Stop and....

Turn Around

I keep learning this lesson, so I thought I'd pass it on to anyone who might learn it quicker. The one advantage to being a slow learner, however, is that I keep getting surprised.
We were out in Athens (GA) on an overcast day and as I got into the car, I turned around to see this old, rusted, graffitied water tank. I still need to get a picture on a clearer day, but here it is with some photo techniques I used to bring out the color and texture. It's not done yet, but it's such a good example, of the benefits of turning around!

Event announcement

We will be selling photographs at a small event in Bethelem, GA on Saturday. It is the annual Spring Fling at Bethelem United Methodist Church. The event is from 11 - 3 and we will feature many Athens and UGA scenes as well as a selection of our other - backroads - work.

The photograph to the right is representative of our currently featured pictures. It was actually taken in FL several years ago but was uninteresting as a photo until I got to work on it with photoshop. The only transformations are in hue and saturation and the neat little trick I love of inverting....

Our next currently scheduled event is the Strawberry Festival in Slater, SC on May 16 where we will also have a collection of interesting Greenville photos.

The way it works

Here's how it seems to work. Stand along a rural road taking pictures, or buy a few frames from a yard sale, or mention to someone in line at the grocery that you are a photographer and they will tell you where the interesting pictures are! On a very wet and grey Saturday, we stopped at a yard sale at an old farm house. We bought a few things and mentioned that we like to take pictures of old farms etc. We were directed to the end of the road where this old house/barn is still sheltering a few animals and waiting for time to put an end to it. We couldn't get a picture in the downpour, so we went back the next day to capture this decrepet sentinel standing at the junction of two roads outside Watkinsville, GA. The weathered wood is in sharp contast to spring breaking out all around it. Photogrphy is one of the few ways to capture the remaining beauty of what was.

Observing

Cows. I think I first noticed cows watching us when I was hiking in Ireland. We were walking along farm fields and the cows would stop and watch us pass. We began to feel like the daily entertainment. Now as we drive along, I stop when there are cows near the road to try to get their pictures. This little calf was very new - Momma is a huge Longhorn - but also very interested in us. Her name is Star. Her mother didn't want to get too close, but Star was curious and ventured a ways from her mother to check us out.
Some mothers are very protective and get upset when their calves are too interested, but Star's mom was cool with it - maybe because she was huge with very long horns?
Later in the day I came across a beautiful blond cow standing in the sunlight and when I got out of the car to take her picture, she ran up a hill, then stopped and watched. Some of the other cows ventured closer. Perhaps we are meant to stop, admire them, and give them something to think about for a while.