Delta Colors

Well we once again took off into the delta this weekend and found that the delta was alive and well! The colors ranged from the rich greens of the growing crops to the orange glow of the sunrise to the reds of the rusty delta farm equipment and the blues of the beautiful summer sky. Hope you enjoy!

Right before the sun cracked the horizon, I grabbed this shot of a Marty silhouette! His blog this week focuses on the awesome sunrise we shot. Check it out!

 

Then came a beautiful sunrise!

The sun was shining bright on these gorgious delta crops

Mount Helena was alive and well. The house is huge, but seems so small against the big beautiful blue sky.

Another incredible day. I never tire of driving through my home state. No matter how much you shoot these delta monuments, we always seem to find something new!

Vicksburg - Beautiful Day

Went shooting with Marty this past weekend. We thought it was going to rain and we would miss the sunrise, but boy did God have other plans. We saw so many colors in the sky. It was beautiful! Here are some random shots around Vicksburg from that day.

An old bridge on Hwy 80 right out of Vicksburg.

The sunrise was so colorful

Yet another old piano wasting away in the elements. Found in an old abandoned church off of Tucker Road.

Southern Snow

Sorry for the long delay. This is my first winter as a photographer and to be honest I am really struggling with the winter palette! This summer and fall provided colorful landscapes with plenty of saturation and I fell in love with the Autumn opportunities. But I am coming out of my Winter blues and really looking for the right frames to capture with this new landscape. Here are some of the photos captured from this last Winter blast through the deep South!



This angel face couldn't be hidden by the snow.


The Old Courthouse Museum was beautiful with the snow blanket.




The Mississippi River Bridge was an awesome site!

Raw Emotion - People of the South

Someone once told me that you'll take enough pictures until you finally figure out what you "like" to shoot. Well, I've got a year of photography under my belt and it's a clear favorite that I like capturing natural emotions of people. No "say cheese" shots for me, no way no how. I like to capture emotions that are natural and spontaneous. That is hard for a photographer, not only because of the legalities of it all, but because you have to actually be there with the perfect lighting, perfect attitudes, perfect everything to get that perfect "people" shot. Here are some of my favorites from 2009.

These young men were at the Veteran's day celebration we had in Vicksburg, Mississippi this year. That was one awesome event. I talked to the old timers and loved hearing their stories. I know that they loved telling them. For more Veterans' day photos of that day, click here.

This is my Godson, Brayden. He is a Southern character! He is one of a kind that has this personality that is infectious. He is spoiled rotten, but somehow you put up with it. Which is not me. I have a tendency to try to "fix" spoiled children. But Brayden always gets me laughing before I can "fix" him.

 

Here are some shots from Downtown Vicksburg this past summer. Kids playing in the water at "Catfish Row" water park. My wife and I had the best time just talking with the parents and kids. After we took the pictures, we give the parents my website so they can go download them all for free!

 

Of course, my favorite character of the year was Mr. Clovis. See my blog just on him. Check out these random shots of the many Southern characters I met in 2009. The second shot is Mr. Earl, and the third shot is Mr. Rodgers.

 

But, because I am married and my wife makes me take some "say cheese" shots, I do occasionally takes the kids and their friends out to take a few candid shots. Here are my kids.

 

Well, that is a pretty long blog. Thanks for hangin in there with me. This will be my first full winter to shoot photos in, so I am looking forward to revisiting some of the same places we went to this summer, but from a winter perspective. You guys have a wonderful and merry Christmas!

Yazoo River - Reflection

It was very early, about an hour before sunrise when I snuck out of bed to get dressed. My wife doesn't mind that I get up so early to beat the sunrise for pictures, but she very much minds when I wake her up asking her where my long johns are. It was cold on this morning. At least down to 40 degrees (I can see you northern folks laughing now) yes us southern folks think 40 degrees is cold, heck we close the schools if it gets to 32 degrees! I was excited a little more than usual because Marty was taking us somewhere I'd never been before. We were going to the Yazoo river. There are several levees there and their water reflects the sunrise like a shiny glass and would give us the opportunity for some awesome pictures. The funny part is that these levees were less than 20 miles from my front door and I had never been there before. I'm discovering that a lot these days. All the pictures around me in my own home tome that I've looked over for my 41 years.

So Annnywhooo, it was about a 100 ft walk from the top of the levee to the edge of the water, and it was DARK! And in Mississippi there are critters everywhere around the water. Snakes, alligators, etc. So Marty takes off toward the water and I naively walk behind him making as much noise as I can. I hear things splashing in the water, but I cant see anything yet. Hoping an alligator doesnt grab me, I get in position for taking pictures!

Then the sun started to rise! Oh my stars! When I see the photos in front of me. Here is my first shot of the morning after it got light enough, the sun just starting the break the horizon, it was then I noticed the FOG! How great for God to add a touch of fog to the photo! This lonely tree sits there every morning waiting on the sun to rise. Today it was showing off for us because usually no one is there to see its beauty.

Click on the pictures to see them full frame



The sun started rising and pushing the gray skies out of the way! It was like someone spilled a glass of orange soda and it was running through the sky.



There is Mr. Sun! He finally peaks over the horizon!



Until finally he is out in full glory! Here is a wide shot of what was in front of me the whole time.



You have to get out of bed before sunrise to see a sunrise. I'd never seen a sunrise on purpose over the last 40 years. Now, if I wake up before sunrise I almost can here the sun calling my name to tell me, "Don't miss me today, it is going to be awesome!"

Day After Thanksgiving - Road Trip!

As I took off this morning, I went around a curve and saw the above cross through the woods. Such an appropriate sign to start my day.

What a wonderful day of Thanksgiving I had with family yesterday. So many things to be thankful for! I saw a church sign one time that said, "Richness is not measured by how much you have, but by how little you need". Well if that is the measurement, then I am rich beyond imagination. I have a God that saved me, a wonderful healthy family, a job I love, a beautiful wife that loves and takes care of me. So with all that in mind, I woke up this morning belly still fat and full from a day of Thanksgiving food and decided to go meet with God and take some pictures of His glory.



This old barn was so lonely sitting in the middle of this huge field.



An old truck with a bucket on the front was once a powerful tool for some farmer back in the day. Now it's just rusting away in this field.



I turned off of Hwy 3 down this side road. After a few miles, I went around the corner right after sunrise and saw the sun blasting through this Spanish moss. Slammed on brakes, jumped out and took the shot.



First shot of the morning. The fog rolling off the Yazoo River. Had to climb through a patch of woods up a hill to get a clear shot. Was in a hurry, the sun was rising and hadn't yet reached this patch of cold fog. I knew once it reached it, it would be gone. After I got back in the car I thought to myself, "Walking through the woods during hunting season. Probably not good"

Well thank you again Lord for all you do for me and my family. To all my fellow bloggers and readers, I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I'll read your blogs to catch up with how it went for you.

Fall is here - Vicksburg, Mississippi

From green to orange to brown, the colors of Fall are upon us! I travel around Vicksburg with my friend Marty Kittrell and he has pinpoint precision of where just about every tree is that is changing colors in a photographic spot. The Military park, Cherry Street, and other prime locations. Photos are ripe for the picking. There is only about a two week window to grab that perfect frame. The trick is going by there every day until it's just right! Marty is teaching me the tricks.