A Patriotic Photograph ::

Taken up in Pulaski, Tennessee a couple of months ago:

A Message Written On The Side Of A Trailer ::

I caught this out of the corner of my eye yesterday and had to turn around to take the photograph.

Annie Leibovitz Exhibit In Montgomery ::

The Montgomery Museum of Art will be opening an exhibit of Annie Leibovitz photographs beginning October 28, 2010 and running through January 9, 2011. Here's a short blurb from the museum's web site:

Annie Leibovitz: WOMEN features more than 80 photographs by the renowned American photographer Annie Leibovitz. Included in this exhibition of Leibovitz’s stunning black and white and color photos are highlights from her 1999 book Women, featuring portraits of notable figures such as Barbara Bush and Oprah Winfrey, Southern heroines Eudora Welty and Osceola McCarthy, as well as formerly anonymous women who take on rolls as farmers, miners, astronauts, and soldiers.

I have long been a fan of Leibovitz's photographs and I'm looking forward to seeing the exhibit. Here are the museum's hours:

Museum Hours

Tuesday–Saturday 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Thursdays 10 a.m.–9 p.m.
Sunday 12 p.m.–5 p.m.
Admission is free!

The price is certainly right!

Old Downtown Gurley, Alabama ::

There is no downtown commerce in this old but little town since the 4 lane road went in just a few hundred yards away, but someone cares enough to put a flag on the pole. Actually Gurley was a thriving community based on farming early in the 20th century and it has a rich civil war history. I often visit a local cemetery for the interesting images I always seem to find there.

A Cross In The Pasture ::

Found in the Clouds Cove community of Madison County, Alabama:

An Old Fire Station ::

I've photographed this old fire station several times over the years and I've never particularly liked any of these images. I was near here late this afternoon and stopped to shoot this once again. I think I may be getting to the point where I will be satisfied with a photo of this building!

Working With HDR ::

Here's my first working image from my HDR experimentation:



I ran this through Photoshop CS5 the first time, but I was terribly disappointed with the results so just a short time ago I processed it in Photomatix and I'm much, much happier with these results although I'm going to have to change my shooting technique. This image was processed from 3 separate hand held photographs and I'm really surprised at just how sharp it is, but from now on I'm going to use my tripod for HDR photographs.

I had my doubts about whether or not I would like HDR photography, but I will at least be experiment more with the technique.

Wedding Chapel For Lease ::

Most people when seeing this image think that this is a church, but it actually was a wedding chapel although I never saw a wedding there. Guess what? Now it's a church!

A Wayward Child's Boot ::

It's interesting to me where I find scenes to photograph. There are some places where I could spend hours and then there are others that should be fruitful, but are nothing more than boring. About a month ago I drove down this side road near where I live that essentially dead-ends several miles in. There are a couple of side roads that shoot off from it which I have just begun exploring, but I've found several interesting, to me at least, scenes to photograph. Here is one from a little earlier today:

New Stuff ::

I spent some time today dangling my toes in some HDR photography. I'm generally not a fan of HDR, but I thought I'd give it a try. I'll post my thoughts on these new images later after I've had a chance to do something with them, or not!

Crosses And Fire Hydrant ::

Crosses beside the Cowboy Church in the Clouds Cove community of Madison County, Alabama.



I may try to get back over there this afternoon for some more photography around this area. There is a nearby cemetery which I have yet to explore.

Alabama And Auburn Dueling Parking Spots ::

Found in Gurley, Alabama a couple of years ago.

A Closed X-Rated Video Store ::

Years ago this was a convenience store that sold bait and tackle down by the Tennessee River. When it was sold the new owners opened a x-rated video store, but it closed shop just a few months ago. Come to think of it I don't know where anyone would rent any porn around here any more.

Near Where I Live ::

I'm still trying to figure out just what of facility the sign refers to. It could possibly have something to do with the Paint Rock River.

Outside Pulaski, Tennessee ::

From a couple of weeks ago:



I got several photographs up there that I like and I'll post some more later. This was the first time I'd been to Pulaski in many years, but I think I'll be visiting more often now.

Psychic Shop! ::

White Chairs In Front Of An Old Barn ::

Found on a side road off of a back road!

Statue Detail

I found myself in this great old cemetery in Gurley, Alabama a couple of years ago and found several scenes worthy of photographing including this one. I especially like the painted fingernails complimenting the plastic flowers in the hand.

Hanging Chairs

Photographed this past Sunday morning in Camden, S.C. This is a thrift store which obviously needs more inside storage for chairs!



I also wonder about the lighted christmas lights hanging over the chairs.

