Wednesday I went on a Field Trip with the Fredericksburg Photography Club to King’s Dominion. If you get the opportunity to go to a large amusement park like that when it is closed, take it! Walking through the park without the usual crowds had a kind of surreal feel to it. I kept feeling that, at any moment, they would be opening the gates and a sea of guests would wash over our group.

Green Coaster

Since the park was closed, all the rides were closed as well. Maintenance workers were making their final preparations for the park opening seven days a week this weekend. This gave us plenty of time to frame the winding steel tubes of the different roller coasters any way we wanted. Without the usual crowds we could stand where we wanted to, for as long as we wanted to, with little to no interference.

Tower Silhouette

The morning started out a bit overcast and I was worried that it would be a grey day. The skies did clear and we found many interesting silhouettes with the color of the blue sky as a background. The steel of the Eiffel Tower replica was perfect for creating many different silhouettes.

Red, Maroon and Cream

How often have you waited to make an abstract image only to have someone stop right in front of you to read their park map just when you have everything framed up? That gets frustrating but with no guests in the park, finding abstract images was much easier than usual. Another bonus was that you could concentrate on an area without feeling that you were disrupting the flow of traffic.

Ferris Wheel

I have always liked the look of a Ferris Wheel and have photographed quite a few. It was nice being able to take plenty of time to frame it exactly as I wanted. Admittedly I had to use Nikon Capture NX2 to eliminate a spoke from the lower right corner that I found annoying but I was very happy that I had time to stand and really concentrate on my framing for this image.

Green Leaves

One thing I always do is remind myself to look down. I saw these green leaves against the black tarmac so I went over to see if I could find an interesting image. While the green against the black looked interesting, it lacked something. I saw the concrete and that added the interest that I was looking for. Its a bit of a chaotic image but I like it.

Locked

I’m not sure why but I have always liked photographing locks. For that reason and the bright red color, this locked electrical panel caught my eye. Would I stand in front of this for the time I needed to frame this image if the park was open to other guests? Probably not but with a small group and plenty of time I made an image that I like. As I said at the beginning, if you have a chance to go somewhere that is usually crowded with a small group, take it!