The 2023 Crozet Calendar October page features an image up on the Skyline Drive of a long oak branch skimming the earth as it reaches out to the vista beyond. It is one of my favorite images from the Crozet Calendar that the Gazette put out for so many years. You can see it at www.crozetgazette.com/shop/crozet-calendar/.
As many will know, for years the selection of those images was curated by Sam Abell, a most excellent professional photographer who lives on the Moormans River. Every year there would be a presentation of the calendar to the public where each chosen photographer was asked to describe what went into making that shot, and Sam would critique it with his excellent photographer’s eye. These critiques would then become educational challenges to all our local amateur photographers to stretch out and do better. The result was truly special. We were so fortunate to have such a world class photographer in our midst.
For years Sam had a “Crozet Calandar Clinic” article he wrote about that month’s image, again enlarging our appreciation for them. For 13 years the Crozet Calendar was a labor of love for the Crozet Gazette. Now this series of calendars has sadly come to an end. In January 2023 Sam wrote one last Clinic article in which he featured quotes from 32 of the photographers who graced the Crozet Calendar. You can read this at crozetgazette.com/2023 /01/06/crozet-calendar-clinic-a-look-back/
Thank you Sam Abell for all you did to participate in and make the Crozet Calendar the special publication it was. So many of us owe you a special debt of gratitude.
Fred Williamson
White Hall
