My Final Commercial Photography Gig?

WMBW Radio Chattanooga Morning Show personalities Tom and Tabi.

Last Wednesday I loaded my location photography equipment -- lights, stands, tripod, and cameras -- in my truck, and drove to Chattanooga for what may be my last commercial photography assignment. It was staff portraits for Radio Station WMBW, the local Moody Radio network affiliate. WMBW has been a client for at least 35 years. 

I say it may be my last gig, but who knows for sure? I said the same thing two and a half years ago after doing staff portraits for the same client before embarking on more than two years of RV living and travel. I'm no longer actively seeking commercial photography work, but I still enjoy doing it. So if someone asks me, I'm not going to turn down the opportunity. Granted, there aren't many 86-year-old commercial photographers around, but if I'm able to do the work, if I enjoy doing it, and if there's no good reason not to do it, then I'm going to do it.

One of my heroes is Julius Schulman, probably the greatest architectural photographer ever. He retired in his 80s, got bored after a while, and went back to work until his death at age 99, getting around with a walker and an assistant to carry his camera and tripod. 

Another of my heroes is the Biblical Caleb, the contemporary of Joshua. As the Israelites were occupying the land of Canaan, Caleb went to Joshua and said (paraphrasing) "I'm 85 years old. My eyes are still good and I'm as strong as ever. So give me this mountain and I'll drive out the giants."  

I'm not looking for giants to kill, but I do want to stay open to any opportunities that may come along. Who knows?

(Fuji X-T20 camera, Fujicron XC16-50mm f3.5-5.6 lens. Photogenic and Neewer studio flash units.)

Signed copies of the second edition of Backroads and Byways of Georgia are now available. The price is $22.95 plus $3.95 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com. Or, you can mail a check to me at 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2023 David B.Jenkins.

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

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

Tags: WMBW Moody Radio    commercial photography   photography   Fuji cameras    Photogenic    Neewer    Julius Schulman

23 Years of Neglect

 Rock City Barn NC-10. Bryson City, North Carolina.

You may have difficulty recognizing it, but this is the little red Rock City barn in Bryson City, North Carolina that I pictured in my previous post.

As I mentioned in my post of July 14, I had an assignment from Blue Ridge Country magazine to revisit the Rock City barns in the Smoky Mountains that were pictured in my book Rock City Barns: A Passing Era and do a photo-feature about them. I did the photography the first weekend of February, 2019 and the article appeared in the May-June issue that year.

Some barns were missing, of course, but I found nine that were still standing. Most of them a little worse for wear, but surprisingly, not changed all that much after 23 years. One even looked better because the owners had installed new siding.

But my favorite, this little barn in Bryson City, North Carolina that I photographed in December, 1995 was almost unrecognizable beneath its load of vines. If you look carefully you can still see part of the See Rock City sign. I think this landmark barn could be saved if someone were to cut away the vines and prop it up a bit, but apparently the owners feel no incentive to do that. 

Sad.

(Fuji X-T1 camera, Fujichron XC 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OIS-II lens.)

Signed copies of the second edition of Backroads and Byways of Georgia are now available. The price is $22.95 plus $3.95 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com. Or, you can mail a check to me at 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2023 David B.Jenkins.

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

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

Tags: Travel   Rock City  barns   photography  Fuji cameras   North Carolina   Bryson City

Painted-Over Barns

 Rock City Barn NC-10. Bryson City, North Carolina.

The Federal Highway Beautification Act in the 1960s (The so-called "Ladybird Law," named for President Johnson's wife) forced Rock City to stop painting many barns. Worse, they were required to obliterate many signs by painting over them. 

Fortunately the paint-overs didn't weather well. On this barn the red has worn away from the letters, making it one of only two only red-and-white Rock City barns around. Last I heard, they planned to touch it up with some fresh, new white. (The other one was the "Birdhouse Barn," which stood for years beside Interstate 75 in Dalton, Georgia before being moved to a site in the valley below Rock City.)

The Highway Beautification Act has made many stretches of highway, especially interstates, terminally boring. I sometimes see people reading books or magazines as they drive. They would be safer reading signs. As for beauty, what could be more beautiful than a Rock City barn? 

