Sunset Riders

Young riders at the Georgia International Horse Park, Rockdale County
 

In 1997 I was commissioned by the Conyers-Rockdale County, Georgia Chamber of Commerce to make photographs for advertisements and a booklet promoting the area as a great place to live, work, and do business. I spent about a week or ten days there, as best I remember.

One of the most prominent features of Rockdale County is the Georgia International Horse Park. Conceived in the early 1990s by leaders in the city and county, it was the site of the equestrian events in the 1996 Olympics. It continues to host a wide variety of events on its 1,139 acres, including horse shows, festivals, rodeos, dog shows, concerts, banquets, picnics, obstacle course races, weddings, mountain bike races and much more. The venue also features bike trails, horse trails, a nature center and an aboretum. The park was selected as the "Official Best Outdoor Venue in Georgia" for 2019.

The county is the smallest in land area in the state, but offers some unique features. One of them is Panola Mountain State Park, a 100-acre granite outcrop similar to Stone Mountain, but smaller and more pristine, with a rare ecosystem. Park rangers lead educational hikes where visitors can learn about the plants and animals found here. The park also offers archery; boating (with boat rentals); fishing, hiking and running on forested fitness trails; and paved trails for biking, roller-blading, and dog-walking.

Another feature of note is the Monastery of the Holy Spirit. Founded by Trappist monks in 1944, it took 15 years to build the Abbey Church and other buildings, while the monks lived in a barn on a nearby plantation. A harmonious blend of tradition and modernity, the simple yet dignified architecture of the church reflects the lifestyle of the monastic community.

Abbey Church at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit, Rockdale County.

Today, the monastery is not only a home for the monks, but also a retreat center and a place where anyone can come for an hour, a day, or longer to rest and meditate. 

Exhibits and films in the visitor center introduce the lives of the monks. You can see the stained-glass windows in the Abbey Church, learn about bonsai at the Monastery Garden Center, shop the Abbey Store, take a prayer walk, or follow the lakeside Stations of the Cross.

Photos: Young riders: Canon EOS A2, Fujichrome 100D film; Monastery Chapel: Canon EOS 6D (digital).

Adapted from my books Georgia: a Backroads Portrait and Backroads and Byways of Georgia. 

Visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

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.

Photography and text copyright 2025 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 photography    digital photography     Canon EOS 6D camera     Georgia International Horse Park       Conyers, Georgia     Rockdale County, Georgia     Canon EOS A2 camera      Horseback riding     Fujichrome 100D film     film photography     Panola Mountain State Park     Monastery of the Holy Spirit

A True Classic: The Canon EOS 5D

 The Canon EOS 5D Mark I (Classic). You can do a lot with 12 megapixels.

My first digital camera was a six-megapixel Canon EOS 10D, which I bought in 2003 for the princely sum of $3000, the most I have ever paid for a camera, even to this day. However, that six-megapixel 10D convinced me that the future was digital when it proved itself capable of making a 16x20 print as good as my medium format film Pentax 6x7.

I used the 10D for a year or two, but was never quite happy with the autofocus, so I moved on to the next generation 20D, which had an eight megapixel sensor and was a much-improved camera in every way.

In 2006, I ponied up $2600 for a new 5D. It was a good deal, because most places were selling the 5D for $3000 at the time. It had all the good features of the 20D, plus a new twelve megapixel CMOS sensor and more.

That camera was my constant companion for the next seven years as I photographed architecture, weddings, portraits, and commercial assignments, carried her to Israel in 2010; as well as rambling around Georgia for several years, culminating in a week-long drive around the perimeter of the state, making many of the photographs that would become my limited edition book Georgia: A Backroads Portrait.  

I had a good selection of lenses for the 5D, but most used were the 24-85mm f3.5-4.5 USM and the 70-200mmf4L

Sadly, by 2013 my friend was becoming too heavy for me (she hadn't gained weight, but I was 76 by this time) so I replaced her with a smaller, lighter Canon EOS 6D with twenty megapixels and automatic sensor cleaning. (Dust on the sensor was an ongoing nuisance with the 5D.) 

