Mark VanDyke Photography
Arlington Key Bridge & Urban Development
Sunrise Reflects Development in the Washington DC Metro Area
Arlington County, Northern Virginia
Accessed via the Georgetown Waterfront Park
Date taken: November 10, 2013
Many of you may know that I grew up in Northern Virginia, just outside of the Nation’s capital, Washington D.C. I moved south for college, worked with a company out of school that built hospitals all around the southeast, and then, once again worked and studied at a southern school for some additional time. Now, I’m full circle, back in Northern Virginia, muddling through my first year as a full-time, earning (sometimes!) landscape photographer. Opportunities for a landscape photographer are certainly different here than when I lived along the Blue Ridge Parkway; the land perhaps what some might describe as less-than-epic, with a few scattered vestiges of wilderness tucked within the heavy development and traffic of the technology corridor’s trademark public and private sector economic opportunity. Great Falls for instance, a waterfall on the fault line separating the piedmont from the coastal regions along the Potomac River, is one of these left over wild spots tucked along a major artery into the city, surrounded by suburban homes complete with perfectly manicured lawns and shiny cars. Check the portfolios of any of the photographers who have come from or still call this area home and you will likely come across many photographs of this particular landmark (and I’m no exception). One of the unspoken aims of almost all of my photographs has been to convey a feeling of remoteness, an ‘away’ for the viewer to get lost in, and accomplishing this task in my new (old) environment, particularly when you move away from the few pieces of wilderness left, is especially hard because it’s especially hard to ever really feel, as a photographer, that I am actually "away." However, on the flip side of the move, I’ve been able to reconnect with some of the folks that I grew up with when I was younger and they are all exceptional people doing big and inspiring things, which in turn naturally makes me question where I’m at and in many ways lights a fire under my ass to get out there and be something a bit more!
Instead of writing off the landscape here in Northern Virginia as a total loss for me as a landscape photographer, though, I would like to embrace it and see if I can’t make an interesting project out of the opportunity. My background, for those that don’t know, is in the built environment, where I studied, worked, and taught concepts of construction management and building science for about a decade. Combine this with what little I know about photography, composition and the such, and perhaps I have a unique opportunity with this new environment to create a neat project portraying, authentically, the growth and development of this particular region. Still figuring out how or if I should manage that effort! And for those that are worried that I will ditch the Carolinas, worry not, I’ve got my eye set on getting back this autumn for some extended shooting trips and what I hope will be my best photographs of the area to-date! As I sit behind the keyboard though, biding my time, building my budget, and mulling over ideas and plans, I know that I just need to get on with things, put lens to face, and make as much happen as I can while I still have the opportunity to do so.
Arlington Key Bridge & Urban Development
Sunrise Reflects Development in the Washington DC Metro Area
Arlington County, Northern Virginia
Accessed via the Georgetown Waterfront Park
Date taken: November 10, 2013
Many of you may know that I grew up in Northern Virginia, just outside of the Nation’s capital, Washington D.C. I moved south for college, worked with a company out of school that built hospitals all around the southeast, and then, once again worked and studied at a southern school for some additional time. Now, I’m full circle, back in Northern Virginia, muddling through my first year as a full-time, earning (sometimes!) landscape photographer. Opportunities for a landscape photographer are certainly different here than when I lived along the Blue Ridge Parkway; the land perhaps what some might describe as less-than-epic, with a few scattered vestiges of wilderness tucked within the heavy development and traffic of the technology corridor’s trademark public and private sector economic opportunity. Great Falls for instance, a waterfall on the fault line separating the piedmont from the coastal regions along the Potomac River, is one of these left over wild spots tucked along a major artery into the city, surrounded by suburban homes complete with perfectly manicured lawns and shiny cars. Check the portfolios of any of the photographers who have come from or still call this area home and you will likely come across many photographs of this particular landmark (and I’m no exception). One of the unspoken aims of almost all of my photographs has been to convey a feeling of remoteness, an ‘away’ for the viewer to get lost in, and accomplishing this task in my new (old) environment, particularly when you move away from the few pieces of wilderness left, is especially hard because it’s especially hard to ever really feel, as a photographer, that I am actually "away." However, on the flip side of the move, I’ve been able to reconnect with some of the folks that I grew up with when I was younger and they are all exceptional people doing big and inspiring things, which in turn naturally makes me question where I’m at and in many ways lights a fire under my ass to get out there and be something a bit more!
Instead of writing off the landscape here in Northern Virginia as a total loss for me as a landscape photographer, though, I would like to embrace it and see if I can’t make an interesting project out of the opportunity. My background, for those that don’t know, is in the built environment, where I studied, worked, and taught concepts of construction management and building science for about a decade. Combine this with what little I know about photography, composition and the such, and perhaps I have a unique opportunity with this new environment to create a neat project portraying, authentically, the growth and development of this particular region. Still figuring out how or if I should manage that effort! And for those that are worried that I will ditch the Carolinas, worry not, I’ve got my eye set on getting back this autumn for some extended shooting trips and what I hope will be my best photographs of the area to-date! As I sit behind the keyboard though, biding my time, building my budget, and mulling over ideas and plans, I know that I just need to get on with things, put lens to face, and make as much happen as I can while I still have the opportunity to do so.