Photography

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Floyd is a quiet place after 9 p.m. on a weeknight. A few cars pass under the town's only stoplight. A light remains on at Oddfellas Cantina as the staff cleans up after closing. A slight backup exists at the night depository at the Bank of Floyd as business owners drop off the day's receipts.

I work late often and take a walk around town before heading home. Two pedestrians cross the street at Locust and Main. A deputy heads back from a call but the stop light often cycles through three our four reds and greens without any traffic.

A common question from aspiring photographers is often: "What makes a good sports photo."

Photography, like most creative activity, is subjective but I've found that getting in close and concentrating on faces and expression often results in memorable photos.

For basketball, I use an 80-200 f/2.8 zoom and a fixed-focal length 300mm f/2.8 on my Canon digital SLRs. Both allow focusing on tight action shots.

A melting finger of ice begins to turn into water as temperatures rise after the ice storm that moved through the area in the early hours of Friday.

The freezing rain left about a quarter of an inch of ice on trees, railings and grass and brought down tree limbs, leaving more thn 2,000 homes without power in Floyd County.

By early afternoon, most primary and secondar roads were clear but will probably ice up again tonight when temperatures drop below freezing.

Appalachian Electric Power crews concentrated on a large concentration of downed power lines in the Copper Hill area of the county. In Floyd, homes and businesses north of Oxford Street lost power while the southern end of the country stayed warm and cozy with electricity.

The storm closed schools and a number of businesses in the country.

The ice, however, will soon disappear. Temperatures on Saturday are expected to climb into the mid 50s on Saturday and Sunday and is forecast to hit the 60s on Tuesday when rain moves into the area.

The erratic winter continues.  What we have to do now is wait to see if the groundhog in Pennsylvania sees his shadow.

The morning sun casts a warm glow and provides brilliant colors along Harvestwood Road in Floyd County on a cold January morning, making it hard to remember the snow and ice of just a few days before.

Grayson County's Buck Mountain Band brought its traditional Blue Ridge Music to the Friday Night Jamboree in Floyd this week but some in the crowd noticed the banjo picker on the end looked familiar from another venue.

Yes, that's Amy Boucher, wife of Congressman Rick Boucher, on banjo and vocals. Amy is an alternate on the band when needed and she filled in on stage while Rick was speaking at an event in Patrick County..

Seems like the stage of the Floyd Country store is becoming a favorite haunt for politicos. Just before last November's election, Gov. Tim Kaine and former Gov. Mark Warner jammed with the Jugbusters on the jamboree stage.

Unlike Warner and Kaine, Amy Boucher actually knows her way around stringed instruments and she can sing.

Wasn't planning to go to the Jamboree this Friday night but ran into the Bouchers at breakfast in the Blue Ridge Restaurant that morning and Rick mentioned in passing that one of the reasons they were in the area was because Amy was playing that night. They also stayed at the new Floyd Hotel in the Floyd County Store themed room.

Often asked for advice on shooting sports. Three-word answer: Long, fast glass. Translation: Long-range telephoto lenses with large apertures.

For example. For football, I generally use a 400mm f/2.8 Canon telephoto on a EOS 1D, Mark III digital SLR body. Because the Mark III has a form factor of 1.3 to one (due to the size of the chip), the effective focal length of the lens is a little over 500mm. The Mark III also has low noise at high ISOs so I can shoot at 6400 at f/2.8 at shutter speeds ranging from 1/320th to 1/500th of a second. The 400mm weights 16.5 pounds  a monopod is required. I usually keep a 70-200 f/2.8 zoom on a second camera body to use when the action gets closer.

The photo above was shot from the end zone 60 yards away at a Floyd County High School football game in November. The photo below is from the same game at about 50 yards.

For basketball and volleyball, I use a 300mm f/2.8 Canon telephoto or a 70-200 f/2.8 zoom. For closer shots, the 24-70 f/2.8 Canon zoom is a good choice. At a recent game, tried out Canon's superfast 135mm f/2.0. It gave great results (left) and probably will use it again. At a street price of $900, the 135mm is the bargain of the year, especially when you consider the prices of the longer-range high-speed telephotos ($3,500 for he 300mm and $6,500 for the 400).

Morning sun through frost-covered trees along Sandy Flats Road in Floyd County.