Day 1
Sierra Hull
Naomi Shelton & The Gospel Queens
Day 2
Day 3
Nora Jane Struthers & The Party Line
Red Wing V dates have been announced! Mark your calendars for July 14-16, 2017!
Category Archives: Summer
took a hike, took a camera: Hawksbill
A harmless invite and there I was in a panic. “Meet us at the park,” she suggested. “The kids can play.” Time paused a moment as my world zeroed in on me: my son doesn’t play at the park. My son doesn’t play at the park! He’s a teenager. Teenagers don’t play at parks. Little kids play at parks. And he is not little anymore. When he stands our eyeballs meet. He will soon surpass me in height. Seemingly impossible considering I just paced a path into the living room floor after mid-night feedings, rubbing his back, shooshing him the way mothers do to relax his ten pound little body back to sleep. That tiny life that I raised, that I’m raising, is too big for park swings. One day you wake up and everything is different.
I am peeved by mottos instructing us to “live like there’s no tomorrow.” Sayings like this are far removed from their intended meaning and used as an excuse to live an irresponsible and reckless life. Living like there’s no moment after this moment, in the literal sense, is not realistic. Tomorrow my electric bill is due, therefore today I have to plan how to pay it. And that probably means I’m going to say no to dinner with friends a time or two in order to work to earn said money for said bill. If everyone lived like there was no tomorrow, the world would be in complete shambles. The laundry would never get cleaned, the seeds would never be planted, shelters would never be built, books would never be written, families would fall apart, everyone would be broke and uneducated and the world would turn black and die! I exaggerate, but really, who has the time and resources to truly live like there’s no tomorrow? Not me.
Every now and then, I am reminded that time isn’t waiting for my electric bill to be paid. It’s not waiting for invites to the park. It’s not waiting…it’s moving. So there are times when even if I’m tired, even if the dishes are dirty, even if I haven’t had a moment to shower in three days, even if it means we’re having Nutella and granola bars for dinner…I just go and do something that deposits memories in the bank. That’s what the sunset hike to Hawksbill was for us. It was a long day and I was tiiiiired with endless to-do’s to check-off but we went anyway. We couldn’t have timed it more perfectly and arrived at the summit with thirty minutes to spare before the sun fell below the blue ridge. The looks on my kids’ faces at the vast, spectacular view are the moments I live for. Uninhibited awe. We snacked and explored and sat together and said prayers for people who need them. With the setting sun came almost immediate darkness so we strapped on our headlamps and headed back down the trail to the car. With nearly no light pollution and tree leaves covering the starlight, the walk back was the darkest dark I remember. My daughter squeezed my hand and chatted with me the whole hike back. The boys searched for deer and frogs with their flashlights and clonked their every-growing teenage feet behind me. It was the coolest hike of the year.
While you can’t plan every second and you can’t realistically live like there’s no tomorrow, you can enjoy right now. You never know when you’ll give them their last push on the swing set. You probably won’t remember the last time you helped them wash the shampoo from their hair, the last time you had to walk around the grocery store with a babydoll in your cart or the last time you cut up their dinner. But the last time will come for all of these things, as it should. Their childhood is moving and changing and fading and with good effort, it will be a fond memory they tell stories about one day. I hope to keep giving them stories to tell. ❤
took a hike, took a camera: Storybook Trail
I can’t comfortably call this a hike post without a disclaimer: this is not a hiking trail. This trail is a walking path. A user-friendly sidewalk through the woods. I’m not putting it down, in fact, I think it’s great to have a trail so pedestrian-friendly that you can roll a wheel chair along it, push a stroller on it, walk through the woods with your accident-prone friends or just enjoy a short, leisurely stroll to a beautiful view. The incline is gradual, the path is wide and paved and the overlook is a big metal deck that sits on the edge of the mountain. It was Sunday morning, July 5th when we decided to pay the trail a visit. We were all puffy-eyed, fireworked and slow moving from the previous day of Team America: parades, beer, ice cream, meat, heat, fried things, and condiments…always with the condiments. It was a foggy ride up to Storybook Trail, which is located on top of the mountain that sits between New Market and Luray. I didn’t plan on taking photos on this particular morning but as the fog got thicker, I was high-fivin’ myself for bringing my camera anyway. My friends Kirsten, Chris, Jack and their two dogs joined me, Ben and my kids. At the overlook, we were literally in the clouds. White clouds moved over us, on us, through us and we could see nothing below. It was eerie but awesome and mysterious. And what better way to kickstart a slow Sunday morning than with a little bit of mama nature…followed by sangria and a cheese plate.
