Get On Up - James Brown Movie - Rodney, Mississippi

I recently went to see the James Brown biography movie, Get On Up. I went because it blended both of my worlds of photography and music, two of my favorite activities! I knew that the movie was filmed in several locations across Mississippi, but when I heard they filmed a scene at the old church in Rodney, Mississippi, I had to go see it!

I watched the movie with much anticipation, thinking they would barely show the old church, or I wouldn't recognize it, but then it happened...

My heart JUMPED out of my chest, and I wanted to turn to the folks around me in the movie theatre and tell them, I KNOW THAT PLACE, I've stood right where they are standing. But it was more than that, something inside me was happy for the old church that no one ever gets to see. It is so remote and forgotten that the earth is slowly overtaking it. So, yeah, I guess I was happy that now the world was seeing it through the film

Just two weeks ago Marty Kittrell and I went to shoot the old church (again), with a new friend of ours to show it to him for the first time. Here are some photos from that day.

Well, anyway, just wanted to share this moment of my life, it was very thrilling to know that this little jewel of Mississippi was being shared with millions of movie goers around the country. This old church that we visit regularly because we know that eventually the earth will overtake it and be forgotten by all. The old church that rain and weather has already claimed most of the inside walls and ceiling, is now temporarily revitalized because the movie company shored up and cleaned up the inside for filming.

I hope to find some of the other Mississippi locations that were used in the film. To see the movie trailer for the James Brown movie "Get on Up" click here. http://youtu.be/vptGSENcXeI

To see the church yourself, take a quick trip to Rodney, here are the coordinates Just be careful and respectful of the old girl!

Latitude: 31.860774, Longitude: -91.200990

Abandoned Piano Brought Back to Life

When I'm out shooting photos, so many times I will stumble across old pianos that have been left behind. When we find these old pianos, we always wish we could just take it home and do something with it. Well we finally did!

This old piano was in the top floor of a church, in a room that hadn't seen daylight in many years. We stripped it down and brought it back to life as a new piece of furniture. These are just a few of the photos. For the complete story see my other blog! www.worshipmacgyver.com

BEFORE



AFTER!

Seasons of Life

Life happens. We are born, then we die. And in between the two dates on our tombstone is a little dash that represents our time here on earth. But instead of a dash, it should probably be more of an up and down curve. Some days we are happy, others we are sad. One day our health is good, and on other days we are worried about test results. One day we are surrounded by our loved ones, the next we are attending their funerals. These are the seasons of life.

What makes us strong in our beliefs is that we don't let our current season affect our faith and we shouldn't make our praise a condition of our circumstances. It is easy to praise when we are like the little girl above in the summer of life. When our hands are in the air, big smiles on our face, life is nothing but hearts and rainbows and not a care in the world! But we should be just as full of praise when we are like the little boy above, tired and slumping and ready for the day to just be over.

Summer, winter, fall or spring.  No matter what season you are in, just remember no season is permanent and we can always expect a change. The good news is that if our praise is not based on our circumstances, then no matter what season we are in, our joy remains the same!

Missed Opportunities

I first saw this gentleman in Rolling Fork, Mississippi about a year ago. My son and I left Vicksburg around 3:30 in the afternoon and headed up 61 North to the Mississippi Delta looking for some great Delta photos. As we drifted into Rolling Fork, Mississippi and headed downtown, I turned the corner and there he was. My heart jumped out of my chest as a photographer, the sun was setting and giving perfect light, he was rolling right down the middle of the road so the composition was perfect, the Jesus tag on the back of his chair could inspire someone that saw my photo, and the icing on the cake was this old glory flag waiving in the breeze as he moved. It was the PERFECT picture! Only one problem, my camera had the wrong lens on and he turned the corner as I frantically tried to switch it out. My heart sank.... I was sick to my stomach... A missed opportunity that I will never get back... or so I thought....

About a year later, I was out with my friend Marty and we ended up in Rolling Fork again. I wasn't even thinking I would see this gentleman again. But there he was.

This time I was disappointed. The sun wasn't setting, he wasn't in the middle of the street, the flag was all crinkled up. I even had the right lens on this time, but wasn't excited about the shot. All I could remember, is that the last time I saw him I could have had the perfect photo, and that this time it just wasn't the same. But instead of driving away, I pulled over and introduced myself to Mr. J.C. I shared my story about me seeing him a year ago, and we talked and talked. You see, what I thought was a missed opportunity a year ago, was quickly revealed to me that this was the real opportunity. Had I got the shot a year ago, he would have sped away and we would have never spoken and all I would have ended up with was a photo. By seeing J.C. a year later, I talked to him, heard his story and we shared our love for Jesus and what he has done for us. What I thought was a missed opportunity was God fostering an encounter with a fellow believer that I would have missed otherwise. Next time you think that God isn't listening, remember that it is in His time that his path for us is revealed, not ours.


Side note: J.C.? really, (Jesus Christ? Hey, it is on his license plate! )

Vicksburg Structures - Kuhn Memorial Hospital and Carr Central High School

Sorry for the long delay in blogging. Life gets in the way of activities that we cherish the most. Photography went second fiddle to house remodeling and sending a kid off to college. On top of that, winter colors (or lack there of) never draw my camera's attention. But, Spring is in the air and the colors are coming back, house is finished and the kids adjusting to college life just fine! So what did I do for my first adventures back into photography? I went and shot two old structures around my home town of Vicksburg, Mississippi.

