Georgia's Coastal Ghost Town

 Boat and bayou, Sunbury Road, Liberty County, Georgia.

A skiff lies abandoned on the bank of a small bayou in the lazy sunlight of Georgia's coastal Liberty County near the ancient village of Sunbury. 

Established in 1758 on the south bank of the Midway River, Sunbury soon became an important port city, even rivaling Savannah. Destroyed by the British near the end of the Revolutionary War, the town was later devastated by an epidemic of Yellow Fever and two hurricanes. General Sherman completed the destruction of Sunbury in 1864 and the place became a ghost town.

Sunbury Cemetery, home of the ghosts.

Today, a few people still live in Sunbury, along with its ghosts and its cemetery, the final resting place of many prominent citizens of Sunbury and Midway. It has been estimated that there were hundreds of burials in the cemetery, but only 34 grave markers still stand, the oldest dated 1788.

(Both photographs were made with a Canon EOS 5D Classic digital camera, one of my all-time best workhorse cameras. The lens used for both pictures was the Canon EF 24-85mm f3.5-4.5 zoom.)

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.50 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail me a check to 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 2024 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     travel      Georgia    coastal Georgia     Sunbury, Georgia     Sunbury cemetery      Canon EOS 5D Classic camera    Canon EF 24-85mm f3.5-4.5 lens

Remembering Life on Deer Run Farm

Deer in our backyard. Deer Run Farm, McLemore Cove, January 20, 2018.

It has been three years and two weeks since Louise and I said goodbye to Deer Run Farm. We are busy and active in our new life in Knoxville, but we often remember with fondness the thirty-three years we spent on our little farm in northwest Georgia's McLemore Cove. We named it Deer Run Farm because the deer ran through it every day. (The name was Louise's choice -- I wanted to name the place "Paradise Hill Farm. I guess you know who won.) But it was a good choice.

We don't spend much time on nostalgia, because even nostalgia is not what used to be. But we had a great life there. We were sorry to see it end, but everything has its time. We needed to move on to a new chapter while we were still able. Our two years of full-time RV living were great also, but again, it was time to move on. Now we're enjoying life in our new home in Knoxville, and I guess we'll stay here a while.

What do we miss about the farm? Well, the deer, of course. But I guess what I miss most is the cattle. They left in 2013 and the farm was never quite as much fun after that. I miss our two great dogs, Honey and Rusty, who both died in 2014. I miss the wonderful house we built, and I miss cutting and splitting wood to keep the fireplace going all winter. I miss mowing the pastures with a bush-hog, and in general I miss the openness and freedom of life in the country.

It was a great life, and we feel thankful and privileged to have lived it. But we are also thankful to be where we are now and look forward to whatever God has in store for us.

(Photo: Fuji X-T20 camera, Fujicron 50-230mm telephoto zoom lens.)

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.50 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail me a check to 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 2024 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     northwest Georgia     McLemore Cove     Fuji X-T20 camera     Fujicron 50-230 lens

How Do You Carry Your Camera?

Pencil of Light

  Or should I ask, "Do you carry your camera?" I can say in all honesty that I have never taken a worthwhile picture at a time when I did not have my camera with me.

Since 1969 I have almost never left home without a camera hanging by its strap over my left shoulder and cradled in my left hand. My family refers to it as my growth.

Of course, if I go out specifically for the purpose of making photographs I will carry more equipment. If I'm working on a book or magazine assignment, for instance, I will usually carry a bag with at least two camera bodies and three to five lenses. But one of those cameras will be out of the bag and over my shoulder where I can get to it quickly. On a commercial assignment I will probably be carrying four or five bags holding lights, light stands, and other gear.

My everyday carry camera these days is the Fuji X-T20. But over the years I've carried cameras as small as the tiny Olympus E-PL1 and as large as a Pentax 6x7. Which, as it happened, was what I was carrying one late afternoon when I was walking around our little farm in northwest Georgia's McLemore Cove. The setting sun was coming between two hills and casting a narrow band of light that almost appeared to originate at the little cattle feeder.

I wasn't out and about for the purpose of making pictures, but if I saw something interesting, I had my camera with me. I was ready. And that's the secret to making good pictures.

I say "secret," but truly,there are no deep, dark secrets in photography. There is no magic in buying newer and better cameras and lenses. As the master photographer Elliott Erwitt said, "All the technique in the world doesn't compensate for the inability to notice things." And, “Nothing happens when you sit at home. I always make it a point to carry a camera with me at all times." 

Great advice. And I practice it.

(Pentax 6x7 camera, 105mm f2.4 Takumar lens, and Fujicrome 100 film.)

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $3.95 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail me a check to 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 2024 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     Pentax 6x7 camera     105mm f2.4 Takumar lens,    Fujicrome 100 film     Fuji X-T20 camera     Elliott Erwitt

Another Photo from Senoia

 

 The McKnight House, Senoia, Georgia

I was busy yesterday and didn't post anything, so here's a brief post for today. I'll be back Friday with another post on life, photography,or travel. Or maybe all three.

The neoclassical McKnight House in Senoia was built by Captain W.D. Linch in 1905 as a wedding gift to his daughter, Mary McKnight. 

If you look carefully, you will see that the front door is offset to the left. Legend says that's because Mary wanted to make room for her grand piano in the chamber on the right. 

The McKnight House is just one of many interesting things to see in and around Senoia. If you visit the town, pick up an Historical Tour brochure at the Senois Welcome Center, 68 Main Street. They're open Wednesday through Saturday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. 

(The photo was made with an Olympus OM-D EM-5 micro 4/3s digital camera and the Panasonic Lumix G-Vario 12-32mm lens.)

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $3.95 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail me a check to 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 2024 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     travel     Georgia     Senoia, Georgia     micro 4/3s cameras     Olympus OM-D E-M5     Panasonic Lumix 12-32mm lens