Farmington House

Farmington House, originally uploaded by mhall209.

This is not on my usual way home from work, but every now and then I am in the mood to mix it up a little. Farmington is a tiny little town at the edge of San Joaquin County. A baseball player could throw a rock from one end of the town to the other. OK, thats an exageration, but not by much. There is not much there, but there are a number of old buildings like this one. The kind that you are not sure if it is occupied or not. I liked the green here, and the assymmetry of the building.

Pollardville

Bar Stool, originally uploaded by mhall209.

Along Highway 99 in the north part of Stockton, Ca, sat a chicken restaurant/ghost town/tourist trap called Pollardville. It was a different kind of place, sort of an old school poor mans Knotts Berry Farm. By the time it made its way onto our families radar, it was about ready to close. By that time it was not the most appetizing place around, so we never ate there that I remember. But to look at web sites, it seems it was a happening spot for many years. It is slated for demolition any day now.

I stopped by and found a section of fence that someone forgot to, um, fence. An opening in the fence means the same as "Come on in", right? So I wandered in and was quicklly sorry I did. Man, the smell! I was sure something was dead. I didn't stay too long- it was really a scary place to be all alone. I got this shot around back, where what looked like a bar used to be. It sat right there, like you see it. I was not about to walk on those floor boards to go over and move the chair. I was afraid I would fall through the floor and land on something dead!

This place really is ready for the bulldozers. Really.

Mokelumne Hill Barn HDR

Mokelumne Hill Barn HDR, originally uploaded by mhall209.

It is my last day of spring break. Bummer. To top it off it was going to snow last night, and my wife had to go to work this morning. She asked my to get up with her this morning and drive her to town so she wouldn't have to drive in the snow. She really does not like to drive in the snow. So what is a husband to do? I got up and drove her to town, where we had left her car last night.

So that out me outside-below the snow line- early on an overcast morning. So I made the best of the situation, bought a latte, and went shooting! This was one of the last shots I took. It was about a quarter mile below the snow line. The light was just right so I took a series of exposures and put them together as an HDR image.

Stevens teapot

Anagama teapot, originally uploaded by mhall209.

Our son Steven came home for spring break. Sort of. He is a student at San Francisco State, majoring in art. I don't know if pottery is his specific major, but that is where he spends much of his time, and he is really really good at it. (Proud dad talking.) So he came home but he had a pit fire during part of the break and an anagama firing during another part of the week. Both of these are old school wood fueled processing for finishing pottery.

First was the pit fire. He came home with these amazing ceramic bottles he had made. Each about 15 inches high, and they looked like they were made out of agate. They are amazing.

Then, yesterday, he came home with these tea pots that were put in an anagama kiln. The pictures don't do them justice. They are incredable. I suggested that all of these pieces would look really good in his parents' house. He said that that may be true, but his professor wants to see them as well. "Well who do you love more" I asked? "Well I do need a grade Dad."

So he went back to school this afternoon, but it seems he forgot the tea pots. Gives me a chance to work on my product photography. I know, I need to do a lot of work on that!

Cadillac

Cadillac, originally uploaded by mhall209.

We went out to dinner tonight in the town of Sonora, a large town (by our standards) about an hour south of our home. My wife and I were early and decided to walk around the town while we waited for our sons to arrive. Thats why I came across this parking lot with not one,, but three old Cadillacs. Each of them were from a decidedly different era. I am not a car guy, but there was no mistaking these three were different. While there was nothing in the lot but the three caddys, this is the only one I could get a good shot of, given the ca,era and lens set up I had at the time. I was encouraged enough by the town that I may just head back just to take photos in the next few days.

I really took this shot because it reminds me of some of the shots my brother takes. You can see his photostream here. He really gets into the car shots. This is my poor attempt at his work.

Time for a haircut

Time for a haircut, originally uploaded by mhall209.

This is Snowball. An angora goat that my youngest son raised. She was born right here on our property during a snowstorm. The local goat breeders say that Angoras typically kid (the birth process in goats) during bad weather. This supposedly protects the kids from preditors, as mountain lions and such do not hunt in the rain. I don't know if that is true or not. All I know is when Steven went out to feed the goats that morning, he thought Snowball was litterally a small pile of snow, untill it moved! Thus the name.

Flag House

flaghouse, originally uploaded by mhall209.

This house is one my way to work. Right on the edge between civilization and cow country. To the east is range land and vineyards. To the west are neighborhoods. I was not sure for a long time if anyone lived here. It is one of those situations where you are not quite sure if that is someones stuff spread out all over, or if someone just walked away in the middle of moving out. I really wanted to get out of the car and walk around, looking for well framed shots. In the end I decided it better to do just a drive by shoot, pulling over and stopping just long enough to get the shot. As I was driving away a guy came out the front door, stood on thr porch and smoked something. I am glad I opted for the drive by!