Weekly Photo Project, Week 15

Wow! It’s hard to believe that I’m already 15 weeks into this photo-a-day project. Daylight Savings ended and the clocks were set back one hour, and it almost derailed this series. Thankfully I had a camera with me and I was able to snap an image out the car window while driving down the highway just before the last light of day disappeared.

Monday, October 29, 2018

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Window Pentax – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Tuesday, October 30, 2018

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Empty Church Seats – Layton, UT – Fujifilm XF10

Wednesday, October 31, 2018

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Stretching Scrub – Kaysville, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Thursday, November 1, 2018

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Fog On The Ridge – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-T20

Friday, November 2, 2018

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Clouds Over The Great Salt Lake – Antelope Island SP, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Saturday, November 3, 2018

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Autumn Morning Sunlight – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-T20

Sunday, November 4, 2018

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Sunset From Legacy Parkway – Centerville, UT – Fujifilm XF10

Week 14  Week 16

Weekly Photo Project, Week 7

Keeping up with a photo-a-day project is not easy, as there are days when making even one exposure requires me to stop all the bustle, set everything down for a moment, and somehow squeeze in time for photography. That can be hard! Life sometimes pulls in many different directions all at once. So far I have not missed a single day (knock on wood), but to help increase the probability of success I have purchased a new tool: the Fujifilm XF10. Because it is pocket-sized I can have a camera with me more often, which means I’m more likely to make exposures on those days when time is limited.

In order to purchase the camera I had to sell my distressed X-E1, which I didn’t really want to do, but I had to. The XF10 will help me with this project much more than the X-E1. Besides, if I want to, I can distress another X-E1 in the future, which I might do once this project is finished.

Something that you might notice in the photographs below is that autumn has set in. The trees have begun changing color. So far it looks like it will be a mediocre year for fall colors in Utah. Last autumn was quite colorful. I need to get out there while I can because winter is just around the corner and the fall colors, even though they just arrived, are not going to hang on much longer.

Monday, September 3, 2018

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Autumn Beginning – Ogden Canyon, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Tuesday, September 4, 2018

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Magnolia – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 60mm

Wednesday, September 5, 2018

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Burlap Camera – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 60mm

Thursday, September 6, 2018

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Airport Road – SLC, UT – Fujifilm XF10

Friday, September 7, 2018

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Green & Yellow – Layton, UT – Fujifilm XF10

Saturday, September 8, 2018

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Wasatch Ridge Autumn – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 60mm

Sunday, September 9, 2018

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Shy Horse – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm XF10

Week 6  Week 8

Weekly Photo Project, Week 6

Sometimes when it’s not practical to go somewhere to photograph, I find that capturing an image at my house is a wonderful challenge. What I appreciate about it is that often times I must construct the scene from scratch. When you are out somewhere you most often stumble upon something that’s already there. You don’t typically move stuff around. But inside my home, I’m grabbing different things and placing them in specific places. It’s all very purposeful, and the more creative I am with that the better the images turn out. Four of the seven photographs here were taken inside my home.

Monday, August 27, 2018

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Pink Rose Pedals – Riverdale, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Tuesday, August 28, 2018

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California Dreamin’ – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 60mm

Wednesday, August 29, 2018

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Blue Umbrella At The Lake – Huntsville, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 60mm

Thursday, August 30, 2018

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250 – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 60mm

Friday, August 31, 2018

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Synchronized – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 60mm

Saturday, September 1, 2018

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Mounds – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 60mm

Sunday, September 2, 2018

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Monochrome Architecture Lines – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Week 5  Week 7

Photoessay: Along The Highway, Part 4 – East Texas

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Grain Hoppers – Westlake, TX – Fujifilm X100F – US HWY 377

Colorado  New Mexico  West Texas  Oklahoma (Color)  Oklahoma (B&W)  Wyoming

Visiting east Texas was in a way a homecoming for me–well, sort of, anyway. I lived in the Dallas area for a few years as a teenager. I lived in Houston for one year awhile back, as well. I have family on the right side of the state, and I’ve journeyed to see them many times over the years. It’s in east Texas that I first learned to be a photographer. I’m familiar with the region, to say the least.

