This is Mabry Mill just south of Roanoke on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I took this late last summer. Lori and Rachel were out of town visiting family, and I went for a drive on the parkway (Something we used to do all the time before I got into photography. I wish I would have gotten in to it sooner. I remember all the places we went, but didn't think to take pictures.)

I almost didn't go out that day because it was raining, but I decided to suck it up and just go. I'm glad I did because for whatever reason this image is one of my favorite landscapes I've shot up to this point. The rain actually made the scene better in my opinion. You can't really tell it is raining in the photo, but the scene is more saturated because everything is wet.

Here are a few shots from a senior portrait session I did a few weeks ago.

All of these were taken in the downtown area of Roanoke.

Check out my new website to see more of these and other images. Here's the link http://www.dustinmccollum.com

So I think I could really get into photographing wildlife. I just wish there were more opportunities near home. In a way, it's much like photographing sports. Everythings always moving and you don't really know what will happen; you just hope you press the shutter at the right moment.

"Jefferson", a rescued bald eagle. He was not able to fly because of an injured right wing. Not really sure how he got that way.

So I learned an interesting fact about eagles. You have to have a special permit to own eagle feathers. The keepers at the zoo collect the feathers that fall off and send them to some sort of federal agent.

A few of the large mammals from the Virginia Zoo.

Lion cub- born last May

Masai Girrafe- tallest species of giraffe,

also the tallest land mammal in the world

A few of the small animals.

Meerkat- I happened to cough once while photographing these guys and they all ran off. Had to wait for them to come back out. They were a little jumpy.

Prairie Dog- these guys had a severe case of ADD. They would not stay in the same place for more than a second.

This past weekend, we went to Chesapeake to visit with family. I snuck away for a few hours on Friday and went to the zoo in Norfolk. The weather was gorgeous. I think it may have gone past 80 degrees at one point.

You would think if the zoo's name was the "Virginia Zoological Park" they would have had a lot more there than they did. Of course the DC zoo is pretty big in comparison (we went there last summer while in DC). But I always seemed to remember the zoos I went to when I was little having more (but then again when you are little everything seems huge).

A few shots I liked from the day.

I used a little fill-flash for these two. I haven't used it before on animal shots outdoors, but I think it improved the exposure. More on fill-flash here.

You don't see many buildings being built like this one anymore. I wonder how long it took to design and build the columns and the trim work. I would have loved to get a shot of this at night with the street lights on.

I believe this may have been a post office building, but I am not entirely sure. I shot this last summer in Norfolk, Virginia.

Ok. I've officially had it with winter. Next season please. You know you've had enough snow when the kids at school complain about snow in the forecast (knowing that if it snows enough, they get a day out of school). Of course by now, they've figured out you have to make those days up. Anyways, I think I am more ready for spring this year than any in the past.

A few from over Christmas break. Both from Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Some shots from a trip to Virginia Tech a few weeks ago. Both shots were at the Inn at VA Tech where we were staying. Yes, I know the title is very cheesy (you might say "hokie"), but I couldn't think of anything else.

Images from Virginia Beach over Christmas break. Didn't see much wildlife (two birds to be exact), but did get a few pictures of other stuff.

A few from the beach yesterday. I didn't get any close up shots of the birds (that I liked), but did get some from a distance. The first three are at the fishing pier and the fourth is from the residential section of the beach.

Down at the beach by 6:15 this morning to take pictures of the sunrise. It was slightly cold. I think it may have been 30 degrees. After about 30 minutes I could not feel my hands anymore. The sun came up about 7:15, and then it was not too bad. At least the wind wasn't blowing there.

I've never taken any of the sunrise before; mostly because I'm never up that early. I don't know why I decided to wake up at 5:15 on my Christmas break.

I managed to get several shots that I like. I will post a few today and more over the next few days hopefully. Enjoy.

One from the snow storm last night. We got somewhere between 14 and 20 inches here. I don't know what the official count was. All I know is that I haven't been anywhere today. I've been told this stuff will probably be around the rest of the year. It may snow again next week so we may have a white Christmas.

Thought this one kind of looked like a postcard. Wish the bug zapper wasn't on across the street (I don't think the bugs were a problem last night).

I went walking on a trail off the Blue Ridge Parkway the other day. I was hoping to see some wildlife. Didn't see anything but a few squirrels. I didn't even get a shot of them. I made this shot just as I started.

One from the archives. This was shot outside the salvage shop in downtown Roanoke this past summer. Someone at some time spent a lot of time painting all of the detail on this wagon.

Some apartments (I believe) in downtown Norfolk, Virginia.

ISO 100 50mm f5/6 1/80th sec.