B. Payden Photography, LLC

B. Payden Photography, LLC We are a full service studio serving all of VA, MD and DC.

The battlefield at Payne’s Farm in Locust Grove offers visitors more than pleasing scenery, preserving the land where in...
09/08/2026

The battlefield at Payne’s Farm in Locust Grove offers visitors more than pleasing scenery, preserving the land where intense fighting took place during the Mine Run Campaign in late 1863. Because The American Battlefield Trust protects and manages sites like this one, Civil War history becomes something you can experience rather than merely read about in a book.

The picture was created with a Sony A6000 camera converted for full-spectrum use and equipped with a 760nm infrared filter. This technique lets you capture light invisible to the human eye. In infrared photography, vegetation typically appears bright white, and the skies become much darker, producing a vivid, almost timeless perspective of the historic land. This effect seems particularly appropriate here, since the peaceful field has such a powerful history.

Infrared photography helps enable us to see familiar places differently – not merely as scenery but as spaces layered by memory, conflict, preservation, and time.

This image was created by Bryant Payden | B. Payden Photography.

Between black and white and color, which do you prefer?I created this image of the Old Point Loma Lighthouse in 2008 whi...
09/02/2026

Between black and white and color, which do you prefer?

I created this image of the Old Point Loma Lighthouse in 2008 while visiting my parents in La Jolla. I still enjoy the way the scene differs in each version; the black-and-white edit highlights the texture, contrast, and atmosphere of the historic buildings, whereas the colored version appears bright, coastal, and very San Diego.

A bit of background: the Old Point Loma Lighthouse is located in Cabrillo National Monument and began guiding ships in 1855. Since fog and low clouds frequently obscured the light at that height, it was later replaced by a more modern lighthouse situated at a lower point on the coast. Nowadays, it is one of San Diego’s most well-known historic landmarks and always looks timeless in photographs.

This image is also very personal to me; I created it while visiting my parents, and each time I see it, I am reminded of the combination of family, the sea air, and the peaceful beauty of Point Loma.

Team B&W or Team Color?

Drawing on the bold, graphic style of old WPA National Park posters, this poster offers a new interpretation of the stat...
09/02/2026

Drawing on the bold, graphic style of old WPA National Park posters, this poster offers a new interpretation of the statue of Stonewall Jackson at Manassas National Battlefield Park through layered colors, striking skies, and simplified forms. The poster was created from a photograph I took at the battlefield with my Mamiya 645 film camera, so that this final graphic could be based on a photo taken on the site. Manassas Battlefield retains the ground on which two major Civil War battles took place — the First Battle of Manassas in 1861 and the Second Battle of Manassas in 1862 — which makes it one of the most important historic landscapes in Virginia. I hoped that the poster would have a nostalgic effect while at the same time remaining firmly rooted in its location, emphasizing that battlefield areas are not merely monuments but preserved landscapes where history, memory, and interpretation still come together.

I created a poster in the style of WPA from a photograph that I took in Prince William Forest Park, since it seemed to f...
09/01/2026

I created a poster in the style of WPA from a photograph that I took in Prince William Forest Park, since it seemed to fit the park perfectly. The park possesses a quiet, vast kind of beauty, with forests, water, footbridges, and trails that make you slow down and actually look around.

The Prince William Forest Park also has a notable history associated with the New Deal. During the 1930s, the land in this area was developed by federal relief programs, and the Works Progress Administration’s general attitude influenced how Americans came to experience public spaces, recreation, and art during the Depression. The WPA in particular became well known for supporting artists, designers, and printmakers whose work portrayed everyday American life and landscapes.

The reason I wanted to reimagine my photo in this style is the history involved. The bold shapes, the restricted color scheme, and the vintage travel-poster atmosphere are all references to the era’s tradition of public art—particularly the national park posters which turned natural places into iconic images of America. I enjoy the way this method allows a single scene to appear both personal and historical at the same time.

