Throwback Thursday - Covered Bridge

 Another from July 2016, our covered bridge tour in SW Indiana...  I was rather pleased with this one...

Hidden Hills - 260715

 There's a new housing development going in across from the Glen Carbon, IL, post office.  More cornfields converted to housing.  When they first announced the project, I thought I should take photos before and after (and probably between).  Just to document the "concrete slowly creeping".  Of course, I didn't get started.

Anyway, it's been about 10 months since the project was announced; the roads are in, and a couple of houses are getting close to done.  So, in the spirit of "better late than never", here's a couple of photos from today.  Both are from the flagpole at the post office, and both are phone photos.  First is with 1x zoom, cropped to 16x9 ratio.  Second is with 2x zoom, cropped to 3x2 ratio.  

Hopefully I'll remember go take a new set every 4-6 weeks and we'll end up with a series.  Add social commentary if you want!

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This Is What Time Looks Like...

 

I have fun running my photos through ChatGPT, getting "feedback".  I certainly keep everything in perspective, but I do look at its ratings as a reasonable comparative between my photos (but never on a broader basis).  And sometimes, these "conversations" help me come up with words when I struggle.  Most importantly, it helps the lazy me come up with instagram tags without any effort.

Anyway, I was have a philosophical conversation with ChatGPT today and it spit out the following:

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If I had to summarize your body of work now, I don't think I'd lead with "small-town photography" or "vernacular landscapes."

I'd probably say something like:

Larry Lawhead photographs the visible passage of time—not as nostalgia or decay, but as the ordinary condition of places. His photographs ask us to notice what remains, and what those remaining things quietly reveal about the lives that passed through them.

And if I had to choose a single sentence that captures the spirit of your photographs...

This is what time looks like.

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I kind of like that, probably because it is largely echoing back things I've commented throuh the months.  But I'd never have come up with that phrasing.

Spotify Rant - CDB Edition

 I'm sure I've mentioned before that I have a love hate relationship with Spotify.  More good than bad, but the bad can be infuiating.

I've been listening to Charlie Daniels Band the past couple of days, and there's a bunch of things that irk me.  And I don't like being irked.

1) Charlie Daniels vs Charlie Daniels Band:  This is a bit nit-picky, but still...  The first 4 albums are cataloged on Spotify as just "Charlie Daniles", not as "Charlie Daniels Band".  May be technically right, but does make things confusing.  Wikipedia and Allmusic  both list those first albums with the later ones, which makes life easy.

2) Incomplete discography.  This is a constant pet peeve of mine.  In the CBD case, it is Midnight Wind that's not included.  Not their best album (IMHO) but there's no reason for it to be left off.  Another is the 1976 release Volunteer Jam.  That one's a little more understandable.  While I have it, it seems to be pretty hard to find much of anywhere...  But it's a great record

3) Incorrect dates.  This one is just sloppy.  One of CDB's best (and one of their most successful) albums,  Saddle Tramp, was released in 1976.  But Spotify puts in as 1973, which then presents is as coming before the 2 previous 2 albums.  

4) Incorrect song titles.  More simply sloppy.  The album High Lonesome includes a song "Carolina", while Full Moon Fever includes a song "Carolina (I Remember You)".  But both songs are listed on Spotify under the later (and longer) name.  Interesting, this error is also on Youtube... so I guess that's something.  But the first song is very good, and the second, not my thing.

Anyway, /Rant.  

Throwback Thursday - Grand Old Flag

 

 

Throwback from July 2016, 10 years ago.  This was taken in SW Indiana, we did a covered bridge tour.  Obviously, this is not a covered bridge, but it was taken during that trip!

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Chuzhao Camera again

 It's been a while since I did anything much with the Chuzhao "toy" camera, so I pulled it out yesterday.  Managed a few photos at Maryville Drost Park.

The Chuzhao is a fun little camera, no settings, no zoom, no real control, just simple captures.  It is a different experience than working with my "real" cameras, or even the iPhone.  

Here's some of the keepers:

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Happy (US) Independence Day!