Cell phone summary:
See more from my series took a hike, took a camera here.
took a hike, took a camera: Stony Man Mountain
I forgot about my approaching birthday until the day before it. Not because I’m a doofus but because I had a ridiculous schedule the two weeks prior. I shot a wedding on a Saturday, left for Alaska on that Sunday, hiked 1, 2, 3 mountains, returned home way late Thursday, Friday was my son’s birthday and dinner, Saturday I shot another wedding, Sunday we went on a group hike to celebrate his birthday and all of the sudden, it’s Monday and my birthday was the next day, Tuesday, June 30. When I list it, it feels like I’m lying. But I’m not. For my birthday I wanted to do a hike and luckily the weather was in my favor. My friend Danielle met me in New Market and we headed to Skyline Drive. There is truly never a dull moment in her company. On our way over the Luray mountain, there were a few whoops and hollers and fragmented sentences and white-knuckle clutching coming from the passenger side. I got the impression my driving was making her nervous. We laughed. A whole lot. I almost hit a deer. Then we laughed some more. I’ve heard of Stony Man Mountain before but it wasn’t until I read the description in my hiking guide that I learned how the name was given. As we rounded mile 38ish on Skyline Drive, we could see the profile of ol’ Stony, and his chiseled manly nose, looking west. I couldn’t wait to get up there and look with him. Within moments of being on the trail, we met hikers ranging from diapers and pacifiers to fanny packs and canes. A really mild hike and certainly enjoyable for all ages. At the top we had a granola bar while enjoying an amazing view of the Shenandoah Valley. Danielle is a photographer, too, so we each got lost in our lens for a bit before returning to real life where we sat on Stony’s forehead and chatted about life. One of my favorite things about the trail guide I have, is that it tells about the flowers and trees you see along your hike and often it gives some history of the area. For this hike it said that we’d “pass red spruce and balsam fir, remnants of the Ice Age.” That’s pretty cool! So on our walk back down, we set out to find the trees. I was so eager I tripped over the same rock twice. We found what we think is a red spruce and/or a balsam fir. (You can judge us below.) We left the mountain content and with minds and hearts recharged from the vast beauty of our Valley. Our post-hike treat was a cheese plate and wine on my deck because Happy Birthday to me!
The profile of Stony Man from Skyline Drive.
photo by Danielle Campbell
photo by Danielle Campbell
photo by Danielle Campbell
photo by Danielle Campbell
photo by Danielle Campbell
took a hike, took a camera: 13th Birthday Group Hike!
And just like that, I have a teenager. My son, my precious baby boy, is a teenager. We’ve all heard it before, and it’s true enough to repeat: time moves impossibly fast. It’s just leaving, right now, right past us. My children, who souls are most beautiful, remind me of this daily. It’s like I have three hearts and two of them beat outside of my chest. They exist, enclosed in the ribs of my children. A nearly perfect combination of me and his father, Blake is a kind young man with a heart of pure gold. He is wonderful with small children, has a ridiculous sense of humor, is sharp as tack and, most importantly, he loves his mama. (swoon) When I asked him what he wanted to do to celebrate his 13th birthday, he said he wanted to hike to one of his favorite waterfalls, Whiteoak Canyon, and invite friends and family. His request made me proud. I’ve intentionally been taking them hiking more frequently this year and we hiked Whiteoak in February. Then, the trail was covered in ice, snow and mud and there was hardly any green to be seen. This time, it was a completely different hike with lush life all around us. The air was surprisingly cool for a June afternoon so when we arrived I looted the soon-to-be-dropped-off-at-Goodwill bag in my trunk and tossed sweatshirts out to our shivering group. There were 11 of us total: a good group of adult friends, kid friends and family.
