Virginia Bluebells Along Seven Bends /  by Todd Henson

Virginia bluebells in the woods

On the first weekend of April (2023) my father and I returned to Seven Bends State Park, a couple weeks after our first visit, and discovered the Virginia bluebells were in full bloom along the river. Of course, we also found it to be a very sunny day with lots of wind, so photographing flowers wasn’t the most obvious choice of pursuits that day, and yet that’s what I did.

We first noticed the bluebells when hiking down from a hill, seeing hints of blue along the base of the hill. What you see above is how it looked when the sun finally went behind some clouds and the wind eased up just a bit. What you see below is how it first looked with the sun out in full.

Virginia bluebells in light and shadow

Hiking closer to the river we found even more Virginia bluebells, though that area was a very busy one. To see what I mean check out the photo below, showing bluebells all along the ground with lots of trees and vines all around.

A busy scene with Virginia bluebells

Before leaving the area I was determined to get one portrait of a Virginia bluebell. And that’s when the sun came back out and the wind picked up. But I setup the tripod, framed my composition, came up with my settings and then waited… and waited… and waited… until that brief but inevitable moment when the breeze stills for just an instant. Thankfully that also happened when the sun was behind a cloud, so I was able to capture a quick and simple portrait.

A portrait of Virginia bluebells

And just to show what it looked like the rest of the time, below is a 1/3 of a second exposure demonstrating how windy it was.

Virginia bluebells dancing in the wind

A sunny and windy day may not be the best time to photograph flowers, but if you’re there you might as well give it a try anyway. If nothing else you’ll have a story to tell afterwards.

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Old Town Manassas - June 3, 2011 /  by Todd Henson

Today we combine photography with just a touch of history. I was recently going through my catalog of old photographs and came across some I don’t believe I’ve posted before of Old Town Manassas, also referred to as Historic Manassas, in Virginia. Given the history of this area I wanted to process the photos to give them an older feel.

Manassas Station

Manassas Station, an historic and active railroad station in Old Town Manassas, Virginia

The opening photo is of Manassas Station, an historic train station built in 1914 by Southern Railway. It was later acquired by the city of Manassas and is still in active use today by Virginia Railway Express (VRE) and Amtrak trains and also houses a tourist information center and a gallery of railroad exhibits.

Railroad Tracks

Facing east and looking down the tracks we see The Candy Factory on the left and the parking garage on the right

Turning east and facing down the railroad tracks we can see the old Candy Factory building on the left and the far more recent parking garage on the right. The garage is used for daily commuters and also for those visiting Old Town Manassas.

The Candy Factory

The Candy Factory, once a producer of tons of candy and now a home to the arts in Old Town Manassas

Turning to the left we see The Candy Factory, built in 1908. It produced tons of candy and shipped it by train all over the eastern US. In 2002 the building became home to the Center for the Arts, now referred to as the ARTfactory. They house local artist galleries and provide classes, performances, and advocacy for the local arts scene. You can see from the old painting on the side of the building that says Manassas Feed & Milling Co that the building was used for other purposes after the candy factory closed and before it became a local artists hub.

Okra’s

A view of the intersection of Center and Battle Street, once home to Okra’s, a fantastic restaurant

Continuing down Battle Street from The Candy Factory we come to the intersection with Center Street. Across the intersection is a lovely building that in 2011 was home to Okra’s, a fantastic Cajun/creole restaurant that had the best gator bites and Cajun deviled eggs in the area. Sadly, they are no more.

A Few Notes on Processing

And just to touch briefly on how I chose to process the images, I used Adobe Lightroom and processed the photos initially as I usually do, then converted them to black & white. I wanted more of a sepia tone than pure black & white so I used the Color Grading feature, formerly called Split Toning, to shift the colors. I pushed the highlights towards yellow, the shadows towards red, and nudged the midtones just slightly towards blue. I adjusted the black & white mix, shifting each color slider to affect how those colors were converted to monochrome. Finally I did a couple things I rarely do, I created a white vignette around the edges that faded into the image, and I tweaked the color calibration values just slightly. All of these settings were mostly the same for each photo except that I tweaked the color calibration values differently based on how they looked on each photo.

