I want to send a special thank you this morning to my friends at fauquiernow.com and deepcreektimes.com, two sites that coincidentally are both featuring some of my work today.

Fauquier Now is a Web site started by Ellen and Lawrence K. “Lou” Emerson, two of my former employers and folks I consider friends in Warrenton, Va. Their Web site is hands down the best news source for anyone living in or interested in Fauquier County, Va. Fauquier Now is a great model for what a local news Web site should be. It is informative, has a clean design and is easy to navigate and of course features photography prominently. (please see below for additional text and photo)

Deep Creek Times is a similar site serving the Deep Creek Lake Area in Western Maryland. Marta Schroyer who runs the site with her husband Mike does an incredible job of not only keeping Garrett County residents up to speed on local goings-on but also informing the thousands of visitors and second home owners who live hours away.

Marta also has a very strong commitment to keeping it local and her efforts have paid off as Deep Creek Times is easily the most referred-to news source at Deep Creek Lake. The ticker on the bottom of her main page is close to hitting 3 million. Wow!

Deep Creek Times has been incredibly supportive of my work over the years featuring my photography prominently month after month. If you like what you see on my blog and want to visit Deep Creek Lake, please start looking at Deep Creek Times now. It will tell you everything you need to know about this wonderful area and you can see some of my work in The Photo Gallery page.  which should be updated with new photos later today.

fauquiernow.com and deepcreektimes.com are proof positive that there is still a place for good local journalism. Neither of these sites are backed by $50 million dollars or by a staff of hundreds.

What makes these sites special are they are run by people who understand and truly care about their communities and local news and getting it right. Like the “Friday Night Lights” motto ‘Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose’ neither can these folks’ approach to covering Garrett County, Md. and Fauquier County, Va.

Please check out fauquiernow.com and deepcreektimes.com when you can.

Related articles

• Clouds over Lake Brittle in Fauquier County, Va (iseebeautyallaround.com)
• Weekly Photo Challenge : Carefree Deep Creek Lake Style (iseebeautyallaround.com)
• Deep Creek Lake Sunset (iseebeautyallaround.com)
• Golden Hour in the Allegheny Mountains at Deep Creek Lake (iseebeautyallaround.com)