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Horses at Long Branch Farm

This weekend Sherri and I took a trip west to visit Long Branch Historic House and Farm.  Our intention was to get more information on the upcoming Shenandoah Valley Hot Air Balloon and Wine Festival.  Our PhotowalkDC group is planning to attend this event next month.

We met with Tom Dunning, their Program Director, who gave us the information we were after and also gave us a very impressive tour of the main house.  If you haven’t visited there you should just to walk through the 1811 built house.

The 400 acre farm offers 14 miles of four board fencing, streams, automatic waterers, run-in sheds and quality hay.  The farm also serves as a horse retirement facility with as many as 85 equine residing at the estate.

New Vantage Point at Reston Town Center

There’s a new 8 floor parking garage open on the south side of the Reston Town Center.  Though it has been open for a few months, they have recently opened it up to the top.  I stopped by there the other day to grab some sunrise shots.

I’m pretty happy to have this public location open now.  There are not too many high places to shoot in Reston.  You can even see Tyson’s Corner from here.  While the sunrise from this location is impressive it looks like sunsets will be awesome since there is a pretty much unobstructed view to the west.

More from Luray Caverns

In the second and third photos below, what appears like stalagmites rising from the floor is actually the ceilings reflection in a perfectly still pool of water.

Luray Caverns

Looking for a photography challenge?  Try spelunking.

The family and I took a trip to Luray Caverns this weekend. There are some outstanding low light photo opportunities inside the cavern but extremely challenging without the use of a tripod.  I’d highly recommend anyone visiting to at least bring a monopod.

Dinosaur Land!

Who says dinosaurs are extinct?  I found out this weekend that they are alive and well at Dinosaur Land in Front Royale, VA.  I’ve lived in this area for almost 15 years and never knew of this place until Jesse Thomas posted his visit on Facebook.

If you’re planning a trip to the Shenandoah Mountains I highly recommend you add this place to your list of stops.