I’ve been working on a timelapse video of a Habitat for Humanity build that’s going on here in Madisonville, Ky and today I just had to shoot a portrait of Barbara Delgado from Winnsboro, Texas. She’s part of group known as R V Care – A – Vanners that travel around the country together and work on building homes for Habitat. A great group of folks.

When looking for things to photograph look for the things in your daily life… they’ll help keep the memories alive of your life’s journey.

Photo was shot with the iPhone 5s using the Hipstamatic App with the Lowy Lens and Claunch 72 Monochrome film setting. Post processing was done in the Snapseed App.

I love all the lines in this photo. It’s a picture at a local cemetery here in Madisonville, Ky and the simple lines of the steps leading up to it, with the nice sky with a touch of clouds all work together with the shadows to make for a nice architectural photo that I think is clean and easy to read. I would have liked to have a person walking through the scene as I think it would have added to the photo, but it didn’t happen.

When you figure out how you can improve a photograph that you’ve taken, don’t be afraid to go back and shoot it again.

Photo was shot with the iPhone 5s using the Hipstamatic App with the John S lens and Ina’s 1969 film setting.

Elaina and Wes Alford had a great time today before church and I couldn’t resist capturing this photo of them playing a form of peek-a-boo! Everyone at church enjoys her and Damion both and gravitate towards them when they are at church with us. The nice thing about having a good camera phone with you is that you can capture these moments no matter where you are at. Admittedly not all cameras on phones are created equal, but any picture is better than none at all. Take Pictures!

Shot with my iPhone 5s and post processing was done in Photoshop.

Today’s challenge photo is of an amazingly talented man, Garth Gamblin. We worked together for about 12 years at The Messenger Newspaper here in Madisonville, Ky; he a reporter and myself the photographer. Today I captured him as he began to work on an editorial column, that he’s done what seems like forever, called HUH, USA. If you live in Hopkins County, Kentucky then chances are you’ve read something by him. He’s been retired from the newspaper for a few years, but still keeps his column going. He recently moved into a new place and wanted a smaller computer so he’s now setup and running using a Windows Surface Tablet and this is a shot of him beginning another column, since he hasn’t been able to do one for a couple weeks.

He’s won many, many awards for his journalism excellence over the years from The Kentucky Press Association and many others, has a scholarship named after him, is a Kentucky Colonel and so, so much more. So, if you don’t know Garth you’re probably wondering what makes him much different than all the other reporters gathering the news out there over the years? Well, the fact that was born with cerebral palsy and despite all the medical and physical issues that he has had to put up with, I’ve never ever heard him complain or let it stop him from doing what ever inspired him or follow what ever story he was on, for over 25 years as a reporter.

The days are starting to catch up with him now and even though he moves slower than he used to, his mind and finger are still sharp and inspirational to all those who know him. He still has all these stories and columns up in his head and heart, such as a book he recently finished called “God, CP and Me.” It’s his life story and I for one can’t wait to get my hands on a copy. It will be available sometime this year and I highly encourage you to buy a copy when it’s available… that is if you want to be inspired.

Photo was shot with the iPhone 5s with the standard camera and processed with the Snapseed App.

Today I photographed Whity Hawkins, a subject for my military portrait series, and he told me about this old Schwinn bike in his backyard and I just had to get a picture of the two of them together.

When he was about fourteen years old he started delivering The Messenger Newspaper with this very bike. He paid 2 1/2 cents per paper and charged the customer a nickel, so he had a 100% profit and for a kid just entering high school it was good pocket change. Of course working for the same paper for 17 years I just had to get a picture of him and his bike for today’s blog post. Paperboys are a thing of the past now… sometimes I miss those days and others I don’t.

When looking for things to photograph, either just for a single picture or perhaps a long term series, try capturing things today that may not be around in 10-20 years.

Photo was shot with my iPhone 5s with the built-in camera. Post processing was done in Photoshop and Topaz Adjust.

When photographing children always try to capture milestones in their life, such as this photo of my niece Elaina clapping. Over the past few days her mom and mamaw have both been working on getting her to clap when they say yeahhhhh! She did it a few times tonight while I was there and I was able to capture this photo of her clapping. While it may not seem like much now, it’s a moment that she and her kids will love later in life.