In lieu of my usual cell phone summary, I give you an Instagram screenshot. (My phone is toast and I’ve lost all the photos. Boo.)
Tree-huggers.
Blueberries and Sunshine
Last week my phone fell to it’s death. On it’s way down I tried to catch it and instead, slammed it down to the floor even harder. I’ve never claimed to be graceful. I murdered my phone; an open and close case of phoneslaughter. Since then, I’ve taken more photos with my camera. My real camera. While I’m no stranger to lugging that thing around, it’s just not always practical. But last Friday morning, it was beautiful outside, the kids and I were heading back to Ratliff’s Blueberry Farm and the combination of those two things just sounded too cute to leave my camera at home. This was our second attempt at blueberry picking. The first time we tried, they were all picked out before I finished my morning coffee! We woke up early enough to get there before the masses and we weren’t the only early (wise) birds. Our goal was to get enough to make a big batch of blueberry pancakes for Sunday brunch for our friends. With buckets hanging around their necks, the kids moved from bush to bush, picking the bluest ones they could find. At the checkout tent, we transferred our berries to the jars we brought along and the kind ladies told me the blueberries would taste best if I set them out on the counter for a couple of days. I trusted them and they were right. Those pancakes were the best I’ve ever made…and I’ve made a lot of pancakes. Go pick for yourself…soon they’ll all be gone and you’ll be heading home with a Christmas tree instead (same farm, different season).
This was the last shot I took before the pancakes were made and soon after – gobbled right up. Ah well.
Red Wing Roots II: Day 3
It felt a lot like a Sunday when I parked my car on the third and final day of the second annual Red Wing Roots Music Festival. Time moves differently on Sundays. It ticks away and reminds us to notice the smells and colors and faces and light, to slow ourselves down and enjoy one last little morsel of, in this case, a mid-summer musical dessert. When I shut my car door, there were no echoes on this third day…no soft melodies or harmonicas bouncing off the Chimney’s. There was quiet. A little alarming, I admit, for a music festival…but I proceeded anyway, with curiosity and camera. As I moved towards the back of the seated, silent crowd, I heard Trent Wagler wailing out a line from his gospel set. It was an experience to be there in that moment, watching this community church under overcast skies, surrounded by beauty and bodies who needed this healing sound. People napped and recovered and carried themselves to the stage to wake up. Dang good way to start a day.
Next up was Willie Watson, who I found to be a pleasant surprise. I love watching passion pour from a face with each lyric…eye wrinkles forming in the delivery of a verse, veins bulging with blood pounding from an aching heart and a shaky esophagus to distract from a tear. I got to see this in Willie’s performance of Rock Salt and Nails, among others. I feel you man. But before I let myself get stuck in my own head, I wandered around to mingle and grab images of smiling faces. It was a good move, the sun joined us and the rest of the day came with a smooth, steady beat as each new band took the stage.
Above: Lucas Roasting Company saved the day for a lot of folks. Below: Year-old swag…we missed you this year Caleb!
Above: Blackfeather Furniture made taking a break look goooood.
Bryan Elijah Smith & the Wild Hearts
It was time to fill our tanks with some Hanks.
Townes Van Zandt Tribute Set packed the stage with a smorgasbord or festival talent.
Hayes Carll wrapped up the evening and the festival for the year.
See you next year, friends!
Didya miss Day 1? Click here to get caught up! What about Day 2?
This post is part of my year long series Celebrating Life.
Check out my photos from last year: Red Wing Roots Music Festival 2013! Day 1, Day 2, & Day 3.
Red Wing Roots II: Day 2
It took two showers to wash away Day 1. Fragments of nostalgia broke away from my muddy footprints on the shower floor. Pieces of Mt. Solon dirt and blades of surely the greenest-grass-in-all-the-land sang sweet harmonies as they swirled to their watery death. I assured my lonely pores that their sweat buddies would return soon. Red Wing Roots Music Festival II, Day 2, started at noon with two bands I did not want to miss: Loves It and Smokey and the Mirror. 
Above: Red Wing shirts printed by The Mark-it.
Lucas Roasting Company (above) keeping folks energized and Wholistic Wisdom (below) keeping folks relaxed.
