Photos

Photo Days with my granddaughter, ES

I try to spend as much time with my ES as I can.  She's super intelligent, with a near photographic memory, and into science like I am.

One of her first questions for me was, "Why do we see the moon, sometimes at night, and sometimes in the day?"  I used three balls of different sizes to explain and she got it.  She was six.

Not long after, she corrected me when I said I thought Mercury would be the hottest planet.  She knew it was Venus.

Right now, she wants to be an Automotive Engineer, building flying cars.  I just took her to a car museum and she loved it.  Her questions were spot on.  Looking at a roadster she wanted to know how the suspension and steering worked.

I enjoy taking her photographs and she enjoys posing.  She knows what she wants and must approve every shot.

Photos with my Daughter-in-Law, KS

Maryland, May 2023

This was a hip shot, taken of my daughter-in-law at my grandaughter's second birthday.  I sat next to her, leaned back, and took the shot.

I think it is the best photo that I've taken of her; the hat makes it.  

Everyone wore hats that day.  The theme was "Off To The Races" and everyone was supposed to dress up as if attending a premier horse race.

Photos with my granddaughter, SGM

This baby and I are great collaborators.  She is usually ready anytime Granddaddy wants to take photos, as long as she gets to review each shot and then push all of the buttons on the camera.

She's a cutie, with a great personality, a mischievous sense of humor, and the happiest baby I have ever seen.  She is always in motion, which makes most of my photos blurry, but every once in a while, I get a jewel. 

What I've learned is to get down to her level and let her see what she looks like after a few photos.  She's learning to sit still and look in the lens.

When she's had enough of my camera and me, she gives me an emphatic "All Done!"  This also means, "Let me have a go with that camera."

The Light

Hollymead, Virginia, October 2023

There was a man from midnight who lived while on the road

A light was his possession it was a heavy load

He wrapped it all in color but left the binding free

For those who felt the hunger and truly longed to see

~ Michael Brewer and Tom Shipley

Sokak

Izmir, Turkiye, Spring 1985

Photos tell stories.  They remind you. They become a part of your history.

This photo is a great memory.

When I arrived in Turkey, my room was on the backside of the hotel, with windows facing the inner city. On the mountain was a huge illuminated castle. There were millions of small twinkling lights below it - reds, greens, yellows, blues, and whites. It looked like Christmas.  I thought, “What a Magical Place This Is.”

What “looked like Christmas” on my first night were the homes of thousands of poor Turk people, living in poorly constructed houses and shacks, some thrown up overnight.  It was the definition of lean living. 

On that mountain were some of the nicest people that I have ever met.

When I am telling anyone about my travels in Turkey, I tell the story of this walk.

I took this on the walk up to the castle. I love it because it reminds me of that wonderful day, the nice folks I met, and that sometimes things may not be what they seem.

Catherin'

I've had two opportunities to photograph this young lady, once for her Dad's birthday and again in Charleston when I stopped over on my way to Parris Island.

She was the one person in the Cadet Counseling Office who I trusted and who "got" VMI. It was a sad day when she left to continue her education.

We met when I followed the VMI Hockey Team; she was dating one of the coaches.  We began sitting together at games.  She has shot trap and skeet with me, watched the last season of Lost when the Lost Boys graduated, and meets me for sushi whenever our paths cross.

She, faithfully, stays in touch, the only person from my VMI days who does.

I hope to see her and to take her photograph again, soon.

Contrived Beauty

Charlottesville, Virginia, Spring 2018

When I told my wife how I saw this shot going, she told me it would look "contrived."

Ryan joined me at the Charlottesville Mall and I took my new cameras, one of her favorite books, The Lords of Discipline, and a coffee mug.  I bought her a coffee, found the perfect spot, and began shooting.

I shot in Ilford FP-4, Kodak Portra, and in digital set on Monochrome and Color.  We got a lot of great shots, but this is my favorite of the day.

It does not look contrived; you can see this same scene every day in C'ville, only the girl probably won't be as beautiful.

"Beauty and femininity are ageless and can't be contrived." ~ Marilyn Monroe

A Thousand Miles from Nowhere

Covington, Virginia

I have taken more photos of this young lady than anyone else.  She refers to me as "My Photographer" on her social media.

This was to be a Marine headed home from war photo, but my model forgot her uniform.  

DJ showed up in jeans and heels, which is always a good look.  I added Kady's classic Samsonite.  I had this place in mind for weeks and stopped by the week before to get permission to be there at night.

The classic location, the rail depot light, and the pretty lady worked together nicely.

Her Photographer was a bit of a klutz, but it all worked out.

Bugs

Kady and I went to the Botanical Garden of the Piedmont (not much, really) but there's a nice wildflower garden.  We met a Certified Master Naturalist there for a Butterfly Walk.  She was smart and friendly but there weren't many butterflies.

