Port Gibson, Mississippi - Southern Photography

So many of us walk around day after day living our life the same way under the same circumstances, yet we expect somehow for this day to be different. We wake up saying "Today may be better", yet we ourselves do nothing to help steer the day in a different direction. We wake up with the same attitude each day. We expect to get cut off in traffic, we expect to get skipped in line at Walmart, we expect to have customers at our job that aren't happy. Then we expect that these things will once again ruin our day.

Well take a look at this picture taken this past Saturday in Port Gibson's Lake Hamilton. Here is a lake full of despair, yet this flower decided to be different. This flower lives in the same circumstances that all the other flowers live in, yet it is full of life and reaching for the sky!

That is the lesson that God wanted me to see this weekend. He wanted me to know and to share with you guys, that we control our own attitudes. We control our own reactions. Even when we are living in a world of ugliness, a world of rudeness, we control how that affects us.

Next time you are cut off in traffic, next time someone jumps in front of you in line, next time that customer is rude, say to yourself "You will not bring me down today." No matter what this world throws at you, you have a God who loves you and his attitude toward you will never change. Now go and have a joyful day!

Southern Places - Beauty Everywhere

The southern United States. Mississippi, Louisiana and other southern states have such a unique landscape. There is so much beauty in just normal everyday southern stuff. Buildings, landscapes, or tires leaning on a tree. Enjoy some of my random shots of the south.

Cary, Mississippi - This old cotton gin was still very much operational when we stopped by. This shot was off the front of the building. The combination of broken glass, rusted tin, and water logged signs tell me this Gin has been processing cotton for many years.

 Driving through Pioneer, Louisiana this summer, we were flying down a back road highway when I looked out the window and saw this shot. It looks like the tires are all resting after a hard days work in the field.

This is one of my favorite piano shots. This one in particular was in an old abandoned church on the side of the road in the Mississippi delta up Highway 61 North. Rain had leaked into the building over the years and the wood was warping all around it. But on this day the sun was shining through the window. The piano was facing the window and seemed to be begging for someone to play it. For all my piano shots click here.

The lilies were all in full bloom this summer at Lake Hamilton near Port Gibson, Mississippi. This particular bloom was reaching high for the sunshine. It was one beautiful day. For more Lake Hamilton shots, click here.

Lake Providence, Louisiana - This boat shelter was rusting away, but the reflection on the beautiful water that day gave me a great shot. The contrast of colors between the green background and the rust colors of the building are the kind of contrast I love to find in a photograph.

So, like I said random shots from my random driving around the South. These are things that in the past I may have glanced at and never thought about again. With the gift of photography, I'm able to capture them in a single moment in time and admire their beauty forever.