This image titled ‘Lone Vigil’ was created in 1999 at Deception Pass State Park in Washington using a Mamiya 645 film ca...
08/31/2026

This image titled ‘Lone Vigil’ was created in 1999 at Deception Pass State Park in Washington using a Mamiya 645 film camera. This old tree looked like a peaceful watcher above the water—shaped by time, wind, and salt air, yet still standing. I have always been attracted to situations such as this, in which the landscape appears to contain its own memory. I thought that black and white was the appropriate way to let the texture, form, and atmosphere express themselves.

This image was created by Bryant Payden | B. Payden Photography

One of my photos from Great Falls Park that I turned into a poster, with a style inspired by the older WPA-era national ...
08/31/2026

One of my photos from Great Falls Park that I turned into a poster, with a style inspired by the older WPA-era national park prints, and now it feels surreal to see it finally printed.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA), established as part of the New Deal in the 1930s, made one of its more impressive contributions: a large body of public art, such as travel and park posters. These designs were intended to be bold, easy to understand, and clearly American—featuring simple shapes, strong typography, restrained color schemes, and a sense of place that retains a timeless quality. The kind of style seen in many modern ‘vintage national park posters’ can be traced back to that visual approach.

For this article, I decided to use some of my own photographs taken in Great Falls Park and to reinterprete them through that approach rather than simply editing a photograph to make it look old. I concentrated on the major graphic features that give the viewpoint its distinctive character – the falls, the rock formations, the tree line, and that vast open sky – and then reduced all the details to a more poster-like composition with flatter color areas and a vintage print atmosphere. The aim was to create something that appeared to have been picked up many decades ago, while still being based on a real image I took myself.

I really enjoy projects of this kind since they fall somewhere between the realms of photography, design, and local history; it’s not enough merely to record a place, as one has to convey the feeling of being there in another kind of visual format.

This week was very busy due to my architectural photography schedule and the kids’ travel sports resuming, so I could on...
08/31/2026

This week was very busy due to my architectural photography schedule and the kids’ travel sports resuming, so I could only manage one hike. I made the most of it by going to Great Falls Park as part of the National Park Service’s 110th anniversary celebrations. Although the hike was only 2.9 miles long, the 112 images I created made it a productive trip.

Great Falls is one of those places that never fails to amaze. With its steep rock formations, the strong water flow, and the continually changing light, it provides a great deal of visual inspiration. Since I am an architectural photographer and always keep a close eye on composition, form, texture, and contrast, the landscape offered all of these elements.

A short hike, a full memory card, and a good reminder that creative inspiration is always worth making time for.

This false-color infrared image of Great Falls is quite a sight. It was taken using a Sony A6000 that has been converted...
08/30/2026

This false-color infrared image of Great Falls is quite a sight. It was taken using a Sony A6000 that has been converted for full-spectrum infrared use and equipped with an IRChrome filter; this combination causes the scene to appear with those striking magenta trees and cyan-blue skies, which are what make infrared photography so surreal.

Infrared is so interesting because it records the kind of light our eyes can’t see, which means that places we are usually familiar with appear in a rather otherworldly way. At Great Falls, the swift-flowing water, the dark rock structures, and the summer vegetation combine ideally with this effect, transforming an already impressive landscape into something that is almost dreamlike.

Infrared causes vegetation to reflect light differently, which is why the trees appear bright pink and red rather than green. It’s the same place, just a different spectrum, and that gives it a completely different atmosphere.

This image was created by Bryant Payden | B. Payden Photography.

Morning at Lake of the Woods never gets old. There is something about this view in Locust Grove - the still water, the s...
08/28/2026

Morning at Lake of the Woods never gets old. There is something about this view in Locust Grove - the still water, the soft light, and the quiet start to the day - that resets me and inspires me to create. Every morning feels like a fresh canvas, and this little piece of Virginia keeps reminding me to slow down, notice the beauty, and make something meaningful of the day.

Image Created by Bryant Payden | B. Payden Photography

This view from Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, GA, captures everything unforgettable about the city - timeless sculptu...
08/27/2026

This view from Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, GA, captures everything unforgettable about the city - timeless sculpture, sweeping live oaks, and that unmistakable Southern Gothic stillness. A place where history, beauty, and silence share the same frame.



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Locust Grove, VA

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