Coming to a Table Near You Soon

Whitaker's Farms, located near my home in Grays Chapel, North Carolina produces a variety of field-grown produce for our local market. They also grow hot house tomatoes to provide fruit before the outdoor crop comes in. Tomatoes have set on and it won't be long before ripe fruit will be available. Below, James Frazier looks after the coming crop. For more info on Whitaker's Farms, go to http://www.whitakerfarm.com/homepage.htm.

(Photographs copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

Tuesday Casual Fashion

(Photograph copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

Men's casual fashion, Wilmington, North Carolina.

"House on Fire"

(Photograph copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

A Japonica shrub blooms outside of my home this weekend in Grays Chapel, North Carolina. The old folks call it "House on Fire".

Rod and Reel

(Photograph copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

Photograph of vintage fishing equipment.

"Images From the Green Table: Photographs by a Randolph County Photographer"

(Photograph copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

I'm getting ready for the opening of a solo show tomorrow evening at the Circa Gallery in Asheboro, North Carolina. The title of the show, "Images From the Green Table: Photographs by a Randolph County Photographer", comes from a group of still-life photographs I produced this winter in my den. I will be showing those as well as other images from my local area and other places. Everyone is cordially invited to join me for the opening from 5-8PM. The show will run till April, 13. For more info, the Facebook event page is http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=111458188864340&index=1.

Getting Ready for Spring

A stop by Weston's Feed and Seed in Asheboro, North Carolina the other day yielded all kinds of things to get the farmstead going for the new growing year.


(Photographs copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

Plum Blossoms

(Photograph copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

Plum blossoms outside of my home in Grays Chapel, North Carolina. Spring is on the way.

Planting Potatoes

A late afternoon last week saw my cousin Thomas Routh planting potatoes on his farm in Grays Chapel, North Carolina. Thomas and his wife Lula Mae, both in their upper eighties, grow a huge garden from which they sell produce weekly at the local Farmer's Market in Asheboro.


(Photographs copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

Fishing Lures

Still-life photographs, old fishing lures.



(Photographs copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

Musician Portrait

(Photograph copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

Zarah. Hip hop artist, Greensboro, North Carolina.

Daffodils, a Study in Spring

In North Carolina, one of the sure ways to know that Spring is upon us is when the daffodils start to pop up and bloom. Traditionally most farmhouses in our area always had a clump or two of these beautiful flowers in the front yard.




(Photographs copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

Barbecue

(Photograph copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

Across the country, the definition of barbecue is quite different. In North Carolina, it means pork. But even within the state there are disagreements about how to prepare it. Is it eastern style or Lexington style, vinegar based sauce or tomato based, whole hog or shoulders, chopped or pulled? To each his own, but I must admit it is all pretty good. Here, shoulders cook at a restaurant in Lexington, North Carolina. (Note: I prefer eastern style.)

Guilford Courthouse Reenactment

This past weekend I went by the annual reenactment of the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. On March 15, 1781, American forces under General Nathaniel Greene met a British force under Lord Cornwallis at Guilford Courthouse, near Greensboro, North Carolina. The culmination of the Southern campaign of the American Revolution, the battle was technically won by the British, but Cornwallis's army was so weakened, he had to retreat to Yorktown, Virginia and the final American victory. On Saturday and Sunday, historical reenactment groups from all over the country provided displays of Revolutionary War camp life and a daily battle reenactment.




Cousin Taylor Rollins spent the weekend as a camp follower with the 1st New Jersey Light Infantry.


(Photographs copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

Dinner with the Kids

Spring means renewal and at the Goat Lady Dairy in Grays Chapel, North Carolina it means new kids. For the folks at the dairy, it means those baby goats have to be fed twice a day. Makes for an interesting time in the nursery.



(Photographs copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

Friday Table Top

(Photograph copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

Still-life photograph of woodworking tools from my Grandfather's toolbox.

Horse-Drawn Plows

(Photograph copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

Old horse (or mule) drawn plows sit in a barn on our farm in Randolph County, North Carolina. Last used probably some 70 years ago, nevertheless they stay at the ready.

Let the Gardening Begin

All it takes is a day or two of warm weather to get the gardeners out working in the dirt. Yesterday the folks at Goat Lady Dairy in Grays Chapel, North Carolina were busy getting onion sets into the ground. Goat Lady has started and will be running a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) project this year where a group of approximately 50 families has invested in a large garden from which they will receive weekly shares of organic produce.


Daniel Woodham, CSA Farm Manager.

(Photographs copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

Women's Basketball

And now for something completely different. I enjoy shooting sports, but I don't get as many opportunities as I once did. These photographs are from last weekend's Women's ACC tournament in Greensboro, North Carolina.



(Photographs copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

Cat Hole

(Photograph copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

My Grandfather's house is across the road from mine. Beside the old house are several intact outbuildings, including a smoke-house. In the corner of the smoke-house door is a cat hole, which allows felines to enter at their leisure and helps keep down the rodent population.

My Grandfather was a Hunter

For the past few weeks as the weather has been pretty nasty for North Carolina, I've been shooting objects on an old table in my den. These are very eclectic things for the most part and some of them have special meanings only for me. Today the images are of a box of cartridges and a hand-made turkey call that belonged to my Grandfather. I've mentioned the problems we've had with poachers around our farm lately on this blog, but I don't want to give the impression that I don't like hunters. On the contrary, I have great respect for hunters, real hunters. Living during the Great Depression, my Grandfather was a real hunter and fisherman. He ate what he killed, he hit what he shot at, he respected other people's property, and he never took more than he needed for his family. I just wish the guys riding around my house at night could be more like him.

(Photographs copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

Afternoon at RCC

Yesterday I had the pleasure of spending the afternoon at Randolph Community College in Asheboro North Carolina. Along with agency owner Dave McLean and designer Crystal Staley, I was invited to critique student projects. The projects were collaborations between photography and design students to produce an ad campaign or body of commercial design work for a potential client using design and photography together. I was pleasantly surprised and impressed at the level of work that the students produced; they were all wonderful. This speaks well of the quality of the students at RCC and volumes about the job the faculty is doing. All i can say is "well done".

Women's Casual Fashion

(Photograph copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

Women's studio casual fashion photography. Out-take from a commercial shoot.

Biscuits on Blue Willow

(Photograph copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

Biscuits were an everyday staple on farm tables when I was growing up in Grays Chapel, North Carolina, but these days they are more of an occasional treat. My daughter-in-law, Christine, baked these on Sunday morning for a country breakfast. My son Tristan is a lucky man.

The Old Chair

(Photograph copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

Simple things sometimes produce interesting patterns. The hand woven seat of an old straight back chair sits in our den beside our old green table.

Work Portraits

Work portrait photographs from a commercial apparel job.

(Photographs copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)