Category Archives: Randomness

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Randomness 2

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Just some more random pictures I either recently came across while going through my multitude of folders, or recently took but don’t really have any other posts to stick them in. Random is rampant!

I love clouds, especially when the sun creates those cool streaks. I caught this while waiting at a traffic light near my house.

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 This is a view of downtown from the balcony at my office building. I think it was one of the very first panoramas I took with my new camera.

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This is the Main Street station clock tower. Looks quite spectacular at night. Need to work on my picture-taking-at-night technique.

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This is by far THE most colorful sunset I’ve seen in Richmond to date. I just happened to see it while taking the trash out one night. If I hadn’t had dinner going on the stove, I would have hopped in the car and driven to a better vantage point. But it would have been gone by the time I got myself together. So I had to settle for this shot.

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Ducks and geese in the lake behind The Boathouse in Brandermill. Decided to drive over there on a whim one weekend afternoon.

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There haven’t been a ton of squirrels around lately, but this one managed to find the bird feeder full of seeds.

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These fish were in a pond in front of a nursery.

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The fam took a jaunt to Middleburg, VA a few weeks ago. The white benches and flower boxes perfectly capture the essence of this quite, sleepy little town 45 minutes outside of DC.

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Middleburg irises

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In plain sight

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 Carytown is an urban shopping mecca with chic boutiques and eclectic shops. These tough economic times have forced store openings and closings seemingly by the sunrise and sunset. The window displays and signs may be ever-changing, but the paintings and murals on sides of buildings have been there for as long as I can remember. I have seen them every time I walk down or drive through Carytown.

Having hit somewhat of a dry spell on subject material, I thought “why not see the beauty in the every day, the beauty in plain sight?”

Carytown

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No post of mine would be complete without a shot of a flower

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And as I drove on to work, I remembered a restaurant some friends and I ate at recently and took a detour. The facade of 525 is nothing but windows that look out on to the theater across the street. At night when the marquee is lit up, the lights shin through the windows and offer a sparkling and dazzling view. I didn’t have my camera with me that night (gasp!), plus it was raining, but I vow to go back one evening and get some night shots (and eat, they had amazing food!).

Downtown

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The reflection is that of the top of the Carpenter Theater

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The full name of the restaurant is 525 at the Berry Burke

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This is on the side of the theater

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As I made my way further downtown, I felt like taking another side journey to the top of Church Hill to check out the early morning view.

Main Street

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James River

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I decided to take a spin down Monument Ave after work. Those statues have been shot from every which way and angle. But here’s a couple more…one with the street sign.

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Until next time ;-)

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Sunday Afternoons

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What an afternoon for photo ops! It started casually taking pictures in my parent’s backyard, to parking on the side of the road for wild wisteria, to running across the street for donkeys & cows, to hot air balloons floating right above my head!

But that’s the best kind of afternoon, unexpected, unplanned and full of surprises.

A wild redbud tree decided to sprout up and bloom in my parent’s backyard. I will be keeping my eye on this one over the years ;-)

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Found this wisteria growing like crazy on Mountain road

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I didn’t notice this until I was editing these photos, but check out all the loops the vines are making. Almost looks like the wisteria started growing over warped metal or something, but those are the vines.

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There are a few farms on Mountain and the donkeys and cows just happened to be grazing close enough to the street for me to run over and take a few shots.

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I happened to catch the hot air balloon while driving home. Thought catching the bird too was a nice touch ;-) And yes, it is as close as it looks, I hope it managed to pull up before reaching the freeway!

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Ok, this is cheating, I shot this Caddy last weekend, but I had to include it somewhere!

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Spring…around town

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I didn’t make it to Lewis Ginter last week as I had planned, so I went tonight after work, only to discover they close at 5:00! Their extended hours don’t start until June. Oh well, it was getting a little too overcast to get good floral shots anyway.

I still needed to get my fix of flowers last week, where I could, while I waited to make my way over to the Gardens, so here they are.

These red tulips were taken at Montgomery’s first birthday party, my honorary nephew ;-)

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I always have my camera with me now. These cherry blossom trees were in the parking lot at my local grocery store.

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This red bud was in front of the elementary school down the street from me. I would have stayed longer and tried more angles, but I’m a wee bit terrified of bees. Was proud of myself for getting as many shots as I did!

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My loving parents came over on Sunday to pick me up for a Sunday drive (I desperately needed to get out of the house after being trapped in it for five days). We spotted a bright neon green sign that read “pick your own tulips!” So we stopped and did just that!

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These are the four I picked, one day later on Monday.

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Here they are two days later on Tuesday.

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I love flowers. If I haven’t said it already, I usually can’t have fresh flowers in the house because of the cats. They just love chewing, and then subsequently vomiting up, the leaves. So I tend to err on the side of caution and not bring them in the house too often. Therefore, I take pictures of them so I always have a blossom to look at on my screen.