This is the West End Village in Winston-Salem. The biggest challenge with existing multi-family residential buildings is well – they’re lived in. In this particular case, all of the residents kept their blinds and shades closed all day. Even when arriving a few days earlier with a letter, knocking on tenant doors, it was still impossible to get the unobstructed windows that I desired. So I waited until after sunset with sunlight still reflecting from the windows to capture the two buildings that form West End.
This is looking down to a building addition at the Higgins Lodge, a Christian camp run by the Moravian church in Laurel Springs.
The first four photos are from the Petty Building at University of North Carolina, Greensboro. I was granted access to their planetarium, which was pretty cool.
This is a dining room at the Twin Lakes Retirement Center’s community building in Burlington.
A fun classroom located in “My Aunt’s House” at the Children’s Home in Winston-Salem.
And last, Goler Manor apartments in Winston-Salem. I think that was the only car I got to see go past the entire evening.
Woo! After at least a year of back-and-forths, finally got to photograph Kristin in Winston-Salem last weekend. It’s my first attempt at shooting a person since last May. I don’t do these often but am warming up to the idea thanks to people like Kristin; she’s instantly likable and radiates with a purely positive personality. Very fun session and as you can gather, filled with laughs.
As time goes on, I’ll certainly do more of these and have become increasingly receptive to the idea of regularly shooting on-location portraiture and potentially even weddings. Yeah, I know – it’s something I swore up and down I’d never do – though that would explain all of the cold weather and snow we’ve been having…
Okay, I’m a little behind with these photo blogs. After publicly harassing him, Reuben decided to join me in a morning jaunt to Greensboro and Winston-Salem. It was fun, we talked a lot of photography and we’re certainly going to have to do it again. Shooting with others is certainly a different dynamic than going solo. And as always seems to be the case on any trip, every place we shot wasn’t exactly where I planned on going. That’s the thing I love about photography is the observation itself more so than the ‘click’ of the shutter or post-processing, whether film or digital. The experience of seeing is a pure delight and joy – the photograph is mere evidence that I was lucky enough to see it. It’s that perspective that always leaves me in continued awe at other photographer’s work.
In the above picture, Reuben and I were standing precariously on a dilapidated block wall at which I remarked I was getting too old for this crap. Oh to be 18 again, in fact I’ll even take 30.
The next day I traveled an alternate route to Goldboro, traveling through metropolitan areas such as Mount Olive, Dudley, and Grantham, North Carolina.
There is only subject matter that I face with more trepidation than shooting people.
…And that is flowers – I mean, really – I couldn’t possibly make them interesting with a gun to my head. So…I’m not natural at photographing people and this being the first attempt at shooting a person in almost a year I was very nervous. Fortunately I was photographing Amy, who is someone I’m familiar with, really like, and is an absolute sweetheart; it was the third time we’ve worked together, the last time I saw her was a couple of years ago. Thanks to Amy for enduring the cold rainy day and my inexperience! Shout outs to her husband, Dave for keeping Amy warm, showing me some cool places, not to mention cracking us up with his antics. It was a lot of fun!
I’m quite certain I’ll never make a living out of shooting people as subjects, but doing so challenges me in doing things I don’t have a natural knack for in my continued development as a wannabe photographer.
As time goes on, I’ll certainly do more of these and have become increasingly receptive to the idea of regularly shooting on-location portraiture and potentially even weddings. Yeah, I know – it’s something I swore up and down I’d never do – though that would explain all of the cold weather and snow we’ve been having…
