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.

A Little Street

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

"Smoker" Downtown Louisville. October, 2010.

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.

A Morning Walking

I needed, desperately, to get out of the house today, if only for a bit. Dishes need doing, living room needs picking up. Fine. But y'all can wait a bit, I got something to do first. So, I headed off to Sunergos to get some coffee (it's cheap, and good; a winning combo as I'm usually broke).

"Blue" Louisville, KY. October, 2010.

I found this Flickr user's photostream the other day, and I was very impressed. This guy's composition is phenomenal. He really kind of opened my eyes to some new ways of seeing things around me, and this is my first attempt at a 'minimalist' composition. I love it, and I hope you're impressed, too. (There are a couple more later on down the way.)

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.

First Forays

"Untitled" Mission Beach, CA, ca. 1998
-Ernest J. Zarate

Photography has been a part of me, in varying degrees, for most of my life. As far back as I can remember, my dad has shot, and passionately. I've owned a couple older Nikon F-series 35mm SLRs (which ones, exactly, I couldn't tell you even with a gun to my head), but I was never all that serious about it. A few years ago, I purchased a D80, which lead to the current D700, and a number of lenses, and have really given myself over to the art.

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.