An Evening in the Park
Imagine the night of December 25 – Christmas – in the quiet serenity of a park. Most people are at home spending time with family. Others are viewing Christmas lights. I, on the other hand, had gotten a new toy for Christmas, and was taking it out for a whirl (the toy was a heavy-duty expensive new tripod). Thus I found myself at McIntire Park in Charlottesville on the night of December 25, 2003, taking photographs of the park, and hoping to convey the serenity of the park of the night through photographs.
Security lighting around the main parking area at McIntire Park provides a reassuring glow, creating the appearance of an island of illumination, when compared with the darkness all around.
The bare branches of trees in their winter slumber reach to the sky as if holding the clouds up above them.
Tree branches also go every which way, giving the appearance of a great network of lines.
Meanwhile, the parking lot’s security lighting, illuminating everything around it, and providing contrast to the darkened sports facilities nearby, gives a glow as if to say, No matter what else happens in the world, it’s going to be all right.
The orange-yellow glow of the security lighting also illuminates low lying clouds, with them reflecting the light back onto the ground.
The trees, in their majestic beauty, also shield the park from Veterans Memorial Drive, the bypass through Charlottesville, which runs alongside McIntire Park. Traffic from this bypass can be seen passing by, shown as the white line running left to right along the center of the photo.
One of three picnic shelters at McIntire Park calls picnickers into its warm glow, encouraging people to invite a friend, and have a meal in the out-of-doors (though hopefully in warmer weather than this!).
Even the fire hydrant glows in that certain quality of light that brightens the whole park…