Above and below: So sweet to see their daughter watching the performance from backstage.
Above: remnants of Pokey LaFarge’s performance.
Above: One cute little Blue Mountain supporter. Below: One cute little Red Wing supporter.
Below: Artery kicked off on Day 2. Hundreds of children and adults came to help work on this community painting.
Above: Grilled Cheese Mania. Below: Jack Browns Beer and Burger Joint
One really awesome thing about photographing this festival, is that I get to work with other photographers who I know and love. I admire each of them in very different ways and I’m truly a fan of their work. I feel we have a great network and support system of creatives here in the Valley and I simply can’t imagine it being any other way. I’ll introduce my photog friends below. I encourage you to check out their work!
This is Keesha of Ruby Sky Photography. <–If you click on that link, I have a feeling you’ll enjoy her music selection. In fact, feel free to let it play as you continue to look through the rest of this post…you’ll find it quite relevant. Keesha can usually be found with three little assistants. In the photo below, the third assistant is playing hide-and-seek.
This. Ha. Well, this is Pat Jarrett. He likely rode in on his motorcycle that morning after shooting in Newport News. He’s a busy dude and if you’re a Stauntonian, you’ve probably seen him walking to and from his downtown studio.
These girls are my studio neighbors at Spitzer Art Center and are an inspiration to me. They own and operate The Pinwheel Collective. It’s great how well they not only work together but also how nicely their work compliments each others. They do cool stuff. And sometimes funny stuff, too.
Oh hay. That’s me. You’re looking at my work now…but I do some other stuff to. Like weddings and portraits and I photograph for a blog I do with my friend Katie about Harrisonburg. I also plan this really cool community portrait show with my friend Denise Allen every year called Art Lotto.
Trent Wagler and the Steel Wheels
Didya miss Day 1? Click here to get caught up!
Check out this writeup and MORE of my photos from Red Wing Roots 2014 Day 2 on ilovemyburg!
This post is part of my year long series Celebrating Life.
Check out my photos from last year: Red Wing Roots Music Festival 2013! Day 1, Day 2, & Day 3.
Red Wing Roots II: Day 1
I played Bob Dylan on the way to this year’s second annual Red Wing Roots Music Festival. I felt it was a decent way to get my soul ready for the day that awaited me in that magical, green pocket of Mt. Solon. When I parked and stepped out of my car to a distant harmonica chirp being carried through the trees with the mountain breeze, I couldn’t help but smile. I’m baaaaaack. Finally. I slung my camera around my neck, grabbed my cash and i.d. and followed the tunes. It led me straight to the Shenandoah Mountain stage where Charlottesville’s The Honey Dewdrops were mid-set. Sadly, I missed the Walking Roots Band all together because I got distracted by the awesome kids activities that Larkin Arts offered this year. They’ve really evolved with the festival and is one of the many ways the whole experience, that was already dang awesome, got even better. 
Artery’s blank canvas awaits hundreds of children and adult artists to leave their mark.
I spy a Judy Chop!
Peyton Tochterman takes on the crowd at South Stage.
#redwingselfie
WNRN volunteers were there and happy about it!
Old Hill Cider was my go-to when the sun heated up Day 1.
I was particularly excited to see the performance by Many Nights Ahead. Amy, the lead gal, is my former art student and I’ve been trying to catch them live since they started playing. I let myself indulge in photos of these guys. They’re awesome and I felt so proud of them!
I left the Local Roots Stage to take on what I feel is the most difficult part of the festival: deciding what to eat. There were so many goooood and local choices of festie cuisine available. Luckily I have friends that share so we ordered a bunch of food and taste-tested all of it!
A Harrisonburg TRUCKS staple: Grilled Cheese Mania.
Sexi-Mexi…oh God. Straight from my other favorite ‘burg: Strasburg, VA!
David Wax Museum and that sweet sounding jaw bone gets the crowd moving at South Stage!
The Hackensaw Boys
After witnessing all that is Pokey LaFarge last year, I could hardly wait to see him again. And I wasn’t alone. The crowd quickly migrated to the Shenandoah Mountain Stage, ready to shake a thang or two.
Also:
Dearest Pokey,
I love all of your faces. Every. Single. One.