I vaguely remember Kuhn Memorial Hospital growing up.  It was a charity hospital, so I don't think I went there for any medical attention, but I lived on Jackson St as a small child and drove by it everyday on my way to elementary school. Here are a few of the photos of Kuhn I shot a few days ago. For the full gallery of photos see here.

 

Now moving on to Carr Central. I was one of the last classes to attend Carr Central. I believe is was 4th or 5th grade math. I had Mrs. Morris. I remember Clarence Dunmore chasing me around the room, so I grabbed his markers and threw them out the window. Here are a few photos from my recent shoot. For the full gallery see here.

Hope you guys enjoyed my first adventure back in a while! More to come soon. Be sure to check out the full galleries if you want more at www.gritsphotography.com!

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!

My Salvation Story Through My Photos - Mississippi Photography

Once upon a time I was on a very lonely road. Going through life, going through the motions but always feeling an emptiness inside. Something was missing. I had money, a college degree, and a great family, but it never was enough and I never felt complete. Then one day it all came crashing down. But that's not the end of the story. So let me start at the beginning...

Joyless Life

Growing up my life was kinda like this picture. No color, no joy. The people around me were like these trees. Just as weak as I was and feeling like they could break at any minute. Potholes and broken roads were at every turn. I burned a lot of bridges with people that I held resentment with. For the first 30 years of my life I was living this Hwy 80 life, when there was an entire Interstate 20 right next to me. 

The Crash

Then one day it all came crashing down. I was working three jobs. My regular job and also trying to run two small businesses of my own. You see, I wanted to be rich. To have power and notoriety. I lost my businesses and almost lost my family. My beautiful wife and two kids were ready to walk out the door. I deserved it. I was a terrible husband and father that only thought of himself. I was "doing all this for them" to give them money and "things". But that's not what they wanted. My pride and desire to have worldly things had consumed me like the vines on this building until one day my legs literally collapsed from underneath me. 

The Rebound

Some of my friends had been trying to tell me about this "other life". This "I-20" life that was focused on others and not myself. That was focused on happiness and a contentment that didn't involve power and money. They told me that Jesus loved me and that he could help me.

Baby Steps

They invited me to church and welcomed me and my family with open arms. I took baby steps at first. I just committed to going on Sunday's at first. I didn't make any major decisions or become this Jesus freak. It just felt right and it felt like I was finally on the right track and the darkness I felt for so long finally started seeing light again. Those dead trees that had been all around me starting growing vibrant leaves and the new life of green surrounded me.

Salvation Is Here

Then one day it happened. I had just left church and it started to sink in. I heard a message that Jesus had died on the cross for me. I never really knew what that meant until that night. It meant that before Jesus there was no way for a sinner like me to get to heaven.  But because Jesus died on the cross I had a way to get to heaven. I prayed to Jesus and told Him that I know that I am a bad person, that I had done a lot of sins in my life. I told God through many tears that I was sorry and that I needed him to come into my life. 

Joyful Life

It was just that simple, and suddenly that emptiness and void that I had felt for years was overflowing with joy and peace. I was a new man at 30 years old. I felt like a kid again. A kid not afraid to look silly. To raise my hands in praise. I felt clean and like I had a new start as a new child. I felt like God had taken away all my guilt, my shame, my sin. He let me start over again, and even though I still fail sometimes, he is faithful to forgive me and now I know he will always love me.

Amazing Grace

It's been over 12 years since that day. I'm still not rich monetarily, but I am rich in so many other ways! I thank God everyday for rescuing me. I thank Him for saving my marriage, and for teaching me how to raise my kids. I love him and talk to Him everyday. I call on Him when I'm tired, when my daughter takes off down the highway on her way back to college, and when the sunrise comes over the horizon and I start snapping pictures. My life today is kinda like this picture. With Jesus up high in the sky, I am below trying to be a reflection of Him. 

Memorial Day

Marty took me to the National Cemetery this past Memorial Day and the Vicksburg National Military Park. They put out the flags every year to honor our fallen heros. Believe it or not, this was my first time to ever experience the flags and take the time to walk through the cemetery and reflect on the sacrifice of our soldiers from long ago. It was an honor to walk through such sacred ground and capture the red, white and blue.

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!

Downtown Vicksburg

Well, we had a really short photoshoot this Saturday as all of us had to try to get home before 9! So we left the house at 5:30 hoping to catch a sunrise, but the weather really didn't cooperate this time, so we drove around downtown in our hometown of Vicksburg! Still got some great shots and paid attention to some details this time that you take for granted in your own city when you see it everyday.

This was a new site as we drove downtown! The empty lot in the foreground on this photo was where a building has stood for 70 years or so. Well they knocked it down a few weeks ago and exposed this "ghost" billboard of an old "Snowdrift shortening" and Coca Cola advertisement. Best I can tell in my internet research, the Snowdrift shortening company advertised from 1896-1920 or so, so this is pretty old!

Beautiful colors of Downtown Vicksburg

Hope you enjoy, and come visit us sometime!