Who would have ever thought a missed pony ride appointment at a six year old's birthday party would lead to this?

Always looking for that silver lining

I’ve missed so many great photo opportunities this past week. We’ve had a day or two of uncharacteristically cold weather preceded by humid warm weather to include a ton of rain. Two different days I missed some great pictures because 1) I’m a working stiff who has to get his ass to work or else and 2) I didn’t have my camera with me because Tiz the Season to be Jolly and the truck is full of food and gifts. Can’t carry that German Chocolate cake and the office gifts and my big old camera bag.

One morning going to town the thin weeds and small branches were frost covered and the sky was clear letting the sun shine on and through them. It was almost like ice but with the frosty softness in the crisp air. On the way home things warmed up a bit and the frost was going fast but the tall grasses in the fields held the frost a little longer than the other flora and they reflected a purplish blue, like hundreds of fan-headed staffs sticking up from the brown grassy meadows. It was so eye catching and I’ve never seen anything like it before. So I just took a few moments, stopped and enjoyed it.


Not my picture and nowhere near as beautiful as what I saw that morning.

Yesterday we awoke to 13 degree weather and the temp never got above freezing. This is Southern Middle Tennessee I’m talking about not Ashland, Wisconsin. On the way home with the sun setting in the distance, the water that normally drips out of the rocks where the highway cuts through the hills, was making interesting and unique icicles that reflected the golden sun set – and I didn’t have my camera. By the time I got home it was too late. The sun was gone. Today it is above freezing and more warm humid weather is on the way.


Again, not my picture and the icicles I saw were delicate and clear with the Sun shinng on and through them.

As disappointed as I am, I know now that this is possible and what conditions created it and I will be on the lookout for it again. Always looking for that silver lining. It sure beats bitching about things that can’t be undone.

08 County Fair

This picture I just think is cool. I really want to get back to this place like I did the first time I shot it (sunrise for a sunny day) and use a tripod. But it is in an industrial park and they keep parking semi-tractor trucks in front of it. I think my brother will really appreciate this one too, even though it's a Honda and not a Harley.

07 County Fair

For the "Plant" category I submitted this one. I had no expectation it would get any recognition by the judges. After all, it's late summer and there where lots of flower pictures (all very good by the way) and since this is a "county" fair you know they are looking for things that reflect county life. But I love this picture. I found this dead leaf in my driveway one evening and just couldn't resist the gold on the asphalt. I had this one printed this one 16" x 14" too. Unfortunately the photo shop cropped it such the stem bottom stem goes off the picture. Another one of thosse shor tcommings when you order via the internet.

06 County Fair

I made a mistake choosing this picture for the fair. Some days, I pay too much attention to the noise around me. I should have use the one I’m showing at the end of this entry. The category is "People at Work". This shot is fine but the points of interest are spread too widely apart and the balance is not good. The one at the bottom has some humor going for it and I really should have gone with my gut feelings. When will I ever learn to stop paying attention to the noise?

The competition was today and just for the record, my barn photo I posted in 01 County Fair won best in its category and Best of Show. Life is full of surprises ain’t it?

05 County Fair

Today is the day for submitting one’s photos for the Creative Living Exhibit for the Lincoln County Fair. I found out that only one enter can be made per category. That hurts a bit. So out of the 13 I had hoped to get on display, I’ll only have about six. Such is life. LOL

This photo is for the Animal Category. I had a Deer picture and my formally shown Snail picture in mind, but popular consensus was that the Snake would get the biggest reaction. In fact it did get one while I was tagging it at registration. A Mom, who was very proud of her son’s pictures, ask us (Emily and I) which category should his picture of a lion carved in a stone wall go? It was a nice picture and I didn’t have a clue since about the only category that came close was “Still Life” but it was caveat with “pictures you positioned things in.” While I was thinking, her son saw this Snake picture and said “Wow, you must have some really good camera gear to have taken that.” When the Mom saw it, she freaked a bit saying, “OMG, I would never get close enough to a poisonous snake like that to take a picture.”
I let her overly protective comment drop and suggested they check with the folks at the registration desk for help in categorizing their photos. But, her reaction is one I hope to see happen again and again while it is on display. BTW it is a copperhead and I do have some “really good camera gear” to include a telephoto lens, thank you. LOL

County Fair 04

Fourth Posting for this week. Tomorrow is a busy day for me so I’m going to get a head start by posting this early but I'm letting the program hold it until after midnight. Isn't technology wonderful?