This trip was about spending time with family. It was about being with people that I don’t see often enough. Photography was secondary, although I did find plenty of time for capturing images. By a large margin I spent more time in east Texas than anywhere else on this road trip, yet this part of the series seems short on pictures.

The highways that I traversed in east Texas were often wide and new. They connected cities and large towns. Sure, there were plenty of rural segments, but I saw a lot of suburban landscapes. There’s a lot more sprawl than I remember, and it served as a reminder that it had been too long since I last visited the place, and I need to return more frequently.

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Storm Shelter – McKinney, TX – Fujifilm X100F – US HWY 380

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Two Towers – Dallas, TX – Fujifilm X100F – TX HWY 366

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Walk This Way – Princeton, TX – Fujifilm X100F – US HWY 380

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A Little Birdie Told Me About The Brew – Westlake, TX – Fuji X-Pro2 & 60mm – US HWY 377

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Trash Pallet – McKinney, TX – Fujifilm X100F – US HWY 380

Photoessay: Along The Highway, Part 3 – West Texas

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Cadillac Spray Cans – Amarillo, TX – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 16mm – I-70 / Route 66

Colorado  New Mexico  East Texas  Oklahoma In Color  Oklahoma in B&W  Wyoming

West Texas is vast and empty. There are small towns scattered around, most of which have seen better days, and a few larger cities. But, for the most part, there’s a whole lot of nothing. It’s a rural life that’s lived here, and that is likely an understatement.

You might think that the opening paragraph was written with a negative tone, but I don’t mean it to be. I’m actually quite fascinated with the region, and I’d love to spend some significant time photographing it. Each little town offers something of photographic interest. There’s something that draws me in. There’s a story to tell.

My photography instructor in collage was June Van Cleef. Her most important work was capturing the life and times of rural west Texas. She spent years in the small dusty towns that seemed to be barely hanging on, camera in hand, capturing the people who called the place home. Perhaps it’s her perspective that I took away from those many months in her classroom.

I don’t have a real draw to west Texas other than I can clearly see the photographic potential. I have never made the time to act on that potential. Like most people, I just pass through on the way to somewhere else. That’s what highways are good for: taking you someplace else. Like all the times before, I came and went quickly, and saw the view from behind the car windshield. Someday, though, I will take my time and immerse myself in capturing this rural land. I hope to, anyway.

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Cans & Cars – Amarillo, TX – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 16mm – I-70 / Route 66

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Ex Lover – Amarillo, TX – Fujifilm X100F – I-70 / Route 66

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Def Bus – Amarillo, TX – Fujifilm X100F – I-70 / Route 66

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No Truck Parking – Childress, TX – Fujifilm X100F – US HWY 287

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Steel Snowman – Childress, TX – Fuji X100F – US HWY 287

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Potted Flag – Bowie, TX – Fujifilm X100F – US HWY 287

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Rural Ranch – Bowie, TX – Fujifilm X100F – US HWY 287

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Truck Stop – Bowie, TX – Fujifilm X100F – US HWY 287

 

Weekly Photo Project, Week 3

Another week of photographs done. So far I haven’t missed any days in my quest to capture at least one photograph every 24 hours for a year, which is good. I’m taking things one week at a time, though, so that if I’m not able to do it here and there, I can keep moving forward. I’ll just tack a week or two onto the end if I need to. Still, my aim is to not miss any days and string 365 daily pictures together. I hope that you enjoy watching this project unfold on Fuji X Weekly!

Monday, August 6, 2018

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Window Seat – Pawhuska, OK – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 60mm

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

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Cafe Flowers – Pawhuska, OK – Fujifilm X100F

Wednesday, August 8, 2018

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Motorcycle Mart – Burlington, CO – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 60mm

Thursday, August 9, 2018

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A Trucker’s Life Is Lonely – Fort Bridger, WY – Fujifilm X100F

Friday, August 10, 2018

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Dusty Camera – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Saturday, August 11, 2018

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Breakfast Berries – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 60mm

Sunday, August 12, 2018

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Morning Fix – Riverdale, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Week 2  Week 4

Photoessay: Along The Highway, Part 1 – Colorado

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Uncertain – Delta, CO – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 60mm – US HWY 50

My wife and I, along with our four children, took a road trip across several states over the course of 16 days, and we returned about a week-and-a-half ago. It was, at times, especially epic, and we saw some amazing places. I, of course, captured the whole thing using my Fujifilm X series cameras.

