Tag: photography

The Fine Art of Cruising

Color Photography

Back in the day warm weather meant cruising. Now, there’s a fine art to this favored pastime of previous generations. First, you need a vehicle. It doesn’t have to be a classic vintage machine but that certainly helps. What’s important is the “CQ” or Coolness Quotient. If you don’t really have a classic ride then there’s several ways of compensating with what’s available.

For example, a compact car such as a Dodge Colt or a Chevy Sundance the preferred method was to fill the back seat with stereo equipment. Next, you needed a good mix tape. In the old days play lists were stored on high tech spools of magnetic film. It was important to make sure you had the right flow to the music because there’s no shuffle like we know today. You could fast forward or rewind. If you were really good at it you could count the seconds and stop the spooling at just the right time to get the song you wanted.

The next thing you need is a long stretch of quiet road and plenty of friends. The party starts in late afternoon. You simply spend hours and hours of driving slowly up and down that quite road with the volume on 10 and the windows down. Hopefully until the wee hours of the night. As you cruise the stretch you look for places to park and visit your friends.

On a good night every teenager in the county will be there. Some will push the envelope too far and the police might be called in to restore order but for the most part trouble is minor. For the guys it’s really about finding the girls. I suspect, that the girls would show up to be found by the right guy.

I’m sure the stories abound. Those kind of stories get better every time we tell them. 😉 What was really important was the memories and the friendships made.

Take That First Step

black and white photography, West Virginia

Sometimes I wonder where the tracks would take me if I could just follow them to the end. What sights would I see? Would we pass along the river? Would we travel beneath mountains deep inside the Earth? Somewhere beyond the farthest mountain is something different. Something we haven’t seen before. Something new and exciting. But we’ll never know what it is unless we take the journey.

We often desire to do something but we find reasons to avoid starting. I wonder if it’s because we are afraid of the journey or if losing the mystery? But what if there’s a more exciting mystery beyond the first one? Well, there’s only one way to find out. Go for it. I dare you.

Wading Trees at Kanawha Falls

black and white photography

The rainy season is upon the Appalachian Mountains. The small roadside park below the local hydroelectric dam floods often but today the water was only up to the parking lot so I decided to stop and see if any pictures presented themselves. I used to able to capture some decent shots of the falls here but the trees were allowed to grow along the shore. The sandbar willow trees that grow along the bank of the river are allowed to grow as a form of erosion control and I think allowing nature to take it’s course was a good option. By the time I got to the spot the fog had obscured the falls anyway. However, I was not disappointed with the effort. This clump of trees seemed to be shouting “PICK US MISTER! PICK US! as they proudly stood there in the water’s edge. Who am I to resist when mother nature volunteers to pose for portrait? Life is about opportunity. Take advantage of every moment and opportunity will present itself.

Daydreams

Color Photography

Sometimes when I’m out in yard looking at the small stream that flows through my property it looks like a tiny raging river. I have made a concentrated effort to maintain and cultivate my Peter Pan Syndrome. I still toss leaves into the water and race them downstream. The small minnows in the eddies become sharks. A crayfish makes a fine sea monster and the rocks are islands that are ripe for expiration. Who said that being a grown-up means that there’s no time for daydreaming? Gene Roddenberry once said that the best part about the success of Star Trek was having a nice office to daydream in. He made a successful career out of pretending to have adventures in the vastness of outer space. Sure, he used the format to tell morality plays and make important comments about society but in my mind’s eye I can see him with a toy Enterprise having space battles with Klingons. I’ll bet that when nobody else was in the room he even made the “pew pew” sounds of Phasers and photon torpedoes. I have seen a lot of writers post about the finer points of creativity and how to properly relate your story to the audience but it all starts with holding onto a daydream.

The Last Time Falling In Love

black and white photography

Some of my coworkers on my day job were talking about their first love today. One was describing her first boyfriend and how he always smelled nice. One spoke of his first girlfriend and her blue eyes. This went on for several minutes. The fond memories of youth are special indeed. As I sat eavesdropping one of my older friends made the observation that his favorite memories were not about his first girlfriend but his last one. “Your last love is your true love, and that’s the one that counts.” He said.

Tonight’s image was taken in Hawk’s Nest State Park. The graffiti was not done by me. While it made for an interesting picture I have ask the reader to please respect public property as well as private property.