Bringing back the landscapes

I did more than just stand on top of a mountain and take about 60 pictures of a city I couldn’t see through the fog yesterday.

I really enjoy shooting landscapes, and I think they’re good training. This summer taught me a lot about photography through shooting the land. But as much as it’s about the land, it’s not “things you can see from the road,” as I heard a fellow say this summer. As Dave will call one of his upcoming books, it’s more like, “This land I love.” Don’t just stand there and shoot the picture from the car, or pull into the turnout and shoot from the overlook.

More and more this is what I’m pushing myself to do, especially since the workshop. I thought I was doing that, but apparently I wasn’t. It’s not obvious that I’m trying hard enough, so I’ll keep climbing hilltops and getting as dirty as need be until it’s proving for pictures. (Apply all this talk of mountains and getting dirty metaphorically, not literally. Unless you’re just a hippie or in love with the outdoors. Then that’s OK).

I almost spilled into the road on this one. I was scaling down from the parking above me. Then I climbed on down to take the picture below.

These next pictures seemed like they were going to be cooler than they were. I pulled over to shoot this cliff that hangs over the road. It looked like Colorado. I climbed up into it and shot a few pictures looking down, but they’re really not anything extraordinary.

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Most kids were

While most children would have been building ramps for their remote control cars, running their bicycles through their neighbors driveways or trying out their Official Red Ryder carbine-action 200 shot range model air rifle with a compass in stock, I was out roaming with my new gift.

My Christmas gift: TomTom One.

I tried it out this morning. I drove way up into the backgrounds and searched my way home. It was pretty awesome. I’m excited to get to use it while I’m in Nashville.

On my way back through the Cumberlang Gap National Park I saw these deer. They’re pretty much always there, so it wasn’t that big of a deal, but I did have a 70-200 on my 20D. Merry Christmas.

It’s a wonderful life

Sitting with mom and dad, watching our norm, It’s a wonderful life. Not because it’s tradition, but because it’s always on. My parents love the movie, and I’m a closet fan. Mom is quiet, wrapped in a quilt. Dad is trying to figure out what other movies the characters have been in since 1946. Megan was off doing whatever teenagers do, now she’s here to help question dad’s curiosity.

Three themed pictures for you that I’ve made in the past 24 hours:

The theme is outside looking in on Christmas. Or something like that.

Since I wont be seeing any of you for Christmas and you can’t taste any of the tasty treats my mom has been working on this week, I’m delivering photos of her dishes straight to you.

Merry Christmas to you. If you don’t celebrate Christmas, then you should! No, really, I wish each of you the happiest holiday season.

A century of memories

She doesn’t feel like it.

Flossie Clarkson has been around for almost 96 years, but doesn’t really feel that old.  She says her feet feel it though. “But I’ve been on ‘em for almost 100 years,” she said.  My mom visits Flossie and gives her company. Flossie recalls 100 years worth of stories and doesn’t care to share them.

I wanted to tag along so I could take pictures, but I got more out of it than that. She really enjoyed our visit, and I really enjoyed it too. Let me know what you think.

It’s like out West, only without the 5,000 mile drive

With a dead story and only a day and a half to shoot, I wanted to leave Evarts, Ky with more than what I came with.

I could be sentimental and say, “Oh but I met so many new friends and had fun and it was a great learning experience.” But really, I wanted good pictures. Workshops always provide you with all of these. Connections. Good times. Learning experiences. Portfolio pictures.

I didn’t have time to shoot much of a story, but in between being honked at on the side of the road for standing at memorials, I shot landscapes. Some of which are really nice and telling of the area, others are just OK.

Shooting landscapes reminded me of this summer. It made miss just driving, not knowing where I was going to sleep. Evarts, a place so different than the West, caused me to miss California and its diverse land. It made me miss Elliott and wish he had been able to be in Evarts not only to shoot good pictures, but to hang out with me and Ed when we’re not having to make newspapers. Staying in an unfamiliar house for the sake of photographs made me miss Martha.

I will probably never have another entire summer to throw away for the sake of pictures. These trips when I get a full week to just think about them are some of my favorite times each semester. I hope, with Jim’s help, we can keep building these workshops and having great experiences.

This is the main cemetery from Ages through Evarts. There are other small cemeteries, but this is pretty much it. In my lifetime, I’ve had 6 family members buried here, including Clyde Wilson and most recently, my grandfather, JC Luttrell.

Good light and old, pretty houses make for good pictures.

I am going to reshoot this sometime. I need to be closer to downtown, or get a hold of a 300 with an extender. There are two steeples right in this area, and I think if I moved around I could probably frame this up a lot better.

I think my dad called this area Sunshine. I told him there’s nothing there but a few playing fields, but he said it used to be a community.