Notice More

At the time I made this exposure, I noticed the shadow play, the form -- that is obviously what caught my eye in the first place -- but I didn't really pay that much attention to the gradation of tones in the shadows. That is one of the most valuable things about a photograph to me, it freezes time and gives you a chance to notice more.

Hey Pumpkin

Are you in the Fall spirit yet? Focusing on Autumn undoubtedly will be a bit of a challenge this week as temperatures are expected to climb back into the 80s here in the Deep South. How about some pumpkins to set the mood? The massive array of squashes at the Atlanta botanical gardens was possibly the most diverse collection I’ve ever seen in one place, and quite enjoyable to photograph, too. 

The tiny but mighty Pen FT half-frame camera certainly acquitted itself well here, producing sharp and contrasty images on Ilford FP4+.  

Surprise and Delight

Photography continues to surprise and delight. I saw this composition at the botanical garden, but after developing and scanning the film, ended up thinking that the negative was actually more interesting than the positive as an image. So, in this case, the scanned negative is the final version. I've never felt that way about one of my photographs before.

Tasting notes: Olympus Pen FT, 38mm f/1.8 lens, Ilford FP4+.
 

Finding Geometry

This scene looks calm, even peaceful, but behind me I heard the unmistakable power chords and manic rhythms of heavy metal. Loud. Hoping to find a band rehearsing, I turned around. Alas, it was only a CrossFit session, the gym weirdly sandwiched between a couple of art galleries. Just a couple of folks manipulating a giant rope. Nothing like death metal to accompany an intense workout.

Good light this weekend, fellow traveler. 🤘

Divine Stallion

I’m almost certain that I was the only person shooting with black-and-white film in a half-frame camera at the Atlanta botanical gardens yesterday. Scratch that. I know I was. It was a spontaneous decision to go have lunch there. We called an audible. But I came away with a nice set of photographs, I think. And lunch was good. The absence of color and the surprising appearance of the faux origami Pegasus gives an enjoyable image.

Tasting notes: Olympus Pen FT, 38mm f/1.8 lens, Ilford FP4+.

Sufficiency

Sometimes the iPhone is good enough. I had a few minutes on my hand waiting for my wife to sign some paperwork and went for a short wander. The power connection to this old church caught my eye, so I used my phone to capture the moment. I did the black-and-white conversion in the Photos app. Sure, it’s a bit crunchy, but will have to do. It reminds me of how an acquaintance used to put the family photographs into tacky little photo books as soon as the 4x6 prints came back from the lab. She didn’t want family memories to gather dust at the bottom of a drawer somewhere.

A Place For All Your Stuff

Have you ever noticed all the self storage places dotting the landscape? The number seems to be increasing as the amount of our accumulated stuff is only going up over time. I rented one of these units once—when I moved to Berlin. Sadly, when I got back to the States I noticed that my little place had been broken into. Wonder how common that is. The burglar must have been pretty disappointed though because all that was in there was a bunch personal items of no particular value. I couldn’t even be sure what was missing. Important stuff.