Off Week

This was not a good week for me. I had multiple papers and projects due, student group budgets were due, plus the weather was lousy so my photographing time was whittled down to next to nothing. I did however, get my camera back and it seems to be fixed and completely fine! The only pictures I was able to take this week were about 150 the afternoon after I got my camera back. I just went to my lower driveway and shot for a little bit the two older cars we own: my 82 Mustang and our family's 83 AMC Eagle. To be honest I do not feel that anything is even worth posting since I was not able to take my time and concentrate. It was really frustrating this week to edit what I did have knowing that they really did not mean anything to me or to anybody looking at them. Anyways, this one is the only one of the batch that I feel may be acceptable and fit into my theme. The color is awful and it is not terribly interesting but it is a significant part of my childhood. I grew up exploring Wheeler's Garage in Berlin, MA and still love to go over there and smell the decades of oil, grease, and cigarette smoke accumulated on all the surfaces. I promise I will be working very hard this upcoming week since it is spring break and I truly have nothing else to do. I'm excited to get over this week and get back to work!

57 Chevy Revisited

So I realize I talked about the process of finding that old Chevy in last week's post and never actually showed what it looked like to me as I walked toward it. For that I apologize and hope these three pictures make up for that. I've been staring at one of the pictures this week because I set it as my wallpaper on my computer and love the sad face this car has as it sits alone amongst the other car parts and garbage bins covered by snow and decades of grime. I firmly believe that all cars have a personality and as I flipped through the pages of my dad's Collectible Automobile tonight I saw that over and over again in the section highlighting abandoned cars. The years of weather take a serious toll on these cars and make each one unique. Each has a story to tell and I hope I can find a few more that will let me tell their story. Just a note on these pictures, these have not been greatly edited since they were done on Photoshop Elements. I plan to re post them as soon as I get them edited this week.

On a separate note, I got my camera back from Nikon yesterday and shot a few quick pics of my Mustang and everything seems to be working fine. I'm am very happy once more!

Ideas Coming Together

This week I visited both the Stillwater Farm and took some pictures there at sunrise. I really did like the light better than the ones I took in the afternoon. However, it was overcast that morning and I would like to see it with full light on the barn. It was fun to see it at that time of day. I think I got some good pictures from this shoot, but the dull light and lack of sleep left me a little aggravated so I took a break during the day and in the afternoon I walked down my street to one of my neighbors. Ever since I really started getting seriously into cars, I have been making mental notes about who has what car and where they are located. I know it's kind of weird, but I can remember people fairly well by what car they drive. Knowing about this Chevy, I asked my neighbor if I could photograph it and after a little coaxing she agreed to let me take some pictures. As I walked down to it, I realized how tucked away it is. It sits in a little fenced in area along with her garbage cans and other miscellaneous car parts. However, from the street you can just see the front end barely poking out. It looked so lonely and forgotten and just as I got down to it and was about ten minutes into shooting, the clouds broke and the afternoon sunlight cast this golden light on all the chrome. I realized the potential still left in the car and started taking pictures as quickly as I could while still being thoughtful. Afterwards I felt re-energized. Whereas the morning at the barn left me a little disappointed, the car photo shoot really cheered me up. I plan to revisit both places this weekend (time permitting since it's my Mom's birthday). In addition, I'm trying to recall those mental notes about cars I know in town and hopefully I can started visiting them too.

Stillwater Farm II

This past week I again traveled back to Stillwater Farm in Sterling, MA. This time I tried to take more time to study the little details that make that place so interesting. The history and weathering on everything there is really cool and the more I look the more I appreciate this place that I have seen so many times. I think Frank is right though. I really haven't received permission from the farm to take pictures of it. I need to spend a lot more time really studying and examining every part. I also need to try some different times of day. I have seen it many times as the sun sets behind the woods, but I need to see what sunrise looks like there. This weekend will give me that opportunity. I will also be inside the barn fairly soon which should be a lot of fun! In the meantime, this is a picture that I took last weekend as the snow and ice was beginning to melt off the side of the barn. I like the way the slopes move toward one another with the ice and the wet siding. The icicles were really beautiful down on the foundation as they melted and fell off. Hopefully this weekend's warmer weather will let me take some better pictures.

P.S. I have not done much to this photo and it was editted on my computer, so if the colors look a little off that's probably why.