thematic photography, week 2: life or death

for our second week of class, we were given the theme of life or death.  not a very happy theme at first glance but surprisingly, an easy one to find images of.  since we were allowed to interpret the theme as we wanted, the choices for shooting were plentiful.  the trick was to find images that were interesting and eye catching.  

for my photos, i decided to visit a cemetary.  luckily for me, the nashville city cemetery was giving the annual living history tour.  not only were there lots of interesting scenes to shoot, there were live actors portraying the dead and buried.  if you haven't gone on a living history tour, you should.  the history of nashville is colorful, to say the least!

 an actor portraying moses wetmore, an early developer of east nashville

 my husband was fascinated with the mausoleums

 vine on iron fencing

 row of crypts

 flower bed 

 this quote seems to sum it all up nicely

 reflection on a crypt

 the mausoleum reflecting the gravestones across from it

then of course, i headed to the garden.  this is a great time of year to find life and death in the garden.

 lichen on dead wood

 same subject, monochrome

 cicada wings

 and in color-completely different results

and one that somehow did not make it onto my flash drive for class-sustaining life means certain death.

and our next theme is our choice-we have a list and i have yet to make my choice.  stay tuned, i will post the photos.

fall arrives; time to head back to class

for the last year, i have been taking classes at a local art college.  it is all part of my effort to learn better techniques for taking photos of my work and of the garden.  this last week, i headed back to class for a four week workshop on thematic photography.  while it sounds a bit complicated, it isn't.  any professional photographer will tell you that most paid assignments have a theme.  the object is to produce photos that define the theme without needing explanation.  for our first assignment, we were given the theme of "americana" and i made an attempt to define it and capture it.  

many of you know that i live in nashville.  obviously, a fiddle and a bottle of kentucky bourbon should relay americana.  unless you are a musician (or my daughter) and you know that is a viola...work with me people!

 toll painted cake tin and a bundt cake slice

 split rail fence

 farm equipment

 grandma's garden at ellington ag center

 corn

 zinnias on a ladderback chair

 zinnias on a hand hewn table

 zinnias, a log bench and a split rail fence

 the grand champion has dinner

 you lookin at me?

 blue ribbon dreams

russell and his apple pie

 waiting our turn to dance

appalachaian precision cloggers-they wear tap shoes?