The official photo blog of J. David Buerk Photography.
Toward the end of Summer 2022 I hiked Sleepy Creek Wildlife Management Area’s Devil’s Nose in Hedgesville, West Virginia. It’s certainly not the longest, tallest, or most intensive hikes I’ve ever embarked upon, but it leads to a panoramic outcropping of rock with views of the mountains all around. The hike starts with a stream crossing, and zags up the mountain carrying you past each layer of forest ecology.
I was lucky enough to be rewarded with a few pictures of myself on the hike.
Spring is here, and this April kicked off with a fun vineyard proposal in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. Sweethearts for eight years, David and Kathleen vacationed in Virginia’s wine country, but David had been planning to pop the question this weekend for months. Circumstances made this one a hard secret to keep, and Kathleen came so close to finding out, but as soon as the couple arrived at the vineyard and found the picnic awaiting them, David eagerly dropped to one knee.
She said yes, and was in shock the rest of the day of wine and adventure!
As Winter is coming to a close, and warmer weather is just around the corner, this week enjoy some photos from the (sadly and surprisingly) only hike I went on last year. In late September a few friends of mine checked out a newer park and trail in Shenandoah, with the side-quest of searching for some of the abandoned buildings and vehicles left in the area. Seven Bends Park in the Shenandoah Valley’s small town of Woodstock opened in late 2019, built on the site of a former kids summer camp, which is why there are abandoned outhouses, athletic courts, and even a rusted 60s era school bus if you look through the dense overgrowth.
We set out on a mission to hike from one end of the park to a bridge toward the opposite side where the rusted bus was said to be located near. In total we hiked 9 miles in 3.5hrs, stopping at several of the emergency escape bridges this park features; bordering the Shenandoah River, the lower sections of this park can become flooded and inaccessible, so for safety, there are emergency escape bridges over the river at certain spots so an outdoorsman won’t become isolated in the wilderness during a flash flood or storm surge. It should be noted that all of these bridges lead off public land and exit out onto private properties; either people’s cabins, or farmland - regardless, if you exit the park via one of these bridges, you’re trespassing if not doing so in an emergency situation.
That said, we did venture out on a few of these bridges to see if we could spot the bus from a different angle, because we just weren’t seeing the bus where my urban exploration friend who suggested this park just to find this bus thought it was supposed to be. After devoting quite a bit of time pouncing through overgrowth to see some of the abandoned structures, talking with a beekeeper tending hives at the on-site apiary, and unsuccessfully looking for the mythical bus, we started our trek back from the opposite end of the park to be back at the car by sunset. Upon reaching the car, we found a young peahen roaming around, and to my surprise it wasn’t aggressive - it was cautiously curious, and gradually zigzagged closer as my urban explorer friend and I quietly took pictures of its developing feathers; peahens don’t have the large plumage peacocks are known for, but still bear a coat of iridescent feathers in dazzling blue, purple, and green.
We got in the car as the sun had dropped below the mountains, and head out. Just past the park gate, I looked out and commented without thinking, “oh look, someone is standing on that footbridge.” A quiet pause, and and we all looked at each other. “Wait. There’s a bridge?” None of us had seen it in daylight on the drive in, but I’d spotted another one at dusk on the way out, not even ¼mi outside the main gate. “Okay, stop stop stop stop stop.” We parked on a little pulloff on one of the mountain’s dirt chicanes where we’d seen a car parked on our arrival and even commented it was in an odd spot. When we got out, there was a small trailhead with stairs leading down to another escape bridge. “Damnit dude, did you get your bridges mixed up?” One of our friends who joined us who always talks about wanting to go hiking, but always complains about it once we’re actually on a trail, was processing *all the emotions* at this point, realizing we’re both about to hike at least some more, in the dark no less, but also that the 9 miles we’d put in were probably “pointless.”
If you ask me, no hiking is pointless, so I was just entertained by the whole situation. Sure enough, hopping off the trail for a few hundred feet and scaling the mountain’s overgrowth above the Shenandoah River, there was the bus. It had to have somehow slid off the switchback above, because there was no way to drive any vehicle here, or off this steep spot it had landed in. Like our previous off-trail excursions the entire day, only my explorer friend and I checked out the bus and even made our way inside; our other two friends watched us from the bridge as the sky quickly lost all light. I didn’t pack a proper flashlight this trip, so I broke out my iPhone to add some needed light and mood - this is a spot we’d both like to return to; we both have portrait ideas, and I want to bring my Speedlites and gels to light the bus for some spooky vibes. The interior was completely stripped except for some gauges and fuses, coated in rust and wasp nests.
