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My website has been a place to showcase my black & white photography but recently I added two color sections, People and Places. I shoot with film for my black & white images and digitally when photographing in color. I love doing both.

While walking around Old Town Alexandria, I happened across this young woman who was posing for a professional photo shoot and asked the photographer if I could take a couple of shots.

I was looking at some old negatives recently that were taken when I was photographing with a 35 mm camera. Over time, I took a lot of pictures of this tree in West Virginia.  It was kind of graceful, sat off by itself and was often enveloped in fog early in the morning. But I lost interest in photographing it after the owners put one of those wooden Amish wells near “my” tree.

I took the photograph “Broken Fence” many years ago in West Virginia with a 35mm camera. It was one of those foggy mornings that happen so frequently in the mountains. That same tree still stands today, the fog still envelopes the landscape and those fence rails are always falling out of their slots.  Nothing has changed except the camera I’m using is different.

I found the negative when going through some old contact sheets, which was such fun. Each negative has its own memory, and I remember being happy to wake up that morning and see the fog. West Virginia is a beautiful place whatever the weather. But the fog seems to strip the color away and give the rugged area a strange and different kind of beauty.

Dykes’s Marsh, which is located just south of Alexandria within sight of the Wilson Bridge, is a pretty place to walk around and photograph.
joanntooley.com

One of my favorite spots at Dumbarton Oaks, a historic house and gardens in Washington, D.C. The path winds around at the rear of the estate, almost overrun by tall, prickly brush. To see more of my images go to www.joanntooley.com

Be sure to check out Environments: Built and Unbuilt, a new photography show at Glen Echo’s Popcorn Gallery, starting June 7.

The exhibit, which features the work of Sheila Galagan, Sandy LeBrun-Evans, Pam Richmond and me, ends July 7

Hours: 12 – 6 pm, Saturdays and Sundays.

Two Flowers

I created this floral image using artificial lights for a class I’m taking. I love these little spring flowers but don’t know their name.

Dirt roads seem to belong to the past but there’s still plenty of them in rural areas. The ones that say “private” are the most intriguing. I met a woman recently who lives at the end of a beautiful private road in West Virginia who gave me permission to use it anytime. Now I can bump along that particular stretch with complete confidence.

My zillion-ith picture of the Washington Monument. The scaffolding is almost down.

Washington Monument, early morning.

Spent part of yesterday with fellow members of F11, a women’s photography collective, learning about i-phone photo apps. The hostess had a beautiful centerpiece on the table and after the meeting, we took pictures of the beautiful roses  and then put the apps to work. I used an app called DistressedFX to create this image.

To see more of my flowers, go to joanntooley.com

Say It with flowers