It’s the middle of the month, so today I’m looking back at some of the images I made in April 2015. It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 years since I made these photographs because, when I look at them now, it feels like it was just a couple of weeks ago when I took them.
The first image is not something that I would typically photograph, but when I saw these buildings in Austin, Texas, it reminded me of one of those panning-type scenes of the New York skyline (it always seems to be the New York skyline) that you see in television shows and movies. Throw in the repeating lines, patterns, and shapes, and I just had to photograph it.
High rise buildings, Austin, Texas, April 2015
April is the month I am most likely to visit the Old Mill in North Little Rock, Arkansas. I like to time my visit to coincide with the peak colors of the flowers that surround the mill. When my timing is right, I get some amazing photographs full of spring blooms. When my timing is off, as it usually seems to be, I have to come up with a different approach; that’s what happened when I visited in April 2015. I had arrived hoping to see the flowers in full bloom. Instead, I had arrived about a week or two too late as the colors looked very faded and subdued, so I had to open my mind to different possibilities.
I started walking around the grounds trying to find a nice subject while doing my best to set aside my disappointment, which was proving rather difficult to do. Everywhere I looked, all I saw was faded muted colors that weren’t particularly inspiring.
After about 30 minutes, I decided to call it a day and go home. As I headed down the small path toward the entrance, I happened to notice this tree that had a small vine growing up its trunk. I have no idea what caused me to see this, but I stopped to take a closer look. My initial response was one of unimpressiveness, if that’s a word. But, then I noticed the Old Mill standing in the background and began to realize there was an interesting photograph to be made – a mill in the woods, rather than a scary cabin. 😉
The Old Mill, Arkansas, April 2015
After photographing the mill, I packed up and began to leave but not before making one final trip around the area. As I approached the exit, I discovered a bed of Bearded Irises. It took me an untold number of shots and experimentation to figure out the right combination of lens and extension tubes to finally create this image, and, after 10 years, it is still one of my favorite images I’ve ever made at the mill.
Bearded iris, April 2015
Well, that’s my look back to April 2015. Thanks for reading!