Grand Prize – Calendar Cover:

Ed Gaus recently moved to a farm in Fulks Run and earned our Grand Prize this year. Although he still travels to Northern Virginia every week for his work with the Congressional Quarterly, his plan is to eventually work from home and enjoy this beautiful area full time. Ed grew up in the Catskill mountain area of New York, and was attracted to our valley when he first visited. This shot was taken early one morning at the dry river bridge on his driveway on Dry River Road. As the mist rose off the water, he leaned out his car window and captured this lovely scene. Ed says he is fairly new to photography, but finds so many beautiful scenes in the Fulks Run area that he carries his digital camera all the time now.

January:

Diane Morris of Front Royal was traveling on Reservoir Road outside Luray and had to stop the car for this shot of what is called the “Old Baker Farm”. The lighting, sky color, and contrast of colors seemed just perfect to her. Diane has taken photos all her life, and loves scenery and landscapes. On pretty days she’s tempted to play hooky from work at Helmuth Builders and just leave with her camera!

February:

Russ Roegner works in Bethesda, MD but is becoming a local resident in stages. He has a log cabin near Luray and spends most weekends and vacations here, and plans to retire here. These winter-coated draft horses live near Egypt Bend Road, and are quite sociable when someone stops to admire them. Russ enjoys hiking on the Massanutten and Skyline Drive trails and is sure to take his camera along.

March:

Robert Grube of Broadway is a hiking enthusiast and took this shot of Doyles Run Falls on the Skyline Drive, just off the trail. Robert has become very fond of digital photography because of the camera’s quality and flexibility, and always takes his camera along while traveling. Robert has lived in this area for 13 years, and recently moved to Broadway to open the new Domino’s Pizza here.

April:

Our April photographer, Marie Joabar, lives in Alexandria but comes to this area frequently to visit her property near Bryce. This little country church sits just west of Woodstock along Rt. 42. Marie says, “I’ve always seen this church tucked into the hillside, and I waited until the redbuds and forsythia bloomed and then captured it.” She had to park in someone’s driveway and run out on the road to get the right angle! She works in a camera store, so photography is a natural hobby for Marie.

May:

Rick Showalter, a surveyor and poultry farmer from the Linville area, has been a winner in our contest before. And this year all four of his entries became finalists! It’s obvious how much he appreciates the beauty of our area. These two swans live on Silver Lake at Dayton, and Rick followed them one day to a nearby pond where they posed for this great shot.

June:

This portrait of a duck family was taken by Danny Sutton of Timberville, another past winner in our contest. Living at JMU Arboretum in Harrisonburg, Momma duck gets a lot of attention and is used to people, but she keeps a sharp eye and moves away when approached too closely. Danny has been a photography hobbyist for 25 years, and has a great eye for color and composition.

July:

Joseph Martin of Harrisonburg saw this International truck peeking out of an old barn on Port Republic Road. He says it reminds him of the old cars and trucks his dad collected. Joe enjoys photography as a way to help him relax after an intense day in the operating room at RMH. "I like trying to capture the beauty around me and then sharing that with others".

August:

This is the second of Rick Showalter’s photos in this year’s calendar. This farm is south of Singers Glen on Rt. 613. Rick lives near here and says that the Singers Glen area is one of his favorite parts of the county. Like most enthusiastic photographers, Rick carries his camera along for those unexpected opportunities for great shots.

September:

Rick Showalter captured this scene from the Cross Keys area. He says that it was an excellent day for the light and color. He sometimes goes several weeks without taking any pictures, and then he may take fifty in one day when the conditions are right. He says it’s “all about the light”.

October:

This beautiful October country scene was taken at Hensley Hollow near Elkton by Joshua J. Gooden, who was our Grand Prize winner last year. Joshua lives near Elkton, is in 8th grade at Elkton Middle School, and took this shot when he was 12 years old. Besides his photography hobby, Josh plays basketball and enjoys drawing house plans. He’s considering architecture as a career.

November:

Our November picture is of Passage Creek in Shenandoah County. It was taken by David Bushman of Toms Brook, who found this scene at the Elizabeth Furnace recreation area at the north end of Fort Valley. David says Passage Creek is a great trout stream, and a fisherman just stepped out view moments before he shot this. He took 20-25 shots with different exposures this day. David works as a civil engineer and enjoys the outdoors. He is another past winner in our contest.

December:

Leah Wine of Woodstock, who is a sophomore at Central High School, took this picture in her back yard to give us some Christmas spirit! Her mom says the wreath was an old one purchased at a yard sale for $1, and they added the red bow. What holiday cheer against the white snow! Leah has two horses which she shows and trains, enjoys choir at school, and takes pictures when she has the time. On this day, they were playing in the snow when Leah realized the pretty sight the barn made, and she ran back into the house for her camera.

Honorable Mentions:

Paul Burton is a retired educator living in California who visits relatives in Luray and says “I love the Page County Area. It has so much to offer for photography and more.” He found this scene on a Page County back road.

David Bushman, our November winner, has a second finalist photo with a wonderful close up of a hummingbird hovering over summer flowers. What a quick shutter finger to capture these wings in motion!

This old building on Salem Church Road near Mt. Sidney was shot by Faith McDowell, a past contest winner, who passes by there on the way home from work as a driver education instructor in Bridgewater. The scene was so beautiful that day, she went home, got her camera, and came back!

Rick Showalter was intrigued by this scene as he traveled Rt 781 (Wills Creek Rd), a narrow gravel road which runs right between corn fields near Singers Glen.

Johnny Werner of Timberville was traveling to Basye and had to stop along the road for this shot of a country farm nestled next to the trees. Johnny uses a Canon XTI Rebel camera, and says his favorite pastimes are taking pictures and playing guitar.

Tyre Yancey, a Bridgewater resident who is a photographic recorder of local farm history, has taken many shots of this unique restored barn on Mountain Valley Road back of Keezletown. The light was just right on this day to produce a beautiful reflection.

This “Silver Laced Wyandotte” rooster and hen belong to Angela Yankey of Timberville, who just finished high school this past summer and is a previous contest winner. She says the birds don’t like to walk in the snow, and stood still to pose for this great shot! Angela was a contest winner last year, too.