Downtown Staunton

Hubby and I enjoyed our walk around downtown.  We were in awe at all the beautiful buildings.  I couldn't stop taking pictures.

Marquis Building (1896)

Suntrust Bank which was the old National Valley Bank (1865)

The Clock Tower building (1890)

An old Catholic Church

White Star Mills building which houses a wonderful restaurant called The Mill Street Grille

A beautiful Victorian house

Next post...night time photography.  My D600 did a great job capturing night time shots.

Low Light and Tiffany Windows

While in Staunton, hubby and I walked to the edge of town and visited the old Trinity Episcopal Church.  I read they had twelve (12) Tiffany stained glass windows inside the church.  When we arrived, we were told we had 10 minutes to look around.  The church was getting ready for a funeral.  Hubby and I walked from one side of the church to the other...taking in all the beauty:

Next post...beautiful historical buildings of Staunton.

Who Would Have Thought...a Camera Museum

While Hubby and I were in Staunton, we came across the Camera Museum.  There were several showcases loaded with donated cameras.  Here's one showcase with many old cameras:

Here's an old box camera...

...and when I walked around to the back, I saw this image

An old Nikonos once used by Jacques Cousteau

An Olympus camera used by Bernie Boston, a White House photographer

Remember the old Viewmaster?  To the right, is the camera used to take the pictures

An old Leica camera

"Big Bertha" weighs 30 lbs!  Used as a telephoto for sports.   I stood behind this camera and could see the cars going by...two blocks away!

Tiny spy cameras

The Camera Heritage Museum in Staunton

I spent almost an hour in the museum chatting with the owner and looking at all the amazing cameras.  The owner is planning to expand the shop as many more folks are donating their old cameras and equipment.

Next up...an old church with Tiffany stained glass windows!

Frederick House Bed and Breakfast

After we ate lunch in downtown Staunton, I called the owners of the Frederick House to see if our room was available.  It was!  Little did I know, it was a 3 minute drive up North New Street.  We parked in one of their designated spaces and entered their side entrance of the Frederick House:

Frederick House and side entrance (parking lot entrance)

Beautiful maples

 We met the owners and Evy gave us maps and directions to the house we reserved a room in.  Basically, it was up one block to the north.  Our room was in the Patrick House:

Two doors leading into our room

Living area

Sleeping area with closet and entry into the bathroom with tub

Extended bay window area in the sleeping area

Living area with false fireplace

In the entry way of the Patrick House

Waiting area/foyer of the Patrick House

Beautiful lighting

Simple and beautiful

Beautiful furniture in our room

Looking at the doorways from inside the room

It was a home sweet home stay for us.  We enjoyed the squeaky floors.  The B&B is conveniently located and within walking distance to many restaurants, shops and historic sites.

More to come with a post of the beautiful architecture in Staunton....

On Our Way Along I-81

This past Friday morning, Hubby and I headed out of town to celebrate our anniversary.  Our destination was Staunton, VA.  I found a quaint bed and breakfast place where they had 5 old homes with 25 rooms!  Staunton was not part of our original plan.  I had looked at Roanoke and Charlottesville, but there were no rooms to be found.  College football weekend?  Perhaps.  I was able to book a room in Staunton.  More on that in another post.  

We drove down I-81.  The sky was beautiful with white puffy clouds.  While Hubby was driving, I took a lot of pictures from the front passenger seat:  

We saw a lot of farms.  This one caught my eye...red building and bright green field

Another farm and field drive-by shot

Can you see the snow in the mountains?  

One of the few trees that still had the fall colors

I took this from the front window...loved seeing the rays come through the clouds

More posts to come from our quick weekend getaway....

A Virginia Tech Weekend with My D600

My brother has been in town.  On Saturday (very, very early in the morning), we headed down to VA Tech to catch a game:  VA Tech versus Duke University.  We arrived on campus around 9:30am and proceeded to walk around the beautiful campus and take pictures.

My brother is an alumni of Tech and he was amazed at all the growth and new buildings since the 80s.  What was once gravel parking lots are now dorms/residences or classrooms/halls.

Our first stop was to visit the April 16 memorial for those lost their lives and for those who survived that horrific day in 2007.

The Admin building on campus

April 16 Memorial for the 32 who lost their lives

In memory

There were 32 Hokie stones each with a name

A memorial for those who survived

As we walked around campus, I was impressed with the architecture of the old and new buildings.  All the buildings are made of Hokie stone.

The entrance to the library

Lee dorm where my brother lived for his first 3 years of study

Watching the Hokie band pass by

At Lane Stadium

An ooooops!

Tech beat Duke:  41-20

The Hokie mascot hamming it up in the end zone

This was amazing to watch!

Besides their engineering programs, Tech is also know for its horticulture program.

A peaceful pond

I was playing around with my shutter mode....

I could have spent hours here...taking it all in

Looks like Hokie stone was used to build the bridge

Additional pictures from this past weekend:

A peaceful lake

Software engineers hang out here

I couldn't resist taking this picture....

Hokie colors!  Everywhere!

A Hokie Caddie decked out

We came across the stables on campus.  What a photo op!

I started talking to the horses and they decided to hang out with me and pose 

Hokie spirit in the Squires Student Center

Hokie die hards!

Tailgating parties were everywhere...even in some of the remote quiet places on campus

Inside the War Memorial building.  I was fascinated with the interior architect

Night time at the War Memorial

We had beautiful weather the whole weekend.  I walked over 7 miles on Saturday...exploring the campus and taking pictures.  I took over 900 pictures in all.

I brought a small backpack with me that I use as a purse.  I placed my D600 along with my new 24-85mm lens in my bag.  I was able to take it into the stadium without any problems.  I did have to open the bag before arriving at the gate.  I guess security thought I was sneaking in beer or alcohol.  For the football shots, I used continuous focus and continuous shooting mode.

My metering mode of choice has been center metering.  I've been getting great pictures with this setting.  For most of the weekend, I was shooting in auto focus mode (except during the game) instead of my usual single point focus.  If I didn't like where the camera was focusing on, I just simply re-focus the shot.

I'm in love with my D600 and the 24-85mm lens.  The lens is very sharp in the center and does have some barrel distortion (wide) and pincushioning (zoomed) along the edges.  It's only noticeable when taking pictures of sidewalks and buildings.  Things with straight lines that become curved.  It doesn't bother me at all.

What I love about the D600 is that I can crop the heck out of the picture and still see a lot of details.  I shoot in Large, Fine, JPEG mode.   My pictures are averaging anywhere from 12Mb to 18Mb each.  My White Balance is set to AUTO and the D600 does a beautiful job getting WB right.  I no longer have to do any minor PP to my pictures.  The camera is that good!

The camera is doing all the work for me.  I just point and compose and shoot.  Now that's a photog's dream....