I kinda miss Burma-Shave signs too.

(I made this photograph in Bryson City, North Carolina on December 29, 1995 while Louise and I were on a Christmas-week trip to visit the Biltmore House in Asheville. Canon EOS A2 camera, Fujichrome film.)

The second edition of Backroads and Byways of Georgia is almost ready to ship. Watch this space for ordering instructions.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2023 David B.Jenkins.

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

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

Tags: Travel   Rock City Barns   Photography   Canon Cameras   Fujichrome   North Carolina   Bryson City  Asheville   Biltmore House

From Gay to Social Circle

Approaching Gay's only traffic light.

Intersection of Gay-Concord Road and GA Highway 85

Meriwether County

 

Georgia abounds in places with unusual names. Beside the abovementioned Gay and Social Circle, there are Flowery Branch and Dewy Rose, Ninety Six, Experiment, Court Ground, Ball Ground (two of them), Philomath (lover of mathematics, perhaps?), Talking Rock, Snake Nation, Hard Cash, Boozeville, Whistleville, Hub Junction, Loco, Shake Rag, Snapfinger, Trickum and Po Biddy Cross-roads. The names roll off the tongue like poetry.

If you’re a cad from Cad in Fannin County you can find a Broad in Wilkes County or a Hooker in Dade County.

We have lots of logs: Pine Log, Gumlog, Cherry Log and even Ivylog. 

Pickens County has a Ludville. Are the folks who live there Luddites?

We also have Amity, Benevolence, and Temperance, which must surely lead to Tranquility.

And perhaps the most beautiful and evocative name of all, Rising Fawn. 

Hopeulikit. (That’s in Bulloch County.)

 

The second edition of Backroads and Byways of Georgia is almost ready to ship. Watch this space for ordering instructions.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2023 David B.Jenkins.

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

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

Tags: Travel   Photography   Georgia

God Will Deliver on Time

Frustration with the U.S. Post Office?

 

 On May 9, 2010, the day after the wedding near Valdosta, I moved on west on U.S. 84, passing through Thomasville in Thomas County and on through Cairo in Grady County. Somewhere in Grady County I came across this strange-looking structure beside the road near someone's driveway. I saw another structure of some kind behind it, but couldn't see clearly what it was. I did not feel motivated to check it out. Whoever put up an oddity like this might not welcome visitors.

The crudely-painted sign said “God Will Deliver on Time.” What did it mean? I have no idea. Perhaps it was a proclamation of religious faith, or perhaps he was just frustrated with the U.S. Postal Service, or maybe Fed-Ex.

The Praying Tree

May 9 was a good day for strange and unusual finds. Beside "God Will Deliver on Time" and Dewey White's "Flower Bed," I found, in a field beside GA 262 in Decatur County, a praying tree. Maybe there's something in that south Georgia air.

The second edition of Backroads and Byways of Georgia is almost ready to ship. Watch this space for ordering instructions.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2023 David B.Jenkins.

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

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

Tags: Photography  Travel  Valdosta, Georgia   Thomasville, Georgia   Cairo, Georgia   South Georgia

 

         

 

A Wedding in the Rain

  Bowen and Ashley. May 8, 2010

 

It was hot and muggy on May 8, 2010, as only south Georgia can be hot and muggy, even in the spring. The overhanging clouds threatened any second to dump their load. I was at Valdosta, and I was there to help photograph a wedding.

As a member of a "second-shooters" (freelance assistant photographers) group on Facebook, I had contacted a photographer from Atlanta who had posted a request for a second-shooter to help cover a large wedding at a venue near Valdosta. It was a chance to pick up a little cash while doing something I enjoy, so I adjusted my plans for a photo-trip around the perimeter of Georgia to put me in Valdosta on the big day. 

The minister was under a large tree, probably a live oak, as the wedding guests took their places in lawn chairs and the bridesmaids began their procession. I was behind the minster and to one side, against the tree, photographing each bridesmaid, and finally, the bride, as she entered on the arm of her father. Seconds after she clasped hands with her groom, the skies dropped their load.

The father of the bride holds my umbrella over the happy couple.

