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By Daphne hutchinson
Rappahannock New* Staff Writer
Franklin and Esther Schmidt belong to the school of new Rappahannockers who fell in the love with the county, moved here and then set about creating jobs for themselves.
Franklin has now been in the photography business, hill time, for the past two years. “The more he does, the more he likes it. It’s a self-contained profession, keeps us in the county as much as possible,” explained Esther, his partner and the “idea” and “social director” half of the duo.
Both were living and working in Washington, D. C., when a friend visiting from their native New York persuaded them to take a break for a drive in the country one weekend. “We headed west to the mountains, drove all the way to Luray and then turned around for the return trip to the city,” Esther recalled. “We got to Massie’s Corner and looked back to Rappahannock County. Both of us said simultaneously—believe it or not—That’s home!’ We knew we wanted to live here.”
“My father came from a place like this — except it was in Lithuania. He told me stories about his boyhood in the country, in the mountains,” Franklin added. “I’ve heard the same stories from folks here in Rapjtthannock so I felt from the beginning that T knew the county.”
"I know it sounds corny. But Rappahannock, to me, feels like extended family. It really feels like home,” said Esther.
Home or not, it took the couple a while to carve a niche here. Weekenders since 1974 at a rented cabin, they bought land in Rappahannock and moved full time to the county in 1979.
Officially, Franklin has been ^ professional photographer for 25 years. That is, he sold his first picture at the age of 15. While he never put down the camera for long after that, advertising and publishing — not photography — was his career. “I wanted to be an artist but I couldn’t draw,” he explained, his face crinkling into a characteristic smile. “When I was a kid, it was a miracle to me that you could snap a button on a caihera and get a picture. Actually, it’s still a miracle. Everytime I see an image coming up in the darkroom, I get excited all over again.”
Schmidt didn’t go to school to learn his craft. Instead, he took pictures, lots
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