Thistle

(Photograph copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

A thistle blooms in the meadow of our farm in Grays Chapel, North Carolina.

Red Hen

(Photograph copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

Red hen, Grays Chapel, North Carolina.

Butterflies to Come

We have a lot of Black Swallowtail butterflies around our home in Grays Chapel, North Carolina. They laid their eggs and now their young are in the caterpillar stage. Last year the young caterpillars fed on parsley. This year, they have chosen dill. Soon they will spin cocoons and begin their change into adult Swallowtails.

(Photographs copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

1962 Ferrari 250GTO

(Photograph copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

The Ferrari 250GTO is arguably the most beautiful car body ever built. This particular one shown at Virginia International Raceway is probably also the most original in existence.

Box Turtle

My mother-in-law found this fellow on her carport Friday, so we brought him (or her) home and released it in our meadow. Box Turtles (or Terrapenes as we used to call them) were quite numerous when I was younger, but lately they have become endangered in our area, primarily through loss of habitat and road kills.

(Photographs copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

Young Native Americans

Portraits of young Native Americans shot at powwows in Greensboro, North Carolina over the past few years. On Fridays, I often try to look back at things I have done before. Gives me a little perspective as to where I need to go.



(Photographs copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

Magnolia in the Rain

(Photograph copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

A magnolia blooms on a rainy day in my yard in Grays Chapel, North Carolina.

Wednesday Poetry

Today I want to share some of my son Devin's poetry. He wrote this about Chram, a Montagnard who works at a neighbor's organic farm in Grays Chapel, North Carolina.

He proudly holds his hand-picked greens
Above the plants he sowed himself.
With eyes like stones he sees beyond
This fertile ground, these Southern Hills
Towards another wooded home.
So far from Vietnam, so far
From where he left his family
To find new work and guarantee
A steady life or something more
Than what they’d have as refugees.

While all his plants took seed and grew
To feed his new community
His arms grew thin, his legs looked frail,
He stumbled as he picked the weeds,
And finally he asked if he
Could hunt a couple squirrels for food.
He nearly starved to save his crops
For those who bought them from the farm.
So Steve and Lee, who hired him,
Packed up fresh cheese and meat, as well
As plenty of his vegetables,
And sent him home to rest and eat.

Was it his pride that kept him from
Enjoying his all his hard grown crops,
Or was it dignity and grace?
Or maybe it was something else,
That every crop he didn’t eat
He sold instead, a dollar more
Towards his wage, and closer still
To moving all his family
From far off camps to Southern hills.
He’d rather starve for weeks than spend
A day without his family.

(Poetry copyright 2010 by Devin Routh. Used with permission.)

(Photographs copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

2010 Tour de Lions

This past weekend was truly a two-wheeled one. On Saturday I covered the Grays Chapel Lions annual Tour de Lions bicycle ride. It was a beautiful day and over 400 riders took part to raise money for the visually impaired.






(Photographs copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

1936 Harley Davidson Knucklehead

I stopped by the Antique Motorcycle Club of America, Southern National motorcycle rally and meet Friday morning in Denton, North Carolina. There were a bunch of really interesting old bikes to look at, but I was attracted to one in particular, a 1936 Knucklehead Harley Davidson. Perhaps because it was in almost original condition, or because it still runs great, or because it still has it's original paint, I was drawn to it. What was really great though, was the original owner had named it "Flying Cloud". That name alone made me wonder what great stories that old bike had in it,



(Photographs copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

Packhouse Door

(Photograph copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

Detail of an old tobacco packhouse on our farm in Grays Chapel, North Carolina.

Hydrangea Leaves

(Photograph copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

Still-life photograph from the back yard.

Plowmen

Portraits from a recent draft horse/mule event in Caldwell County, North Carolina.



(Photograph copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

Rising Meadow Farm

(Photograph copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

Sheep graze on a recent afternoon at a neighbor's farm in Grays Chapel, North Carolina.

Belated Mother's Day

(Photograph copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

My son Devin is in school at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, and he wasn't able to get home for Mother's Day. He's a poet, so he was able to send a few belated verses to his Mom in the form of a limerick.

"So I have this very swell mama
who kept me from childhood trauma
and though she can nag
like a withered old hag
without her I'd drown in life's drama."

(Poetry copyright 2010 by Devin Routh, used with permission)

He made his Mom laugh.

Friday Portrait Photography

(Photograph copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

Portrait of a student, Greensboro, North Carolina

Chevy Hood Ornament

(Photograph copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

Photograph of Chevy hood ornament, Asheboro, North Carolina.

Old Wood Plane

(Photograph copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

Still-life of old wood plane.

Caldwell County Plow Day

Take several acres of bottom land along the Yadkin River in Caldwell County, North Carolina. Add about 20-25 teams of the most gorgeous mules and work horses you have ever seen along with some serious farmers and it's amazing how much ground you can turn in just a short time. Images are from a plow day gathering of the North Carolina Draft Horse & Mule Association this past weekend.







(Photographs copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)

Five Hundred Posts

(Photograph copyright 2010)

Last week I passed a milestone (sort of) on this blog in that I passed 500 posts. That’s about 2 years worth of posting five times a week. Guess it’s time to take a look at my blogging efforts and see where I am. I started my blog as a marketing effort for the most part and it continues in that vein. I post mostly images with the occasional prose, because that’s what I do. I take photographs, professionally. I have for some 34 years.

As a marketing effort, my blog has had mixed success. I wish I could say that perspective clients are running all over each other trying to book me, but they aren’t. I have booked jobs as a direct result of someone who found me online, but with the recession hitting the Greensboro area hard, work has become harder and harder to find, especially new work. I’ve also found that in order to make a blog work, you have to market the blog itself through social networking, forums, etc. So, in order to use a marketing device, you have to market it, and so on; something that quickly becomes very time consuming.

All of this marketing is on top of the time and effort it takes to produce content. After all the main reason for posting my work is to show folks something that I think is worthwhile seeing. Producing a “good” image every day, every week takes a lot of work, and I try not to post anything that I don’t consider good. Granted, some images are a lot better than others, but I do attempt to show something every day that will stand on it’s own. Some of my images come from actual jobs, but many are produced just for the blog.

So, where does all of this lead me? I will continue to post as much as I can. Any marketing success is dependent on how long you can continue it. I will also try to continue working on my craft, because when all is said and done, that has been the biggest benefit I have gotten from this whole experiment. I have made myself go out and shoot content just to be shooting. Even after 34 years, it’s amazing what you can get from practice. I think I’ve learned some things visually, and I sure have enjoyed doing it.

Monday Hip Hop

Portraits of a local hip-hop artist. 

(Photographs copyright 2010 by Dan Routh)