A Cemetery Photograph ::

Taken this past Saturday morning in the early morning fog:

Halloween Is On The Horizon ::

I've noticed in the last couple of days that the stores are beginning to put out their halloween goods so I thought I'd post this photograph I took in the Moon Cemetery last year:



For years I have found cemeteries to be fascinating places in which to search for photographic material and I'm seldom disappointed. Here is the foot marker for the grave site above of this 13 year old young person:

Manual ::

This is an oldie shot with the 8x10 probably 23 years ago:



Manual was walking down the street nearby Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta and I asked if I could take his photo near this door and he readily agreed. Looking closely later I saw that his shirt was on backwards with the tag hanging out!

Firestation #2 ::

I never thought about it before, but I don't have any idea where firestation #1 is!

Hay Baling Time ::

Taken several years ago in Morgan County, Alabama:

A Holga Photograph ::

Taken about a month ago:



I haven't been doing any shooting lately, other than some Hummingbird photos on the back porch. It's just been terribly hot and my energy level is low!

Still Here! ::

Just fighting some computer woes. My modem died last weekend and my desktop was infected with some serious malware which I'm trying to get rid of. I may just wind up upgrading the OS to the 64 bit version of Windows 7. Stay tuned and I'll be back soon with some new photographs.

Seen In A Local Cemetery ::

Irony?

Steve McCurry Exposes The Last Roll Of Kodachrome ::

McCurry was given the last production roll of Kodachrome by Kodak and, given that he had 36 exposures, he spent some considerable time exposing images from different locations around the world, but with the 1st and last frames shot in his home base of New York City.

The story and a link to the interview is up on NPR.

The last Kodachrome processing line in the world, run by Dwayne's in Kansas, is scheduled to shut down on December 30 of this year. I've shot many rolls of Kodachrome through the years and I love the film, but what really sticks in my mind are the 8x10 Kodachromes that an old timer photographer friend in Atlanta showed me many years ago. They were absolutely gorgeous!

A Roadside Monument ::

From a couple of years ago just a week or two before Halloween:

A Fisheye Lomo Photograph ::

The guy who owns the acreage next to me is the president of the local beekeepers association and has 13 hives within about 100 yards of me. When I need honey it doesn't get any more local than that!



Not bad for a $35 plastic camera!

No Trespassing ::

A couple of weeks ago I came across this field with all of these no trespassing signs. Actually there are a lot more of these than are shown in this photograph. I did a panorama, but I haven't fully processed it yet. I'll put it up when I'm happy with the final result.



This scene is next to a railroad track and an overpass. Underneath the overpass is a homeless camp so I'm sure that these homeless people are the target audience for these signs.

Walker Cemetery ;:

In the Hebron Community in Marshall County, Alabama:



This church is only a couple of miles from where I live so I often photograph it, or, more specifically, the cemetery surrounding it on the hill. We had some significant thunderstorms yesterday resulting in some dramatic skies, but I could only get down here a little later after having voted so the clouds had changed quite a bit. I did get this photograph which was at least mildly satisfying!

Sign In A Cemetery ::

A Holga photograph:

Last Flag Photograph For A While ::

This was taken on December 26, 2008 in downtown New Hope, Alabama. Just directly across the street are the recycling bins where I take my newspapers and plastic every couple of weeks.



The flag has been replaced a couple of times since I shot this photograph and this is what it looks like right now:

The 4th Of July ::

I just might go out and buy some miniature explosive devices!

Flags And A Snowman ::

December, 2007

A Propane Tank ::

Decorated with flag art:



This is at a place that once was a small propane distribution business. It's now a used car lot, but this tank is still part of the decor.

Owens Crossroads, Alabama

Flag On A Fence

Well, actually 2 flags along with the state flower of Alabama-the tv satellite receiver!



Huntsville, Alabama

Approaching The 4th of July ::

So I thought I would do flag photographs for the next few days:

The Sun-Dog Trail ::

By Jack London from the December 1905 issue of Harper's Magazine:

"Sitka Charley smoked his pipe and gazed thoughtfully at the newspaper illustration on the wall. For half an hour he had been steadily regarding it, and for half an hour I had been slyly watching him. Something was going on in that mind of his, and, whatever it was, I knew it was well worth knowing. He had lived life and seen seen things, and performed that prodigy of prodigies, namely, the turning of his back upon his own people, and, in so far as it was possible for an Indian, becoming a white man even in his mental processes. As he phrased it himself, he had come into the warm, sat among us, by our own fires, and become one of us.

We had struck this deserted cabin after a hard day on the trail. The dogs had been fed, the supper dishes washed, the bed made, and we were now enjoying that most delicious hour that comes each day, on the Alaskan trail, when nothing intervenes between the tired body and bed save the smoking of the evening pipe.

'well?' I finally broke the silence.

He took the pipe from his mouth and said, simply, 'I do not understand.'

He smoked on again and again removed the pipe, using it to the point at the illustration.

'That picture--what does it mean? I do not understand.'"