 Fortunately, I had my handy-dandy golf umbrella beside me. I quickly unfurled it and passed it to the father of the bride, who held it over the happy couple as they repeated their vows. A wedding day I'm sure they'll never forget!

I was up against the tree and somewhat sheltered, so I kept on making picture after picture.

After a bit the rain stopped and everyone had fun at the reception. But it was still hot and muggy, as only south Georgia can be hot and muggy. Fortunately, this was the one night on my trip that I, as mentioned in my previous blog post, stayed in a motel and not in my car.

(Canon EOS 5D Classic and 70-200 f4L Canon lens.)

The second edition of Backroads and Byways of Georgia is almost ready to ship. Watch this space for ordering instructions.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2023 David B.Jenkins.

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

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

 

Flower Bed

Dewey White's flower bed.

During the first decade of this century I rambled around much of north Georgia and made some pictures I was happy with. Also, there was one trip to south Georgia along old U.S. Highway 41 in 2006 with my friend the distinguished graphic artist and abstract photographer Michael Largent, that resulted in a number of good photographs. Or at least, photographs that I liked.

In 2010 I sold second-usage rights for some photos I had made for an architectural firm to the contractor who had built the buildings and received a nice check. By this time my ideas for a book about Georgia backroads were taking shape in my mind. (A different book -- not Backroads and Byways of Georgia.)  I decided to use the money to drive all around the perimeter of the state, photographing whatever caught my eye and interest.

I laid down the rear seats of my old reliable 2002 Dodge Grand Caravan, threw in an air mattress, sleeping bag, and some clothes and hit the road. I slept in the car every night but one, usually in Walmart parking lots or truck stops, and was very comfortable. With no TV to watch, I was asleep early and awake with the sunrise.

I drove down the east side of the state, along the coast, and then, at Midway, picked up U.S. 84 inland to Waycross. Staying on 84, I went through Valdosta and Thomasville. When I reached Decatur County in the southwestern corner of the state it was obvious I couldn't go much further west in Georgia. So I turned north on Georgia 262, which ran along the east side of the county. Before long, I found an old white metal bed frame above a wood-framed planter beside the road.

I turned into the adjacent driveway, got out, and made a photo. In a few minutes the owner of the property showed up. He introduced himself as Dewey White, and of course, wanted to know what I was doing. An interesting man with a quirky sense of humor, he was a retiree. With some pride, he showed me his well-equipped wood-working shop where, among other things, he made wooden cutout figures. We talked a bit, he showed me some of his work, and I made his photograph. Then it was time to move on to the next interesting sight along Georgia's backroads.

Life is full of unusual and interesting things if you keep your eyes and mind open. 

Dewey White and some of his woodwork.

 (The photograph of the flower bed was made with a Canon EOS 5D Classic, the portrait of Dewey with a Canon EOS 20D)

The second edition of Backroads and Byways of Georgia is almost ready to ship. Watch this space for ordering instructions.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2023 David B.Jenkins.

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

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

The Harrisburg Covered Bridge

The Harrisburg Covered Bridge, Sevier County, Tennessee

 In early 2019 I I submitted a story idea to the editor of Blue Ridge Country magazine: I would revisit the Rock City barns in the Blue Ridge mountains that were in my book Rock City Barns: A Passing Era and see how many of them were still standing. The proposal was accepted and I spent a weekend following the trail of the old barns in Tennessee and North Carolina. The article was published in the May/June, 2019 issue of the magazine. I found nine barns still standing, but that's a story for another blog!

As I was traveling north out of Sevierville on Tennessee Highway 339, I happened to see on my right an historic marker for Harrisburg Covered Bridge. Naturally, I turned right and went looking! It was just a short distance to the bridge, which appeared to be in excellent condition and in regular use.

The bridge was built in1875, making it the oldest covered bridge in Tennessee. Crossing the East Fork of the Little Pigeon River, the bridge uses the King Post Truss design. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, and in 2004 was renovated and strengthened, making it possible to carry loads of up to 15 tons.

(The bridge photo was made with a Fuji X-T1 camera and the Fujinon XC16-50mm f3.5-5.6 lens.)

