photography

Autumn Out Back

My co-workers thought I was crazy.

“I’m heading to the woods,” I said after lunch. “If I’m not back in a while, it’s been nice working with you all.”

The woods, they asked? Why?

Because. It’s right out back. At work, our headquarters sits in the middle of a beautiful, hilly forest, with little ponds and lakes all around us. I’ve been dying to get into those woods and explore – dying to get out and shoot, period.

No, the weather wasn’t nice, and no, the light wasn’t perfect. But if felt good to get out and tromp through the fallen leaves on a cool autumn day.

Then my Canon battery died, so I had to rely on my iPhone. Not that that matters.

I made it back by lunch hour’s end, a little wet and a lot refreshed.

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Only What You Need

Among the Birch

“Take only what you need to survive.” – Captain Lone Starr, Spaceballs

How much photography technique is too much?

Is it good enough to learn the techniques to be able to do what you want to do? To be able to say what you need to say?

What good is any more technique?

The liberal artist in me says learn all you can – simply for learning’s sake. I’m a lifelong self-educator. Part of me can’t help but dive into technique and tools and tips just because that’s how my brain works. It’s a sponge.

But then I hit a skill ceiling. I don’t need to learn much more about Photoshop, or exposure compensation, or lighting, because I have just enough to be able to express myself properly.

From here, with what I know now, the rest is just noise.

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Textures of the Season

Out here, where the roads are named after the family farms, we slide into the quiet season.

It’s all warm colors here at Adams Farm: yellows and reds and oranges. A few greens, but mostly the rustic hue of autumn.

The textures are everywhere, from smooth pumpkins and apples to mottled squashes of every different shape and size.

We’re crazy about the foods of autumn. I could live on apples and squash, while the kids transform into sticky hornet magnets with cider and donuts. We wipe our hands of cinnamon and sugar, we feel for the rigid pumpkin stems, and we toss the bumpy buttercup from crate to wagon.

This is what we live for – the texture of the season.

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Bright Walls

It’s almost like all this is a bit too cool for Jackson.

International mural artists? Tons of people downtown? Beauty where once there was empty brick?

It all happened, thanks to the Bright Walls mural festival, this past week. But really, it started months ago with one of the best marketing campaigns I’ve ever seen. You couldn’t go anywhere in town without seeing that sunrise-and-brick logo. The campaign worked, too, because people – both Jackson natives and out-of-towners – showed up in droves, slowing down traffic in an otherwise sleepy downtown.

Maybe it’s obvious, but here, right in front of all of us, was the power of art on display. It was a spectacle, sure, but it was also a reason to celebrate.

A reason to believe.

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Hobbit Place

This is usually our springtime ritual, heading to the Hobbit Place, grabbing flowers and thinking about landscape decorations.

For this year, we went full autumn: mums, pumpkins, decorative gourds – the whole thing. As a Tolkien fan, I love the greenhouse’s name. As a person who cares about their yard, I appreciate their selection.

Tick tock goes the beat of the year. On and on we slide into fall.

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While the Gettin’s Good

Louisville, Kentucky

After our Wisconsin summer vacation, I had the thought to take the photos from the trip and make a little picture book out of them.

This week, I did just that after receiving a discount email from Snapfish. Just $12 for an 8×11″ book with 20 pages? Sold.

I rarely jump on those deals when I get them, but once in a while the opportunity and the idea come together to make something happen.

There are a ton of photo printing companies out there, just begging you to make something. These places are constantly sending out coupons and discounts. Test a few out, see what you like, and then wait for the sale emails to come in. It’s too affordable not to something.

Take them up on it, while the gettin’s good.

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