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| “You’ve got Mail!” |
Sometimes I find it difficult to become inspired to go out to photograph. I just don’t feel like it. I’m sure many of you have experienced the same feeling. It is especially hard when the summer temperatures are above 90º F (32º C) and the humidity is up around 75% (on July 4th my backyard weather station recorded a high temperature of 102º F and a Heat Index of 130º F! In my 53 years in Virginia I cannot remember reaching that temperature nor Heat Index). However, being determined not to let the weather stymie my creativity, I've set a goal for myself to get out at least once per week. There are many weeks that I just don't feel like grabbing my kit and going out. But I do. Every week. At least for a little while.
A couple of weeks ago, on one of the coolest days we’ve had recently, I grabbed my kit and went out and wandered the back roads. No agenda. Nothing in mind. Just get out there, explore places I haven’t yet been and see what I can find.
These photos are from that morning. There are others but these are the ones I decided to share. The first photos I made were at 9:15 a.m. and the last at noon. Two hours and forty-five minutes and the images here are what I brought home. It was a very satisfying and enjoyable photographic outing. The rest of my day was splendid!
Fighting drudgery, I find that when I discover that first composition of the day and press that shutter button for the first time, my entire attitude changes and subsequently my day changes, for the better. I feel good! My spirits lift. This has happened repeatedly over the years.
I can honestly say that every time I purposely go out to photography, I eventually find something of interest. Sometimes it comes fast and sometimes hours go by. But I persist. I like feeling good and finding worthwhile compositions make me feel good. One last thing. I’m not talking about portfolio-worthy images, just ones that please me. If I find a portfolio-worthy image, that is a pleasant bonus.
You don’t have to be inspired. You don’t have to have a photographic goal. You don’t even have to have a destination. Just go out, keep your eyes and mind open and find the possibilities. Just do it!
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| Old school. In the past, when I've seen clothes drying outdoors at this house I've stopped and photographed. Once, an older woman was in the process of hanging out her clothes, saw me and walked over to inquire as to why I was taking pictures. We had nice discussion and I found our her name is Juanita. It pays off just to assure people that you are not doing anything nefarious. If she now sees me, she waves. (click to enlarge) |
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| The temperature was about 90º F. When I looked at the house at 100% on my monitor, the porch columns looked wavy from the atmospheric heat waves rising from the ground. A lesson to be learned. It’s better to get closer than to use a telephoto lens on these kinds of days. (click to enlarge) |
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| A simple composition. The corn is really healthy this year despite the drought. (click to enlarge) |
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| Fresh corn on the cob is the best way to eat it! (click to enlarge) |
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| Incredible detail. You can see every little piece of the corn silk. (click to enlarge) |
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| I discovered this old building on a back country road next to a small lake. Doing a little research, it appears to be an old country store. Nicholson's Store, built inn 1873, as it has been identified by others. That is unverified. It also may have served as a post office. I have not yet found a date in which it closed but I'm still looking. The old gas pump may be a clue. (click to enlarge) |
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| The gasoline pump is likely from the 1940s-50s. It could either be a Wayne 60/70 series or a Bennett/Tokheim model. They were largely taken out of service by the 1970s-1980s. (click to enlarge) |
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| I had never traveled this road before so finding this building was a nice surprise. (click to enlarge) |
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| Here is the lake. I thought it really looked inviting on an extremely hot and humid summer day. A relaxing scene. Inviting. (click to enlarge) |
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| These lily pads looked pretty bad when viewed from a dock. So I gave the greens a little boost to make them look a bit more alive. They were more brownish. Artist’s prerogative! (click to enlarge) |
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| A crop of the above image. Also, I cleaned up most of the defects on the leaves. That makes the photo much more presentable. On my monitor, that tiny bug is sharply rendered and finely detailed. In the future, I plan on posting an even closer cropped version of this image to more clearly see the bug in detail. (click to enlarge) |
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| Those who know me know I’ve had an affinity for trains ever since I was a kid and used to ‘hop’ trains and ride them home from school. Also, there was a railroad yard not too far from our neighborhood and a few engineers in the locomotives would allow us kids up into the cab. Same with some of the conductors teaching us how to step onto a moving caboose for a ride. That kind of thing could never happen today but we loved it and, in turn, developed a lifelong love for trains and all things railroad. (click to enlarge) |
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| An old country store and Texaco gasoline station with the owners home on the left. (click to enlarge) |
A few black & white treatments of a couple of the above images just because I like black & white.
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As I said previously, don’t wait for inspiration, just get out there and ‘do it.’ You'll thank yourself.
Join me over at my website, https://www.dennismook.com.
Thanks for looking. Enjoy!
Dennis A. Mook
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Hi Dennis and thanks for posting the pics along with the commentary. Oppressive heat can be challenging to the motivation to get out and shoot. Just curious, what part of VA do you live in?...I love these old backcountry road shots, feels nostalgic. I found it interesting that the building that was an old country store had iron bars on the windows.
ReplyDeleteSteve, thanks. I live in southeastern Virginia, the Hampton Roads area. With the exception of far southwest Virginia, I’ve driven these country back roads all over the state. These sights are all over Virginia. Northern North Carolina as well. You just have to drive without any itinerary. Many times I’ll be out and have no idea where I am. That’s when the GPS proves invaluable otherwise I may have never found my way back. ~Dennis
DeleteSo, what is the likely source for the preference of black and white rather than color? We are of a similar vintage.
ReplyDeleteFor me, in the early days, the cost of color was almost prohibitive. The major photographic influences came from the images made by the western icons that I viewed in the photo magazines of the day and the expensive books at the library. Those were all dramatic black and white. Black and white was also possible in my home darkroom. Color came later but I wish I had left it alone in the wet darkroom.
In the digital age it is simple to print color and I print more color than black and white. Still, I will occasionally select an image and print to reminisce those days when I printed from 4x5 black and white negatives. There is a nostalgia factor but for some scenes, it just looks right in b&w.
Often now, I set my camera for RAW+JPWG, monochrome, and shoot away. Usually the color image in RAW is the preferred, but it is neat to see the monochrome image through the EVF.
Thank you for your comment. I ‘grew up’ photographically on black & white photography. I shot only black & white for several years. My favorite genre of photography has always been documentary photography. The photographers I admired were Cartier-Bresson, Smith, Plowden, Eisenstadt, Helen Levitt, the photographers of the Farm Security Administration, Steichen, Stieglitz and I could go on. For landscape, I was awed by Adams, Weston and others of the Western School. I built an 8’ X 10’ darkroom in my garage and learned the Zone System through buying books and practice, practice, practice.. I could go on but I’m sure you know what my path was. As for color, I was always a fan of the bold colors of Eric Meola, the work of Ernst Haas, Jay Maisel and others. As you mentioned some photos call out to be in monochrome and others just for the colors. It’s all good. My taste for the kind of color I liked color changed when I first saw Saul Leiter’s and Fred Herzog’s work. Their work really strikes a chord with me. So, like you, I often shoot color raw files and black & white JPEGs from a recipe I designed. I wish more people would appreciate black & white photography today. I hope it never fades away. ~Dennis
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