Seven Bends Park has several other trails that we didn’t explore, so it’s still on our list to return to.
Many years ago, when I was a freshman in college, just as my interest in photography was taking off, and way before I knew I’d pursue it professionally, I switched positions at Washington Dulles International Airport from a customer service position to an office internship more closely aligned with the engineering major I was studying toward at the time. This is how I met and came to be friends with Erik.
Erik and I have always shared the same love of photography; he even worked in a photo lab developing film for a time in college. So as my career path started to change course, Erik understood, and continued to mentor me, even as my imaging talents eventually took me away from the airport’s Maintenance Engineering Division I’d been a part of for the better part of my college career. Erik is also largely responsible for familiarizing me with Nikon cameras, which although certainly not my preference, has continually proven useful to this day.
At the time Erik and I met, he had just had his son, Noah, and I saw him grow through baby photos in his office and periodically bumping into Erik taking Noah to airport events or Star Wars screenings at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center’s IMAX. So while I know Noah is as old as I’ve known Erik, it was still a bit of a surprise when he’s now in his early-teens and taller than I am, talking about cars at Erik and Jennifer’s wedding. Time flies.
As you can see, Erik and I go way back. Jennifer and I, not so much, but it’s clear they are happy together, and Jennifer’s sense of humor compliments the dry and oft deadpan wit Erik bears. Erik and Jennifer were engaged last year, but like so many other couples right now, the COVID-19 pandemic changed their wedding plans. Venues are difficult to come by, and everyone is still adjusting how to do even basic tasks, like safely traveling and meeting. Erik and Jennifer’s ceremony was outdoors and shared with a small group of socially distanced close relatives in order to maintain everyone’s safety while gathering to celebrate.
Although their wedding was abridged due to the pandemic, I ensured their wedding portraits were not. Taking advantage of the clear, warm Summer weather, and the rural Virginia manor in the Shenandoah Valley where they said “I do,” I captured portraits of them in the gardens and fields of lavender at sunset; without a reception, this wedding portrait session had a refreshingly more relaxed vibe than some of my pre-pandemic weddings with extremely limited time constraints for the couples’ portraits. I enjoyed capturing them, and am happy Erik and Jennifer have them to enjoy for many years to come even in the face of the pandemic.
Normally I wouldn’t post my bathroom mirror selfies on my website, but it’s 2020 and here we are. I think it’s important to take a minute to show what I look like at all my sessions in the age of COVID-19. Not only am I protecting my clients, but I’m protecting myself and loved ones I care for, and wear an N99 respirator during the entirety of my sessions, even in 96º Summer sunlight; it’s not a problem, and is just one of numerous strict precautions I take to protect my clients and myself. I only break out the bowtie for special occasions though ;-)
I’ve also been taking fun-photos with a Polaroid lately; I’ve been curious about them for years, but only started playing with one this Summer. I accidentally had the focus set to Portrait / Close-up for this one, but perfection-in-imperfection is the exact thing I find so enchanting about film photography.
Lately I’ve been slowly working my way through unedited personal sets in my photo library. This week’s offering is from last Summer, when I finally got to hike Old Rag once again. After my Spring, 2017 knee mishap which led to surgery and a long recovery in PT, this was my first time hiking Old Rag since making a full recovery.
My friend Patrick, who you may recognize from many of my car posts, and I hit the trail on a steamy August mid-morning. I’d come to find out later that day there were other people I know on the mountain at the same time we were, but we simply never crossed paths; funny how that works sometimes.
Old Rag is the tallest peak in Shenandoah National Park, and naturally provides some of the most incredible panoramic views of the Shenandoah Valley. It is known for its extensive granite rock scrambles along the trail with some locations along the trail and at the summit offering opportunities for bouldering or full-on rock climbing for those feeling more daring.
If you’re unfamiliar, parts of the trail run through and under the massive granite boulders; here, the trail proceeds up a natural staircase inside the opening between the rocks, in the center of the frame below. As you ascend and eventually descend the mountain, you can changes in foliage, ground composition, and wildlife.
