Author: Mark E. Johnson

This Isn’t Good

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We’re under a tornado watch here in Athens. Which is not as bad as a tornado warning – which means there is one, or they’re pretty sure there is one, and you should go hide someplace safe. Like in Maine.

Was sitting on the porch reading a bit when I heard it coming. Splat. Splat. SplatSplatSplat. I headed inside, looked out the office window and saw … bright sun and monster raindrops. Cool photos, but the weather could get nasty soon … I’m charging up the video camera batteries, because I’m like that.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 28-135 mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM, ISO 400, 1/1000, f/5.6

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-03-21

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  • I seem to have been drafted into organizing something else … something mildly big and important … more to come. #
  • It is good to be Irish on a day when you talk about storytelling. Hope to hear some good craic, probably tell some, too. #
  • RT @sethgitner: NPPA: Multimedia Immersion 2010: Registration is now open for the NPPA Multimedia Immersion. http://bit.ly/a1dAxV #
  • Apparently I'm not a very good friend as I just called someone at work to find out they retired. Last year … whoops. #
  • Things I did not know: The mascot for UC Santa Cruz is a banana slug. http://www.goslugs.com/ (Thanks @danteshepherd) #
  • Smelled these in the hallway & got nostalgic. http://yfrog.com/jwvclj Then heard Fink typing, got sentimental & decided to tweet about it. #
  • Wondering where all of my students are this morning. Hmmmmmm … Maybe they stayed up late to watch Syracuse last night? #
  • The Bluejeans Workshop at Grady College is off and running – and it is really good. Get here ASAP if you can. #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-03-14

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  • Contemplating a whole new raw hard drive archiving scheme. DVDs and CDs are getting old … thoughts? #
  • I still want one, but I hate the commercial. They could only afford a 1-handed model & then used still photos? http://tinyurl.com/yd3nv9j #
  • So uninstalling CS3 takes as long as installing it, eh? Good to know … #
  • Talking with a friend about the old days: Ektachrome at night football, taping 283s to gym walls, "There are no atheists in darkrooms." #
  • It scares me how much I don't know about php yet can manage to make work: http://visualjournalism.info/ , now updated. #
  • Why did I never learn to use Spaces before today? So much easier for dealing with background stuff. #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-03-07

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  • Last morning in Elberton … raced a train coming into town, trying to get ahead to shoot it as it crossed a nice bridge. I lost … #
  • RT @DOsports: Syracuse is ranked No. 1 in both polls, first time in the regular season since the 1990 season. #
  • Local tv station's online weather says sunny and 48 on Tuesday. Everyone else says snow and we'll be under a winter weather advisory. Uh … #
  • A little worried about a dentist with this many wires, but they seem nice enough. http://yfrog.com/i3hreqj #
  • Genetic blending at work? http://blackandwtf.tumblr.com/post/424136899/via-indigenae #
  • Sorry to report I lost control of my class today-they started dancing to "Thriller" half way through. http://yfrog.com/16izvj #
  • This is just too cool … but what books would I cut for? RT @rands: A shelf cut to house seven specific books: http://j.mp/cQ29gi #

County Fair

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My fascination with empty places was well sated this past weekend. En route to a return visit to the Georgia Guidestones, I spotted the Elbert 12 County Fair grounds and had to make a stop.

It was a little visual shooting exercise, one I’ll share a bit here. I thought I knew what image I wanted but it wasn’t right – the following images show how I worked my way into a final image.

1. From the parking lot, a good distance out to give a sense of location. I like the abandoned feel, balancing it with a centered composition.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 35 mm f/1.4 L USM, ISO 100, 1/8000, f/2.0

2. Decided to give it more blue sky – it was such a great sky.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 35 mm f/1.4 L USM, ISO 100, 1/8000, f/2.0

3. The broken pavement was saying … something. I don’t know what, so I gave it some more prominence.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 35 mm f/1.4 L USM, ISO 100, 1/8000, f/2.0

4. But then that sky called again …

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 35 mm f/1.4 L USM, ISO 100, 1/8000, f/2.0

5. I wanted to get in closer, but the ticket stand was in the way. I drove my truck right up in front of the stand and climbed up into the bed.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 16-35 mm f/2.8 L USM, ISO 100, 1/1000, f/4.5

6. Almost there. But the debris around the edges … top of the roof, power lines … I hate edge debris. So I got up just a little higher (standing on the side walls of the bed of the truck) and got off one last frame …

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 16-35 mm f/2.8 L USM, ISO 100, 1/320, f/10

And when I showed the images that evening, one of my heroes said he liked the first one the best. Oh, well – was a fun little shoot. And now I want to know when the Elberton 12 County Fair is and try this at night.