The End of The Year

When last I wrote to you, my father had just left to return to California. We had our final day out to shoot (for the time being, anyway), and I had used a lot of Big Lebowski quotes. Can't promise that if the opportunity should present itself I won't again...

Now, to finish out the year. All of these photos are from December of 2010. They range from shots in/around the house, to times when I went out for a walk to see what I could see. While there are some which I will add notes under, for the most part, this will be a photo-only essay of my life at the end of the year last year. 

Enjoy!

Photos after the break.

One Last Foray

As is true with all things, though especially with good things, they must come to an end. Having our father out to visit was wonderful on many levels, and though it is now months in the past, I am a bit saddened at coming to the last "catch-up" post of our visit. It's been a nice walk down memory lane. Don't get me wrong, I still have quite a lot of catching up to do, as we're only into December of last year here, but no more, after this one, of us and the Old Man, out bein' all creative and family-like. I guess I'll just have to get my ass out to California soon, and then not post about it for six months. :D

I don't think this was our last day together, but it was definitely the last time we all went to shoot together. This time, our Intrepid Trio was joined by a fourth, my girlfriend Gypsy. Now, Gypsy, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there's a lot about Gypsy that don't make a whole lotta sense to me, and a lot about where she lives, likewise. But, then again, maybe that's why I find the place so durned interestin'...

"Untitled" Louisville, KY. December, 2010.

Nashville, Get Ready, 'Cause Here We Come!

WARNING: This post is photo-heavy. Continue past jump, if you dare!

One of the things that had been planned for when our father came out to visit was a trip to Nashville, TN. I've been through Tennessee before, but never to Nashville. It really is like Hollywood with a touch of twang! Or... the Athens of the South, which has a certain ring to it for sure.

Anyway, since neither my father nor I had ever been, Jack took charge as the tour guide of sorts. Our first stop? THE PARTHENON! So very, very cool. It's a reconstruction of the original Parthenon of Athens, Greece. The city of Nashville commissioned the original, which was a wood and plaster affair built in the center of Centennial Park, for the 1897 fair celebrating Nashville's first hundred years. It was later rebuilt, on the original foundation, in concrete. The rebuild started in 1920, with the exterior finished in '25 and the interior in '31.

"First" Nashville, TN. December, 2010.

Here's us, after a couple hours on the road. It's something like 10 in the ante meridian, and really cold, and windy. Or at least, strong-breezy. I think we all had on fleece or flannel pajama pants under our jeans, which works pretty well. Just, ya know, FYI...

Bardstown Road Aglow

Last time we checked in, our Father (Who art in barrels, hallowed be Thy Drink... Sorry, old habits die hard)... our father had come out from California to visit, and he, Jack, and I all went out to shoot together for the first time. Ever.

Whoa.

Okay. Now, it's three days later. We are again on Bardstown Road, but now it's nighttime. Time for Bardstown Road Aglow. It's cold, and the skies are dark, but BTR is a place of merriment (and cold). Strands of multicolored little points of light adorn everything, hanging from buildings, shrubbery, and various municipal fixtures alike. The street is busy, as busy as it tends to be during the day, for many of the shops, normally closed by now, are open, and thriving. The are people everywhere; in their cars, driving; walking up and down the road; in the shops conversing with friends, loved ones, and strangers, who don't stay strangers for long. The smells are of the holidays, and of people, but as we walked down the road, it's to the effect of travelling through an ocean of scents, the smells of gingerbread, spices, cigarettes, stews, salt on the road, all playing in and amongst each other, layered and complex at times, distinct and individual at others. It was slightly dazzling, and we were there to hang out, enjoy, and shoot. And shoot we did.

Here are the photos.

"Does This Belong To You?" Bardstown Rd. Louisville, KY.  December, 2010.

The Dad Arrives

The end of November last year (2010) had my father coming out from California to visit my brother and I. We met up the night he flew on, and went out drinking, as all elder children should do with their parents. Mind you, we didn't go bar-hopping... Oh wait, we kinda did. More on that later. But, we did NOT go out on a bender or anything, just out to a couple of local bars which have great beer and good people for a few cold ones.

Jack and I had gone out shooting earlier in the day, and for continuity's sake, I'll post those photos first. We went up into southern Indiana, around New Albany, which is literally across the Ohio River from L'ville. It was cold, and it had snowed for the first time that year the night before, if memory serves. We wandered around an old abandoned granary, shooting what we saw.

"Untitled" New Albany, IN. November, 2010.

"Untitled" New Albany, IN. November, 2010.

Winter Funk

Ever have those? I didn't used to, but it seems this winter has hit me pretty hard. Not sick, at least not physically, but just in a pretty bad funk for the last few months. Many things have suffered, not the least of which was my photography, and through that, my blog. Now, Spring is here, and I intend to get on with my life.

To that end, I've started doing all sorts of things which have, for the past season, been all but entirely foreign to me. I'm getting up early, not because I have to but because I want to; getting out to shoot more often; and others. So, over the next few posts, and the next few days/weeks, I'm going to attempt to get everyone who follows this caught up on what I've been doing.

This first post is just a primer to let you know that there's about to be a HUGE amount of material posted here, starting with the first snow of the winter. More on that, and the rest of my life over the past few months, in the following posts.

Your Most Recent Work is Always Your Best Work

At least, if you're still steadily climbing the learning curve, it is.

Been out and about shooting the past few days, and I figured I should share my new work with the Blogosphere. Included here are two trips down Bardstown Road, and a journey through Cave Hill Cemetery, both here in Louisville. So, without further ado, some photographs!

To start, Cave Hill Cemetery;

"Untitled" Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville, KY. November, 2010.

I have this bad habit...

...of not posting for a couple weeks, and then posting two or three of these things in one day. For the sake of consistency, here's another post for your reading enjoyment.

So, Hallowe'en has come and gone. But wait, no obligatory photos of the children in their All Hallow's Eve regalia? None of the quintessential images of their joy-filled faces out trick-or-treating? Hate to be the bearer of bad news here, but no. Not a one. I felt like being involved this year, and that can be kinda tough when you've got a lens stuck in front of your face (not impossible, of course, just more difficult). Plus, remembering lessons learned from last year, I knew the candy haul was gonna be hefty, and decided I needed both hands free to carry various forms of sugar (as I shoot with a handstrap, which effectively removes one of my hands from the 'useful' category).

But, one thing I did take photos of was my costume. Gypsy and I had a brainstorming session to try to determine what I was gonna wear. We were looking through some of my older crocheted projects, hats mostly, while I was wearing the t-shirt she got me for Christmas (it has a little mushroom guy on it, and it says "I'm a fun guy!"), and we figured I should make a hat that makes me look like a mushroom. I hemmed and hawed at the idea a bit (it'd be quite an undertaking to make something so large), and finally conceded that it'd be a great costume.

Portraiture, attempt No. 1

We had a couple of days off this week, and not a whole lot to do. So, seeing as I just started my little business over at Thumbtack.com, Gypsy and I thought we'd go out and do a little impromptu portrait work. We started up at this place I like to call The Grotto on Eastern Parkway, then headed up to the Falls of the Ohio (it's actual name), where we shot for a bit on the exposed fossil beds. I'm keeping the text to a minimum for this post, so here, enjoy some photos!

Just Some Stuff

Just above this one is a post about my first excursion into the world of portrait photography. While Gypsy and I were out shooting, I of course couldn't resist taking photos of the other interesting things we came across. Again, as in the one above, I'll keep the text short. Enjoy!

"Mirror, Mirror." The Grotto on Eastern Parkway. Louisville, KY. October, 2010.