Photo was shot with the iPhone 5s using the Hipstamatic App with the Lowy lens and Claunch 72 Monochrome film. Post processing was done in Photoshop where I changed it to true black and white as I liked the look a lot better.

Today’s photo comes from the funeral of a local veteran, Larry Glazebrook. I personally didn’t know Mr. Glazebrook, but earlier this morning I was talking to members of the honor guard who were going to be at his funeral and felt the need to stop by and pay my respects to a fellow veteran. Everyday we loose more an more of our veterans and it’s our responsibility, no… our duty to pay them honor. If you have family members that have served our country, take time to get them and their memories in photographs or on video for future generations. I personally wish that I had done this with my own dad before he passed away.

Currently I’m working on a personal photography project of photographing portraits of veterans living in Hopkins County for an exhibit that will be coming up later in the year at the Anne P. Baker Gallery in the Glema Mahr Center for the Arts here in Madisonville, Ky. This is an off-shoot of a project a friend of mine, Stacy Pearsall a decorated Combat Camera Photojournalist, is doing around the country. I decided to do mine on some of the veterans that live in my county here in Kentucky.

Why not, as a photographer, do the same thing in your neck of the woods!

Photo was made with my iPhone 5s using the Hipstamatic App with the John S lens and Ina’s 1969 film.

When photographing people, or kids… little people like Elaina here, don’t be afraid to move in close with your camera as it will provide more impact to your picture. Most folks have a zone around them of about 2 feet and when you get closer they can become uncomfortable, but with family and folks you know it’s different and by moving in close you can usually invoke some sort of a reaction from your subject, usually a laugh or smile and that’s when you click the shutter!

Photo was shot with my iPhone 5s using the Hipstamatic app with the Helga-Viking Lens and the Float film. Post processing was done in the Snapseed App.

Today I was shooting a picture of my niece Elaina on this small couch and what to my surprise, but her brother Damion went over and sat down next to her. I love how she is looking at her big brother! It’s expressions like this that you should always strive to capture when you’re photographing children, or anyone else for that matter. It can mean shooting a lot of pictures to get that one image, or sometimes it only takes a few. This was my fifth image I shot of them.

Another reason to shoot a lot is because kids move fast and if you’re shooting with a camera phone indoors then the shutter speed of your phones camera is going to be slow and could have a lot of blurry pictures as a result. Plus, the more you shoot, the more comfortable you’ll get with your camera and that holds true weather it’s a camera phone, film or digital.

Photo was shot with the iPhone 5s camera and the post processing was done with the App called ShakeItPhoto.

Today’s photo is a portrait of Taelor, a young man who shadowed me last summer when I was still working at The Messenger newspaper here in Madisonville, Ky. He’s still got the photography bug and this week one of his aunts gave him a Pentax film camera, which he’s fairly proud of and he’s not even taken his first picture with it yet.

I grabbed this portrait of him and his camera today at church, where he brought the camera so I could take a look at it for him. It needs a real good cleaning and the meter battery has to be replaced, so I brought the camera home with me to take care of some of these things for him, so perhaps he can start shooting pictures with it. We’ll still need to go over the basics on how everything works, but he picks things up fast, so if the camera is working order, then I know he’ll give it a try.

It’s encouraging to me that he wants to do some shooting with film when in today’s world of youth it’s all about digital and seeing your results right away. He may not shoot a lot with it, but I’m encouraged that he’s willing to give it a try.

Photo was shot with my iPhone 5s with the Hipstamatic App using the John S lens and Ina’s 1969 film setting.

What can I say, I love old machines! I spotted this old Chevy dump truck sitting next to a building here in Madisonville, Ky and couldn’t resist adding it to my ongoing series on called “Machines.” Some day perhaps they’ll be a book.

I’ve never really been a car or truck person per say, in fact most times I can’t tell you what year the things I photograph were made, but I do know when something makes for an interesting picture, at least to me. Besides, I know enough people in my life that are interested in these things that can provide me with details on the model if I need them.