I've been back, alone, and had much better success.

Charlottesville also has a little Bog Garden, which is fun.  I enjoy going there, but it seems devoid of wildlife. 

The best place for butterflies in this town is the Ivy Creek Foundation Butterfly Garden.  The butterflies love that place.  So do every other sort of pollinator.

I am on a big nature kick.

Churches

Geiger Methodist Church, Geiger Alabama.

On rare occasions, Kady says, "There is a place I want to go see."  This is my signal that we're going on a day-long photo trip.  Her trips are the best and she finds some interesting things to see and photograph.  Many times her target is an old church.

I like churches too, so I thought it a good idea to include this shot of my family church in the little town where my dad and his brothers and sisters grew up.

I took it on a trip to Geiger with my little brother and mom-in-law back in the early 90s.  It was one of the last days I would see Don and, now, Sylvia has gone, too.  If you look closely, Don is under the tree.

Wren in Church

Hudson Trail, Manhattan Kansas

Cooper and I were out walking.  I took a quick photo of this little birdhouse and we kept moving.  It wasn't until I reviewed the photos that I took that week that I noticed the little house Wren checking me out.

Lucky Shot!

The Regimental Drummer

New Market, Virginia

I shot this as a much larger photo.  Back home, after the day shooting, I realized how powerful this could be, cropped to show just the drummer boy.

I think it illustrates the weariness and sadness in all soldiers.

Summer in Summer

Birmingham, Alabama

While Kady's niece was living with her grandparents, I got her to sit for me.  She was about twenty-two at the time.  

It was a very bright Alabama summer day and the light coming in the window was far too harsh.  I underexposed.

I was never able to make anything out of the negatives in my darkroom, but kept the negatives.

Technology Improved.

I found the negatives not long ago, scanned them one at a time to give me the best file from which to work, and then worked on them in Photoshop.

Amazing!

Never give up on those old negatives!

Stand Fast

Charlottesville, Virginia

As much as I love Charlottesville, I'll have to say that it is filled with a load of nincompoops.

The only Southern monument remaining in this town is the one in the UVA Cemetery.

I spent the better part of a day photographing all of the monuments in the city before they were removed.

I better go take a photo of Jefferson and Homer.  Thomas owned slaves so he can no longer be celebrated and Homer . . . well, he's an old white man, so he has to go too.

Bones

Nothing calls for black-and-white photography like a good old piece of farm equipment.

I found this old rake while walking through the woods.  I took it in color and converted it to black and white.  

Now, I set my camera on monochrome when something needs B&W.  Somedays, I'll start out with it set that way, to remind myself of the first days when I had one camera loaded with Tri-X or Plus-X.

Fungi

Lately, Mushrooms have caught my eye.  

It started as I began researching Psilocybes.  When I began looking for them, I realized that there are Mushrooms EVERYWHERE, you just have to look and they make interesting photos! 

I'm terrible at Identifying these but I can't walk by one without taking its photo.

I shot this with my camera set on "Vivid."

Before the Storm

The Keys. June 2018

The Sugarloaf Key Bat Tower was built in 1929 to control the mosquitos in the lower Keys.  The bats initially housed there flew away, never to return.

Oh Well.  Nice Try.

I photographed it just three months before it was destroyed by Hurricane Irma, on 10 September 2017.  We stopped by on a whim as we headed to a restaurant to eat, a lucky happenstance.

It was in pretty sad shape when we were there, with loads of trash, graffiti, and in sore need of repair.

It has been on the National Registry of Historical Places since 1982, but I haven't heard if it will be rebuilt.   The pelicans and I think it should be but the bats and locals don't seem to care.

By Now, it is probably too late.

That Barn

Highway 11, North of Lexington, Virginia

For years, every time Kady and I drove past this old barn we'd say, "We need to stop and photo that."

One day, headed north from Lexington on Highway 11, I pulled over, grabbed my camera, and walked up the hill to take a few shots.  Kady waited in the car.  My fun was short-lived; the land owned shooed me away with a few not-so-kind words.

Photography in Rockbridge County Virginia is always an adventure.

One day, I think I'll print this and put a copy in his mailbox to show there are no hard feelings.

Train Thangs

Harper's Ferry, West Virginia

I'm a Southern Railways kid.  My dad was the Supervisor of Communications.  We rode the train a lot when I was growing up.  Nothing relaxes me like the sound of a train whistle in the distance.

I enjoy visiting train museums and old train stations and have been known to pull off the road to get a good shot of a passing train.

Southern Serves The South!

In Situ

Ephesus 1985

I studied Ancient History in school, which is, I assume, the reason this column has such a hold on me.  I found it on a side street off of the theater at Ephesus, still leaning on the rubble from an earthquake, probably the one in 262CE.

Excavators wisely left this beauty sitting as they found it.