The Tour that Didn't Get Published

The 1894 Harville House, Bulloch County, Georgia

When Countryman Press first contacted me about doing a second edition of Backroads and Byways of Georgia, the editor asked me, in addition to updating and expanding the original 15 tours, to create an additional tour.

For the first edition of the book, I drove more than 11,000 miles. For the second edition, since I was retracing the original 15 tours, I only drove about 7,500 miles. For the new tour I planned a route along Interstate 16 in east central Georgia, going both north and south of the interstate.

The tour began with the magnificent ruin of the 1894 Harville House south of Statesboro and included historic houses, churches, courthouses and one unique old mill in Bulloch, Burke, Candler, Emmanuel, and Jenkins counties.  It ended in Bulloch county in a little, vanishing community called Hopulikit. I drove more than 600 miles to map it out and photograph each site. It cost me a good bit of time and money.

After all that, the editor (a new one by this time) cancelled inclusion of the tour in the book, citing increased costs of paper and printing. But I can share a few of the pictures with the readers of this blog and it will eventually wind up as an article in Georgia Backroads magazine, so it isn't a total loss.

The picture below is the unique mill I mentioned above. It's the Parrish Mill, built in 1880 atop a dam on 15 Mile Creek. An unique combination of both grist mill and covered bridge, it's now part of George L. Smith State Park near Twin City.

The 1880 Parrish Mill and Covered Bridge in George L. Smith State Park.

(Both photos were made with the Fuji X-H1 camera with the Fujinon XC 16-50 f3.5-5.6 lens.)  

Signed copies of the second edition of Backroads and Byways of Georgia are now available. The price is $22.95 plus $3.95 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com. Or, you can mail a check to me at 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2023 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: Travel    Georgia travel    Parrish Mill    George L. Smith State Park    Fuji X-H1 camera    Fujinon XC 16-50 lens    Fujifilm cameras    Fujinon lenses

The Book Is Here!

If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you've read about my newest book, the second edition of Backroads and Byways of Georgia. As the ad copy says:

A Road Guide to the Peach State.

Georgia is a big state, densely packed with interesting things to see and do. For Backroads & Byways of Georgia, Dave Jenkins traveled nearly more than 11,000 miles to explore Georgia and map out fifteen tours encompassing the best the state has to offer. Take a ride from Savannah to St. Mary's along the historic Atlantic coast, cruise the Appalachians in the northwest, drive the broad plains of the southwest, or explore the Blue Ridge Mountains of Georgia’s northeast.

With so much geographical diversity, Georgia makes a remarkable driver’s getaway.  Everywhere you look, there's something new to discover: abundant natural beauty, the historic, the quirky and offbeat, the strange and unusual, and the beautiful. Old houses, old churches, old courthouses, old mills, covered bridges and historic sites.

This book equips you with itineraries appropriate for trips of differing durations and in different seasons, tips for comfortable accommodations, great food, and good shopping too.

Signed copies are available directly from me for $22.95 plus $3.95 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com. Or, you can mail me a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like to have your book inscribed.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2023 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: travel   Georgia travel    photography

 

 

My Way into Photography

                    Children in a special needs class in a Chattanooga elementary school.

I haven't photographed students in classrooms for more than 20 years, but I still miss it. 

Actually, photographing school activities was how I got my start in photography. In 1969, I was a teacher at a private school in Miami and was assigned the job of yearbook advisor. Partly because of my new-found enthusiasm for photography, and partly because none of the students on the yearbook staff seemed interested in doing it, I wound up photographing the full gamut of school activities, from sports to classrooms. I realized I liked photography better than teaching and began to think about a career change.

It took a while, but on January 1, 1978 I began my own business as a full-time photographer, taking on what ever work I could get. Some of it, fortunately, was for schools and colleges. In the 1980s and '90s I hoped to make photography for education a substantial part of my business, and although I did a lot of work in that area it never developed to the extent that I had hoped.

But still -- photographing in schools was always interesting and always enjoyable, and I'm grateful for the experiences I had.

The Foundation for Public Education chose the above photograph and another one from the same set to be made into 40x60-inch prints which hung in their offices for many years. 

(Photograph made in December, 2001 with a Canon EOS A2 camera, Canon 80-200mm f2.8L lens (sometime called "the Magic Drainpipe"), and Fujichrome film.)

Signed copies of the second edition of Backroads and Byways of Georgia are now available. The price is $22.95 plus $3.95 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com. Or, you can mail a check to me at 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2023 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: commercial photography   photography    Canon EOS A2 camera    Canon 80-200 f2.8L lens   Fujichrome film    film photography    Foundation for Public Education

Photographing Education

Concentration!

Blog note: This is post #501 since I began this blog. A milestone of sorts.

One of the things I most enjoyed in my profession as a commercial photographer was the endless variety of assignments that came my way. For one client, I photographed robotic welding machines. For another, I photographed food delivery packaging (complete with contents to make them look nice) for everything from pizza delivery boxes to pastries. For a number of years I did all the advertising photography for Rock City Gardens.

I made the photographs for an advertising campaign for the opening of a new hospital. I did photo assignments for numerous magazines, photographed buildings for architects, made personal and business portraits, and even photographed weddings from time to come. And of course, photographed and wrote Rock City Barns and other books. 

I also had the opportunity to photograph in many schools and colleges, something I especially enjoyed. One of my clients was the Public Education Foundation of Chattanooga, a non-profit organization with a mission to provide resources to teachers, principals, and schools in the local area. The intent young lady pictured above was photographed on one of my assignments for the PEF.

I usually photographed in classrooms where the students were fully aware of my presence. What's more, against all the advice I've heard or read, I often did it with one or more flash units on light stands. Whenever possible, I would have the person in charge introduce me and explain why I was there. Then I would ask the students to continue with whatever they were doing as if I were not there. I worked slowly at first, while they checked me out with sidelong glances; but they became used to my presence much more quickly than you would imagine and were once again fully involved in their activity, yet with an awareness which produced a kind of hyper-intentness and concentration. I almost always got well-lit pictures with heightened emotional and dramatic impact.

(Photo made with a Canon EOS A2 camera and Fujichrome film.)

Signed copies of the second edition of Backroads and Byways of Georgia are now available. The price is $22.95 plus $3.95 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com. Or, you can mail a check to me at 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2023 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: commercial photography   photography    Canon EOS A2    cameras    Fujichrome film    film photography    Public Education Foundation    Rock City Gardens