By Lad Sessions | Travel Photography
Part I portrayed some of the numerous Presbyterian churches in Rockbridge County, Virginia,which make up one third of the whole. Part II takes up the other two-thirds: churches fromother denominations. This is a collaborative effort, with narrative by my good friend Ed Craun,paired with my images. Once again this is a sampling, not a catalog; […]
Continue reading
By Lad Sessions | Travel Photography
In two previous posts (“A Tale of Two Cemeteries” [#1199] and “Living in Lexington” [#1215]), I tried to convey a sense of where I live. But it helps to have a wider context. Lexington is the county seat of mostly rural Rockbridge County, which stretches over some 600 square miles in the middle of Virginia’s […]
Continue reading
By Lad Sessions | Opinion , Travel Photography
I have to admit that I stole the idea for this post (as well as the first line) from Kristian Wannebo. I don’t know Kristian personally, but a short while ago he published an entrancing essay entitled “Tree and Leaf” (Dear Susan #1242). His experience resonates with me. I too venture out into the woods […]
Continue reading
By Lad Sessions | Travel Photography
Pascal once suggested that each Dear Susan contributor might offer a post about their local habitat—whether neighborhood, home town, city or countryside. So here’s my portrait of Lexington, Virginia, a small town nestled in the great western Valley of Virginia. (It’s not technically part of the Shenandoah Valley, which lies to the north, but locals […]
Continue reading
By Lad Sessions | Travel Photography
The small city of Lexington, located in the western Valley of Virginia, has two cemeteries. One is Oak Grove, about eleven acres in extent, located prominently on Main Street. The second one, Evergreen, is half the size and down a back road. Oak Grove is far better known, even famous. It was formerly called the […]
Continue reading
By Lad Sessions | How-To
Pascal’s recent thoughts on 3D (#1181 on 3D and pop) are a tough act to follow! As announced, here is a second instalment with a slight change of subject—or at least of approach. In this post I’ll write in my own allegedly “academic” way, seeking to separate out and analyze a few factors, and hope […]
Continue reading
By Lad Sessions | How-To
Roots. The word has so many fundamental connotations: ground, foundation, basis, cause, origin, source. Roots are plants’ way of being grounded in space, at a place, but all life is rooted in time, through its ancestors. So roots run deep, and they touch us deeply. Every living thing has roots, its temporal roots. All […]
Continue reading
By Lad Sessions | Opinion
Serendipity is often praised but often not appreciated for itself. “Chance favors the prepared mind” said Louis Pasteur, and usually we fasten on the second part of his quip, the preparation, because there we are in control and deeply invested in what we can make of the happy chance. Whether in science, art or daily […]
Continue reading
By Lad Sessions | How-To
Bark is so common that we scarcely take the time to appreciate its wonders. It is of course essential to trees and vines—and very useful to humans in many ways—but it also intrigues at least two photographers, at different ends of the earth, who have contributed text and images. We have each spent much time […]
Continue reading
By Lad Sessions | How-To
I am fascinated by all things visual, but especially by colors and patterns, the former for their infinite tonalities, the latter for their infinite forms. Hence it’s no surprise that I love sunsets—and also ferns! Photographing the former is more challenging for me: it’s hard to be in the right spot at the right time […]
Continue reading