Smithfield Plantation at Virginia Tech

[Pa]

This is the old plantation house on the edge of the VT campus. These photos were made at absolutely the wrong time of day, but it's when I was there and I was fairly pleased with them.

This area was settled in the early 1700s, but an attack by the Shawnee tribe in 1755 resulted at least 5 and possibly 8 settlers killed. Several settlers, including one young woman, Mary Draper Ingles, and her child, were kidnapped and taken to Kentucky. She later escaped and made her way back home by following rivers. Her son remained with the Indian tribe and was raised by them.

The plantation house was built in 1774 by Colonel William Preston, a prominent planter and hero of both the French and Indian and Revolutionary wars. He is reputed to have saved the life of George Washington during the French and Indian War.

Main plantation house

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Slave cabin

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Workshop

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Monument to Draper Meadows Massacre

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​

The area we live in north of Blacksburg is named Preston Forest in honor of Colonel Preston.

 

[Walter Rowe]

These are terrific Jim. The dynamic range that Z6 is able to capture without clipping is astounding. You captured and processed these images well.

 

[Palouse]

Delightful place. I agree with Walter, amazing ability to handle the wide dynamic range. Well done.

 

[Randy]

those are so sharp

 

[Pa]

These are terrific Jim. The dynamic range that Z6 is able to capture without clipping is astounding. You captured and processed these images well.

Thanks, Walter. Sam, indeed, very pleased with my Z6.

Delightful place. I agree with Walter, amazing ability to handle the wide dynamic range. Well done.

Thanks, Nick.

those are so sharp

Most of the credit goes to the lens. It's amazing.

 

[Mike Buckley]

Nice job, Jim!

These shots, all made with your 50mm lens on a full frame camera, remind me of when I so often walked around with my 35mm lens on my APS-C camera. Though I'm enjoying the flexibility of shooting with a zoom lens in that range of focal lengths for the first time in about 15 years, seeing your photos reminds me of how enjoyable it was for me walking around and "seeing" with a prime lens mounted on the camera.

 

[Pa]

Nice job, Jim!

These shots, all made with your 50mm lens on a full frame camera, remind me of when I so often walked around with my 35mm lens on my APS-C camera. Though I'm enjoying the flexibility of shooting with a zoom lens in that range of focal lengths for the first time in about 15 years, seeing your photos reminds me of how enjoyable it was for me walking around and "seeing" with a prime lens mounted on the camera.

Thanks, Mike. I'm really pleased with the 50. I hesitated buying it for a long time despite the siren call of the glowing reviews, primarily because I didn't think I would use a 50mm prime that much. But I'm finding it a real pleasure to use, and the optics are every bit as good as advertised.

 

[Clix Pix]

These are really nice, and an interesting bit of history, to boot! Well shot and processed.....

 

[Pa]

These are really nice, and an interesting bit of history, to boot! Well shot and processed.....

Thanks, Connie. Glad you liked them.

 

[Allan]

As others have written - well done under those conditions.

 

[MNglass]

Wonderful shots, nicely framed. They give me a wonderful sense of the area.

 

[Pa]

As others have written - well done under those conditions.

Wonderful shots, nicely framed. They give me a wonderful sense of the area.

Thanks, folks. As I said above, we have to give a lot of credit to the camera and lens.

 

[Mike Buckley]

As I said above, we have to give a lot of credit to the camera and lens.

Heck, let's just give all the credit to the camera, lens and scenery. None for the photographer.

 

[Binnur]

Very nice set Jim.