked for a while in the fog, and just as the air began to clear, I spotted this mute swan swimming in my direction.

Homestead

Orange County, Virginia 

Announcing Photography In Place Print Gallery

From time to time I get requests for prints of photographs that appear on Photography In Place. In the past, I have either made the prints myself or had them done by a lab, but the logistics of getting the print made, packaging and shipping, and receiving payment was difficult and time consuming. 

In order to be able to offer prints to readers, I have partnered with Fine Art America to handle the printing and shipping of selected photographs as well as to provide matting, framing and other services. Payment is by credit card or PayPal. To examine or purchase a print, go to the Photography In Place Print Gallery website. 

If the picture that accompanies a post is also available in the Print Gallery, there will be a "Print Available" graphic and a link to the website. Over time, I will be adding more prints to the website. 

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 Please visit Photography In Place Print Gallery website to purchase a print of "Homestead"

October light #4

Greene County, Virginia

One evening last week I walked down to the woods below the house and caught the late sunlight shining through the autumn leaves.

Enjoy the weekend and thanks for reading Photography In Place.