The second edition of Backroads and Byways of Georgia is almost ready to ship. Watch this space for ordering instructions.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2023 David B.Jenkins.

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

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

The Last Little Rock City Barn in Texas

Richard Haynes and the last little Rock City barn in Texas.

Most folks are surprised to learn there were once Rock City barns in Texas. Rock City had three on their records, but Clark Byers says there were more, including one near Tyler that belonged to an oil millionaire who was so cheap he wouldn't have indoor plumbing. But that was a long time ago, and Clark doesn’t remember the location of any of them.

So, as far as can be known at this time, the last Rock City barn in Texas is on Richard Haynes' little spread on U.S. 80 west of Marshall. Richard and his wife Vallie (who was born on the place) are getting along in years now, but he still runs 17 head of registered Black Angus cattle on his 67 acres and keeps the big yard mowed -- practically a full-time job in itself. 

This is his second barn to carry the “See Rock City” message. The first was one of traditional design which was pulled down in the early ‘60s and replaced with the present “pole” barn. Rock City obligingly applied their sign to the new barn as well, and that’s the way it’s stayed. It’s pretty faded now, as well it should be – it was last repainted around 1967. 

(From my book Rock City Barns: A Passing Era.)

(By March, 1995, when this photo was made, I had a pair of Canon EOS A2 cameras. I unfortunately did not record the lens used, but judging from the perspective it could have been the Canon EF 24mm f2.8. The film was Fujichrome 100D)

The second edition of Backroads and Byways of Georgia is almost ready to ship. Watch this space for ordering instructions.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2023 David B.Jenkins.

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

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

The Postmaster of Halfway

Martha Shaddix raises the flag at her store/Post Office in Halfway, Kentucky.

               

Martha Shaddix always wanted to own a Rock City barn.

Growing up in Florida, she rode up through the South in the back seat of her parent's car to visit relatives in Georgia and North Carolina. Watching the road, watching the barns go by, dreaming of a barn of her own. With a See Rock City sign, by golly.

Her dream came true in 1978 when she bought the old store at Halfway, Kentucky, complete with Rock City sign. Opened in 1923, the Halfway Trading Post is one of only two country stores still in operation bearing the Rock City message. The other is in west Tennessee and is not currently maintained by Rock City. 

Life is kinda slow in Halfway, except on U.S. Highway 231, where traffic is kinda fast. Martha opens up her store every morning, six days a week, and since she's the Postmaster too, she goes out and raises the flag first thing.

(From my book Rock City Barns: A Passing Era.)

I haven't been through Halfway in quite a few years. Martha is a very old lady now, if she's still with us. She got a kick out of selling the Rock City Barns book in her store. 

The second edition of Backroads and Byways of Georgia is almost ready to ship. Watch this space for ordering instructions.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2023 David B.Jenkins.

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

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

An Endangered Species

Rock City Barn TN-6. U.S. 27, Rhea County, Tennessee

 I received a nice note from reader Mary Norman today. She said, "I’m so glad you created the Rock City Barns book. It has been on our coffee table for many years now. We rarely see any of the barns today. They really were a passing era. Thanks for preserving our southern history with your beautiful photographs and revealing texts. It is a true treasure."

As I wrote in Rock City Barns: A Passing Era, "You may not have noticed it, but barns are actually something of an endangered species these days. They don't build 'em like they used to, and one reason is the way farmers feed their livestock. The traditional barn was built with a large loft to store loose hay. The farmer went up there with a pitchfork and tossed hay down to his animals. Then square bales were invented, and that was okay, because they would also fit in the barn loft, and since they were tightly packed you could store even more hay. But if something happened to the barn there was not much reason to replace it, because hay can be stored more conveniently in an open, metal-roofed shed built at a fraction of the cost of a barn. 

And then, along came the big, round bales. No way you're going to get those 1000-pound babies in a loft. They have to be handled by a tractor with a front loader. So nobody much builds regular barns anymore, unless they have dairy cattle or horses. And the good old barns are falling down and not being replaced."

Case in point: I photographed the above barn on U.S. 27 in Rhea County, Tennessee in 1994. I was not yet officially working on the Rock City Barns book. When I passed by again in 1995, while working on the book, the barn was gone. Victim of the widening of the highway into a four-lane.

