Another view of Winter

Along with a much too warm winter, we've had a huge amount of rain here in the upstate of SC.  Last Saturday after the almost 4" of rain had ceased (only for awhile as it turned out) I hustled downtown to the falls to see how they looked.  Great fun shooting the falls from different points on different settings.  
This was shot at night and there is a strong spotlight off to the right.  The green hue comes from the lighting around the park which only looks green on photos.

More photos available on Backroads &Aliways Studios on Facebook and at  www.backroadsnandaliways.com

More Main St.

As I stood talking to Roy Gullick in front of his building yesterday, I noticed two blue pipes sticking out of the sidewalk.  They looked so cute and totally out of place.  I have NO idea what they are for, but I think the buildings have basements along the river, so perhaps it was for ventilation????  Again, one of those things I've passed for years and not noticed.   I'm working with the best presentation for them, so here are two views....many others in the works.  

First is just a simple black and white conversion of the background to pop the blue.

Second has had quite a bit of processing including solarizing the background.

Feedback very welcome.

Another story

While enjoying the Artisphere art fair last weekend I noticed this sign on a building on Main St. that I have passed many, many times over the years.  Maybe the light was just right, but I saw something that made me want to go back and take some photos.  Today was the first clear morning we've had, so I slipped down there on my way to work.   As I set up my tripod, the business/building owner came out and we chatted about photography - he is another semi-professional - and the evolution of downtown Greenville.  This little building sits on one of the most prime pieces of real estate downtown, and he's proud to own it and not going anywhere in a hurry.
He had the sign painted 40 years ago, and it's the age and patina that make it so unique.  The sign painter did a wonderful job and time and the elements have done the rest.
This view has been played with...but that's why we have photoshop, right?

I'll be sharing a few more I took within 6' of this spot soon.

January mix

We've been having the first "real" (read "icky") winter since I arrived in Greenville 5 years ago.  Not a lot of tolerable sunshine or warmish cloudiness for taking pictures, so it's been a good time to learn some new techniques. I've been working on water and found a nice, quiet place to shoot when we've had some (too much?) rain.

Interestingly, there  is a stand of bamboo near the little falls and suddenly Greenville can look tropical even on a chilly, soft day.

Something there is that loves a wall...

I guess it's me.  I find myself wanting to photograph interesting walls, and here's the latest.  I think the paint was applied to cover up graffeti, but it sure made an otherwise ordinary wall much more interesting.  This is along a lovely walking path in downtown Greenville. 

Open Studios bathroom

Bathroom as art?  We toured quite a few galleries and studios over the weekend during the Metropolitan Arts Council's Open Studios.  There is a lot of amazing and beautiful and challenging art in the area. Some we loved, some we thought about, and some we clearly didn't get on any level - and puzzle why the less we get it, the higher the price!!

Art Bomb is a shared space studio in a beautiful old building way out on Pendleton St.  We unfortunately didn't get most of the art, but the building and gardens are great.  The first is the wall and door to the outside shower...clearly the work of an artist, and the second is one of the panels inside the shower - rust can be so beautiful! 

Juried shows

Part of finding one's way into a new field is just trying things. I think if we had done more research and some reading, we might have scared ourselves off entering juried shows, but we were naive and gave it a shot. We've entered two local juried shows so far and had one photograph selected for each. This turns out to feel really good!

The first is a photo taken of a vase in the window of a downtown restaurant on a nice sunny morning. I played with the levels and then inverted the original and adjusted the hue and saturation. I love all the little things that show up in the reflections.

The second is the photo that inspired me to try doing this professionally. It was the result of taking a professionally led field trip to beautiful DuPont Forest in NC. A lone flower on the shore of a little lake on a pretty fall day.

We are excited and encouraged to try more things and play more with our art. Photography is a great medium for exploration.

Public Art

One of our missions is to find the art that's all around us every day. I've been passing this sign for years and always meant to stop and take a few pictures. The other day I had my camera, blue skies and puffy clouds. Instead of a beautiful sign standing in an abandoned diner parking lot (the diner was torn down about 2 years after it was built) along a busy road, it's now a hangable work of art.

I adjusted the light a little and then posterized to get the mix of colors in the sky. Not sure of the title yet....Hop in Heaven?

And sometimes....

And sometimes it's just nice to take a nice photograph of someone you love! In addition to the hundreds of the teams this year, some are just special. Great game, Tyler!

Closer to home

When I first moved to Greenville 4 years ago, I went to a Sierra Club meeting and learned about a proposed new park in the county. At that point it was just a gleam in the eye of a few environmentalist. I quickly made a trip down to explore and loved the setting of wide river, shoals and the remains of old industrial buildings.

Yesterday I took my grandsons there to explore after learning that within a year it will be the site of our new park: Cedar Falls. The boys had a blast and I got some lovely pictures of the river after several weeks of daily rain.

Water is always fun and challenging but lends itself to all kinds of artistry. We are fortunate to have such a great recreational resource in our back yard.

This photo was converted to black and white on an "infrared" selection which gives it an interesting dimension.

Apparently....

Apparently it's not enough to describe the "great shot" you just took, but necessary to post it.....

This is a picture I took early this morning following a hard storm last night. The day was clear and bright and the morning sun still low in the East. This picture could go either way...artistic or way over exposed.

I like it, so it's a keeper. Feedback is welcome.

Color

Again, on the subject of color change: some pictures adapt well to "messing with color" and others don't. These two pictures are another example of what happens when you experiment a little.

These were taken at our latest county park, Cedar Falls. This tract of land lies along the Reedy River in the southern part of the county, west of Simpsonville. It's the site of an old mill and dam that has been overrun, abused and misused for years. It's taken many years for the county to acquire the site, but now the process of cleaning and restoring is under way. The river is quite wide at this spot and there are a few small rapids.

This shot was taken along the shore where the water was running fast. I call the second picture "Maxfield Parrish" after the painter who created the more amazing colors and blues in his work.

Enjoy!

Stop and....