If you’ve ever thought about starting a ongoing series like this, don’t be afraid to pick something that you’re not really familiar with as it’s a great way to learn about something, if that’s what you want to do. Also, look to things that are common in your everyday life that you will have access to, such as young children. As they continue to grow you can do all kinds of different series on them such as take a picture of them with the same background every week for a year and you’ll be surprised how much of a difference there will be from the first picture and the last.

Photo was shot with my iPhone 5s using the Hipstamatic App with the John S lens and Ina’s 1969 film. Some sharping was done using Topaz Adjust in Photoshop.

I stumbled across this old grocery store in Robards, Ky with these roadsigns on the corner post and it really brought back a lot of memories for me. That’s one of the things I like most about photography is that pictures have the ability to invoke memories of either the moment captured or  remind us of days gone by.

When I first saw the sign one of the things that popped into my mind of course was the T.V. series called MASH. I loved that series and think I’ve watched every episode at least twice. For you that are under 30 or so, do a Google search if you don’t know what it is. They used to have one of these in the compound.

Speaking of compounds, the second time I saw a sign like this was during a military exercise called Bright Star, which was held in the Sharia Desert where we lived in a tent city. I was there with a team of photographers and motion picture cameramen documenting the operation and we were living in the same type of tents they used in MASH with nothing but the sand for floors. I can still recall when we first arrived there water was so scarce that people were allowed only 3 minutes to shower, with only 1 minute of water, 30 seconds to get wet, two minutes to lather up and 30 seconds to rinse off.  There were many other place over my 24 years of service that had signs that pointed the way to home, but this was just a few that came to mind.

The other thing that struck me with this sign is that of the nine places listed here, I’ve been to five of them! Hawaii, Japan, Korea, Germany and Robard’s City Hall.

Photo was shot with my iPhone 5s using the built-in camera. Post processing was done in Photoshop and Topaz Adjust.

I love photographing in the fog! It adds such a mysterious look to photographs, especially when you can catch a scene like this where someone’s walking away from the camera into the early morning sun. All too often people have a tendency to put their camera away when the weather is bad, not that I’m saying fog is, but things such as rain, heavy snow, ect. With just a little bit of pre-planning for it a person can come away with some nice pictures!

This was shot using my iPhone 5s using the Hipstamatic App with the John S lens and Ina’s 1969 film. No post processing was done.

Out wandering around enjoying the nicer weather I decided to swing by Loch Mary Lake in Earlington, Ky to see if I couldn’t find something that was calling out for a picture when I came upon the father and daughter fishing. I liked how the tall trees were towering above them and clouds in the sky so this is what I captured! Giving a good sense of scale will help improve your photos, use it whenever you can.

Photo was shot with my iPhone 5s using the HDRpro app. Post processing was done in Photoshop and Topaz Adjust.

Now this is something you don’t see very often anymore, a caboose on the end of a train, on a mainline railroad! Today I was lucky enough to catch a CSX Maintenance of Way Rail train picking up rails from along side the Henderson Subdivision tracks that run through downtown Madisonville, Ky. The rails were replaced with heavier ones over the past few weeks and the crew was working it’s way through picking up the old rail. It’s an interesting process to watch and I’ll be posting a video of the operation here tomorrow, so stay tuned.

This photo is actually of the train backing up. It was making it’s way back to the yards to allow a few trains to pass.

The caboose is an Ex. B&O, the “Spirit of the B&O” 175th anniversary Caboose, renumbered CSX 90-4000. I’m glad to see CSX keeping the paint and lettering in tact.

Photo was shot with my iPhone 5s using the built in camera. Post processing was done in the Snapseed app.

Adriana is one of my great-great nieces and today was her first day at church! Capturing any kind of first in someone’s life is a thing that special memories are made of. She seemed to have a great time, stayed awake most of the time, even though she did sleep through the sermon, but that’s alright, she’s just a baby. You have your phone with you all the time… use it to capture those special moments in your child’s life. You say your phone doesn’t take good pictures? Any picture of a special event like this is better than no picture at all!

Photo was shot with my iPhone 5s using the Hipstamatic app with the Lowy lens and Claunch 72 Monochrome film.