Observation #18: Every Building Has a Story

I slept in a guest house built in the shadow of the abandoned mill. In the morning hours, I bent my ear to the wind just so, right at the angle of nostalgia, and I heard the histories of the men and women who laid the bricks of that mill. People of another era grinding grain for the community, for themselves. I heard the humming of the the woman whose thee young’uns were waiting for pops to cross the Atlantic after having been holed up in Italy. The whistling of the man between wars who fought off the ghosts with high pitched sounds. The foreman, a devotee of the Baptist church who worked up a good lather through work instead of preaching. The bricks men lay carry their stories. So often we walk on by, deaf to the wind.

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*Photo taken with the Fujifilm X100S.

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Observation #17: The Right Light

Observation #17: Good architecture sneaks up on you, I think. The building you’ve passed 1,000 times waits for the right moment, the right light, the right balance of elements and then WHAMMO! she whops you upside the head and says ‘Pay attention!’”

*Photo taken with the Fujifilm X100S. For behind the scenes content join the inner circle.

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Observation #16: Monochrome Magic

Observation #16: Sometimes the way to see the magic is to strip away the color.

*Photo taken with the Fujifilm X100S. For behind the scenes content join the inner circle.

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Observation #13: New Light for Old Loves

I’ve lived in Fayetteville, Arkansas for eighteen years now, and I’ve passed the old courthouse hundreds, maybe thousands of times. As an attorney, I’ve tried cases there. I’ve attended gatherings there. I’ve photographed it over and over, even used one of those photographs as a sort of icon for a lenten project at church. On Saturday, everything was so gray and quiet, I knew I had to catch my old love in a new light.

Observation #13: It’s possible to fall in love again and again if you appreciate the changing seasons, the shifting shadows, the new light.

*Photo taken with the Fujifilm X100S. For behind the scenes content join the inner circle.

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Observation #12: The Ghost of Christmas Present

Observation #12: Ghosts haunt, especially at Christmas present.

*For behind the scenes content join the inner circle. Photo taken with the Canon M-50.

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Observation #9: Inspiration Everywhere

Inspiration is everywhere these days. Is it any wonder? In these days of division and vitriol, don’t we all need some good vibes?

Observation #9: Good vibes don’t make themselves.

*For behind the scenes content join the inner circle. Photo taken at The Church On Morgan in Raleigh, North Carolina with my iPhone, edited with Lightroom Mobile.

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Observation #8: Observing the Bones

On a trip to southern Louisiana, I saw the bones of the old oak. The erosion of the marshland, the encroaching salt water, the change in climate—all of it takes its toll on living things.

Observation #8: Bones make beautiful photos, though that’s no silver lining.

*For behind the scenes content join the inner circle. Photo taken with the Canon M-50.

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Observation #7: Focusing on a Piece of the Whole

Enamored by its texture, its finger-pointing steeple, I took the photo of the old brick church in Mooresville, Alabama. I loved the landscape image, the way the facade stood proud when framed just right. But as I stepped back from the church, as I took stock of the building, I noticed the way the shadows and light played on the front porch, the way they seemed to peel the layers of paint on the columns.

Observation #7: Sometimes perspective comes by focusing on a piece of the whole.

*For behind the scenes content join the inner circle. Photo taken with the Canon M-50.

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Observation #5: Children of Light

After the Thanksgiving feast, the children took to the bamboo forest. They hunted, danced, warred between the stalks, children as they are. From time to time they came from the shadows, peeked out from behind the stalks, made sure I hadn’t headed for home.

Observation #5: Children love the shadows, but they’re comforted by light and fathers.

*Come join the inner circle. Photo taken with the Canon M-50.

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Observation #4: Long Shadows

I made my way to downtown Hunstville, Alabama for a little street photography. I found a little park by a quaint museum where the city placed a popup ice-skating rink. It was late in the afternoon, well before the golden hour and the shadows were long. None was longer than those cast by a little girl, laughing as she learned her legs on southern ice.

Observation #3: Children cast the longest shadows.

*Come join the inner circle. Photo taken with the Canon M-50.

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