Photo of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church by Willard Kennedy
Willard Kennedy of Christiansburg won the Radford Photo Club’s open category October contest with a photo of the window of the abandoned and collapsing St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Braddock, Pa., just outside of Pittsburgh.
“The church was built in 1901 and closed in 2007,” said Kennedy. “One hundred years ago, the population of Braddock was 21,000 and it had 44 churches. With the collapse of the steel industry in the region the population declined to about 1800 today, and the town has many abandoned and decaying buildings.”
Joyce Crowder of Dublin won the Radford Photo Club landscape theme photo contest for October with a picture of a pumpkin patch.
“In the vibrant transition from summer to fall, my landscape photograph encapsulates the beauty and bounty of harvest time,” said Crowder. “This image features a stunning field of bright orange pumpkins, their rich color symbolizing a bountiful harvest. The tree line creates contrast and accentuates the classic barn and rustic tractor standing ready for the harvest to come. Halloween and Thanksgiving are just around the corner and, as cooler weather sets in, the landscape transforms into a tapestry of colors.”
The Radford Photo Club’s next meeting will be Thursday, Nov. 14, at 6 p.m. at the Radford Public Library. The speaker will be retired naval aviator, Captain Rich Davis, who was recently featured on Artistic Encounters “Meet the Artist” on PBS. Davis fell in love with the craft of photography and dabbled with infrared for about six years when a friend gave him an old converted camera. Infrared has now become his main focus (pun intended) of his photography. He will give a presentation on infrared and show examples of his work. To see examples of his work, visit photographybyrichdavis.com.
The November theme will be either a cyanotype print or photograph of something blue.
The Radford Photo Club is made up of professional and amateur photographers from throughout the New River Valley. Meetings, events, and outings are open to the public. If you have questions about the club, email Joyce Crowder at joycecrowder2@icloud.com, Michele Borgarelli at mborgarelli@gmail.com, or Tracy Burlingame at Tracylb3870@gmail.com.
Radford Photo Club