7-10-11 The Rest of the Roll

Martinsville Bulletin photographer Mike Wray waits on the bumper of a Horsepasture VFD fire engine at a drowning scene. Although he has an Olympus digital camera slung over his shoulder here, he pulled out a Leica M2 when he sighted the M3 I was carrying.

The drowning actually happened a way up a dirt drive, past an abandoned farmhouse on a large pond. The building was ruined in a particularly photogenic way, and he and I spent the time waiting for the authorities to let us up to the scene making artful pictures of it.

The fireman left to control traffic said it had burned down some time ago.

Preparations for flying by balloonists at the annual 4th of July Balloon Fest at VMI. I made a "nat pack" of it for the station, and managed to get these shots in the process.

Finally, some tambourines in a church pew in Buena Vista. I was working on a story about a local gospel music jamboree, and one group of singers met us there so we could interview them and record them singing in anticipation of that evening's concert.