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ZEST & Style ZES ST TStytlel &
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Personalities, Celebrations and Sporting Pursuits © 2021 Country ZEST & Style, LLC. Published six times a year
MAILING ADDRESS: P.O. Box 798 Middleburg, Virginia 20118 PHONE: 410-570-8447 Editor: Leonard Shapiro, badgerlen@aol.com Wine Editor: Peter Leonard-Morgan Food Editor: Daniela Anderson Art Director Meredith Hancock Hancock Media @mhancockmedia
Contributing Photographers: Crowell Hadden, Sarah Huntington, Doug Gehlsen, Missy Janes Douglas Lees, Karen Monroe and Tiffany Dillon Keen Contributing Writers: David Augenblick, Pat Reilly, Anita Sherman, Carina Elgin, Caroline Fout, Emma Boyce, Jimmy Hatcher, Philip Dudley, Jimmy Wofford, Jodi Nash, John Sherman, John Toler, Kevin Ramundo, Leslie VanSant, Linda Roberts, Louisa Woodville, M.J. McAteer, Melissa Phipps, Mike du Pont, Sean Clancy, Tom Northrup
For advertising inquiries, contact: Leonard Shapiro at badgerlen@aol.com or 410-570-8447
ON THE COVER For the cover of this issue, my typical lighting setup was used with two strobes and attached softboxes. However, I’m still a little old school in setting the lighting with my trusty Sekonic light meter. I’ve used light meters for film many years ago, and the need for them has waned since photography has gone mostly digital with the instant image review. With the light meter, I can set my lighting and the balance between lights before the subject even arrives. The light meter will tell me the correct shutter speed, aperture, ISO, strobe strength, and I can set my camera accordingly. Another advantage of light meters: they’ll measure the mix of strobe and ambient light. This is very useful to make sure that only the strobes are providing all of the lighting and ambient light is blocked off with a high shutter speed. Photo by Doug Gehlsen Middleburg Photo, styled by Karen Monroe. / Country Zest and Style
/ @countryzestandstyle
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for the hummingbird.
Country
Distributed and mailed throughout the Virginia countryside and in Washington and at key Sporting Pursuits and Celebrations
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ZE
BE ON THE LOOKOUT through this Country issue of
He appears in two ads and the first two readers to find him (one each) will receive a gift from THE RED TRUCK Rural Bakery, with locations in Warrenton and Marshall. Send your reply to badgerlen@aol.com.
SOME CURIOUS THOUGHTS
W
henever I speak about the media business to high school and college students, invariably the question is asked: “what’s the No. 1 attribute a journalist should have.” Easy answer. Curiosity may have killed the cat, but in my mind, it’s the most valuable trait for anyone involved in print or broadcast news gathering. Me and Jack I’m also a firm believer in what one of my professors said years ago in an introductory journalism class at my alma mater, the University of Wisconsin. “There’s no such thing as a stupid question,” Professor Vernon Stone said. “Especially if you don’t know the answer.” That’s why, when I interviewed Jack Nicklaus for The Washington Post a few weeks ago at Creighton Farms, where he came in for a charity event benefitting his foundation, my first question was “what’s up with the cane?” The Golden Bear had tripped playing pickle ball of all things, but the good news was that the cane was only temporary. He’ll ditch pickle ball, too. By the way, my wife, author and journalist Vicky Moon, grew up in Fort Lauderdale and lived just across the canal from the Nicklaus family home for many years. She’s also the curious type. She was at the Middleburg Training Center one recent early morning when she noticed a rider getting off a horse who looked far older than any of his colleagues. He was. She asked “how old?” So check out the cover photo and read all about 74-year-old Harris Tracy, a gifted local riding legend still galloping horses after all these years. A few months ago, in the parking lot behind Common Grounds in Middleburg, Mark Metzger, the gregarious proprietor of Highcliffe Clothiers, was loading a U-Haul trailer with fishing gear. I had to ask him why? His answer turned into a story in this issue on Mark’s particular passion—carp fishing. Who knew? In our summer issue, we ran a short profile on Peter Pejacsevich, co-founder of Middleburg Real Estate/Atoka Properties. During the interview, I noticed a color photo of a race car on his office wall and asked, what’s that about?” Turns out, Peter and three Middleburg friends have formed an endurance auto racing team, competing at some of America’s most iconic motorsports tracks. For the story and photos, keep turning the pages. Our writers and photographers at Country ZEST often suggest stories and photos sparked by their own curiosity. This edition is loaded with them, and I’m certain they didn’t ask any “stupid questions” either. Photo by Lisa Catlett So add a little ZEST to your reading pleasure, More than 350 cyclists particiand if you’ve also got that curious gene and come upon what you think might make an interesting pated in the Land Trust of Virginstory, let us know. We may even want you to ask ia’s round trip Tour de Conservation Easement Gravel Ride from the questions and then write it, byline included. Buchanan Hall in Upperville. Leonard Shapiro Forty volunteers spearheaded Editor by Mariette Vanderzon and Michael Catlett helped make it all badgerlen@aol.com a huge success, with more than 410-570-8447 $30,000 raised.
Go Green Middleburg | Fall 2021
