I Heart Faces Photo Challenge - Oh So Silly!

My followers remember Mr. Slim from the Mississippi Delta! The story goes as my wife and friends were photography free styling when we came up on an old country store in Greenville, Mississippi. My wife goes inside while I am shooting the old gas pumps outside, when all of the sudden she burst outside and said, "You have GOT to come see this man!" She knows I love faces and people that exude "character". Well Slim was everything I wanted in a picture and more!

I asked if I could take his photo, and the other old men in the store starting "ragging" him. It was hilarious! They were saying things like "Show 'em your good side slim!", or "Show 'em your teeth slim!".  I started shooting and he sat there real still, but then unprovoked he started "posing". Like a supermodel that needed a good shave, he puts his hand to his rugged face and his pose was the shot you see here.

I am submitting this photo to the IHeartFaces silly photo contest. It may not seem as silly as some of the other faces in the contest, but for ole slim, it was as silly as he will ever get!

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.

Delta - "Mayor of Black Bayou"

Ladies and gentlemen meet Mr. Jimmie Rodgers. Mr. Rodgers is the junk man of the delta! He has been in the junkyard business since 1971 when he bought his place and started it from scratch.





I was out and about his junkyard looking (and photographing) the old tractors around his place, when I heard the strangest sounds coming from the back of the lot.



That's when I first met Molly and Jill.







No, not his kids, but his donkeys! Molly is the mom and Jill is her daughter. He loves having horses, mules, and other critters around. Mr. Rodgers says, "They help with the grass cutting." The Rodger's family live on "VFW road" and folks around consider him the "Mayor of Black Bayou", cause he is forever into what's happening around the neighborhood and everyone around comes to the junkyard to find out any new news. The bayou that runs along the road is call Black Bayou.

Just one more "Character of the Delta". More to come ...

Jim's Cafe - Greenville Mississippi

Ok, If you've read my blogs, you've figured out by now that I love Southern character and charm. Well when my friends took me to eat at Jim's Cafe in downtown Greenville, Mississippi I felt like I was drowning in Southern Charm. After I placed my order for pancakes and grits, Mr. Jim gave me a tour of the place and talked me through all the various photos on the wall. Here are some pictures of the place. Go and eat there soon! It was fantastic.



The pure colors of the booths, tablecloths and decorative flowers were absolutely southern. I could have sat there all day.



Mr. Jim sells homemade pepper sauce. Our friends bought us a bottle last year and we LOVED it. We bought another bottle while we were there plus a few more for family and friends!



Then finally our food came and it was the best homemade southern breakfast I had had in a long time. That is melted butter in that little cup, and the syrup, oh my that awesome syrup.