Adobe Lightroom settings for B&W and Color Grading

Adobe Lightroom settings for Effects and Calibration

I hope you enjoyed this look at Old Town Manassas in 2011, as well as a little look into how I processed the photos. What did you think of the processing? Would you have done anything differently? Have you ever visited this location? Have you ever eaten at Okra’s? Let me know in the comments below.

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First Visit to Seven Bends State Park, Virginia /  by Todd Henson

The Lupton Road entrance to Seven Bend State Park, Virginia

In mid-March my father and I drove out to Seven Bends State Park for the first time. This is an interesting park near Woodstock, Virginia, that’s split into two sections along the Seven Bends area of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River. In both cases you first have to navigate a very narrow one-lane windy road and then cross a one-lane bridge that’s very low to the river. We were told by a park ranger that it’s fairly common for the bridges to flood, so if you visit be sure to watch the weather and plan accordingly. Also, please be patient and drive safely, making way if you can for oncoming vehicles.

The one-lane bridge on Lupton Road

A view of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River

A view of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River in the other direction

Seven Bends is a reasonably recent addition to the network of state parks. It was created when Dr. James R. Myers donated almost 700 acres of land in memory of the Fravel and Myers families. It’s always nice to see donated lands turned into park land.

Seven Bends State Park was created from donated land

Though we drove to both sections of the park we spent most of our time on the Hollingsworth Road section, hiking the Bass Bight Trail. The park appears to have a range of trails of varying difficulty. The easier trails parallel the river and the more difficult ones head up into the hilly mountains. This time around we stuck to the river trails.

The trail map for Seven Bends State Park

The first thing we noticed on the Hollingsworth Road section was a large corn field just beyond the parking areas. It wasn’t in season so everything had been cut down and was brown, but it might be interesting to return and see what it looks like with corn growing. I wonder if it might be a good location to photograph certain species of birds that might gather in corn fields?

Looking back towards the parking lot over a cleared corn field

Bass Bight Trail parallels the river with the corn field to the right

It was early enough in the year that most trees were still bare of leaves. But we did see the first signs of leaf growth, both lighter shades of green and in some cases shades of red. I was drawn several times to different sections as the sun lit up the leaves. I don’t know that any of these photos are anything special but I think they show some potential for this area.

Some of the lit up trees that caught my eye on the slopes on the mountain

A touch of red on otherwise bare trees

I loved how the sun highlighted the new leaves on the trees

We noticed several flowers while there, though it’s still early in the season. The first we noticed were small groups of grape hyacinth in the grassy areas. Later, at the end of the trail, I stumbled across some unknown flowers that I later learned were young Virginia bluebells, an absolutely lovely flower sometimes found along rivers or creeks. It’s good to know another location where we might find these flowers if we arrive at the right time. In the same area we found lots of rough horsetail growing.

Grape hyacinth were scattered around in the grass

The buds of Virginia bluebells were just beginning to emerge

I loved the look of several sections of rough horsetail, especially this one with a vine running through it

Near the end of trail I noticed something moving in the river. It was bright white but also orange. All I had with me was a wide angle lens and a macro so I couldn’t get any closeups, but with the macro I was able to create a few photos that revealed the creatures to be a pair of Greylag geese. I very strongly suspect these are domesticated. One of them appeared to have some kind of problem with its feathers, or perhaps it was molting.

A massively cropped image showing the two Greylag geese in the river

Eventually the pair of Greylag geese went on shore

Before we left we spoke with a ranger who recommended we get lunch at the local Woodstock Cafe, and I’m glad she did. My father and I each had a great sandwich and I sampled some of the local coffee. Stop by if you ever find yourself in Woodstock, Virginia. 

Have you ever heard of, or visited, Seven Bends State Park in Virginia? It’s certainly a location I’d like to visit again.

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