The master at work…
7 minute read
November 14, 2021, 8:52 PM
Most of the time, when I’m doing photography, I only get to see the end result, which typically ends up on my Flickr page, along with other places. It’s far less common for me to see candid shots of myself, just because I’m usually the one doing all of the photographing. But when you go on a trip that is explicitly photography-oriented, and when everyone is shooting, I end up seeing some candid shots of myself. Recently, from October 15-21, Elyse and I went on a trip to North Carolina and Hampton Roads, where we photographed a lot of stuff, some familiar, and some less familiar. The parts of North Carolina that we visited were almost entirely new territory for both of us, while Hampton Roads was a more familiar setting. In North Carolina, we got together with my friend Patrick, whom I’ve known for a very long time, and had a quick meetup with another friend who formerly lived in the DC area. Then in Hampton Roads, we spent time with Aaron and Evan Stone. I’m not going to go into too much detail about the trip itself right now, because I’m working on a much larger photo set about the adventure for the Life and Times section, so for all of the details, stay tuned, but it will be a while before it releases, because it’s going to be a big one. In any case, some of these shots are posed, but a lot of them are candid. If it tells you anything, when Elyse and I were reviewing them on the big screen in the living room, we put on “Yakety Sax” and laughed a lot.
In any case, here they are. These shots were all taken by Elyse, unless otherwise noted.
Group selfie at the North Carolina welcome center on I-95 southbound. From left to right, there’s Elyse, Woomy, David (a clownfish), and me.
This is the first of a series of four photos that we took while photographing a center-pivot irrigation rig on display in Calypso, North Carolina. If I recall, the prompt from Elyse was to “do something cute”.
A second pose, after determining that the first one was not cute enough.
Pose #3, going with the arms-up approach.
Hands folded above the camera this time. I think I ran out of ideas for poses by this point.
Being a roadgeek with a “Future I-42” sign on US 70 the way to New Bern. This was my first time seeing a “Future” sign in person.
Posing for a photo with David and Woomy in downtown New Bern. An alternate shot with only Woomy appeared as the November splash photo.
In the HR-V, holding up the “Birthplace of Pepsi” shirt that we got in New Bern.
Sitting on a couch in a New Bern hotel waiting for Elyse to film the elevator, and photographed before I noticed that she was there, looking rather concerned about whatever was on my phone.
Looking over the glasses at something at a carnival that we happened upon in New Bern.
Sitting on an old Ford tractor at a peanut place in Capron, Virginia, along US 58 on the way to Hampton Roads.
Evan got a photo of me in the room at the hotel in Newport News, offloading files from the day’s photography. I suppose that it’s a reminder that for all of the time I spend in the field, I spend even more time working at my desk preparing stuff for publication.
Aaron got a photo of me waving hello after getting a photo of a vintage sign in Newport News.
A photo of me lining up a shot of the sign outside of an office building.
Sticking my tongue out in a display at Nauticus in downtown Norfolk.
Touring the USS Wisconsin, and taking photos. This is apparently how I look when I take photos: hat on, eye to viewfinder, mouth open, and neck skin hanging down like a turkey. Remind me to thank Evan for this oh-so-flattering shot.
Walking down the deck of the Wisconsin.
Mirror selfie!
Navigating a narrow, steep stair between decks on the Wisconsin.
All smiles in a bunk room.
Taking a photo of a room through a slot in the door.
Looking all, “Oh, hey,” as I come down a stair.
Taking a photo with my phone. Note that even with the different camera, the mouth is still hanging open.
Trying to find a comfortable position on the bunk in the Wisconsin‘s brig. It’s pretty hard to find a comfortable position on a bare steel bunk, but I suppose that the position in the bottom shot was the closest that I could get.
Evan caught me photographing an older Honeywell fire alarm pull station in an office building in downtown Hampton.
Standing on a dock in Hampton with mouth wide open, as observed by Aaron. I must be mentally lining up a shot, if my jaw is hanging down like that and that big turkey fold is all prominent, I suppose.
Elyse and I make angry (or at least annoyed) faces in front of the corn sign at a Wegmans in Virginia Beach. This is in keeping with an Internet meme where you’re supposed to leave an “angry” reaction on photos of corn on social media. Yes, it’s dumb, but it’s funny.
Evan got this shot of me photographing a discarded slice of pizza outside of a building in Virginia Beach.
Elyse got another shot of me with the pizza slice. What I’m doing here is taking a photo with my phone, primarily to mark the location for future reference. While my Nikon does have built-in GPS and I tend to keep the feature turned on, I consider the Nikon’s GPS to be less reliable than my phone.
Evan got a photo of me Slav-squatting while photographing an Arby’s sign in Virginia Beach.
Going down the slide on the playground at Mount Trashmore Park in Virginia Beach. And for those wondering, “absolute block” is a railroad term where only one train is allowed to occupy a defined section of track at a time. In this case, I’m using the term as a way to verify that the slide is clear, and that nobody is going to come behind me until I’m clear.
Looking at the drone remote while sitting on a bench on the Virginia Beach boardwalk, with a somewhat perturbed look on my face.
So there you have it, I suppose. The master at work. These photos amused me, because it’s so rare that I get to see good candid photos of myself, and Elyse, Aaron, and Evan came out in spades. And then, like I said earlier, the full photo set related to this trip will come out later on, but there’s still a lot of work to do to complete it (so don’t look for it any time soon).
Categories: Elyse, Hampton Roads, Myself, North Carolina, Photography, Travel, Woomy