Small Town Photography; Part I

The old railroad station and Birdsong Peanuts facility in Franklin, Virginia.  Railroad tracks ran through several of the small
towns we visited. These are the original Seaboard Air Line (now part of CSX) tracks first laid down about 1900.
(click to enlarge)
Fujifilm X-H1; 16-55mm f/2.8 lens @ 19mm; 1/40th sec. @ f/11; ISO 200

Recently, I had the opportunity to join a fellow photographer friend and we set out to take some back roads and visit some very small towns in southeastern Virginia, just to share the experience and see what we could find that would make interesting photographs.  The day was not ideal as it alternated between heavily overcast, rainy and very windy.  But that's okay.  It was great to get out and wander, share time with a good friend, solve the problems of the world and make some photographs.  

These types of outings are more or less exercises in seeing the ordinary and picking out pieces of everyday life.  Its about documentation of a way of life that is quickly going away and should be remembered.  This not about the spectacular, dramatic light, art, or award winning imaging. None of these images are anything to write home about, but at the end of the day, it really was not about the images, but about the experience.

Here are a few images from that day.  I'll post more on Monday.

Wind blown daffodils.  This is a composite of several images combined in Photoshop.  Each image "froze" the
daffodils but each exposure recorded them in a different position.  When combined, they produced an interesting
effect.  There was no motion blur.  Selective masking was used to keep some of the green stalks as a singular,
sharp object as was the orange blossom on the right.  I photographed this scene with this composite in mind. 
All in all, its okay. (click to enlarge)
Fujifilm X-H1; 16-55mm f/2.8 lens @ 50mm; 1/800th sec. @ f/16; ISO 1600

I think of small towns as organic.  I think of them the same way as I think of film, the antithesis of digital.  Small towns are analog, organic, colorful in a human way, have a lot of character, and invite you in to stay and enjoy "the place" and the people.  Large cities, to me, are sterile, efficient and uninviting.  Everything has to be precisely tuned or the city will come to a halt.  Traffic, business, etc., has to intersect perfectly to work, otherwise it would be chaos.  I've lived in both and I'll take small town living over big city living anytime.  I guess that is one of the reasons I go out wandering through small towns as much as I do.

Another view, this time with Birdsong Peanuts as the prominent subject. (click to enlarge)
Fujifilm X-H1; 16-55mm f/2.8 lens @ 25mm; 1/80th sec. @ f/8; ISO 200

Victory Baptist Church is located at the main highway intersection in Courtland, Virginia.
For a very small town (pop. 1280), traffic was constant and I suspect that the congregation in this
church can easily hear all of the trucks stopping, accelerating and passing by. By the way, if you are
hot during summer worship, you know where you can get some ice!  (click to enlarge)
Fujifilm X-H1; 16-55mm f/2.8 lens @ 33mm; 1/1250th sec. @ f/5.6; ISO 200

(click to enlarge)
Fujifilm X-H1; 16-55mm f/2.8 lens @ 30mm; 1/250th sec. @ f/5.6; ISO 200

Daffodils and Lichens (click to enlarge)
Fujifilm X-H1; 16-55mm f/2.8 lens @ 51mm; 1/500th sec. @ f/11; ISO 800

The American Way Laundry Center Open 24 hours a day! (click to enlarge)
Bring plenty of coins.
Fujifilm X-H1; 16-55mm f/2.8 lens @ 16mm; 1/480th sec. @ f/5.6; ISO 200

More to come on Monday.

Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

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