Photo Essay Blitz Outtakes 2002
In the course of shooting 2,408 photos as part of “The Schumin Web Photo Essay Blitz” (the Photography section was originally called “Photo Essays”), you occasionally run into those things that just don’t fit anywhere else but are still worth a photo. At the time of these shoots, my way of doing things on a photo set was to pretty much take pictures of everything, and then create a photo set out of the best stuff that actually had to do with what I was originally going for. So that makes for a lot of outtakes. Some of it ends up around the site. Other stuff just gets stockpiled, because you never know when you might be able to use it. However, with the large amount of photos that I shot in Arlington, Richmond, Norfolk, Charlottesville, and Roanoke over the course of a week, I ended up getting a lot more of this than usual. Often this is stuff shot in between destinations, or it was a leading or ending shot that just didn’t make the cut. Or it’s simply something that I thought was funny. It’s part of the story of how photo sets get made, but not part of the formal story that gets published. So here’s a look into the other stuff that I saw…
Arlington, Virginia
Need a port-a-potty? Give the guy with the rhyming name, “Don’s Johns”, a call! I first saw this brand on a port-a-potty a number of years ago, when they were widening Interstate 66. Gotta love that name…
…and we watch as the herd crosses the street near the Rosslyn Metro Station.
A new building is going up at 1801 N. Lynn Street! Here, workers put a waving art piece over the building’s entrances…
Rain… the one thing that killed the Old Town Alexandria mission. Not to fear, though. Old Town Alexandria was successfully photographed on April 13, 2002.
At Washington National Airport, the State Police were out and about, with their blinkies on.
Look at the size of this pull station! This is an old version of the classic Edwards pull station, and it’s like four times the size of the current model. For a size comparison, I put my gloved hand next to the pull station and photographed. Compare this with the photograph below, taken in Potomac Hall with the more recent version of the classic Edwards pull station that I have in my fire alarm collection, being size-compared with the same hand.
At Pentagon station, renovations have begun as part of the Pentagon Renovation Program. The walled-off area used to be an entrance to the Pentagon.
This area of the Pentagon is NOT the area damaged on September 11th (that’s two sides around the building going left). This is the construction area for the new entrance facility, where rail and bus passengers will go when it’s finished to get screened for entry into the Pentagon.
This is part of the Pentagon’s new bus station – in memory of all those whose lives were forever changed by the events of September 11, 2001.
Ryan Christie, a friend of mine at JMU, ran into me at Pentagon City Mall, and shot this photo of me with his digital camera. Judging by the hair, I’d say that I’d been busy!
After taking me to Vienna, this Metro train went OUT OF SERVICE.
Richmond, Virginia
Next to the Science Museum, we find a cracker factory! I wondered where the sweet baked smell was coming from when I got out of the car…
Where have we seen this FACP before? Answer is that it’s the same FACP as is in Potomac Hall…
Rush hour in Richmond… not fun.
And welcome to the Hampton Inn in Midlothian! This was where I stayed for the night between the Richmond and Norfolk segments.
I was somewhat surprised to see this – the Hampton Inn had a Simplex system installed, yet the smoke detectors in the rooms were Gentex. Curious, indeed…
Meanwhile, down in the lobby, the remote fire alarm annunciator (the FACP was behind the front desk) was indicating that there was a trouble condition on the fire alarm system. Curious, indeed…
Norfolk, Virginia
A ship is visible off in the distance on the bridge-tunnel…
The one thing that everyone at JMU who was from this area was asking me about was if I got a photo of the “whale building”. For the record, yes, I did get the whale building (actually a parking structure), and here it is!
Sea gulls… a sure indication that the ocean was near…
This was kind of eerily reminiscent of my fourth floor door decorations in Potomac Hall that year, which had a life ring just like this with “Welcome aboard!” beneath it.
The building across the street from the World Trade Center in Norfolk is seen here, still under construction…
Charlottesville, Virginia
Please note that only one of the photos in this Charlottesville section was actually taken in Charlottesville. However, for organizational purposes, this whole section was classified “Charlottesville”.
Randi and Katie from Potomac Hall (as well as Joanna, who is not pictured) stopped by to visit me at home! The four of us played “The Game of Life”.
While running an errand in Harrisonburg, I caught workers putting up the new street signs that got featured inThe Breeze in the first issue after Spring Break. I’m afraid this is a much better picture than what was in The Breeze because this shows them actually putting the sign up…
Looking over the scenic overlook on Interstate 64, we find a road snaking through the countryside…
Over at the Omni Hotel in Charlottesville, workmen paint the door frames that special Omni color…
At my old high school, Mrs. Weekley’s signature phrase is still useful in real life. Never forget: “SORRY” DON’T FEED THE BULLDOG!
And speaking of dogs, here’s Greta, looking at me quizzically.
“Did you see something, Greta? Go get it!”
Roanoke, Virginia
Just down the hill from the Roanoke Star is the “Discovery Center”, which provides information about the Roanoke area.
This electrical box certainly has an interesting paint job, designed to look like light switches. However, the aspect is a bit odd, with the switches facing opposite directions.
Where to go… where to go…
Can’t find your signature Roanoke item? Look no further! These signs were all over downtown Roanoke, directing you to the Roanoke Star, a few stadiums, as well as these downtown attractions.
This picture perfectly captures the essence of Sheetz, and what makes Sheetz so awesome. It’s kind of like an island of lights, ready to lure you in…
And finally, what trip would be complete without a trip to Hooters? Their fries are to DIE for… so good.