Love, Brandy
P.S. I’m glad the watermelon didn’t hit me in the face. 
Night came and The Duhks took the stage. I was ready to take a long nap and prepare for Day 2.
Don’t miss my photos from Red Wing Roots II: Day 2!
Check out an excellent writeup and MORE of my photos from Red Wing Roots 2014 on ilovemyburg!
This post is part of my year long series Celebrating Life.
Check out my posts from last year: Red Wing Roots Music Festival 2013! Day 1, Day 2, & Day 3.
Rice and Roll
I have made sushi a total of two times in my life. And by made I mean someone else cooked/cut/prepared everything and I rolled up a bunch of colorful stuff, dipped it in wasabi soy and ate it. One of those two times was at a surprise birthday party my best friend planned for me and the other time was at my friend Todd’s house. Even after both experiences, I was useless in remembering how it was done. Kind of like singing a song with no music. Once the radio is up and the lyrics get going, I’m all “shooooot, I got this!” but if I’m flying solo it’s like watching one of those awful auditions on American Idol. So when planning for June’s Celebrating Life post, I skimmed right past National Donut Day and National Chocolate Ice Cream Day (to my children’s dismay) and landed happily on June 18: International Sushi Day. If my past behavior was any indication, I knew the day would end in a shark-like feeding frenzy and I would soon forget all the steps…again. Luckily, this time I came armed with two things that rarely let me forget anything: my camera and my children.
My friend Hannah, being the patient, child-loving, occasional sailor-mouthed, teacher and friend that she is, offered to make sushi with us. She collected all the ingredients from various cabinets and assigned jobs to each of my children. My daughter was in a bit of a funk (she doesn’t like sushi…or much of anything for that matter) but when Hannah put a sharp, “dangerous” kitchen tool (aka the vegetable peeler) in her hand, she perked up for a moment and focused on her task. Meanwhile, my son did some chopping and peeling and Hannah brought the rice over for a taste test.
Hannah’s salt and pepper shakers!
Everyone helped prep the ingredients for our rolls: rice, cucumber, crabstick, roe, avocado, nori, wasabi, salmon and shrimp. Hannah explained how in Korea sushi is called kimbap (or gimbap). From what I understand, kimbap is similar to the sushi we made except larger and not always filled with seafood…sort of like the Korean version of a sandwich. You can switch up the filling (seasoned veggies, beef, chicken, tuna, etc) in the same way we could switch up a sandwich: a turkey sandwich or a pb&j or a rueben. She also told us about her upcoming trip to visit family in Seoul, Korea. Her husband has never been before so she has Post-it notes placed around the house with both the English and Korean version of everyday items like “plate”, “bowl”, “towel”, “bathroom”. I was glad to hear this because after seeing the notes in the bathroom, I assumed she was just leaving little works of art everywhere…I mean, it wouldn’t really surprise me.
After Hannah’s sushi-rollin’ tutorial and our first round of food-crushing silence, the kids were eager to give it a whirl. It didn’t take long for them to realize that it wasn’t quite as easy as her experienced hands made it look. But Hannah helped and before long we had a table full of sushi to consume. We ate and talked and laughed…and laughed at Hannah’s laugh. It’s so contagious! I believe my son is her #1 fan.
Once the sushi mess was under control and we all had Garfield belly, it was time for dessert and another lesson in Korean cuisine. The golden melon she peeled and chopped is called Chameh. It’s a Korean melon that I would describe as a cross between cantaloupe and watermelon, but sweeter. We all tried it but I was full to my collarbone with sushi so I didn’t have much room to thoroughly examine it’s taste complexity. However, I did some searching and found a tempting popsicle recipe using chameh. If the use of Papyrus font is too much for you, try this recipe instead. I’m not judging.
A lot of the sushi ingredients we used here were purchased at Friendly City Food Co-op and Food Maxx. If you can’t make your own sushi today, go support your favorite sushi spot! If you’re local, you’re in luck! You can devour some excellent rolls at Sushi Jako, Oriental Cafe, Beyond and Kyoto. And if you’ve never tried sushi before, it’s a good day to be adventurous. Happy International Sushi Day!!
Friendly City Lens 