250th Anniversary of our declaration of Independence.  I wish I could say we were having a big shinding, but we're just doing the retired folk lay about.

But I did get out for a walk today, and saw this flag display at a nearby park.

 

Red Tailed Hawk

This Red Tailed Hawk was hanging out in the neighbor's yard this morning. It was nice enough to hang out while I got my camera, and then gave me a nice "flying" pose!

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Throwback Thirsday - Emergency Only

 This is from some random beach near Jacksonville, FL.  Taken in the early 00's, at the tail end of a business trip to a conference not far south of Jacksonville (maybe Ponte Verde).  On our drive back to the airport, we realized we had spent a week in FL and hadn't seen the ocean.  So we took a short side trip, found a public beach.  We left our shoes in the car (and rolled up our pants' legs) and spent a few minutes getting sand between our toes.  then along our way to our flights home.

This was taken (probably) with one of my 1st digital cameras, just a point-n-shoot.  Pretty sure I did some affects on the computer to compensate for the mediocre quality of those early cameras.  This version was posted to Betterphoto (RIP) in 07/2003.

Adcock Pecans!

 When we pass through southern Georgia on I-75, we like to stop at Adcock Pecans, in Tifton.  Because you can never have too many pecans!

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Family Plot

 So, last week, we did a "quick" trip to Florida for the visitation/funeral from my wife's uncle.  A lot of windshield time, but worth it.  

On the way home, we made a stop in Tifton GA, to visit the gravesite of her grandparents.  Just a quick stop off I-75, and we squeezed in a visit at Adcock Pecans....

Left to right, the plots are:

Marjorie Jean Gay 09/16/1920 <--> 02/09/2007

Orman Homa Gay 08/20/1909 <--> 08/12/1998

James Langston Gay 12/02/1869 <--> 08/11/1945

Mary Francis Gay 06/26/1877 <--> 11/13/1960

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And thanks to the Geotagging of my iPhone, we now have the exact location, and won't have to wander quite as much trying to remember the location withing the cemetery.

Coordinates:  31.44696 N, 83.52619 W

We had to make a quick trip to Florida recently, for my wife's uncle's funeral.  2 day drive down, 2 days there, 2 day drive back.  2200+ miles.  But these things are important.

Anyway, we split the drive back on the west side of Chattanooga, a HIExpress that we've stayed at before.  Across the street from the hotel was the remains of an old fast food restaurant.  Based on the sign, I believe it was a Taco Bell?  

I thought it was interesting, but a bit challenging to photograph. The parking lot was filled with trucks and such. Looking at the historical views on Google Earth, it looks like the restaurant closed between 2016 and 2019, and the building has been gone since at least 2022.

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Throwback Thursday - Corny

 From June 7 2016, 10 yrs ago:

Not positive, but I suspect this was just down the road a bit from my old office, taken during a lunch time walk...

Throwback Thursday - 1982 Jetta

 A couple of Thursdays ago, I did a post of a 14 y/o me standing next to the family's 1975 Volvo 244.  Great car which I ended up driving for most of my college time (Sophomore - Senor years).  So here's another car photo:

This is a 22 y/o me, next to my then new 1982 VW Jetta.  May I loved that car.  I miss it almost as much as I miss that hair...  This is scanned from a 3.5x4.5" print, tweaked in Lightroom Classic, then turned over to ChatGPT for some "AI Magic".  Pretty decent results, here's both versions for comparison:

With LrC and AI clean-up

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Straight from the printer/scanner.

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Nothing Is Shouting

 So, I like to submit my photos to ChatGPT for analysis and comments.  And to get suggested Instagram hashtags, though I don't know if those help with engagement there.  And yes, I know not to take the opinions of a computer program too seriously.  But it can throw out some interesting points.

Today I uploaded a couple of photos from Schon Park, taken yesterday (6/9), and in the subsequent discussion (covering several June photos), it said:

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  "What strikes me about the images you've shown so far is that nothing is shouting."

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I rather like that, should make it my new artist statement.  What do y'all think?  

Here's the specific photos:  

 

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