Three Old Fishing Plugs

(Photograph copyright 2012 by Dan Routh)

Still-life, three old fishing plugs on the green table.

Snow in Bryce Canyon

A lot of the time people equate red rock and Utah with hot and dry, but that area does indeed have winter. In the image above, a winter snow has dusted the hoodoos of Bryce Canyon and adds something extra to the famous formations. Hot and dry. The morning after these were shot, the temperature was -5 degrees F. But it was a dry cold.

(Photographs copyright 2012 by Dan Routh)

White Ram

(Photograph copyright 2012 by Dan Routh)

White ram, Rising Meadow Farm. Grays Chapel, North Carolina.

Rick Smith, Still Hanging in There

(Image courtesy of and © Richard Smith)

Last night I had the pleasure of attending a special 40 year retrospective of the photographic work of long-time Greensboro photographer Rick Smith. Randolph Community College's photography department honored Rick by hanging a show of his personal work going back some forty years. Rick was in attendance and gave a short talk on design, photography and how he has combined the two over the years to produce his extraordinary imagery. There was a large crowd there, including many former clients, associates and friends. The president of RCC presented Rick with a plaque in honor of the time and energy he has volunteered to the photography program at the school.

All in all it was a very special and moving evening. Rick was the first person to hire me as a commercial photography assistant. I worked as his apprentice. A large part of my photographic knowledge, in lighting as well as design, is directly because of his tutelage. Over the past 35 years, he has been a boss, a teacher, an associate, a competitor, the best still-life shooter I have ever known, a mentor, but most of all a friend. God bless you Rick.

(Black and white photographs copyright 2012 by Dan Routh)

For all those interested, Rick's images will be on display in the RCC photo department in Asheboro, North Carolina until February 28, 2012. The public is invited to stop by and view them.

Feeding Silage

Dairy farming is an every day profession, 365 days a year. Michael Williams loads silage to feed his cows on a Sunday afternoon at Williams Dairy in Grays Chapel, North Carolina.

(Photographs copyright 2012 by Dan Routh)

A Pile of Stones

If you walk around in the woods in Grays Chapel, North Carolina, especially in the winter, it's amazing how much evidence of the history of the area you can see. These images are of an old stone dam on Bush Creek some 300 feet long and 20 feet in height. A lot of the stonework is intact but the center of the dam was breached by a long ago hurricane and the creek now flows freely through. For some people, it probably just looks like a pile of rocks, but the rock work is beautiful and it is very special and significant  to me on a personal level. My great-great-grandfather Isaac Routh built this dam in the late nineteenth century and it held back a five acre pond which powered a grist mill. Isaac and his son Wes ran that mill until it burned in the 1940's (replaced by a nearby engine powered mill) and the pond remained until a hurricane caused a breach in the 1950's. Wes's brother, my great-grandfather John T. Routh, learned his profession as a miller here before he moved on to his own mill business in Bonlee in Chatham County.

(Photographs copyright 2012 by Dan Routh)

Sheep on the Hill

(Photograph copyright 2012 by Dan Routh)

Sheep graze on a hill on a warm Sunday afternoon in January at Rising Meadow Farm in Grays chapel, North Carolina.

Clark Fork Postcard

(Photograph copyright 2012 by Dan Routh)

On a cold rainy day in January, it's nice to think of some places I would like to be, like this bend in the Clark Fork River in western Montana.

B&W Blow Torch

(Photograph copyright 2012 by Dan Routh)

Old blow torch in the machine shed on our farm in Grays Chapel, North Carolina.

Cousin Tommy

Cousin Tommy Routh feeding and checking on his stock down the road from me in Grays Chapel, North Carolina. He boards horses on his "Routh Ranch".

(Photographs copyright 2012 by Dan Routh)

Neighbor's Mule

(Photograph copyright 2012 by Dan Routh)

Mule at my neighbor's barn. Grays Chapel, North Carolina.

Box of Matches

(Photograph copyright 2012 by Dan Routh)

Box of old wooden matches.

Buddy McNeil

(Photograph copyright 2012 by Dan Routh)

Portrait. Buddy McNeil. Grays Chapel, North Carolina.

"Backer" Barn

(Photograph copyright 2012 by Dan Routh)

Tobacco curing barn near my home in Grays Chapel, North Carolina. Once there were barns like this on almost every farm in Randolph County, but they are disappearing rapidly.

Attic in the Barn

(Photograph copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

Old "equipment" in a North Carolina barn attic.

Caldwell County Farmer

(Photograph copyright 2012 by Dan Routh)

Portrait, Caldwell County, North Carolina.

Happy New Year

(Photograph copyright 2012 by Dan Routh)

Happy New Year to all my friends, family, and readers. May 2012 bring better times for us all.

From Warmer Days

(Photograph copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

From a local farmer's fields during warmer times last summer.

Horse Harness

Horse harness hangs on a neighbor's farm in Grays Chapel, North Carolina. The harness above is leather, while the antique collar below is made of zinc. The zinc was supposed to act medicinally to prevent the horse or mule's shoulders from getting sore and raw.

(Photographs copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

World Traveler

(Photograph copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

Among the family visitors we had over the holidays was Brown Teddy, my son Devin's childhood companion. Teddy has been living in New Hampshire the last couple of years with Devin and recently had the opportunity to be the traveling companion of Dartmouth student Jocelyn Powelson on a trip to China, where the globe-hopping bear had a chance to view the Great Wall and take a ride on a camel in the Gobi Desert. After the New Year, his adventures continue. Next stop, New Zealand, and a chance to view the Southern Cross.

(Photographs courtesy Jocelyn Powelson)

Jocelyn

Portrait, Jocelyn Powelson. On a visit to Grays Chapel, North Carolina.

(Photographs copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

Farmall M Plow

(Photograph copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

Old Farmall M plow in B&W.

Mowing

Brothers Matthew (above) and Michael Walker (below) work to make one more cutting of hay before winter sets in near my home in Grays Chapel, North Carolina.

(Photographs copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

Merry Christmas from the Routh Family

(Photograph copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

Merry Christmas from my family in Grays Chapel.

The Key to My Grandfather's House

(Photograph copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

Another still-life study from the green table in my den.

Portrait

(Photograph copyright 2011 by Dan Routh.

Gary Mac. Grays Chapel, North Carolina.

Chevy in the Vines

(Photograph copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

An old Chevy cab-over truck (1941?) emerges from the vines in Lineberry, North Carolina. During the summer it disappears.

I Saw Esau

Esau is a ram at Rising Meadow Farm near my home in Grays Chapel, North Carolina. Farm owner Ann Fay said he was named for an old playground ditty. For those that don't remember the rhyme, it goes in one version:

I saw Esau, sitting on a see-saw,
I saw Esau, he saw me.
I saw Esau, sitting on a see-saw,
I saw Esau, he saw me.
I saw Esau, he saw me, and she saw I saw Esau.

(Photographs copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

Shiloh Decorations

Natural Christmas decorations at Shiloh Church in Troy, North Carolina.

(Photographs copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

Roosting Guinea

(Photograph copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

A guinea fowl roosts in a walnut tree at dusk at my home in Grays Chapel, North Carolina.