The next few posts will be photos I took the other day at Fort Monroe, Virginia. The fort was completed in 1834, is the largest stone fort in the United States, and the only U.S. fort with a moat. It served as a refuge for three escaped slaves during the Civil War and was where Jefferson Davis was jailed after the collapse of the Confederacy. No longer an active military base, it is now a national monument maintained by the National Park Service. I’ll be going back for more photos as it’s an interesting place and I live nearby.

Today’s photo is of a window within the stone walls of the fort, called a casemate. There isn’t a lot of light, and the relative darkness makes for interesting photos. Colors inside the casemate are very muted, so I converted the image to black and white and adjusted the contrast to bring out the texture of the stone.

If you have any comments or questions about this photo, please ask.

Today’s photo is a self-portrait in the sense that it represents me but doesn’t show me. It’s a strange concept, I know. I entered this in a weekly contest with that theme—a self-portrait that wasn’t a photo of you. I set up this shot of my knitting bag at the last minute and submitted it like you see it, in black and white. Don’t ask me how, but it won. Maybe it was the only entry that followed the rules; I honestly don’t know.

The processing wasn’t special, and I don’t think the image is, either. The judges saw something in it, though, so I present it here. Please leave comments if you want to discuss it.

I took this photo during a computer group meeting a few years ago. The glass has the establishment’s name, and they had rather good food as I recall. It was a popular restaurant, one of those places where you could get breakfast at any time.

I was looking at my glass and thought there were photographic possibilities. I had my fisheye lens, so I popped it on my phone and captured this. I only took the one shot. The processing was minor: I cropped a little to improve the composition. That was it; I didn’t even adjust the contrast or the color. If you keep your eyes open, there are photo opportunities everywhere.