Overcast Blues on Aquia Creek /  by Todd Henson

Overcast Blues on Aquia Creek

On New Year’s day my father and I went for our first hikes of the year. We visited a couple locations, one of which was Widewater State Park in Virginia. I’ve previously shown views of Aquia Creek as seen from the park, and today we return to this view with a couple new photographs from January 1st of 2024.

It was a very overcast day, and in fact it began raining lightly for part of the time we looked out at Aquia Creek. The overcast quality gave the scene a very blue look with interesting breaks in the clouds near the horizon, providing enough light for the scene and for some reflections in the creek. This scene is also interesting in how you can often see different channels where water flows in the creek by the different looks of the water’s surface. Sometimes it may be caused by a boat that’s moved through, but this morning I believe it was all due to water flow and perhaps to any breeze further out. We didn’t see or hear any boats while there, and there was little if any breeze where we were on shore.

And, as luck would have it, one of a pair of mating bald eagles happened to fly into the scene as I was photographing, creating a nice little bonus in the upper left of the image.

Below is a panoramic photo stitched together from 29 vertical views of the scene with a 105 mm lens. It gives a taste of this wide open part of the creek, and of the calm feel to the morning. Perhaps this is why they named the park Widewater.

A Wide View at Widewater

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Opening Neabsco Creek Boardwalk New Years Day 2024 /  by Todd Henson

My father and I welcomed in 2024 with a walk along the Neabsco Creek Boardwalk. He volunteers to open the boardwalk several days a week and this happened to be one of those days. We arrived when it was still pitch black outside. For the holidays they decorate and light up parts of the park and some sections of the boardwalk on select days and during certain hours, so it was interesting seeing all the decorations and lights when they were off and dark. Some were a little creepy, hanging from trees over the path leading to the boardwalk. I didn’t get any photos of these as it was completely dark.

You can see at 6:28 how dark it was from the parking lot. You can also see some of the decorations. They had a sleigh and reindeer under the pavilion for the kids. There’s also a small playground just beyond. The lights through the trees on the left are from a sewage treatment plant.

Pitch black beyond the parking lot

When we arrived at the first gate it was 6:38 and still very dark. I set up the tripod and captured a 30 second exposure of the gate, which I then lightened a bit in post. You can see the sky lighting up where the sun will rise, as well as the lights of the marina and a housing community through the gaps in the gate on the far shore of the wetlands.

Gates of Neabsco Creek Boardwalk

This time of year the wetlands is somewhat scraggly with all the vegetation now brown. Some cattails still stand tall but many of the grasses and other plants have died down or been plastered to the ground by the tides and flooding. These photos were created between 6:53 to 7:09.

Early morning wetlands

A field of old cattails before sunrise

Just before the sun comes up, if there’s enough of a gap, it can light up the clouds with reds and oranges. I happened to find a cooperative great blue heron fishing just off the boardwalk during this time, and though this was a 1.6 second exposure it stayed fairly still during that time. This occurred at 7:17.

Fiery sunrise with a great blue heron

The sewage treatment plant on one shore sometimes releases warmer water into the wetlands which increases the amount of mist floating over that area. This morning the receding tide took it out towards the Potomac River, which at this location is close enough to the ocean that its tidal, meaning these are tidal wetlands. If you come at different times you see the channels of water flowing in either direction. The large houses are further along the shore, down from the sewage treatment plant and slightly closer to the river. These photos are from 7:33 and 7:45.

Mists on the far shore

Boardwalk, mists and houses

Sometimes it doesn’t take long for people to begin showing up to either jog or walk the boardwalk. There was one very early, before all the gates had yet been opened. But after all the gates were open more slowly showed up for their first of the year walks. In this case I found a section of boardwalk where you could see it winding back and forth into the distance and thought adding that human presence added something nice. By this time it was 8:16. 

Walking Neabsco Creek Boardwalk

Heading back I thought I’d capture a view of some of the decorations they’d installed around one of the gates to the boardwalk. I think they’ve done a nice job. They limit the decorations and lights to the loop of the boardwalk closest to the shore, as well as the paths on land, and only do them for a limited amount of time so as to limit disturbance to wildlife. And speaking of wildlife, I did see a fox, beaver, muskrat, heron, hawk (which landed on one of the fake trees on the boardwalk!), ducks, gulls and many smaller birds like sparrows. Granted, many were seen when it was still so dark I wasn’t able to capture any clear photos of them.

A hawk on the holiday trees

Decorations at the boardwalk entrance

And this final photo was created at 8:39 just outside the boardwalk gates looking back out towards the marina and the train bridge over the wetlands. Beyond the bridge is the Potomac River, and where the sun rose.

A parting view from Neabsco Creek Boardwalk

It doesn’t take two hours to open the boardwalk, but when you have someone with a camera tagging along it can cause the overall walk to take that long. :-)

This was a great way to begin the year, and I hope you enjoyed reading about it.

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Best Photos of 2023: My Favorites of the Year /  by Todd Henson

2023 has come to a close, and with that closing opens an opportunity to look back at all the photos created over the coarse of the year and select my best, or favorites, of the year. This is always a challenging task. Some years I may struggle to find 10 favorites. Most often, thankfully, I struggle to narrow the selection down to just 10. But this editing process is always worth the effort as it helps teach us to be honest and critical with our own work, something that’s worth learning and improving over time. And perhaps it may reveal patterns in our work.

Below you’ll find my selection. You can click on any of the photos for a larger view. Below each photo are links to the blog post where I first shared the image as well as a link to my online store where you can purchase the photo as wall art or on a variety of different products like puzzles, cards, bags and more.

 

A Peaceful Moment, January (available for purchase)

Dogbane Beetle, July (available for purchase)

Summer Reflections, August (available for purchase)

I hope you enjoyed viewing this gallery of images, whether for the first time or as a look back. Thanks very much for your time and your support, and all the best to you this new year.

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