Scottsville, Virginia
01/17/2021 - On this day in my travels of Virginia townships and cities. I pulled up to the town of Scottsville, Virginia around 11:45 this past Sunday morning. Scottsville is located just south of Charlottesville, just north of Farmville, and northwest of Richmond. The plan was to ride around the town and the outskirts of the town for about 45 minutes to scout out photo locations. Time was tight because my cousin Stephen was coming down to Scottsville from Staunton to meet for lunch. So he was about 30 minutes out when I finished my scouting and parked the car. The very first place I took photos of was the James River Brewery building. This place looked amazing, a brewery in an old historical looking building. Who knows maybe that building was a pub or a brewery company back in the 1700s or 1800s, I love to speculate things like that as I walk through historical districts such as the one I found here in Scottsville. I really wanted to go in there and have a look around and grab a beer but unfortunately, Stephen was not that far out and I needed to focus. So I walked about a block down or so and grabbed as many photos as I could before I had to wrap it up for lunch.
I was at Victory Hall when I heard Stephen’s horn honky at me as he drove past on Route 20 southbound which is Valley Street in town. I knew where he was headed and I need to get about 5 more shots before I wrapped it all up from the morning session. I got in my car and meet him in the parking lot of Tavern on the James where we were planning to meet for lunch.
The first time Stephan and I ate here at the Tavern, was back in the early fall of 2017 or 2018 during our Scottsville to Cartersville kayak trip down the James. Good memories of that trip and so many more. Needless to say, the first time we ate there we were completely exhausted from our trip down the river and just wanted something good and hot to eat. After shuttling back up to Scottsville we saw the Tavern on the James and they did not disappoint us at all, in fact, they had these fried dill pickles that were spears and not chips, oh my were they delicious. That was the very first thing we asked for when our waiter came to the table. Again so delicious and so freaking hot, I burned my tongue again because of how hot they were, see I never learn anything. Anyway, we had lunch and we sat and got caught up on each other’s lives and Stephen packed up and headed back home to the mountains. Lucky SOB!
Even though I was now ready for a nap after lunch I still had another round of shooting to do. I had barely got three subjects in my first round and that just wasn’t going to cut it, so I began walking towards the James River. I really wanted to see if I could grab some great shots on the bridge. I did actually compose an awesome shot with all my lines were lined up correctly and everything looked perfect and then I got home, the exposure was so dark that every time I would try to lift the light back up into the image all I was doing was introducing too much noise in the image. Unfortunately, I was unable to save the photo, but no worries there are so many more that I want to share. Besides, I will be returning here in the Spring or early fall. I think that I am going to return to all the towns I visit in the winter again either in spring or fall in order to capture a well-rounded story of each town or city. By the way, the wind was about 15 mph up on the bridge and the air was so much colder there than it was in town. Even though I had gloves my hands just were not happy. So learn from me no matter the elements make sure all of your settings are correct before leaving your composition, so when you return back home with an awesome image you will not be disappointed.
Scottsville, Virginia was a quaint little town nuzzled up in the foothills of the mountains. I really enjoyed walking around the town and taking photos everyone that I met was so kind and pleasant. It was a really good day. There was a bit of an overcast in and out all day allowing for some great dynamic range within the photos. I think the high got up to 45F so it was pretty comfortable except for the bridge scene. I really hope that my images capture the township of Scottsville correctly and did it some justice. I can not wait to go back and get some more images. Thank you Scottsville township for sharing a glimpse into your town.
