Some of the newest work to date.
I have not done portraits like this before so this is only a test.
I have recently printed these images and was amazed at the difference of looking at pictures on paper instead of just looking at them on the screen. I already knew this and it is one of the reasons why I shoot film instead of digital- always make a hard copy. But, it has been so long since I printed that it took me a little by suprise. When I was in school I loved printing and took it very seriously; after I graduated I wasn't able to print anything; it's been about 4 years.
Just recently I bought a CIS (continuous ink system) for my printer. I am still working out the bugs but I think in the end it will be a great cost saver and I will be able to produce a good deal of work. I found out that the ink that came with the CIS is dye based instead of pigment based. I am working through the dye base and making work prints. Once that is gone I will put in the pigment base ink I bought. I have a feeling that the prints will have a bit of a color shift so I am not too worried about print quality right now.
This was an expensive month... here's hoping it pays off in the end.
I know that no one is reading this right now but eventually someone will. I hope that when you come across these images you enjoy them.
I had no choice. It was there, I saw it. I had to make this picture. Right when I saw it I knew I had to photograph it this way, no other choices. Thats a bad thing...
Not really sure exactly what this is saying or implying..... the neglect and absence of human is disturbing yet it is not an ugly photograph. There is a beauty to it. It stays in my mind.
Shot three rolls for this event. An old farmhouse on State Road 49 on the north end of Rankin Illinois. As I was driving by I noticed the activity going on and pulled over to take a look. The local and regional fire departments were conducting practice fires in the home for training. When I went by they had finished and were about to take the house and barns down. Right place at the right time. More to follow with these images...
The lone corn plant growing in front of this doorway was just too good to pass by. Not as common a sight as you might think. I had to make this image.
I like this image a lot. I passed by this yard sale at about 75mph... Glad I stopped and turned around. I got better stuff here than I thought I did. There are a couple of detail shots and a few wide shots I will have to do more with yard sales in the future.
Going for more details.... among the few things I try to record in every town I go to are the fire hydrants... sometimes what is around them make them just that much more interesting.
It's been a while but, I am pretty sure his name is Leon. Nice old man with a hearing aid and coke bottle glasses. He is the salt of the earth. Grew up and lived in both Missouri and Illinois. Truck driver and cattle man that worked well into his 70's. After a stroke sidelined him he moved in with his daughter in Kinsman, Illinois. I found him sitting on his back porch that overlooks Kinsman Road watching the day go by.... he said that he wakes up early everyday with nothing to do; by noon, he's halfway done.... love that dry humor.