Upon returning, one of the first things I did was review the images that I had captured. I noticed that there were a lot of pictures of things I saw along our highways. Oftentimes when we stopped for gas or to eat, I’d capture some images of what was around. I had many photographs of different sights that were found along the highway. Some were immediately off the highway, while others were perhaps a half-block away from the highway. I felt that, as long as the highway was clearly visible from where I captured the photograph, it was alright to include it in this series.

I decided to break this Photoessay, called Along The Highway, into several segments organized by states. The first part, which are viewing now, is Colorado. These are the pictures that I captured while traversing along the highways in that state.

The highways in Colorado were open and oftentimes lonely. That is, outside of the city limits, as we sat in bumper-to-bumper traffic in Denver at one point. Sometimes towns were far apart and it seemed like we were far outside of civilization. We crossed mountain passes and saw some amazing scenery! Many of the towns we drove through had quite obviously seen better days, and they sharply contrasted the natural wonder that was never far away. It was almost as if these communities were not supposed to be there, that they were holding on with their last inner strength against an unseen force to rid them from this place. Either that, or the residents lost sight of the wonder around them, and neglected to maintain what those who came before had begun. This is not unique to Colorado, but a phenomenon seen throughout the west. It was simply more obvious this trip. It was, at times, depressing. But the highway compelled us on.

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Discovered Truck – Fruita, CO – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 60mm – I-70

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Fresh Wind – Fruita, CO – Fujifilm X-Pro2 – I-70

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Warehouse Sunset – Montrose, CO – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 60mm – US Hwy 50

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Campground – Montrose, CO – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 60mm – US Hwy 50

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85 Pounds – Montrose, CO – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 60mm – US HWY 50

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Tough Times – Gunnison, CO – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 60mm – US HWY 50

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Safe – Gunnison, CO – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 60mm – US HWY 50

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Regular Sign – Gunnison, CO – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 60mm – CO Hwy 135

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Continental Ride – Monarch Pass, CO – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 60mm – US HWY 50

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Motorcycle Mart – Burlington, CO – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 60mm – I-70

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County Road V – Burlington, CO – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 60mm – I-70

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Old Truck & Mt. Lindsey – Fort Garland, CO – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 60mm – US Hwy 160

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Monarch Pass – Monarch Pass, CO – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 60mm – US Hwy 50

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Storm Over San Luis Valley – Alamosa, CO – Fujfilm X-Pro2 & 60mm – CO HWY 150

New Mexico  West Texas  East Texas  Oklahoma (Color)  Oklahoma (B&W)  Wyoming

Photoessay: Street Feet

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Stepping – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F

There are certain photo series that I’m actively working on, such as abandoned businesses in color (entitled Space Available), that are purposeful personal projects. Then there certain photo series that are more by happenstance, not created on purpose, where I notice a common thread among images. This series, Street Feet, falls into the latter category.

I had no intentions of this becoming a project. I didn’t try to make a series. It just sort of happened. I just subconsciously did it, and didn’t even notice that I had done so until reviewing my street photography images. I saw a pattern. I realized that I was creating these related pictures.

Street Feet is pretty straight forward: street-style black-and-white photographs of people’s feet. You can’t see the full body because I was photographing the lower extremities. Sometimes it’s a closeup of someone’s shoes, while other times the view is broader.

I used a Fujifilm X100F to capture these images. My Acros Film Simulation recipe was used for every picture, and the Digital Teleconverter was utilized for many. These are all out-of-camera JPEGs. Enjoy!

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Walking Man – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F

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Walking Away – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F

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Together – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F

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Skateboarding – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X100F

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Going Somewhere – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F

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One Step At A Time – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F

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Siblings At City Creek Mall – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F

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Outside The Elevator – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F

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Walking Shoes – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F