Tenn.Jer
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 p.1 #10 · #501 Time to Go (new story 5/12 - take a look) | |
Just for the fun of it, I'll tell the story of my first idea and post some not-good-enough for FM photos...
As soon as I saw this week's assignment, I thought of the "Sign Graveyard" out a little-used country road a few miles from the town near my home. I'd stumbled across this field about 20 years ago while exploring the Tennessee county to which I'd just relocated from Oregon. There, stacked haphazardly around the perimeter of a pasture were dozens of large and small plastic and glass business signs, the kind lighted from within and usually seen perched on poles or columns outside or atop a building...the sight was so incongruous, so bizarre, all these brightly colored manmade objects propped against each other amid the undergrowth slowly taking over a little-used cow pasture...
Over the years, the repository has grown, as one business or another either rebrands itself, or, regretfully, fails altogether. I've learned that the field is owned by a relative of the owner of a sign fabricating company, and the farmer leases the space to his relative...(it's a small town)...
So, I knew this would be the source of many eye-catching and unusual photographs, any of which could potentially sweep this week's WA voting - I mean, they could surpass any number of old pickup trucks out to pasture, and I (wrongly, so far) predicted several of those. So, I headed out there just as the sun rose, visualizing roaming the rows, perspective shots with the signs shrinking away from me, perhaps morning light imparting an inner glow to one...my mind was teeming with possibilities...only to be taken aback by the presence of an open gate and a truck, complete with a load of tobacco seedlings, sitting just inside the field.
Well, I regrouped, and realized I could actually get permission, rather than the furtive trespassing photography I'd expected. So I parked and approached...
He said, "Why?". I told him about the friendly competition, and as soon as I said "Internet", I could see the answer coming...  He was reasonably nice about it, but he'd rather I didn't take pictures to post out there for the whole world to see...and, since we'd spoken, I no longer had the innocence of being caught trespassing and apologizing with assurances I'd meant no harm...
So, these were taken this afternoon from the road - fulfilling no artistic vision of mine, but illustrating the obvious possibilities...and, I have to admit, if there comes a WA of "sign graveyard", I'll probably take my chances, blacken my face, put on my ninja suit, and...
do it anyway... 
Thanks for your indulgence; I can't make a long story short...
Jerry
PS - Fred, my original suitcase photo remains my entry, of course...don't want to confuse anyone...
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV 135 mm f/2.8 1/160 sec 160 ISO 0.0 EV
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV 85 mm f/2.8 1/320 sec 100 ISO 0.0 EV
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV 175 mm f/2.8 1/200 sec 250 ISO 0.0 EV
Edited on May 13, 2012 at 03:22 AM · View previous versions
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it fits the theme nicely.