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Nadine VerStandig of Poolesville calls herself a "misplaced cowgirl."

The Washington, D.C., native capitalized on her love of the outdoors, horses and the West, with her longtime hobby of photography. The combination takes her to ranches in South Dakota, Colorado and Arizona a few times every year.

"When I'm in my boots and chaps, jeans and cowboy hat, I'm very much at home. That's my life," she said.

Photography began as a hobby for her more than 20 years ago. But she started looking at the world differently after she had a brain aneurysm five years ago.

"I noticed little things. Things that we go by every day, I just started looking at differently," said VerStandig, who added she is fascinated by stagecoaches and the Old West.

Her business. Photography by Nadine, has taken her to photo shoots out West where she'll spend several days on ranches.

"For me, it's got to be real and it's got to be right," she said.

One of her favorite photographs, and one that she said helped her realize that she has a knack for photography, is a piece she calls "Looking Out."

The photograph captures a moment between two children looking out a window at a ranch in Colorado. The adults were getting ready for dinner and VerStandig, who always carries her camera, saw the two children at the window.

"The room is sort of dark, but you can see outside is very light. You can see the kids a little bit more than a silhouette," she said. "The little girl is talking with the little boy."

She'll be a speaker at the Ohio Quarter Horse Congress a three-week horse show in Ohio. VerStandig will discuss the role that the arts play in western and equestrian art. 

She's now working on a book on the history of cowboys and is planning another trip West in October.

"Every two or three months, I make a trip somewhere for the sole purpose of taking pictures," she said.

VerStandig also does seascapes, landscapes and pet photography.

For more information or to view some of her work, call VerStandig at 301-642-8872 or visit www.photographyby

nadine.com.

Hazzard alum

to visit Poolesville

Poolesville will get a little taste of Hazzard County when Ben Jones, "Crazy Cooter" on "The Dukes of Hazzard" television show, rolls into town Sept. 13.

The Portsmouth, Va.-raised Jones, who released the memoir "Redneck Boy in the Promised Land: The Confessions of ‘Crazy Cooter'" in June, will stop by Poolesville Hardware, 19961 Fisher Ave., from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. for a free meet-and-greet. There will also be Dukes memorabilia for sale and a chance to check out the General Lee, one of the distinctive 1969 Dodge Chargers used on the show.

After the show went off the air in 1985, Jones represented Georgia in Congress for two terms but was defeated by Newt Gingrich in 1994, according to his Web site, www.cootersplace.com. He has performed at the Kennedy Center and Berkshire Theatre Festival and plans to release his third CD with Cooter's Garage Band this year.

To be reckoned with

Diane Kelley of Germantown, formerly the lead singer in the band Undercover, now sings lead in a women's barbershop quartet, The Fource. She and her quartet members, from Chester County, Pa., have a long history of making music in quartets and choruses. The Fource will compete in the Sweet Adelines International contest in Hawaii in the fall.

Check out The Fource at the annual show of the Harbor City Music Company Chorus at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Goucher College, 1021 Dulaney Valley Road, Towson.

The show, Music and Laughter, will feature the 1999 Barbershop Harmony Society's champion quartet, FRED, who are masters of fun and music. Also, featured will be Capri, the fifth place international medalists in the women's organization.

For more information, call 800-856-9868 or visit www.harbor

citymusiccompany.org.

One ride, one goal

The Lymphoma Research Foundation's Lymphoma Research Ride will wind through Montgomery County in late September.

The non-competitive bike ride includes survivors, family, friends, individuals and teams that ride in honor and in memory of those whose lives have been touched by lymphoma.

Participants can ride either a 25-mile or 50-mile route. Individual riders are asked to raise $1,000 to participate.

The ride starts at The Barnesville School at 8 a.m. Sept. 21. Registration is free. For more information, call 800-235-6848, e-mail ride@lymphoma.org or visit www.lymphoma.org/ride2008.

Local art, local fun 

Poolesville Day weekend kicks off Sept. 19 with the Historic Medley District's third annual art show and fundraiser featuring the work of local artists.

The opening reception is 6:30-9 p.m. at the old Poolesville Town Hall, located at 19923 Fisher Ave. Tickets are $35 per person and benefit the nonprofit Historic Medley, which is restoring the building and plans to re-open it as the Poolesville Museum. The reception will feature hors d'oeuvres, a cash bar and the opportunity to meet the artists and purchase their works.

The art show will be open to the general public Sept. 20, 21, 27 and 28 from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Suggested entrance donation of $5 per person.

For more information or for artists wishing to participate in the show, visit www.historicmedley.org or contact Patty Cooper at info@historicmedley.org or 301-972-8588.

Submissions for People and Places must be received by 10 a.m. Thursday. Send submissions to Melissa A. Chadwick via e-mail at mchadwick@gazette.net, fax at 301-670-7183 or mail to The Gazette, 9030 Comprint Court, Gaithersburg, MD 20877. Photos will also be considered.