The 5D at work: Face-off in south Georgia. Highway 122, Ware County.

Greatly loved by photographers of all kinds, but especially wedding photographers, the 5D has gone through four editions. Each edition was improved in various ways over the previous ones, but yet, like an old girlfriend you can't forget, the original 5D still has her charms.

She is a true classic.

Visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

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.

Photography and text copyright 2025 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 photography    digital photography     Canon EOS 5D Classic camera     Canon 24-85mm USM lens       Georgia     Canon 6D camera      Canon 70-200 f4L lens     Canon EOS 10D camera     Canon EOS 20D camera

I Never Photographed for National Geographic. . .

Carrot farmers in northern Guatemala bring their produce up to the highway to sell.

. . .but I did get a portfolio review. And not many people get that far. Working for the Geographic was, in those days, the pinnacle of photographic success.

Actually, I got the review through the influence of my friend Don Rutledge, probably the greatest Christian photojournalist of the 20th century. He was friends with the Director of Photography at the Geographic, and asked him if he would look at my portfolio, which consisted of a tray of slides showing my best journalistic work from around the world. I dropped it off at their office in Washington D.C. 

A few weeks later, my tray of slides was returned by carrier, along with a very nice letdown letter. The editors praised my work, and complimented me on the way I used light in my photos.

They also said that it took about three years to train a photographer to shoot in their style (I was already past fifty by that time), and that they were up to their necks in photographers, but only ankle deep in ideas.

Not having any story ideas to suggest to them, I quietly gave up on my ambition to be a National Geographic photographer. The compensation was that not long after, I was commissioned to photograph and write Rock City Barns: A Passing Era, my greatest achievement.

I'm showing the particular photograph at the top of this post because my friend, the graphic design artist Michael Largent, took one look at it and said, "That's a Geographic picture! 

Although I did a lot of different things in my career as a photographer and enjoyed them all, my heart was always in photojournalism and I always regretted that I never got to work for the Geographic. 

The photo: Olympus OM2n, 24mm Zuiko lens, Fujichrome 100D film. 

Visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

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.

Photography and text copyright 2025 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 photography    film photography     Olympus OM2n camera     Zuiko 24mm lens       Guatemala     National Geographic magazazine     Don Rutledge, photographer     Rock City Barns: A Passing Era

Sunset Light

Sunset light on a little, south Georgia farm shed. U.S. Highway 1, Bacon County. Sometimes the light is subtle. . .

 Photography is about light. In fact, as I've written before on this blog, the word “photograph” comes from two Greek words: photos, which means “light,” and grapho, which means “to write.” So to photograph means to write with light. The best light for photography usually comes in early morning and late afternoon when the sun is low, bathing everything in a rich, golden glow and casting long shadows which reveal texture and form. 

 Learning to see and use light well is the most important skill in photography. For me, it has been the most difficult skill to acquire and I'm still working at it. A true master of photography can find ways to use almost any kind of light,

Some photographers prefer evening light, but I often find my best pictures early in the morning. There's a different, softer quality of light, a calm freshness in the air, and both people and nature seem more relaxed and approachable. 

But sunset can serve up some beautiful light also, and when I find it, I'm always happy to use it. 

. . .Sometimes the light is bold. Salem United Methodist Church, Georgia Highway 201, Whitfield County.

Adapted from my limited-edition book Georgia: A Backroads Portrait.

The photos: Shed: Canon EOS 5D Classic, Canon 24-85mm USM lens. Church: Canon EOS A2 camera, Canon 28-105mm USM lens, Fujichrome 100D film.

Visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

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.

Photography and text copyright 2025 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 photography    digital photography     Canon EOS 5D Classic camera     Canon 24-85mm USM lens       Light     Georgia     Canon EOS A2 camera      Canon 28-105 USM lens     Fujichrome 100D film     film photography

America's Smallest Church

 

The new stained-glass window in the rebuilt church.

 

Traveling south from the Savannah area on US 17, about twelve miles south of Midway is Christ's Chapel, billed as the "Smallest Church in America." It will be on your left, set back from the road in a grove of sturdy pine trees. 

