Strangers in A Familiar Land

We blew out of the heat of Jacksonville last Friday to the even more extreme heat of Savannah, Georgia. Savannah is easily our favorite weekend getaway destination -- a great walking town full of incredible early to mid 19th century architecture, interesting and often friendly locals, great restaurants and pubs, and our favorite bed and breakfast, the McMillan Inn. Joe and Cindy are wonderful hosts, and the multi-course breakfasts are second to none.

With the temperature above 100 every day, we did not get much walking in during the daylight hours -- though upon our arrival for lunch at the Six Pense Pub, we strolled through Oglethorpe Square and followed the sound of a flute to this gentleman's bench...

We stopped for a few photos and a bit of conversation. He said he would be down at River Street after 7:00 to sing the blues with his guitar playing partner (and he was)...

Oglethorpe Square, at the intersection of Oglethorpe and Bull Streets is but one of more than 20 town squares -- small parks, really, that make the Savannah historic district so accessible by foot. The shade of the old live oaks -- some once used for hangings, they say -- make it almost tolerable on a summer day. Each has it's own character. Remember the movie Forrest Gump, when Forrest was sitting on the bench, waiting for the bus and telling his story? That was the next square east on Bull Street...

Part of the character and style of downtown Savannah is shaped by the presence of the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). Were I 35 years younger, it's the kind of school I'd want to attend. The youthful creativity of the students really dresses up the old 1950's era cross streets, adds a Bohemian flair, and the perfect contrasting ambience to the Civil War era historic district. A great place to be with a camera and the love of your life...

Local Focus - 6-18-2009: Alpine Groves

Took off of work on this steamy Florida overcast, rumbly day to relax and test a new lens out before engaging in some serious photography this weekend. Ten miles south on State Route 13, along the banks of the Saint Johns River in Switzerland Florida (originally settled by Swiss farmers, if you don't count the Timacua -- imagine that), sits Alpine Groves Park.

Alpine groves is the historical remnants of a formerly working north Florida citrus farm, where oranges and lemons were raised. The old farm -- the remaining structures, including a beautifully restored grove house, were constructed in the first decade of the twentieth century -- sits on a high bluff above the river. At low tide the pilings of the old wharf are visible above the brown water of the north-flowing Saint Johns. You can easily imagine horse drawn carts at the wharf and crates of orange and yellow citrus being loaded onto boats for the trip up to Mayport, and from there to the great ports of the east coast...

The upper window in this hundred year old barn was made of panes of blue, green and red stained glass. Only in the last six months have the local knuckleheads shattered the last of them. Part of the yin and yang of turning a piece of history into a publicly accessible space. I've never understood the lure of vandalism -- some psychologist once told me it provides a false sense of control to the transgressor. Power to the idiots of the world...

Rising from the bluff, and eventually toppling from the bluff as it is worn down by the slow but steady effort of the river, live oak and cypress trees provide perches for egrets and osprey. It's a great spot to watch them, and the occasional anhinga search for food below. We've often seen manatee gather and play within a few hundred feet of the shore here. A favorite spot of our to walk, shoot, meditate and relax...

OId City Strangers...

Being stuck in the office all week has made it difficult, to say the least, to get out and and do any street photography... so I am reaching back to our February trip down to Saint Augustine (see my "St. Augustine in 50 mm of Black and White" post) to fulfill my first iteration of the "strangers" posts.

We had stopped at the Tiny Martini Bar on the front porch of the Casa Blanca B&B (great place that Kay and I have stayed at) -- and ended up sitting next to a growing family gathering of folks vacationing from the northeast. I jumped off the porch midway through my glass of California Zin (no, not a sweet white zinfandel, but a real, pure red robust zin!), turned and focused with my camera while encouraging the gang to smile...

Little sister on the porch, obviously in a playful mood put up the ubiquitous horns behind her husband's head... you can invent stories for each of them -- all good sports. By the third time we ran into them in different parts of town, they were certain we were stalking them.

After shooting the above frame, I turned toward the rumble on Avenida Menendez behind me in time to capture this group of bikers...
I stepped off the curb, hollered "smile" (most of the did), and pressed the shutter. Another opportunity to imagine their stories....

I'm not very comfortable with this style of shooting -- taking a chance at photographing complete strangers on the street. Half of it is the fear of being perceived as one of those dorks with a camera (yeah, I know..), and the other half is fear of getting my butt kicked by offending someone in a federal witness protection program. Stepping out of your comfort zone can be a good thing, too. I watched a video blog this morning by a guy (Tim Ferriss) at a Google conference who talked about Stoic productivity principles... his point was that it's more important to define your fears than your goals. At my age, new approaches are more difficult -- but I'm willing to challenge myself -- and (hopefully) show up here with new shots of new friends each weeks, and no bruises for the effort.... simple?

Local Focus - June 5, 2009

In an effort to bring some amount (however small) of discipline to my writing here, I thought that I would try to venture down a path of recurring themes, wrapped around my photography. Two or three areas of "focus" (pun totally intended), that might produce two or three posts per week. So here's what I came up with: 1) Local Focus -- a look at the northeast Florida region (not what most people dream about when they dream about tropical Florida...), 2) Strangers -- photos and stories of people I have never met, and 3) Free For All -- whatever happens to come to mind through the lens of my camera.

So tonight we start this little effort locally...

...County Dock Road in Mandarin dead-ends at the Saint Johns River. An old boat ramp adjacent to the dock that extends a thousand feet or so into the brackish water. Here we found a fisherman casting for bait, in silhouette near sundown on a cloudy day. The river was calm - it had rained heavily earlier in the afternoon. A good evening to fish...

Fifty feet out on the dock a couple fished and smoked. There were at least ten people, men and women, fishing on the dock. They all smoked. I wonder if North Carolina Tobacco attracts Florida fish to the end of those lines. His white tee shirt and red shorts made an interesting reflection on the slick surface. We didn't stay long, what with the smoke and all.....

How Does Your Garden Grow?

With all of the rain that we had the week before last (more than twenty inches in five days), followed by nothing but warm, tropical sunshine this week, the gardens in the backyard are really starting to explode...

After a long, stressful day at work a sure way to relax and lower my blood pressure is to sit on the back porch with a glass of wine and enjoy the view... 

Or better yet, head out into the yard with a camera (Nikon D700) and some fast glass (today I used a Sigma 150 mm f/2.8 macro lens), and click off a couple of dozen shots of nature's handy work...

Those are Gerber daisies and pentas up top, periwinkle in the middle, and a Golden Globe bush immediately above. Not many butterflies yet this year, but Kay reported the first hummingbird in the lantana this afternoon. Happy Monday!