A day in the Mountains

On Sunday I went back to Evarts, Kentucky to work on my story on the Railroad that wraps around Eastern KY. I had hoped to “finish” my photo story/essay, but in the thinking process that comes with 300 miles on the road, I realized that I could work on this project the rest of my life and still have room to keep working to make it better.

Quick summary/ recap of my story:

The railroad tracks in Eastern Kentucky were built before much of the community was, and as a result, the tracks touch a large part of the community. These tracks that wind from the front porch of churches, to the backyards of families, to the mud holes of the ATV track; act as a large metal string tying together the lives of many in this community.  

Here is a guy I came across in my trip.

Robert Smith is 16 years old, and says that while life in Evarts consists mostly of riding his 4-wheeler along the tracks all day, he never wants to leave.

“I’ll prolly end up workin the coal mines like my dad,” he said.

His next tattoo will be a tribute to his grandmother who passed away recently.

Music Scene.

Winchester, Kentucky is an interesting place; and for a small town, they are really into the whole music show scene. I shot some of the local bands playing on Saturday night in a church gym.

I love to shoot things like this because everyone cares so much about what they’re doing. They do their thing and I do mine, it’s amazing free expression. And they are so excited about me taking pictures that I can walk/ stand where-ever I please. Its a nice break from basketball games, and It’s an amazing exercise for keeping up with constantly changing light situations.

On a side note; I have come to the realization that I have been hail-marying all my pictures lately, and I really need to get some visual variety going on before I get stuck in a rut.

Rally for Higher Education

 

Yesterday I ended up in Frankfort at the Rally for Higher Education in the Capitol Rotunda. It was way crazier than I imagined it would be. Every school in the state was represented there with students waving signs, and chanting. The capital wasn’t even in this big of an uproar last week during the Save the Mountains protest.

 

I’ve inadvertently ended up shooting in the Capital a lot these days. I would really like to work on seeing things differently, like I did the first time I was there. It’s always interesting how things look way different the first time you see them than they do the second, or even on a repeated occasion. Thats one thing that is really hard about photographing your family, your hometown, or something you come in contact with a lot.

As photographers we must appreciate things like were seeing them for the first time but notice details like we’ve seen it 50 times. We must see in a way that no one else does, but in a way that others  can understand or appreciate. We have a gift of seeing the world in a way that is unique to us,  and I love every second of it.

 

Rusty.

If shooting basketball were a sport in itself, I would be the equivalent of 45 year old dad trying to play with his kids for the first time in ten years. I hadn’t shot a game in a few weeks, and I was definitely rusty. But here are a few frames from last nights game.

All photos belong to the Kentucky Kernel.

The next two are a little off beat, I was just playing around, experimenting. Let me know what you think.

 

 

open your eyes.

Everyone always talks about how important communication is between writers and photographers. Well its true. My boxing story was set to run today, and I didn’t know that It had changed to be centered around a certain boxer, Jamyle Cannon, who is aspiring to be a pro. Turns out I had no pictures of him. major oops. So I high tailed it to boxing practice, got a much needed lecture from Elliott about seeing more in the situation than just guys throwing punches, and followed around Jamyle until he was done.

I need to reshoot this one, I was so close to separation….

 

 

 

 

I’d really like to keep shooting this guy, someone told me he runs in the mornings and trains in between classes. It’d make for a pretty cool photo story, and I’m pretty sure he’s one of the top people in his weight class.

Thanks again Elliott for knocking me out of whatever weird funk I was in with boxing pictures. Thats what happens sometimes when you shoot something a lot, you start having tunnel vision as Bret Marshall calls it, and you only see the same thing.

Open your eyes.