Mrs. Agnes Harper, who operated a grocery store in the area, built Christ's Chapel in 1949 and "deeded it to Jesus Christ," to serve as a place of rest and meditation for travelers.

Is it really the smallest church in America? Hard to say, because that category is more competitive than you might imagine. But at 10x20 feet, it’s just big enough to seat a dozen people plus a preacher.

Sadly, vandals burned the church in November 2015, but donations began pouring in and it was rebuilt in less than a year, including a very beautiful stained-glass window depicting Jesus with his arms open wide.

The church is open all day, every day, and local ministers hold services there the third Sunday of each month. Thousands of travelers have found the little church a welcome and welcoming place for a few minutes of rest and meditation. And admission is free! Certainly one of the best deals on the Georgia coast.

But remember: close the door on your way out, so the automatic lights will go off!

 Pretty small! But is it the smallest church in America?

 

The photos: Stained glass window: Olympus E-M5, Panasonic Lumix 14-140mm lens. Church exterior: Fuji X-H1, Fujinon XC 16-50mm lens.

Visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

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.

Photography and text copyright 2025 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 photography    digital photography     Olympus E-M5 camera     Panasonic Lumis 14-140mm lens       Fuji X-H1 camera     Fujinon XC 16-50mm lens     churches     smallest church     Georgia

Tranquility

Peaceful bayou. Sunbury, Liberty County, Georgia.

A rowboat lies casually on the bank of a southeast Georgia coastal bayou near the ancient ghost village of Sunbury, as a lazy, hazy summer sun bathes the lily pads and aquatic grasses in a soft glow. Makes one want to shove off in the little rowboat and drop a line in the water, then sit back and wait for a fish to bite.

Like the bayou, the village of Sunbury itself whiles away the days and years in dimming memories that it was once a thriving port city on the Georgia coast, even rivaling Savannah and playing a major role in the Revolutionary War. However, the town was captured by the British in 1779 and burned by them near the end of the war. In following years the town was struck by an outbreak of Yellow Fever and two hurricanes. In 1864, Sherman's March to the Sea completed the destruction, leaving Sunbury a ghost town, alone with its ghosts. 

The Sunbury cemetery was established in 1758 as a public burying ground and is the final resting place of many prominent citizens of Sunbury and Midway. Only 34 grave markers still stand, the oldest dated 1788.

A different kind of tranquility. Sunbury Cemetery. Established 1758.

People still live in Sunbury, but not many of them. Like the little bayou, Sunbury is a tranquil place.

The photos: Both were made with the Canon EOS 5D Classic camera and the 24-85mm USM lens.

Visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

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.

Photography and text copyright 2025 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 photography    digital photography     Canon EOS 5D Classic camera     Canon USM 24-85mm lens       Sunbury, Georgia     Revolutionary War

Simple Beauty

Old Mt. Zion Baptist Church, U.S. Highway 41, Dooly County, Georgia.

Returning from a trip to south Georgia with my friend, the distinguished artist and designer Michael Largent, we decided that, instead of taking Interstate 75, we would drive old U.S. Highway 41 to see what we could see.

It was a good call. We saw and photographed a number of interesting things. Among them was this simple and simply beautiful old church.

Probably built by a congregation of black people, it doesn't appear to have been used for regular services for some years, although it has been reasonably well maintained. The paint is not peeling, and there are no signs of disrepair. The tin roof is rusty, but one panel has been replaced in the not-too-distant past. Grass is growing through the pebbles in the parking lot, indicating little current use.

My guess is that it is only used these days for homecomings and special occasions, as witness the still-standing dinner-on-the-grounds tables.

One of the reasons for the beauty of this scene is its simplicity. Just an old building, overarching, bare-limbed trees, a green field in the background, all bathed in rich, late afternoon light filtered through threaded clouds.

Another reason is the composition. One of the rules of good composition is that the main subject should be facing into the center of the picture instead of away from it. That's a good general rule, but like all rules, sometimes works better if we break it. The eye is more effectively drawn to the church if it has to travel around the overall setting, at last arriving at the old structure.

