Back to School

I went over to Liberty University last week to cover students moving into their dorms for the upcoming school year and found several fun scenes along the way. These are two of my favorites.

Forty Years of Service

Forty years ago, Barbara Williams, left, replaced Aldah B. Gordon, pictured to the right, as the Clerk of Appomattox County but has recently decided to retire. Williams said she will be travelling more often, visiting her kids and four grandkids.

Shady

I've been wanting to use this wall for some time now and probably wasted it today while feature hunting. This is Clinton Jennings, a Verizon technician, staying protected from the sun while moving telephone lines at the corner of Fifth and Madison Streets in Lynchburg.

Oh, football!

Soon we'll be spending our Friday nights on the sidelines of high school football games, hoping to make decent images while blasting an on camera flash.

Lena Noel

I met 80-year-old Lena Noel while feature hunting last week. It looks like she's looking at the aftermath of a storm, but she actually just had one of her dogwood's cut down. It was struck by lightning two years ago and died. "I love my old dogwood tree," says Noel.

Hog Heaven

I spent a couple of hours at The White Pig Bed and Breakfast last week, photographing Dina Brigish and her animals, mostly pigs. Chef Dina, who runs the 'vegan oasis' B&B with her husband, Hal, has a love for pigs that started when she got Norman, a pig that her mother had given her. Brigish now cares for 11 Vietnamese pot bellied pigs and went vegan soon after she got Norman.

Mane Top Stables

Eight high school students from around the country, along with two adult crew members, camped at Poplar Forest (Thomas Jefferson's retreat) in Forest, Va., for three weeks while building a split rail fence. I got the assignment to photograph the kids on Sunday, the day before they were leaving and after the fence had been built. Go figure.