However I have discovered over time– the best photographic opportunities are in your own backyard (neighborhood, city, community) and staying true to your roots is really important. There are tons of photographic opportunities waiting to be shot where you already live.
Austin, Texas
Imagine a place like this in Michigan: a patio on the 2nd floor of the hotel, exposed to the elements. Crazy.
But in Austin, it’s possible – and a great idea.
Even when you’re right there, right in the middle of it, summer is always slipping away.
Lake Michigan beach, paused thanks to a quick rain shower.
Canon Canonet QL17 G-III – Kodak Ektar 100
Some summer time plant life, taken with the Pentax K1000 and a lovely roll of Kodak Portra.
Magic.
Had my first roll of Kodak Ektar 100 printed, and boy, talk about some touchy film.
Or I should say, touchy camera (my Canonet) and film combo. Lots of underexposures, crushed blacks, and double exposures (like the one above) in the roll.
It’s a bummer when the photos you’re looking forward to seeing come out botched. But that’s the magic of film, right?
Had a chance to visit Austin, Texas, last week for a higher ed conference. Lovely city, and very weird. Neat that both the state capitol and major university are in the same town.
And all that barbecue? Man.
More to come.
We never know when a great “decisive moment” will happen– so wandering and being flexible and open to ideas is important.
We set sail from South Baymouth, a little port town on Manitoulin Island – a chuck of Ontario resting in the Georgian Bay of Lake Huron. And though the trip isn’t very long, there comes a point where we’re absolutely surrounded by water.
It’s like being on an unsalted cruise trip. The wind is chilly, but the sun (when it peeks out from the clouds) feels good.
There are all types on this boat, the Chi-Cheemaun. Mostly Mennonite, a few foreigners, quite a few students. Most hang out in the lobby. A few of use brave ones, the ones who don’t mind the breeze, stick around on deck to watch the scenery change. We watch the little limestone islands pop up on the horizon, the Bruce Peninsula jutting out into the great lake to welcome us to Tobermory.
The people are great, the colors and shapes are great, the seagulls following the boat are great. Everything is great.
We saw leaves go to glory,
Then almost migratory
Go part way down the lane,
And then to end the story
Get beaten down and pasted
In one wild day of rain.
From Robert Frost’s poem, “November.”
Available as a print on my Society6 store.
I’ve passed by this particular farm probably dozens of times. It sits along US-127, a major highway between my hometowns, my college, everything.
But it’s only recently I’ve noticed that the place is dead and abandoned. Those telltale signs, like an overgrown lawn and broken windows, were evident even from the highway.
So I picked a warm summer night in July and pulled in to explore.
The grounds of the place are pretty overwhelming, with tons of buildings and a overgrown fields surrounding the place. What struck me was the variety: barns and storage buildings and milking structures.
The house was your typical abandoned house, open to the elements for who knows how long. The upstairs was in pretty relatively good shape. Parts of the house were still protected, like the kitchen.
I didn’t dare take a peek in the basement.
My guitar has been neglected the past few years. I used to be a frequent player in high school, practicing several nights a week.
Now, my acoustic guitar mainly sits there, and I usually only pick it up on the weekends to noodle around.
I have three guitars in all: this Mitchell acoustic, an Epiphone electric, and a mutt electric that I’ve had since high school.
The Mitchell gets the abuse: light from the window, dust, and an occasional bump with the vacuum cleaner.
Lots of places across the United States experience the changing seasons, and with a bit of luck they get to see the leaves turn, too.
Michigan doesn’t have any special autumn magic. From what I hear, you drive through New England in the autumn to see the magic.
But we get our share. Early to mid October, depending on where you are in the state, is when the show starts.
I grabbed this shot driving around the countryside outside of Albion, Michigan, right at the very end of the color season. It looks like a long driveway. It feels like fall.
I drive by this abandoned service station, across the street from my gas station, probably hundreds of times a year.
On this morning, though, the way the windows on this old truck were fogged up, and the way the light was coming in, it made for a great scene.
The place has a “Your Business Could Be Here” sign on it, but now I wonder what this place will look like in the winter, the spring, etc.
Had a chance to give the new VSCO Film 06 Alternative Process Collection for a spin this afternoon. Each preset is in the caption of the photo.
The fall colors here in Michigan gave these presets a great workout. So far, I’m really digging the Provia and Portra sets. The cross processing is a fun effect, and a bit more subtle than the obnoxious filters a lot of the mobile photo apps employ.
This pack reminds me of a cross between VSCO Film 01, 03 and 05, and now the preset names are getting pretty intense (with superscript!) to show how far the digital files are “pushed.” The high-contrast, high-saturation look with a lot of these film stocks fits my style pretty well.
Love the moods throughout.
Some days, you get up, dress like a zombie, and lurch around downtown Jackson for a while, attacking pedestrians and marveling at each other’s makeup.
Happy Halloween!