This is a photo that speaks volumes to me. I’ve always liked it but I should have framed it better when I took it. Cropping it to my liking has plagued me for a long time. Getting the photo shop to print it to my liking has also been a hassle. I don’t fault them. I should have been better at conveying my desires when I sent it to them. None the less, I still like this shot. Not colorful and not really balanced like I would want it to be (this time the rules would have worked in my favor). Yet the idea of this lonely critter crossing an ocean of asphalt on a hot day leaving a little of itself in it’s path just sings to me.

County Fair 03

Third Posting for this week. I was walking down town one afternoon when this particular view caught my attention. I've been down this street many times and looked at the cannons and the statue of a confederate soldier from many different angles. Never could satisfy myself with the surroundings. This time the evening colors of the sun and the odd choice of colors on the building struck me as interesting.

There are not a lot of categories to put one's pictures in this year and this one will probably end up in the non-competitive historical category. I should give that idea some thought and do a series of photos on this town that fit a historical theme. An old friend of mine ,who lives in a quiet little Canadian village (that sounds so quaint), took a picture of every store on every street of her little town. It doesn't seem all that interesting now to many people, but in a generation, when there are only a few old timers left, there will be renewed interest. It will be a combination of nostalgia from the residents and a sense of a lost era that we all have when we think things are going to hell in a hand basket and life use to be so much simpler in the "old day."

County Fair 02

Second Posting for this week. This is my second favorite barn photo. Yes, some of you will say it is better than the other. In some respects it is. Thus I’m approaching these choices on my preferences rather than an industry standard that I keep hearing about. It seems to me that if one is going for “art” then following the rules is self defeating. I’m not saying rules are not important, but if the rules don’t allow me to say what I want to say then they have to be put aside. Hmmm, that sounds a bit arrogant, doesn’t it. LOL

County Fair 01

It is so unlike me to openly compete but I’m doing it. I guess one could say that since I’m entering several photographs into this years county fair. I don’t care if they win, but for this area, it is a great place to get exposure. Everyone for miles around to include surrounding counties will come to the fair and take a look. If I get a positive response, I’ll consider other avenues of exposure. I have 12 to 13 pictures I’m going to submit. Half will be of local interest, a quarter will be category topics and a quarter will be those that speak to me. So for the next few days I will post a few of them here. Let me know if you like what you see.

Today's choice is my favorite barn picture and I'm submitting in a 16x14 size print. It is the biggest print I've made. You can't really see the detail here but this large picture has clarity all over it as well as color.

Photographer??? Me????

I've been putting a lot of effort into my photography lately. I think it is about time I start my own photo site and stop using the free sites I've played with over the last decade. At the same time, I want to express my views on photography as an art form as well as a historical tool for institutions and individuals alike. I might even want to look at its use in marketing seeing as I'm an old advertising major from YSU.

Since I surf the web looking at works of other photographers, I'm thinking of having a section showing my favorites and giving the creator full credit and exposure.

So to you few viewers I have, I solicite your opinion on this proposed venture. What ya think?

Sometimes I create art - but mostly I just take snapshots

Over the years I run into many people with different ideas on “Art”. Most understand that, like any subject, there is room for debate and disagreement. But, all too often I find that people can’t distinguish between skill and creativity. Folks who lived before the 1850s considered art as a way to document what was around them. Today, I’d agree with Sculptor Henry Moore who said, “Art is the expression of imagination, not the duplication of reality."



As an amateur photographer, who leans toward finding new ways of seeing reality (I also just like to record what I see), I bump into photographer friends who think they create art because they have a spiffy camera and a few lens and know how to read a light meter. What rubs them raw is when I tell them they just take snap shots. That is all they do. Yes, they read the meter and may have a little skill with a few filters, but they never try to go beyond recording the object they are taking a picture of. They never attempt to manipulate the environment of their subject. They never stage a shot. They never create what is in their head. They attempt to make the scene look like what they see with their eyes. This is OK and requires a good deal of skill, since the camera and medium (film or digital) do not record light the way our eyes do. But it is not Art. There is no imagination to it, no creativity. They never think of a picture they want to make then precede to make it. They see something – sometimes interesting - and record it. An artist can make a great picture from cheap, even defective, cameras because they understand visualization, composition and lighting. They have a command of light and color. They can do it with a brush, knife, paper mache or a camera.



There is nothing wrong with making pictures. Recording events – historical or personal – is an important application that photography is good for. Doing it well and mastering the demands of the subject are worth while goals. Technical mastery helps the creative process, but it doesn’t make the process creative.



Have a look see here.

One Exposure

Clinton Smith

Chema Mandoz

David Chapelle

My return to Tennessee after 37 years.

I’ve pretty much completed my move to Tennessee. I’m not all that far from Huntsville, but I’ll be sporting Tennessee tags on my truck soon and my mug is already decorating a Tennessee State driver’s license (which in getting also made me a registered voter).

