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.

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

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

4. But then that sky called again …

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.

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 …

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.