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.

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.

A Little Street

Just a few images I thought I'd share with my limited readership.

"Smoker" Downtown Louisville. October, 2010.

Thumbtack.com

So, I was contacted by this web service called Thumbtack. It's a place for people to go and post their businesses. I was contacted by Heather Madison, the Community Manager, and she invited me to set up a page, and advertise my 'business.'

Now, as you all know, I'm not a professional photog. I consider myself to be leaps and bounds better than I was a couple years ago. I've developed my 'style' quite a bit, and I think my photographic eye has gotten more refined (I hope everyone agrees; if not, please lemme know why...), but I in no way consider myself to be pro. But, I thought, 'What the hey? Might as well check it out.' So, I googled the company, as well as Heather, to see if they were legit, as I've been burned before, posting on craigslist and whatnot. Turns out, though they're still fairly small, they have some big names behind them as investors. So, seeming legit, I signed up (yay! it's free).

So, come check out my site on www.thumbtack.com. If you're from Louisville, or the greater Kentuckiana area, hit me up for some work, if it sounds like I'd fit your bill.

Harvest Homecoming

So, in at a record-setting breakneck pace, I'm back for my second post of the day (I promise this won't happen often; I'm faaaar too lazy for all that noise). I'll keep it fairly short, though, I promise. A couple weeks ago, Gypsy and I went to this festival called the Harvest Homecoming. It's one of those 'booths along the road' type deals, and it's a pretty big deal up there in Indiana, with hundreds of thousands (according to the website, anyway) showing up over the couple of weekends it goes on. 

And now, without further ado, here are some photos:

"Player" New Albany, IN. October, 2010.

 Just a dude, playin' his guitar for the masses.

Some of What I've Been Up to

"YEEEAAAAAAHHH!!!" Louisville, KY. October, 2010.

It's been a while since I've posted here. It seems to be how things go for me, with very few exceptions; I find something new and interesting, and I get all excited about it. I stick with it for a while, in this case posting regularly with exciting, new content. Then, invariably, it dies down. Now, mind you, I haven't had nearly the amount of time, nor (to be 100% truthful here) nearly the amount of drive, to get out and shoot, and hence, have had nothing new to post here.

Shooting With My Brother

"NEPO" Shelbyville, KY. September, 2010.

So, today my brother Jack and I went out to Shelbyville, and then downtown Louisville, to shoot. Just a couple kids, out walking around, seeing what we see. I didn't shoot much, as there wasn't much that caught my eye. Not a whole lot of people out today, odd being a warm Saturday afternoon and all.

We started out driving out to Shelbyville, a small little town about twenty minutes out of Louisville. It reminds me so much of the towns and villages up in the lower foothills of central California, it was almost uncanny. Like I'd been there many times throughout my life, even though I'd never set foot there before today. The only real difference I could find were the plethora of those 'Historical Landmark' signs. Everywhere, man. Friggin' everywhere.

A Day On Bardstown

"Vacuums Open" Louisville, KY. September, 2010.

I decided, after reading a number of very inspiring articles on Eric Kim's blog, that it was time to get out and go do some shooting. I've been in a bit of funk as of late, things at home piling up, photography hitting a period of severe stagnation, and I needed to do something to pull myself out of it. So, I grabbed my camera, some trail mix, my water bottle, and hit the pavement. I prefer to walk where I go (which, granted, is a bit limiting, as even with the small amount I was carrying, 10 miles gets to be a bit much, especially when you have the return journey to think of), as it affords me many more opportunities to see what would otherwise be nothing but another unnoticed blur out the car window.

New Face for An Old Blog

I started this blog a long time ago, and never really had anything to do with it. I originally founded it as a place for me to write about the situations in life which peeved, irritated, or even enraged me. Since then, I've come to realize that, indeed, life is too short to spend it angry at the things which we cannot change. So, in light of the last few years' worth of revelations, I've decided a coincident revamp is in order.

Welcome to this new, improved blog of mine. Hopefully (as I now actually have something I think is actually worth posting; namely, my photos) I will be able keep this up for a while, and maybe bring some good about with it.

So, look forward to postings, less about my day-to-day life (at least, in words), and more about the things which I have found in my wanderings, and my Stumblings, which I feel are important to the world. Lots of photos, though, I promise. (I've a few years' worth of backlog to get up here, but I'll keep that brief.)

I look forward to seeing all of you throughout this new leg of my journey.

Matt.