Sold my house in an unbelievable two days. At least that was as long as it was publicized. Emily treated me to a week in Gatlinburg during my birthday week. The week before I interviewed three Realtors. Two where recommended by my out of state bank, USAA. They have a program for helping sellers. However, as I inquired, I realized that they just get a commission for every bank customer that takes up one of their recommended Realtors and they really haven’t done any checking on the Realtor’s capabilities. Of course I could have gotten cash at closing for using one of them, but the amount of money wasn’t really an incentive after I got past the initial marketing effort.

I also called on Dave Ramsey. For you who don’t know about him, he is a “Christian” financial adviser with a radio show. Yea I know what you are thinking. Chet!!!! Have you found religion!!!! No, I haven’t. But, Ramsey gives out excellent financial advice for those who will not face the reality of debt. I use to go out for lunch buying a sack meal and finding a tree shaded area off the road there on Redstone. His station was the only one what would come in static free. He was followed by Rush Limbaugh, so I made sure my lunch was finished by the end of Ramsey’s show. His religiosity isn’t a big part of his show although he does try to insure his ticket to heaven is good with a few scripture readings and a smattering of JC is Lord. But 90% of the show is excellent hard hitting financial advice. Call him the Dr. Phil of Finance. I’m not a fan of Dr. Phil. I see a big difference in rough, honest, straightforward financial advice and deeply emotional beatings.

One of the side issues Ramsey makes money from is advertising from companies that he claims he has researched and interviewed and tested. So, I left an email on his site saying I was looking for a Realtor in my area. Both his and USAA’s recommended realtor’s called within 24 hours. They all had great presentations and handled my questions pretty well. But one had one thing the others didn’t. Yea, she was cute and full of energy and she had a great personality and most definitely knew the company line since she leads it here. But in addition to all the others offered, she also offered free use of a truck to move with. Just fill up the tank and bring it back when you’re done. Not only that, but once I use her services, the use of the truck is a life long offer. Yep, if in a few months I want to haul a big group of illegal aliens to Chicago, I can call her up and reserve the truck. Now how is that for an incentive? Well, maybe for some of you, hauling your own stuff is the last thing you want to do in such a transition, but I’ve done it all my life so this was a real cost savings.

Who is this master of the Realtor business? Amanda Howard, Ring the Team, of Weichert Realtors.

So, having chosen Howard to handle the sale of my house, Emily and I took off for Gatlinburg. Howard’s team came out to the house and took pictures for a visual-tour. If you want to see how well they did, click here. Yea I cleaned the place up. They got the sale posted to the web on Wednesday and on the drive back from Gatlinburg that Friday I got a call that I had four offers and one was in excess of my asking price. Wow, I never thought it would go that fast. When I bought it four years earlier it has been on the market for months. Needless to say I was pleased - more money than I asked and no repairs or home improvements necessary. Two weeks latter I moved out and closed.

Now, living in Fayetteville, TN isn’t like living in the big city. It is a lot like my Dad’s home town, Noblesville, IN, use to be. (I say “use to be” because Noblesville has been consumed by the urban sprawl of Indianapolis.) There is a town square filled by the county courthouse. Fayetteville is the county seat of Lincoln County which is not named after Abraham Lincoln. Fayetteville is named after the city of Fayetteville, NC – a place I use to live as well. Seems some North Carolinians from Fayetteville came west and settled in Tennessee. But you can read all that if you are interested on Wikipedia.

It took a week for me to settle in here and get myself back on the Internet in the privacy of my own place, although, it isn’t my place, its Emily’s. The 29 mile commute is a pain but coming home to a significant other is worth it. I have changed my morning habits to miss the bulk of the traffic going to Huntsville. Seems a lot of Tennesseans commute to either Huntsville or Redstone Arsenal to work. No longer do I while away the morning hours doing whatever my over active mind desires then rush to work in 10 minutes. I miss that. But life in a small town is suiting me at this stage of my life. I’m still looking for a few acres to build my final house on and this area has just the kind of picturesque landscape I’m interested in. Click these links for a few snap shots I’ve taken driving around the county.

Stable on a Foggy Morning

Barn-in-the-Mist

Deer-in-Meadow

Home-on-Lynchburg-Hwy

Stone-House-in-the-Meadow

I am scouting out best places and times to photograph this area. Even got me a new GPS to help me get back to some of these really back woods locations. I’m looking forward to recording Lincoln County for these times. Landscape photography isn’t my biggest photographic interest but I’ll strive to do the county justice.