The photo: Canon EOS 5D Classic with Canon 24-85mm USM lens. 

Blog note: Running late this week. Sorry. This post should have appeared on Friday.

Visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

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.

Photography and text copyright 2025 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 photography    digital photography     Canon EOS 5D Classic camera     Canon USM 24-85mm lens     old churches     south Georgia     U.S. Highway 41

Do I Miss Photographing Weddings?

 Ashley and Bowen. Valdosta, Georgia, May 8, 2010.

Sometimes. A little bit, maybe.

Many commercial photographers will not do weddings. Some, I'm sure, think it's beneath them. Others find the rapid pace of wedding photography incompatible with the measured, contemplative pace of studio work.

Me, I always enjoyed photographing weddings. What's not to like? Happy people, celebrating a significant occasion in the lives of two families, plus a multitude of friends, all enjoying themselves. Like I say, what's not to like?

For many years weddings were not part of my marketing focus, but if someone asked me, I was usually happy to oblige. You could say that I backed into doing more wedding photography, and the reason for that was because I had good Karma!

That would be Karma Newland, a live-wire twenty-something who became my assistant in 1996. I had recently photographed her wedding, and she was enthusiastic about working with me to do more weddings. Also, commercial photography in the Chattanooga market began slowing down around that time, and I was looking for something to take up the slack.

We had a good run until around 2005. I loaned her one of my digital cameras and she soon became proficient enough to be my second shooter. Eventually, her husband's work took her out of the area. That was the end of my good Karma.

I stayed with it as long as I could. I stopped booking weddings of my own around 2008, but continued to work as a second shooter for other photographers. By 2020, the primary photographer for whom I mostly worked was moving to another city and winding down her business. My last wedding was in 2021, a few days before my 84th birthday. 

But it was kinda fun while it lasted.

The photo: Canon 5D (Classic), Canon EOS 70-200 f4L lens.

Visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

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.

Photography and text copyright 2025 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     wedding photography    digital photography     Canon EOS 5D Classic camera     Canon EF 70-200mm f4L lens

Seeing the Light

Young mother with baby. For Women's East Pavilion, Chattanooga.

One of the most enjoyable projects to come my way back in the days when I had a studio was creating the photographs for a series of mailing pieces, brochures, and wall art for a new women's hospital.

This kind of work falls under the heading of commercial photography, which, roughly speaking, is photography for businesses and organizations of various kinds.

Photography for the Women's East Pavilion project was done entirely in my studio. Working with the agency's art director, we were able to line up a number of suitable, non-professional models.

For me, the most interesting and challenging parts of the project were arranging the lighting for each setup and directing the models. 

My lighting consisted of a number of studio flash units, all of them in umbrellas or softboxes to soften the light; each unit positioned to accent the subject with subtlety, yet clarity. Lighting a scene well was for me the most challenging, yet  enjoyable aspect of commercial photography.

Since this was before the days when digital cameras made everything easy, I had to visualize the effect of the lighting in my head. I checked the output of each flash with a flash meter, and when I felt I had the lighting properly balanced, put a Polaroid back on the camera and did a test shot.

Two friends arranging flowers. For Women's East Pavilion, Chattanooga.

Yep, that was how we did it. Professional medium and large format cameras had removable film backs that could be replaced by backs made to hold Polaroid film. We made whatever changes to the lighting the Polaroid test shots indicated, and when the tests looked good, put a back loaded with regular film on the camera and fired away.

So we did all this work with light without ever being able to actually "see the light" until the film came back from the laboratory!

(The Women's East Pavilion photography won a number of awards from the Chattanooga Advertising Federation.)

The photos: Both shots were made with a Mamiya RB67 medium format camera, the Mamiya-Sekor 127mm lens, and Fujichrome 100D film.

Visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

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.

Photography and text copyright 2025 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     commercial photography    film photography     Mamiya RB67 camera     Mamiya-Sekor lenses          medium format cameras     studio photography     Fujichrome 100D film     Polaroid film backs