The Chicken Farmer of Cook County

 

Chicken Farmer Danny Gandy with pet rooster.

U.S. Highway 41, Cook County, Georgia

"This is not a fighting cock."

 

(Too busy to write, so I'm reposting a blog from December, 2020)

Traveling north through Cook County on U.S. Highway 41 after leaving his sick Honda with a mechanic friend near Hahira, Michael Largent and I noticed a small house beside the road with a yard full of the distinctive shelters often used by those who raise fighting cocks. Each shelter had a large and colorful rooster attached to it by a tether.

Danny Gandy's 

chicken farm. Although some of the

roosters appear to be free, they are actually tethered.

I thought it was a sight worth photographing, so we pulled off the road. In a few moments we were met by the affable Danny Gandy, owner of the establishment, who explained to us that these were not fighting chickens. It is not illegal to raise gamecocks in Georgia, but fighting them is. Nonetheless, the "sport" continues, with the law often looking the other way. 

Danny was very cooperative, allowing me to make as many photographs as I wished and proudly posing with his roosters, all the while assuring me that "these are not fighting chickens."

Despite all his assurances I somehow doubted if any of those roosters would ever see the inside of a WalMart freezer. But I wrote down Danny's address and sent him a print of the picture at the top of this post.

  

All photos Canon EOS 5D Classic, 24-85mm f3.5-4.5 EF lens.

If you like my pictures, visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

Click on the link at left for information about ordering original signed prints from the Rock City Barns book.

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.95 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Text and photographs copyright David B. Jenkins 2026.  

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography    digital photography   travel photography    Canon EOS 5D Classic    Canon 24-85mm EF lens    fighting cocks    Cook County, Georgia    U.S. Highway 41

James Ravilious: The Books Part II

A Corner of England was published by Devon Books in 1995. This book is very well-produced and, as far as I know, is the only book by Ravilious containing his color photography, for which he used Kodachrome 25 film.

I purchased my copy in 2015 and was delighted to find it had been signed by Ravilious himself. Amazon currently has used copies for $41.35.

The Heart of the Country is the oldest Ravilious book I have, and may be the first one published. With text by Robin and photographs by James, it was published by Scholar Press in 1980 with a foreword by Ronald Blythe. Amazon apparently still has copies in their used book section, with hardcover volumes at $114.95 and paperback editions for $82.20.My own copy is a well-worn paperback. It is large format, but not as large as Down the Deep Lanes or The Recent Past.  It shows that many of James' best-known photographs were made relatively early in his career.

Down the Deep  Lanes was authored by Peter Beacham with photographs by James Ravilious and published by Devon Books in 2000. It is a large book with many double-page spreads and very well printed. An excellent showcase for James' photography.

Amazon did not list this book, but I found a hardcover in used/very good condition at abebooks.com for $90. abebooks.com is an extremely good source for rare and used books. They have many books Amazon does not list.

 

  If you like my pictures, visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

Click on the link at left for information about ordering original signed prints from the Rock City Barns book.

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.95 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Text copyright 2026 Bruce Robbins. Photos by James Ravilious copyright The Beaford Trust, 2026.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography    film photography   Leica photography     James Ravilious     England    Devon    English country life   documentary photography   southeast England rural culture    The Leica "glow"    Kodachrome 25

James Ravilious: The Books

When I became interested in James Ravilious and his photography I immediately began to look for books of his work. As best I remember, my first purchase was An English Eye, which I bought in 2014. I consider this the basic book about Ravilious and his work. Some good photos and lots of information about his life, his work, and his tools and techniques. Paperback copies (which is what I have) are available new for about $75.

 

The cover of The Recent Past, by James Ravilious.

This is the latest book of Ravilious photographs, as far as I know, and has the best reproduction of all his books. Whoever made the prints and did the scanning did an incredible job. Some of the reproduction from 35mm negatives look like they had been shot with a 4x5.

I bought my copy new from Amazon in 2020 for $36. Now, only used copies are available, and they start at $360!

Robin Ravilious wrote an excellent biography of her husband. From every indication their marriage was a true partnership. Robin understood her husband and was fully involved in supporting his work.

New copies of her book are still available at Amazon and other places, I'm sure. Amazon has new paperback copies for $22.71 and hard cover books for $84.76. Highly recommended.

Robin Ravilious reading. Photograph by James.

 Altogether I own six Ravilious books. We'll talk about the other three next time.

If you like my pictures, visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

Click on the link at left for information about ordering original signed prints from the Rock City Barns book.

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.95 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Text copyright 2026 Bruce Robbins. Photos by James Ravilious copyright The Beaford Trust, 2026.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography    film photography   Leica photography     James Ravilious     England    Devon    English country life   documentary photography   southeast England rural culture    The Leica "glow"   

James Ravilious: Part Three

Irwin Piper leading his sheep. Upcott, Dolton, Devon.

 Guest post by fellow photoblogger Bruce Robbins. https://onlinedarkroom.blogspot.com 

James's widow, Robin, wrote his biography, James Ravilious, A Life - another great read that I'd heartily recommend - and she revealed some more information about his shooting technique and equipment which included an uncoated 73mm Hektor lens. His photographs, she wrote, took on a more subtle, three-dimensional form after he adapted the Zone System to his own needs.

The best reproductions I've seen of his work are in An English Eye by Peter Hamilton. Peter said the photographer's problem was the need to compress a large range of tones caused by his shooting into the light. He wrote, "By giving the negative twice the normal exposure and then reducing its development in a dilute, soft-working compensating developer, he obtained a negative which retained detail in both shadow and highlight areas." This approach meant that skies typically needed a 10-30% burn in time as opposed to the 100-150% extra he was accustomed to before adapting his technique.

Bill Cooke in Colehouse Yard, Riddlecomb, Devon.

He seemed mainly to use 35mm and 50mm Elmars and a 28mm Hektor with his M3. I've not really found confirmation of his choice of film and developer but it doesn't look like Tri X to me so I'd go with HP5. In all probability he used them both. As for the developer, he wanted something soft-working and compensating. Perceptol would be one candidate. However, I've also heard that James did, indeed, use Tri X rated at about 200 ISO and developed in D76 (that's what his photographer friend Chris Chapman said) so who knows. I can't verify anything about his film and developer choices.

Clearly, then, not everything is known about James's working practices but there should be enough information in this post if anyone wants to have a go at duplicating his atmospheric look. Older, uncoated Leica lenses, a lens hood taped up to stop unwanted light striking the front element, contre jour lighting, a light yellow filter, HP5 or Tri X rated at 200 ISO and a soft-working, compensating developer.

Young Bulls eating thistle heads.

Those are the technicalities. The title of this post, How to get the James Ravilious Look, is obviously a bit tongue-in-cheek. Knowing the process is just part of the equation. What you'll have to bring to the party is James's unique eye for a picture and, unfortunately, there's no short cut for that.

If you like my pictures, visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

Click on the link at left for information about ordering original signed prints from the Rock City Barns book.

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.95 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Text copyright 2026 Bruce Robbins. Photos by James Ravilious copyright The Beaford Trust, 2026.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography    film photography   Leica photography     James Ravilious     England    Devon    English country life   documentary photography   southeast England rural culture    The Leica "glow"    Kodachrome 25 film