Photocrastination

 

What one factor ruins more good photographs than any other? More than wrong exposure. More than missed focus. More than camera movement. What is it? It's procrastination. A close second is failure to carry your camera.

There are many reasons why we might pass up a good photo opportunity, but one of the most common ones is hurry. We have to get somewhere and we don't think we have time to stop to make a photograph. Another reason is inconvenience. Or maybe I should call it laziness. We see the photo, but we also see it won't be as good if taken from where we are. We'll have to move a bit, maybe walk a little distance to get in best position for the shot.

Probably the number one hindrance to good people photography is fear. For that matter, fear of being open and vulnerable is the greatest hindrance in most human relationships. Fear often shows itself as an inertia which suggests all kinds of reasons why you shouldn't take the picture now. Later will be better. The light will be better. The people may be more receptive. You don't have the right camera. Or the right lens. Later...but not now. If you want to make good photographs of people, you must put aside your fear and inertia by an act of your will and begin to photograph -- now. Not later -- now! 

High on the western side of Pigeon Mountain is a small enclosed valley -- known in the southern Appalachians as a "pocket." Someone told us about it not long after we came to McLemore Cove, and of course, we wanted to see it for ourselves. Driving back along the gravel road that led to the Pocket, we passed a cornfield where an old man and his wife were picking corn. It was Fred "Coon" Hise, then in his 80s, and his wife Myrtle. We stopped and they came over to talk with us, their arms full of corn and their faces full of simple goodness. The scene was overwhelmingly reminiscent of a famous 1930s FSA photograph of an Iowa farmer and his wife holding the products of their farm. I had my camera; I could have taken the picture; but somehow, I didn't. I've missed many shots in my career as a photographer, and some I regret more than others. But this was the one I regret more than any other.

As the little signs that people used to hang on their office walls admonished, DO IT NOW!

Copyright 2022, David B.Jenkins.

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

Soli Gloria Deo

For the glory of God alone

The Missing Chapter

     Built in 1880 by James Parrish, the covered bridge at George L. Smith

State Park near Twin City was also a fully-functioning grist mill.

 

Millstones at the Parrish Mill

 

In the fall of 2020 I was asked by my editor at Countryman Press if I would like to do a second edition of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia. In addition, he asked me to do another chapter, or tour.

I did a little work on the book that fall, but was very busy getting our house and farm ready to sell, so I didn't begin serious work on it until the spring of 2021. The project involved driving each of the 15 tours, checking for anything that might have changed since I mapped out the first edition in 2016. I did most of the travel in June and July; driving nearly 8,000 miles, including extensive travel for the 16th tour. In fact, it was one of the longest and most expensive to produce.

Over the summer, my editor left and a new one took charge.

The very lovely 1854 Scarboro Baptist Church

 

 With the second edition almost ready to go to the publisher, I received an email from the editor a few days ago telling me that because of the cost of paper, they needed to keep the second edition about the same size as the first. Consequently, I should only turn in 15 chapters, my choice.

I decided to keep the original 15 chapters, so since the 16th will never see the light of day I decided to share some of the pictures with you.

The 1894 Bulloch County Courthouse, Statesboro

 

 Photographs and text copyright 2022, David B.Jenkins.

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

Soli Gloria Deo

For the glory of God alone

Documenting Your World

Raffling off a rifle at the Cedar Grove

Community Club in McLemore Cove.

If you were to view Lookout Mountain in northwest Georgia from above, you would see that it looks like an alligator with open jaws lying on its side. With the tip of its nose in Tennessee, its body sprawls southwest for 80 miles across the northwest corner of Georgia and into Alabama, The lower jaw of the alligator is Pigeon Mountain, and between its jaws lies a deep valley called McLemore Cove.

The inhabitants of the Cove are a cross section of America's real people. The true salt of the earth. They are farmers. some retirees, factory workers, and people who just enjoy living in the Cove.

And me. The Cove was my world for 32 years.

I wish I had started a serious photo-documentation of the Cove and its people from the beginning. It would have made a great book. But at the time I didn't think of it. I just made photos hit or miss as the spirit moved me, and in 32 years I did manage to get some decent photos, but the coverage was nothing like it could have been. Nonetheless, here are a few photos that may give you a flavor of the people and the place.

Marvin cooking for the wild game dinner at the community club. 

Although the Cedar Grove Community Club met every month, the highlight of the year was the wild game dinner each February, with hundreds attending and club members pitching in to help..

Serving it up at the wild game dinner.

 

One of our neighbors was George D. Queener, the biggest cattleman in the Cove, with 850 acres and about 350 purebred cattle.

George D. was still riding his horse in his 80s.

 

Killed by pine borers, a tree falls across Sourwood Lane.

 

Our little herd. Chickamauga Creek in the background.

 

Even a small herd of cattle is a lot of work. Eventually, we realized we were no longer able to keep up with things as well as we wanted to. We enjoy our life and travels in our RV, but we will always remember our life in McLemore Cove.

 Winter in the Cove. Chickamauga Creek and Pigeon Mountain.

 

Photographs and text copyright 2022, David B.Jenkins.

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

Soli Gloria Deo

For the glory of God alone

 

Documenting the Life of Your Family

My son Donny playing in spray, 1974

Don's son Devlin playing in spray, 2004

Not everyone loves photography, but 'most everyone loves pictures.

I have two daughters-in-law, both of them lovely women and each ideally suited to the son to whom she is married. Neither considers herself a photographer, yet each is constantly making photographs. Bonnie has an oldie-but-goodie Canon 20D I sent her way some years ago, and every year we receive a calendar filled with excellent family photos. From Kim, we receive a steady stream of cell phone photos of our grandkids, her household decor, plants in her garden and anything else she can think of. She doesn't think of herself as a photographer, but she is, and a prolific one at that. Both the girls are creating an ongoing documentation of their families, and provided they download their photos to their computers and back them up, and most especially, make prints, they will have photographic records of their families that will bring joy for generations to come.

                                       Lunch at the grandparents' pool, 1972

Since I began dabbling in photography in 1968 I've made it a habit to keep a camera close at hand at all times. When I notice something of interest I casually snap off a few frames. Someday soon I plan to put a bunch of those photos together in a book that tells the story of the life of my family, have it printed by one of the online printing companies, and give a copy to each of my kids and grandkids. A worthy project for any parent.

Photographs and text copyright 2022, David B.Jenkins.

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

Soli Gloria Deo

For the glory of God alone