Expect more to come now that my transition back to a Tennessean is nearly complete.

Have you ever seen a deer pee in the wild?

It is my habit to get up at 0500 and spend the first 2 1/2 hours of the day on myself. I’m awaken by my local morning NPR station broadcasting Morning Addition which it runs through twice by the time I get to work. I’ll fix breakfast or go out to breakfast, I’ll read (usually the news paper) and ponder issues that the news inspires. I like this schedule, but I often don’t get time to write or blog what’s come to mind during these morning activities.

Case in point is this blog. I had a great time last weekend running around middle Tennessee and wanted to write down the unique things and some of the not so unique things (depending on where you live), but time was just not making itself available. Maybe I should start going to work at nine instead? LOL

I drove up to Fayetteville (about 45 minute drive north of Huntsville) where Emily was waiting to take me to breakfast. She had promised a good one at “The Chuckwagon” or something to that effect. I seem to recall the name had something to do with cowboys or horses. After good morning hugs and kisses, we headed over to this breakfast haven Emily was so excited for me to try. I’ve turned her on to the omelets at Victoria’s and she wants to repay the favor I guess. Now some of you will look at the names of those two eating establishments and try to do some kind of mathematical computation to stereotype the kind of people Emily and I are. Don’t waste your time. Yes, Emily is a Tennessean and was raised country, but she has a unique sophistication about her that I dearly enjoy. While Victoria’s may evoke images of ladies underwear for some of you, I can assure you it’s not the kind of place little boys go to to ogle scantily clothed women. Think further back in time and you’ll understand what a friend of mine told me, “You wouldn’t like it Chet because it’s a gray hair ladies place. They serve things like quiche.” And they do but that’s another story to tell another day.

Emily directed me to the “Chuckwagon” (I’m really terrible at names) and as I first laid eyes on the place, I had two feeling at once -- disbelief at what I was seeing and relief it was closed. Its a 60 foot long gray-black-white variegated pattern house trailer sitting on an asphalt parking lot with not a single cowboy or horse image about it. There was nothing visually appealing about the place at all. If it’s a good place to eat and I trust Emily that it is, they sure aren’t inviting anyone to discover it. (someday I need insert a picture of the place here)

Not discouraged but not sure if my "big" city taste would be offended, Emily suggested we head over to the town square where there are a could of local favorites that she knew would be open. Now if you read this blog religiously, and I know my loyal fans do, you know I’ve talked a bit about Fayetteville’s town square before. Actually I think I just mentioned it had one. LOL As we parked, I saw the two eateries side by side with a handful of men wearing baseball caps and denim bib-overall standing around talking. They all were weather worn and silver haired and fit the old 20’s facade of the building they where standing in front of. A few eyed us as we crossed the street, but the most were too involved in their discussions of pork prices, bushel yields and drought to notice us. Emily picked out Honey’s Restaurant and Billiards saying it was more refined than Bill’s Café and Billiards next door. (Actually she was not so generous in her description.) Inside, the grill and counter were on the right and booths lined the left. Above the booths was a very long shelf housing a fine collection of vintage Jack Daniel’s bottles (emptied) and every booth had a vintage photo of people who once worked in the place since it opened in the 1920s. The very back was were the pool tables use to be but in these modern times I guess billiards is not such a draw for an eating establishment that specializes in food cooked on a film of grease over a hot flat steel surface. That area was now the overflow area “for when things get crowded.”

We sat at the bar and I ordered coffee and a western omelet. My coffee came as a tea bag. Kind of modern and a nice contrast to the old white thick porcelain mug and saucer I’m accustomed to in these vintage eateries. I just wished the sugar packets had not replaced the old clear jars of sugar with the stainless steal top that had the little flapped covered hole on top for pouring. The waitress looked to be 14 and served food like she wanted to be any place but behind that counter. She was pleasant, but it was clear this was not her career of choice. The food was good! I enjoyed sitting at a counter. The warmth of the place was homey and while I may be a bit harsh in my description its not out of disrespect. It is a proud honest place and doesn’t pretend to be something is isn’t.

Back in the truck we drove all over the country side stopping to take pictures of fine old homes with unusual character and landscapes that characterize Tennessee for me. Like Honey’s Restaurant and Billiards it’s a proud honest place with a character all its own. Not a lot of places you can go outside the south where driver wave to you as you pass and people on their porches smile and say hello. Only in this roughed landscape can you see a turkey hen and her chicks saunter across the narrow pavement of an old cow path turned road. And it is only here that I ever saw a wild deer pee. As silly as that sounds, I ask you to think about how many times you’ve been out in the country and saw a deer take the time to pee. BTW they squat their hind legs to do it.