photography

Difficult to Tell

There is such a huge amount of brilliant photography coming from all corners of the world that when I glance through highlights on VSCO, flickr, or Instagram It has become difficult to tell the difference between photographers.

All The Things – 50 Foot Shadows

Agreed. There’s so much good stuff out there, it’s all blurring together. Great portraits, great landscape shots of the Pacific Northwest, great shots of guys with beards in flannel at a bonfire living out of their car.

Lately, I’ve started to follow more photographers focusing on unique portraits, conceptual work, and urban landscapes. For this year, I want to try to find photographers who are not from New York / Portland / SanFran / etc. How about some more Midwestern shooters, or folks from the south?

If you have any follow suggestions, let me know.


Austin

Austin, Texas

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.


Chi-Cheemaun

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.


Abandoned Farm

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.