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| Sunrise at a Rock City Barn in central Georgia |
Photography is about light. In fact, the word "photograph" comes from two Greek words: photos, which means "light," and grapho, which means "to write." So to photograph really means to write with light.
The best light for photography
usually comes in early morning and late afternoon when the sun is low, casting
long shadows which reveal texture and bathe the land in a rich, golden
glow. In summer this often meant 18-hour
days, as I tried to capture the good light at both ends of the day. I might drive several hundred miles checking
out barn sites and then double back to photograph an especially good one in
evening light; or put up at a nearby motel if I thought morning light would be
better.
The mechanic who kept my old Chevy
Blazer running told me about this little barn on U.S. 19 south
of Butler in Taylor County.
It had been lost from Rock
City's records and I
probably never would have found it without his help. As it happened, he was
from that area.
When I first saw the barn, it was
on an overcast day. I made the photo just above, but thought there was potential for a
better one. Noting that the barn faced east and that the fields were almost
perfectly flat for miles around, I thought a sunrise shot might work.
Of course there's never a motel around
when you need one. After making a photo for the record, I circled around visiting other barn sites before taking shelter at Macon for the night. The
next morning I drove 40 miles through the pre-dawn darkness of central Georgia
to catch the June sunrise at the barn.
An interesting side note -- you
may have noticed how close the barn is to the highway. Just a few years after I
made these photos, Highway 19 was scheduled to be widened and the barn was to
be destroyed. To preserve it, the Taylor County Agricultural Agent had the barn
moved three miles across the fields to his own property. And there, as far as I
know, it sits today. I really ought to go check it out.
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(Photographs
copyright David B. Jenkins 2020)
Soli
Gloria Deo
To the
glory of God alone
I photograph when I can, not when the light is best, and so I've had to learn to make the most of the midday sun.
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I would like to take a long trip whenever the coronacloud lifts. We're thinking maybe Scotland. My wife's already put me on notice that we will be rising very early to take full advantage of the morning light!
Every time I see an old barn (or other structure) right against the highway, I know its days are numbered -- the highway will eventually be widened and it will be gone. I'm always happy to find that someone has documented the place as it was!
Mostly, I photograph as-is, where-is. even on my book projects. But occasionally I find something that has good potential and am able to work the schedule and the light to get a better photo.
ReplyDeleteI hope you and Margaret are able to make that trip to Scotland very soon.