Haunted Old Barn

We live in a day and age where anything is possible with digital images and can make what is imagined seem real. As I looked at this old building before I photographed it, I envisioned someone looking at me through the window and decided to try and make it happen.  The effect is hauntingly eerie, but I like it.  Now the image has a focal point.  

Old Shed

I like old buildings, especially barns.  There is something about them that make me think of my birthplace, Tennessee.  As a child, my parents would take us to see my Great Uncle Horace Smith who lived in an old log cabin with his wife Aunt Dude. I have no idea why she was called Dude. They lived in the ridges, way back in the country. The roads were not paved and I remember how hard it was for my father to drive there. He had to keep the tires in the grooves on the dirt road. Primitive is how you would describe the cabin. No plumbing, no electricity or running water was in the house.  The root cellar was buried in the back and a tin roof was seen just above the ground.  My brother and I used to run up and down the roof until the tin was too hot for bare feet to touch. Beside the large porch lay wood chips that gave off an earthy smell. We drank spring water from a pail using a metal dipper. Everyone used it and no one seemed to have died from germs.  So, when I look at the above picture, I think about the good times, even if it is Indiana and not Tennessee that I see in the picture.   

The Cliff Hanger

Here is a view of  Lake Michigan from St. Joseph, Michigan. I like the look of bare trees in winter surrounded by golden brush with splashes of red and green.  

Pure Michigan

I live in the flat lands, surrounded by cornfields. Just a couple of  hours drive from where I live is heaven.

Where there are pristine beaches and lighthouses to guide a weary boatman. Trees are so numerous that the color is dazzling to the eyes in autumn. This sounds like a commercial, but that is what I experienced yesterday while on a "Vacation Day" in Michigan.  Oh yes, I am silly, but I had a glorious time. Visions of children playing on the beach in summer raced across my mind. The calming sound of the waves rolling in to shore soothed me.  A friend and I went to three cities and saw three different lighthouses. This was the first time I have seen one.  It was amazing to me.

As the day progressed the clouds crowded the sky until the blue was no longer visible. A haze settled over the the water. What seemed vibrant began to take on a sepia tone. 

But the beauty remained.  In the summer, I plan to return, not laden with heavy coats and bags, but free like a bird who sits for awhile until another spot looks enticing and then moves on. 

Secluded: Published on the National Geographic Web Site

I just received news that my blue barn was published on the Daily Dozen of the National Geographic web site today. That is a whole lot of people to compete with. Whew! Check out the link below.  I am so excited!!!!!  Please vote for me.  It would be so thrilling to have one of my photographs published in a magazine. 

Click here to view my photograph.

Secluded

I saw this old barn tucked behind some trees a couple of weeks ago and found it very fascinating.  In my mind, I could see the end result, secluded, dark, and somehow foreboding. I am drawn to those old dilapidated buildings that still retain their character, imagining the history of the structure. It is silly to admit this, but I look at things to photograph like men who drool over young women.  But I don't do cat calls.  

Capturing His Essence

I have a nephew who is a very willing model for me, which I find amazing for a boy of ten.  Yesterday we were out taking pictures. He has been asking me to take him to the railroad tracks for a while. Although it is illegal to walk the tracks, we went anyway. While travelling from spot to spot we chatted.  I told him that I only have two photographs that are my favorites out of all the pictures that I have taken, which I think is about a billion.  One is a picture of him.  It is hanging up on the cabinet above my desk at work.  It is just of his face with a black background, in black and white. He was surprised that I had his picture up at work.  I told him that not only his pictures but his mother, sisters, and brother is there too. 

Somehow, I captured his essence, it is something that all photographers desperately want to catch when they encounter their subject.  Things are going on in their heads that we have no idea about.  Then for a split second, there it was in full view, written all over his face. I had no time to think. So, I pressed the button on the camera. There wasn't time for a fake smile or posing, just being. When I reviewed my shots and came to his picture, my jaw nearly dropped to the floor.  An image that I have always wanted to take was there before my eyes. I'm so blessed.  

                                   I think that I got it again...

There's always something deeper

There's always something deeper. We are just a mere speck on this planet, but have the ability to move mountains if we want to.  Keep looking up for inspiration, guidance, and hope.  

The Pumpkin with Issues

Pumpkins are in abundance right now since Halloween is over.  Yesterday while I was out, I saw one of the strangest pumpkins I have ever seen.  It has small peanut like growths all over it.  When I posted this picture on Facebook one of my friends said that it looked like the elephant man.  Well, I don't know about that, but I have never seen this before. Actually, several pumpkins had the strange phenomena as well.  I am sure it must be normal or otherwise I think that there would have been signs outside the establishment saying, "Come inside and look at the strangest pumpkins you will ever see."  

If you know what is going so wrong with this poor pumpkin, please let me know.  I am anxious to know. 

Plants, Nails, and missing God

Today, I was at a photo shoot with a client.  We went to the Botanical Gardens on this cold, cloudy day. The wind is blowing steady while the last remnants of lifeless brown leaves hang on till their strength gives way.The days seem short, dark, lifeless. After the session was nearly over my eyes focused on a tree made with nails. In the midst of the nails was a plant of some sort. Blooming, green, and full of life. Among the rust and impenetrable metal a plant was determined to live. Sometimes life is this way. We find ourselves in places so confining that it may seem fruitless to dare to hope for survival. Any yet, we somehow find the strength. 

I had to cross the street to get to my car. The Cathedral was only a few steps away.  It has been a long time since I have gone to worship and I miss it. Maybe it is more the quiet place that I miss. Being still and knowing that I am not alone.  I desperately wanted to sit down and listen to that still quiet voice that speaks to us in times of solitude. The door was locked. Tomorrow I may not have the strength to go... 

The little girl who loves to pose for photographs

There is a little girl in my neighborhood who loves to come down to my house and have me take her picture. I don't have to tell her how to do anything, she poses on her own.  My good friend who lives next door would play with her when she was younger and she always wanted to play the model.  She would sashay down the walk as her neighbor would announce her over the pretend microphone. "Here comes Miss ..... in her purple gown." Who knows maybe one day she will grow up to be a model.  In the meantime, she will model for me.