(The photo was made with a Canon EOS 10S. The lens was probably the Canon EF 28-105mm f3.5-4.5. The film, as always, was Fujichrome 100D.)

 

The second edition of Backroads and Byways of Georgia is almost ready to ship. Watch this space for ordering instructions.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2023 David B.Jenkins.

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

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

Am I My Own Best Editor?

Rock City Barn in Grassy Cove

TN Hwy. 68 in Cumberland County, Tennessee

Mamiya RB67, 127mm f4.5 Mamiya-Sekor lens, Fujichrome 100 film

 

Not necessarily. I would like to think I am, but the truth is that I can't always pick out my very best shots. Let's face it: sometimes we're not the best judges of our own work. Here's a true story:

 

By 1992 I had been doing regular advertising assignments for Rock City Gardens, (now See Rock City, Inc.) a tourist attraction on Lookout Mountain near Chattanooga, Tennessee, for about ten years. In effect, I was their unofficial house photographer. In late October of that year I was asked by Rock City's advertising department to go to Grassy Cove on Cumberland Mountain between Rockwood and Crossville, Tennessee to photograph a picturesque old barn with one of their iconic "See Rock City" signs.

 

It was a gray, overcast day, but I did the best I could; photographing the barn and the sheep grazing around it from several angles with my Mamiya RB67 medium format camera (a big bruiser!) and Fujichrome 100 film. As always, I bracketed exposures a half-stop over and under. (For my younger readers, that's like setting your digital camera to auto-bracket mode when you want the best possible exposure. But in those days it was all done manually -- the aperture and/or shutter speed had to be selected and physically set for each situation.)

 

After processing and reviewing the film, I was not happy with the photos. So a few days later on a sunny day I went back at my own expense (about a 160 mile round trip) and photographed the barn again. But just in case, when I turned in my photos to Todd Smith, Rock City's advertising manager, I gave him both the overcast day photos and the sunny day shots

.

To my surprise, Todd immediately picked the photo above. And when I was later commissioned to photograph and write Rock City Barns: A Passing Era, that was the photo my book designer chose for the cover. I would have missed it completely.

 

So it's a good idea to get input about your photos from someone whose vision you trust. You might find that some of your photographs are not as great as you think they are, but on the other hand you might find some hidden gems.

(Reposted from March 2, 2020)

The second edition of Backroads and Byways of Georgia is almost ready to ship. Watch this space for ordering instructions.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2023 David B.Jenkins.

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

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

The Old Mill at the Foxfire Museum

 The Grist Mill at Foxfire

Hidden away in the northeastern-most county in Georgia is one of the most remarkable places in the state -- the Foxfire Museum and Heritage Center.

Foxfire began in 1966, when Eliot Wigginton, an English teacher at Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School, seeking to arouse the interest of mountain young people, many of whom were not especially enthusiastic about education, initiated a project with his students. They began interviewing older residents of the area, learning about the pioneer culture of the Southern Appalachians and collecting old tools and artifacts. That led to publishing a magazine which they named Foxfire, which led eventually to the best-selling series of Foxfire Books.

With income from the books, the students began to expand their program, acquiring some property on the side of Black Rock Mountain and collecting old log cabins and outbuildings and moving them to the site. The oldest is a one-room log cabin built in the 1820s in which four generations of one family grew up. The museum now includes more than 20 cabins, a chapel, barn, blacksmith shop, and working gristmill, and a wagon built in the 1790s that was used on the Trail of Tears - the only one known to be still in existence. 

The grist mill was built by Charles William Bell near Otto, North Carolina in the late 1930s. The Foxfire students found it abandoned and deteriorating, moved it the the Foxfire property, and restored it as a fully-functioning mill in 1972 -- the first of many old buildings to be reconstructed at the Foxfire Museum.

There are many interesting things to see in Rabun County, but don't miss the Foxfire Museum and Heritage Center. It's open Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m.–4 p.m. and noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday.  

Photo made with a Fuji X-H1 camera and a Fujichrom XC 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OIS-II lens.)

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2023 David B.Jenkins.

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

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