I'm Getting Overhauled!

Abandoned Corvair, Sunbury, Georgia.

I've been blessed with pretty robust health for most of my life. In fact, I was doing okay at age 87 until I had a bad fall while going down into a canyon to photograph Potter's Falls near Wartburg, Tennessee. (You can read about it here.) That cost me some walking mobility, and things have been moving slowly downhill since then.

I haven't been writing much lately because, frankly, I haven't been feeling great. I've been lethargic and unmotivated. I think what I need is an overhaul!

Around the end of World War II, while I was still a child, my father owned a 1937 Chevrolet which he drove to work every day -- a 75-mile round trip. After about 60,000 miles the car would need new valves and  piston rings, and maybe some bearings -- what we called an overhaul. Dad, a man of boundless energy and many abilities, would  park the car in my grandmother's garage and do the work himself.

Fortunately, I have somewhat more than 60,000 miles on my odometer, but the time has finally come for an overhaul.

About five weeks ago, I had an angioplasty in my right leg to clear out the arteries and improve circulation. The left leg will get its turn in a few weeks. Two weeks ago I had surgery to remove parts of the large and third toes on my right foot. They had become infected and the infection had reached the bone.

Today I am having a heart catheterization as a prelude to an aortic valve replacement. And Friday, I am having a small skin cancer removed from my chest. Who knows what may be next?

So I'm getting overhauled. I hope the doctors are as skilled as my father. Maybe I can get another ten years out of this overhaul! 

Of course, if I were still a kid and Dad were still around, he would take off his belt and solve my motivation problems very quickly.

The Picture: Abandoned Chevrolet Corvair at Sunbury, on the Georgia coast. Photographed with a Canon EOS 20D digital camera.

If you like my pictures, visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available for $22.95 plus $4.95 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Photographs and text copyright David B. Jenkins. I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography     digital photography    travel photography     Canon EOS 20D digital camera    Georgia    Sunbury     Georgia coast     old/abandoned cars     Chevrolet Corvair

Bruges: The City of Canals

Birds on the canal, Bruges, Belgium.

Blog Note: This post was originally written in 2022, but for some reason not posted at that time. I discovered it a few days ago while looking through my blog archives.

1990 was our big year for touring Europe. In February and March, Louise and I visited nine countries, mostly in Eastern Europe, just as they were emerging from 70 years of Communist domination, and in November we visited England, Belgium, France, Spain, and Morocco. All these travels were  commissioned by the Church of God for the purpose of making still photographs and video and gathering information to produce documentaries about the missions work of the church in Europe.

One of the most beautiful places we visited on our tour was Bruges, Belgium. Bruges is very old, very European, and appears to have as many canals as streets. The photo at the top of this post is one of my favorite pictures from Europe.

Our visit was brief but enjoyable. We attended and photographed a worship service in the evening, then the next morning took a boat ride on the canals which thread their way through the city and visited shops on the square. Louise bought a few pieces of the fine lace for which Bruges is famous, then, after lunch we moved on toward Paris.

Canal Boatman, Bruges

Both photos were made with Olympus OM film cameras loaded with Fujichrome 100D film, my all-time favorite. Unfortunately, I did not keep very good notes on this trip, so I can't say for sure what lenses were used.

 If you like my pictures, visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available for $22.95 plus $4.95 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Photographs and text copyright David B. Jenkins. I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography     film photography    travel photography     Olympus OM film camera    Belgium    Bruges   Fujichrome 100D film    Europe     canals in Europe

Things I've Learned in a Life in Photography

Old Ford pickup in auto graveyard, U.S. 27, Troup County, Georgia.

 

 One: The Thing Is the Thing

The one essential thing without which no photograph can exist is the thing itself -- the subject. As the late, great Bill Jay  wrote: 

This immediate emotional or intellectual response to the subject matter is at the core of photography. Its periphery is the photographer's manipulation of framing, focus, exposure, lighting, and all the other variables, in order that a bland record is invested with depth through the production of an intriguing image.

The photographer is, first and foremost, a selector of subjects. The photographer makes a conscious choice from the myriad of possible subjects in the world and states: I find this interesting, significant, beautiful or of value. The photographer walks through life pointing at people and objects; the aimed camera shouts "look at that!" The photographer produces pictures in order that his or her interest in a subject can be communicated to others. Each time a viewer looks at a print, the photographer is slaying "I found this subject to be more interesting or significant than thousands of other objects I could have captured; I want you to appreciate it too. "

Jay's book On Being a Photographer should be in every photographer's library. It's cheap and it's available on Amazon. If you don't have a copy I highly recommend you get one.

The photo: Made in 1996 with a Canon EOS A2 camera and (probably) the Canon EF 28-105mm lens. The film, as always, was Fujichrome 100D slide film.

 If you like my pictures, visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available for $22.95 plus $4.95 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Photograph copyright David B. Jenkins. Text copyright David B. Jenkins and the Estate of Bill Jay, 2026.  

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography     film photography    Bill Jay     Canon EOS A2 camera    Canon EF 28-105mm lens   Fujichrome 100D film    art and photography

I Am an Amateur Photographer

 Louise in the "kitchen" of our first camper.

 I am an amateur photographer. The word "amateur" is derived from the Latin "amare" which means "to love." Since buying a cheap Instamatic camera in 1968 to make pictures of my newborn son, I have carried a camera with me most of the time and pointed it at what ever caught my interest. Including, of course, many pictures of my family. And although my career as a professional photographer spanned more than 50 years, I have always been an amateur. Photographing for the love of it.

I did my last paid gig in 2023 --- just three years ago yesterday. And although my mobility is limited these days I'm still looking for pictures.

One of the photographers I most admire is Elliott Erwitt, who  made a substantial living through his photography for magazines, advertising, and annual reports in the US and around the world. Wherever he went, he always carried a small camera with him -- usually a Leica, with a 50mm lens and loaded with black and white film. His "snaps," as he called them, have filled more than 25 books.

Sometimes Erwitt's wit is very subtle,

and sometimes it's like a slap in the face.

I have always sought to photograph in the same spirit as Erwitt, but he is the master. He could walk around a block -- almost any block -- and come back with more good pictures than I could make in a year. But I love what I do. I'm an amateur.

If you like my pictures, visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available for $22.95 plus $4.95 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Text and photographs copyright David B. Jenkins and the Estate of Elliott Erwitt, 2026.  

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography     amateur  photography     Elliott Erwitt     Leica rangefinder camera    art and photography