Here are a couple of grab shots I found after finishing up with my morning shoots in Louisville, Kentucky. The Waffle House was somewhere inbetween Louisville and Lexington, across the street from where I was stocking up on peanut butter M&Ms. I tried to give it a little bit of a faded Ektachrome look in Photoshop. The McDonalds arches are peeking over the roof of the building next door to my hotel tonight — like it’s about to move in on the Waffle House’s territory.
After a long day of driving — made shorter by listening to a marathon of Car Talk podcasts — I have arrived in Louisville, Kentucky. Lots of interesting stuff to shoot this week. I’ll do my best to find time to post…
Saturday once again found me photographing the Nicodemus, Kansas Homecoming, an annual event usually set on the hottest day of the year, it seems. It wasn’t SO hot this year — maybe upper 90s — and we were rewarded for braving the sun in the mid-afternoon by a downpour that left us cold and shivering. Talk about contrasts.
Tomorrow morning I’ll be on the road again. See you in Kentucky…
As of this past weekend, the office has officially been moved to its new home in Lawrence, Kansas. The house move will follow in a few weeks so we’ll be commuting in the interim.
There are lots of shots that I always intended to take in Topeka but never got around to them. For instance, I have an open invitation to photograph the State Capitol from a downtown dweller’s rooftop penthouse but there has always been some form of construction in the way and the time was never right. Other shots have withered away because I just never made the time for them. Sad. It seems it’s hardest for me to capture what is nearest to me.
On my last day of officing downtown, I had a quick shoot in the 700 block of Kansas Avenue. As I walked back to the office afterward, I made the time to go to the rooftop of a newly built parking garage that I had been wanting to scout for unusual skyline views. I found some interesting angles on the Capitol and this view of a lone car on an adjacent parking deck also caught my eye. I’m not sure why but it felt like it somehow fit the feeling of my last day in the city.
Again, my apologies for the limited posts and all of the other ways that I’m neglecting my friends and family. Progress is moving along at the new house but it’s taking a lot of our time right now. Along with the work that we’re doing to ready the old house for the market and the “real work” that we have to fit in to pay for all of this, let’s just say it’s been busy. Real busy.
There is light at the end of the tunnel, though. We may be starting to move in by the first of August. Don’t worry, change of address cards will be in the mail shortly. Oh dang! I have to get those made, too!!!
Painting the outside of the old house today. Since the ladder has to rest inside the neighbor’s fence, let’s hope they keep the dog inside…
Bear with me. Normality (such as it is) will return soon. Oh — and I almost forgot. Yes, I am excited about the new Nikon D700. I barely caught the news of it in all this chaos but what I’ve seen so far looks great.
I saw some great high-end properties while in Myrtle Beach last week but — I have to say — what I loved most was some of the outrageous road architecture that lined the main drag. I could spend a lifetime shooting things like the Big Crab restaurant above (with a line out the door like that it has to be good!) or the many over-the-top miniature golf courses they have. Seriously — multi-story miniature golf courses! Maybe I could get a grant…
It seems like I just arrived in Myrtle Beach and it’s already time to leave. Tomorrow morning I’ll be catching a flight home. Today, however, was a full day of touring with a great stop at Brookgreen Gardens where I snapped this frame. Soon after the skies opened up for an afternoon thunderstorm but I think the overcast skies actually made this shot work better.
Myrtle Beach has been great. I’ll try and post more photos when I get a chance but I know the next few days/weeks will be devoted to trying to get the new house/office ready for occupancy. I’ll post as often as possible but, even though travel will be scarce for a bit, it’s going to be a busy summer.
Thanks to all who made this trip and meeting of the SATW Freelance Council such a success! I enjoyed meeting all of the new faces as well as catching up with old friends. See you all next time!
I flew back from Michigan on Saturday, spent Sunday mowing both the old house’s and new house’s lawns as well as doing a few other chores, and am now back at the airport to fly to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, today (Monday). Hopefully internet connections will be more bountiful on this trip and I’ll be able to post a few images.
The photo above is from our last day in Bay City, Michigan. The stormy sky seen here cleared up for a great boat ride out to Charity Island where we were fed a fantastic meal of fish and steak grilled outdoors next to an old lighthouse and stunning views of the lake. These excursions can be booked by the general public and are well worth it. Possibly the best steak I’ve had in a decade or more.
Sign spotted today in the window of a restaurant in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I don’t know what else to say.
It’s been another busy week but one filled with good news. Not least of which was that the above photo of Native American dancers at the Cortez Cultural Center in Colorado earned me the “Photographer of the Year” award from the Central States Chapter of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW). Thanks, folks!
All good news on the new house front as well. The inspections haven’t turned up any horrifying secrets and we are scheduled to close next week. Various contractors have already been lined up to meet us at the house soon after. We only have a week to get some bids going before we head for Michigan for a week of shooting and story research. I’ll be home for one day after that before catching another plane to South Carolina where I will be giving a presentation on digital photography workflow and image management. Hopefully, by the time I’m back from that trip, we’ll be ready to get things moving on the new house in hopes of moving in later this summer.