neighborhood

Lawrence and Highland Blvd

It’s not every day a couple of hot air balloons float above the neighborhood.

But when you’re block sits here on Lawrence and Highland Boulevard, on the south side of Jackson, Michigan, you’re not far from our local Hot Air Jubilee launch point.

So: balloons. Floating through a neighborhood.

On this neighborhood walk, I was approached by a guy who was watching me from his porch. He saw me taking a photo of a shadow and asked me why I was taking a picture of a license plate.

I tried to reassure him I was only taking photos of light and color around the street, but I think he was still suspicious. 

“Didn’t you see those balloons?” I thought. They’re the real intruders worth worrying about.

Shot on the Canon EOS M2 and EF-M 28mm macro. 

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Wildwood and Edward St

Wildwood & Edward St

This is an old neighborhood in Jackson, Michigan. 

Here on Wildwood Ave and Edward St, behind the public high school, you can sense the age in the size of the homes and their proximity to downtown Jackson.

It’s quiet. A little under construction. And here on a sunny day in early May, there’s plenty to see. 

Shot on the Canon M6 and EF-M 28mm macro.

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Hibbard and Hallett

It’s tough for me to make photos in cloudy conditions. I rely on sharp, dramatic sunlight for much of my work.

But here, on the northwest side of Jackson, Michigan, I gave it a good go around the Hibbard and Hallett Street neighborhood.

Instead of capturing light, I did my best to capture interesting settings, objects, or colors. If nothing else, it’s good for me to exercise the non-contrasty photography muscles.

Shot on the Canon M6 and EF-M 28mm macro lens.

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Steward and Oakhill

When I worked close to an urban center – Ann Arbor and Albion, Michigan, for instance – exploring neighborhoods was a good way to get out, take a walk, and make photos of what I saw. I do it around my own neighborhood, too.

This style of photography reminds me of something William Eggleston would capture: the everyday life of an American town.

Lately, I’m making my way around local neighborhoods I don’t know well. This one, by the city’s primary high school, took me on streets I’ve never seen. I woke up early on a spring morning and took a walk to see what I could see. 

Neighborhoods, with good light, are a constant source of good material. I could do this forever.

Shot with the Canon M6 and EF-M 28mm macro.

 

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Bare Limb Shadows

I try so hard to not be trendy. But here I am rucking around the neighborhood.

It is good exercise, and I walk all the time anyway. 

As my joints ache, I notice that there’s a time of year, in the early spring, when the trees and bushes haven’t budded yet. At the edges of the day, in the morning and evening, the trees cast these stark, defined shadows on buildings.

I tried to think of a name for this phenomenon. The best I could do: bare limb shadows. 

Shot on the Canon M6 and EF-M 22mm f/2.

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Around the Block

Quiet fall evenings are a chance to get outside, get some fresh air, and end the day on a high note.

Shot on Canon M6 and EF-M 32mm f/1.4.

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Getting Some Fresh Air

Back on New Year’s Day, I came down with something terrible: fever, chills, aches, and an all-encompassing drowsiness. It was so bad I had to cancel holidays plans with my family.

By day three, I was going stir-crazy, so the boy and I headed outside during an unseasonably warm January day to get some fresh air. It had to help, even a little, to take a walk around the neighborhood.

We walked our usual path down by the lake, and through the neighborhood trails – to the giant pile of concrete rubble that sits on the farm property just outside the residential zone.

The walk didn’t end up helping all that much, long-term, but to my feverish head and aching lungs, breathing that foggy Midwestern air provided a much-needed break.

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Around the Albion Neighborhood

Summer. Walks around the town. Noon sun staring down at all of us.

And gnomes watching our every move.

For the past few summers, I’ve made it a point to take long walks around Albion’s neighborhoods. The challenge is to find the photo-worthy in everyday life: yards, signs, porches, etc.

It just goes to show that no matter how “boring” you think your area is, there’s always something to find.

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Waking Light

Waking Light

Horton, Michigan

It’s getting to be that time of year where the sunrise is perfectly timed to my morning commute. From now through early September it will be great for photo making, like with this little shed on my neighborhood street.

This was one of those photos that I screeched to a halt in my car, pulled over, and crept through the trees to get the shot.

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