Photo“Graphic”  –  it’s part of the word!  I was first introduced to that realization by John Shaw, one of the best nature photographers of our era!  This morning while on my daily trip around to see what might be the shot of the day, I saw a building framed up under construction.  I was almost past it when I noticed that the fresh concrete floor was cover with water and was reflecting the structure.  I went down the street and made a U turn and went back to check it out.  The dark blue shy with four matching parallel contrails and the graphic quality of the scene was too much to pass up!  To add to the drama what I thought was water was actually the re-frozen water from the night before and it was solid ice, even more reflective!

 

Photographic Post-Mortem:   I decided to use  the widest lens I had with me which is one of my very favorites, the Fujifilm XF 14mm f 2.8 R.  This lens is tack sharp and has very little distortion, it is small, light and has a clutch focus ring which is great for manual focusing.  The image was made on Acros with a Red filter, 1/5ooth of a second @ f 11 and ISO 400, hand-held.  I had the Film Simulation bracket turned on with a Velvia, Provia and Acros with a red filter.  Below I am offering the Provia version, and I think it illustrates that the color actually takes away from the graphics of the first shot, what do you think?

 

 

Thanks for coming along on this adventure with me, and by-the-way the project is really getting me ready for some more great shooting come spring, hope it is inspiring you too!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

 

I would call this shot an attempt at “Jay Maisel Lite”!  While out taking Chester for a ride, this morning, where he loves to stick his head out of the window, even at freezing temperatures, I saw this purple lock and had to give it a try!  Of course if Jay does this kind of shot usually his color interest is gang busters off the scale, and this is certainly, by comparison, subtle, to say the least.  it still struck me as an interesting color comparison with the greyed wood tones.  

 

Photography Post Mortem:  This was pretty simple, I rolled the window down, turned off the engine, after having pulled close to the doors, shot with a X-T5 and the 70-300 (around 200mm equiv.) at f 5 and 1/170th of a second – ISO 1600.  I just got the very bottom of my window sill in the bottom of the frame so I cropped that out. I was not perfect parallel to the door so the left side of the image was just a little soft.  A quick run through Topaz Sharpener AI fixed that with no problems. Lesson from this shot, I need to take more time on shots, several mistakes were dead obvious after I reviewed my one frame, if you are going to only shoot one, be careful, get it right, I promise to try to do better!  That’s why you do this, to get better!

 

I have a thing for locks so I have included a few of my past “Lock Shots” below, enjoy and have a great weekend, see you tomorrow.

 

 

 

So the greatest thing about this project is I  don’t know what will happen next!  Kinda fun!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

Another of Corbin’s Hot Spots!  In 2014 some adventurous, potential restaurant owners decided to open a taproom in downtown Corbin.  They secured a spot at 207 South Main Street. As they started to prepare the space they decided to take down and old wall knowing the building was brick, thinking a brick wall would work great with the theme they had in mind for the taproom!  To their surprise when the old wall framing was removed they found a beautiful advertising painting graced the brick wall.  A Wrigley’s Spearmint Gum painting!  So they named the new enterprise The Wrigley Taproom  and Eatery!!!

 

 

In keeping with the project rules I did not shoot the interior images of the Wrigley, (remember one fame a day!), but I borrowed them from their website!  Now as clever as the name is and as cool as the throw back decor is, it would not have made it without great food, service and a wonderful variety of craft beers!  Fortunately, they nailed all of that in spades!  The Wrigley has become a favorite lunch, dinner and watering hole for the locals.  The wall sure didn’t hurt, providing a great name, but the rest is all because of what a great run spot this is!  If you’re ever in Corbin and want a great meal, and some cold craft beer, well….now you know the place to visit!  ….and yes they do have a 5 Pickle, Fortney approved, burger!  They have been featured in Time, Food & Wine, Forbes , The Food Network, and The Lane Report.

 

Photographic Post Mortem:  Shot handheld with the Fujifilm X-T5 and the XF 23mm f 2 WR R lens set at 1/50th of a second  @ f 4 and ISO 1600.  Because of the soft light coming through the street side window I had to even out the exposure with some careful dodging and burning, but that was it!  I love the little Fujicrons and the 23mm f 2, (a 35mm equivalent),  is perfect for lowlight assignments like this!

 

See you tomorrow and I hope you’re enjoying the journey, if you are….. you can meet me at the Wrigley for burger and fries!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

This morning we had a very overcast cold morning and I ended up driving Sherelene to work in Barbourville, KY,  because my vehicle is all wheel dive and her’s is not, though roads turned out to be fine! On my way back home I drove past the Kentucky Fried Chicken Museum and KFC restaurant in Corbin.  The sky was pretty dull and I had an idea!  Hundreds of people stop at the museum everyday of the year and shoot a selfie of themselves in front of the historical marker telling about Kentucky’s Most Famous Citizen, Col. Harland Sanders. I know you were thinking it was me, but sadly not!!! Ha!!!

 

The Post Mortem:  My goal for this shot was to get the historical marker in sharp focus and hold enough focus on the Sander’s Cafe sign to keep it as part of the scene.  I choose the Fujifilm XF 16-80 set to around 54mm (82mm equiv.), for compressing of the two elements in frame, and exposed the image for 0.3 seconds @ f 14 with an ISO setting of 125.  I set the self timer for 10 seconds with the camera on a tripod, that gave me time to walk close to the brass marker with a small hand held , but powerful, LED battery operated light panel (3″X5″) to just highlight the brass lettering on the marker.  The only thing I did in post was remove some telephone lines in the extreme left side of the frame and slightly darken the exposure to make the neon in the Sander’s Cafe Sign pop.  So there you have it Shot One – Day One!

 

Side Note:  Many years ago I was covering a fundraising picnic in Hodgensville, KY.  I was the regional AP (Associated Press News Agency) rep at the time.  It was an outdoor event and they had set up a hundred picnic tables across a field, so I got my plate of food and went to an empty picnic table and had just started to eat when a older gentlemen in a tweed sport coat, blue oxford shirt and nice rep stripe tie walked up and said, “Son, do you mind if I eat at your table?”  I said, ” Absolutely,I’m the only one here and I’m not expecting anyone, have a seat!”  He did and we small talked as we ate.  I kept looking at him and knew I had seen him somewhere before, but just couldn’t place him.  I finally said, “I’m embarrassed, I know that I that I have met you before, but I don’t know when or where?”  He leaned into me with big smile and said “Aw, you’ve seen me around, I just don’t always where that white suit!”  It was Col. Harland Sanders!  He turned out to be really nice guy!

 

If you come through Corbin, stop by the Col. Harland Sanders Museum, it is fun stop to learn the history of the KFC story.

 

 

Can’t wait for Day Two!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

So you can read it better!