Discarded Chair By The Side Of The Road ::

Found on a short back street in thriving Owen Crossroads, Alabama:

Waiting For A New Church Building ::

This sign has been up for at least the past couple of years, but the tent is only erected once or twice a year for special services out in the field. I guess they're having trouble raising the money for the new construction!



The church group will occasionally use the field for a yard sale in order to raise money, but I haven't even seen that this year. I generally try to take a photograph when the tent is up and I was experimenting here with a couple of Photoshop actions for opening the shadows, but I really liked the cloud formation.

A Holga Photograph In An Odd Cemetery ::

I've only recently begun taking some photographs in this really odd cemetery which I have often passed for the past 15 or so years. The cemetery has different sections for specific groups. There is one section just for babies and there is another section for practitioners of the Islamic religion. I'll be posting some more photographs later of the different sections, but this one is the area set aside for veterans.

Heading Toward The 4th Of July ::

All of the fireworks stand owners are gearing up for the upcoming holiday. I've always wondered just how much money they really make during these holidays that seem to impel people to buy miniature explosive devices!

Memorial Day, 2010 ::

I went out pretty early in the morning on Memorial Day this past Monday and captured several images which I like. Here is one, but I did a couple of panoramas in Maple Hill Cemetery here in Huntsville, Al. that I will post later.



There is a little town just south of Gadsden, Al. that puts up large flags in the highway median along with the names of military personnel from that county who have died in service. I've driven through there several times over the years without taking a photograph. I'm going to try to remember to head down that way next year and spend some time taking some photographs!

Burial Permit Required ::

A new Holga photograph:

Our Educational System! ::

The writing on the window says "You stoled my wheels but there bent stupid!". Obviously wasn't an English major!

A Flag In The Window ::

A Fisheye Lomo Photograph From A Couple Of Years Ago ::

Taylor and Kirstein:

Rembert, South Carolina ::

The American flag alongside the South Carolina state flag:

Big Cove Presbyterian Church ::

A nice little church tucked just out of view of the highway. Another Holga photograph.



I especially like the crooked cross atop the steeple!

What A Revival ::

so to speak, of a closed movie theater in Columbia, S.C.



Taken in September, 2008.

Toilets At A Closed Service Station ::

A Moment In Time ::

Journalists are often at their worst when trying to predict the future. But it seems safe to say that many hundreds — if not thousands — of shutters will be released simultaneously on Sunday, May 2, as photographers around the world help Lens create “A Moment in Time”; one single moment in the life of the planet.

That moment will be 15:00 hours in Coordinated Universal Time or U.T.C., the contemporary equivalent of Greenwich Mean Time. In the United States, under daylight time, this would be 11 a.m. on the East Coast, 10 a.m. in the Midwest, 9 a.m. in the West and 8 a.m. on the West Coast. For local times around the world, you can consult this converter from timeanddate.com.

Lisa Gottlieb Berkowitz said she may be in labor at that moment and promised that she’d “be very careful” about any picture she takes. Brenda Sinclair Dutton expects to be flying to Indianapolis and plans to take a photo in the plane. In Alaska, Sarah Kennedy noted, it will be 7 o’clock. “I’ll sure to try to take a photo of the pretty sunrise,” she said. “If I’m awake.”

Rob Kunkle was less optimistic about the scene in San Francisco. “Sunday at 8 a.m.?” he asked. “I don’t think anyone is awake then in S.F.” But Dick Halstead, of Palymyra, N.Y., is confident that his day will be well under way. “I hope to include the United Church Choir,” he said. “We will just be concluding our Sunday Service.”

These were among the responses to our initial invitation, “A Timely Global Mosaic, Created by All of Us,” in which we asked everyone, everywhere, to join in making this worldwide photographic mosaic, with each photographer submitting their one best picture. As guidance, we suggested a few broad topics like arts and entertainment, community, family, money and the economy, nature and the environment, play, religion, social issues and work. And we also suggested that you might find the experience even more rewarding if you do some planning in advance, taking into account how best to represent yourself, and your community, with a single image.

You asked how long you’d have to submit your picture. | The answer: up to five days from the time you took it. The submission form will be live and usable from 15:00 (U.T.C.) on Sunday, May 2, until 15:00 (U.T.C.) on Friday, May 7.

You asked how large your file ought to be. | Because the pictures will be published up to 1000 pixels wide on the Web (that’s big), the larger your file, the better — up to a point. But please don’t send anything larger than 5 MB. If you’re using an adjustable camera phone, be sure to set it for the largest file size possible.

You asked whether we were aware that “A Moment in Time” was scarcely an original concept. | Yes, we certainly knew we weren’t the first. We’d love to be able to say we remembered that May 2 was also the date chosen in 1986 by David Elliot Cohen and Rick Smolan for “A Day in the Life of America.” But our memories aren’t that good. It’s merely a happy coincidence.