Local Backroads

This farm's near Grand Ledge on M-43. Somehow I've never taken a photo I really liked of these buildings. Last January 3 I wandered into GL on an errand, and nearly every photo I shot that day was taken during that trip. They were, on the whole, just awful. Some days are photographic disasters. Y' get color today because this photo doesn't work well in monochrome. ========== The project photo was the first photo I posted with the to-be-recurring trellis theme, although our trellis isn't actually shown (and, as we've seen, I'd already taken at least one earlier trellis pic). I imagine I'll have more to say about this later. This was the day I started thinking of doing a photo-a-day, by the way. If you read the tags I put on the next few project pics, you'll see I was skeptical about my ability to follow through. ========== The Sony DSC-H55 actually shoots only in color. While this may seem to handicap a monochrome photographer, it's not significantly different from shooting black & white pics with a DSLR (or any film camera, for that matter). You do see the potential-photograph in color, but a mental translation makes appropriate adjustments. Then you use software to make similar adjustments on the computer. Although it didn't work out for this specific photo, I've rarely found it to be a problem. ========== This photograph is an outtake from my 2012 photo-a-day project, 366 Snaps . Number of project photos taken: 15 (mostly terrible) Title of "roll:" Miscellany Other photos taken on 1/3/2012: none

Bought my breakfast at Sophia's in Grand Ledge a year ago, with a vague plan to get a photo on my way home. Took a few pics at the island park, most of which I probably didn't intend as black & whites , then headed home. These barns--one's actually a collapsed corn crib, I think--are close to Grand Ledge. In fact, I've posted a photo of them before , some years back. I imagine there used to be a home at this location, but the farmer now lives across the street in a very attractive ranch house. But I didn't use any of the GL pix. Since Joan and I are serious readers, our upstairs room is full of books and magazines. The house is small, so I sell on eBay and Amazon just to clear room on our shelves. The photo I posted to 366 Snaps documented the sales prep effort. ========== This photograph is an outtake from my 2012 photo-a-day project, 366 Snaps . Number of project photos taken: 26 (but see my comments about Second Island, above) Title of " roll :" GL & around home Other photos taken on 1/9/2012: 6 color photos for the auction using the D300.

I had an idea for a specific photo on January 11--of a deserted house on Dow Road, north of Little Venice. I took an eccentric route to the site, though, and collected a handful of farmyard shots on Strange Highway before I got to the abandoned place. I also took a pair of really odd photographs of my then-quite-new car. These trees are near the Dow Road property, and caught my eye while I was shooting another photo . ========== "Your rules say 15 daily photographs. Why?" Experience. Three are too few; thirty are more than I usually need. When I used film, a typical twelve or twenty(-four) frame film roll would yield one or two photographs I liked, perhaps three absolute disasters, with the rest acceptable but unexceptional. Some days were (are) better than others, to be sure, for all sorts of reasons. The pattern holds true when I shoot digitally, except that on a typical day I shoot more pictures. My rules were intended to keep the project simple. Restricting myself to relatively few photographs made it more likely I'd actually get out there with the camera. As you'll see, though, I treated this "rule" as a guideline. Many days I shot six or eight pix; on other days I'd shoot over 200. This depended on my mood, and the day's opportunity. The month's camera had some impact, too. ========== This photograph is an outtake from my 2012 photo-a-day project, 366 Snaps . January 11 was the day I finally realized that the 366 Snaps outtakes were worth preserving. So I created a folder and started stuffing it with photographs. At that point I wasn't sure what I'd do with them. Number of project photos taken: 15 Title of " roll :" Near Mulliken Other photos taken on 1/11/2012: none.

This is the photograph I was setting up when I noticed the signs on the trees . While this pic works in monochrome, it's better in color. You may notice that there's another home--a double-wide modular, actually--in the neighboring lot. It, too, is abandoned, and appears unlikely to survive for long. But it's not especially photogenic. We'll be seeing that barn again .... ========== This photograph is an outtake from my 2012 photo-a-day project, 366 Snaps . 366/2012 project discussion here .

Over the course of the year I probably photographed every halfway interesting structure between Mulliken and Grand Ledge. These sheds are about midway between the two towns, and a constant photographic temptation. ========== Never underestimate the value of good light. Last January 18, nearly every photo I took was excellent. Most photographers work within a limited geography. I think of mine as more-or-less concentric areas: * Within the house. * Within the yard. * Within the Village of Mulliken. * The nearby farm country. * Grand Ledge and Portland. * Other local small towns. * Lansing. * Weekends. * Vacations. Since I made a lot of Kalamazoo trips over the year that city and the routes I took to get there became another set of subjects, but normally they're rather like weekend shots. This isn't the only way I divide my photographic universe. I'll likely discuss this again. ========== This photograph is an outtake from my 2012 photo-a-day project, 366 Snaps . Number of project photos taken: 22 Title of " roll :" Mostly GL Other photos taken on 1/18/2012: none.

There's something about this farmyard I find appealing. The tiny, now-below-grade-level garage, the small-but-sprawling house, the trees, the outbuildings. Just everything, really. This photo doesn't even show the stream that runs around the yard's edge. Neat place....

The folks who own this farm had been converting the woodlot in the back forty into a field, and it seems likely that they discovered these cars abandoned in the underbrush out back. Regardless, I found the photographic opportunity irresistible, so I stopped and grabbed a quick shot. Today's a year later, and the grey car's still for sale.... ========== The garish barn is partly--but only partly--a camera artifact. This was the first of seven photographs I shot on an early-morning followup trip to my dentist. The other six pix were unacceptable; four were technically horrible (I'd try one of those again later, with better results), and two were poorly-executed bad ideas I couldn't have recovered if I'd tried. Good thing this one worked out. ========== This photograph is an outtake (an original, actually; see the comments) from my 2012 photo-a-day project, 366 Snaps . Number of project photos taken: 7 Title of " roll :" Dentist Trip Other photos taken on 1/30/2012: none.