kodachrome project @denver (fujica ax-5)

During the spring of 2010, I decided to take some of my Kodachrome stash on a trip to Denver, Colorado, since I had never been. Unfortunately, the weather was less than cooperative and overcast during a substantial part of my trip. Despite the cloud cover, I did manage to burn a few rolls of Kodachrome.

I stayed in downtown and found this groovy Rocky Mountain Diner neon sign near my hotel. Staying downtown was worth the loot, plenty of excellent restaurants and fantastic bars were within walking distance (a mile or so) from my hotel. I slept at the Magnolia, which I highly recommend.

After exploring near the hotel, my wandering took me to Lodo, where I discovered a vintage Coca-Cola sign adorning the Wazee Supper Club. Sadly, I did not get a chance to hang out at the Wazee Supper Club on this visit, but I did enjoy its unique ambiance on subsequent trips to Denver.

In my travels through Lodo, I came across Manny's Bridge. The bridge was built by the Pennsylvania Steel Company and completed in 1908. It originally served the Denver and Rio Grand Railroad, but eventually fell into disrepair. The bridge is named after Dr. Emanual Salzman, who was instrumental in rehabilitating the bridge for pedestrian use. Manny's Bridge is an important connection between Lodo and both the Cherry Creek and Platte River Greenways.

In addition to shooting Kodachrome, I traveled to Colorado to sample the multitude of tasty craft beers brewed in the state. Conveniently, Great Divide brews their delicious beers in downtown Denver and also has a swank taproom. Walking to Great Divide for a tour and some brews, I discovered some colorful graffiti.

My first trip to Colorado was a blast, I enjoyed exploring and sampling craft brews even though the weather was not always conducive to photography. I enjoyed it so much that Colorado has become an annual trip for me, albeit without Kodachrome.

adventures with s and d @auraria ghost town (fujica ax-5)

My friend D suggested we explore some ghost towns and sent me a list of several in the southeast. We decided to start with Auraria, Georgia, as it was reasonably close to Atlanta. In 1828, gold was discovered in north Georgia and several miners arrived on the scene. They founded Auraria, which was the first gold rush town in the state. Eventually, the gold ran out and the miners moved west, settling in what is now Denver. A few buildings are still standing in Auraria, Georgia.

On the appointed day, I picked up S and D, as well as M, who rode along for safety, and we drove north on Georgia 400 to Lumpkin County. Upon arriving in Auraria, we parked near Woody's Store, an old wooden building that was open for business into the 1980s.

We all piled out of the car and began taking pictures. S had battery issues with her digital gear, but had fortuitously packed a Nikon FE, so she photographed with that. I found a nicely weathered Coca-Cola sign on the side of Woody's. On the front porch of Woody's, I discovered a groovy old vending machine starting to decay.

Up the street from Woody's, we came upon the remains of the Graham Hotel. I had hoped to explore the interior, but as shown in this photograph of the collapsing Graham Hotel, the building was in an advanced state of decay and entering was out of the question. Across the street from the store and hotel are some unidentified ruins. This foundation and what might have been the roof are all that is left of the building.

Auraria also had an old graveyard. I was unhappy with most of the shots I took in the cemetery, but I did get this photo of a decaying monument. Sadly, no ghosts were encountered in either the town or the graveyard.

kodachrome project @charleston (fujica ax-5)

Early in 2010, I took a road trip to Charleston, South Carolina to put some of my Kodachrome stash to good use. This was my first visit to the Holy City, despite living nearby in Atlanta for over ten years. The weather on this trip was absolutely fantastic and I was able to burn through four rolls of Kodachrome.

Downtown Charleston is an eclectic mix of shops, restaurants, and residences. Although national retailers are prominent and a few chain restaurants make an appearance, the majority of eateries on the peninsula are independents, which leads to some interesting signs as they vie for attention. I particularly enjoyed this neon bicycle on top of Basil.

Overall, downtown Charleston is well kept and a number of businesses are thriving. However, on the more interesting end of King Street, I was able to take this photograph of a burned out building in downtown Charleston, South Carolina. In contrast, this picture of a fish skeleton was taken at a well kept shop.

As mentioned previously, Charleston features a plethora of interesting signs. A substantial number of them are neon, like this Berlin's for Men sign or the Tellis Pharmacy sign.

In between photography expeditions, I enjoyed visiting several of Charleston's art galleries. Imbibing libations at two different rooftop bars with great views of the city and harbor was also a good way of passing the time. I had several tasty meals, with Coast being a standout. The seafood was delicious and the restaurant is in a former indigo warehouse, so the ambiance is top notch as well.

kodachrome project @athens (fujica ax-5)

Despite living in Atlanta for a decade, the only time I visited Athens was to catch a Starlight Mints show. So, on a sunny Saturday in November of 2009, I took a road trip to Athens with my Fujica AX-5 and a few rolls of Kodachrome.

Not knowing what to expect, I was surprised to find some rather fancy architecture in Athens. As shown in this photograph of the Fred Building, some structures had elaborate decorations and their names emblazoned on the front. Unfortunately some buildings are starting to fall into a state of disrepair, as shown in this picture of peeling paint on the College Square Offices building. To my delight, faded old signs abounded on the sides of buildings. This advertisement painted on a wall is one of my favorites.

adventures with s and d @providence canyon (fujica ax-5)

A few years ago, I went camping with S and D at Providence Canyon in south Georgia. I hate camping, but adjacent to the trail along the top of the canyon are several rusted out decaying automobiles. The vehicles were part of a homestead before the area became a state park. A sign near the dilapidated hulks states that removing the cars would be detrimental to the ecosystem, as several creatures make their homes in the abandoned shells. However, I suspect the state is too cheap to do it. No matter, I enjoyed photographing them.

Along the canyon rim, we encountered the first of the cars. Most are still recognizable as automobiles, however ascertaining make and model is nearly impossible. One of my favorite shots is this rusted piece of a car. Despite the years and decay, some paint still remains, as evidenced in this picture of an abandoned vehicle. My favorite shot from the trip is this headlight assembly full of spider webs. Not everything is busted cars and rusted trucks, we also found an old graveyard where I took this photograph of a stone wall.

As an aside, Providence Canyon is not a 100 percent natural gorge. Poor farming methods caused the erosion that resulted in the canyon.

personal kodachrome project

About five years ago, a coworker mentioned he was taking photographs using a Pentax K1000 and Kodachrome film. I had assumed the legendary film had gone out of production years ago and had never shot any myself. So I picked up a few rolls to experiment with. I really liked the unique look of the film and it became a part of my regular kit.

Kodak announced in early 2010 they would not be producing any more Kodachrome and Dwayne's, the last remaining lab, set a deadline of December 30th, 2010 for processing. I stocked up on Kodachrome, ordering several rolls from B&H and more from Calumet when B&H ran out of stock.

Inspired by The Kodachrome Project, but constrained by having a day job, I decided to shoot as much of my Kodachrome supply as I could in different parts of the United States. Uncounted rolls, a pile of frequent flier miles, and a few road trips later, I ended up with around 300 final images. I managed to cover ten states, although I had shot Kodachrome in two or three of them prior to the announcement. The project results are posted under Kodachrome on Aspherical.

adventures with s and d @bessemer and birmingham (fujica ax-5)

About a month after canceling our road trip to Birmingham and visiting south metro Atlanta, S and I recruited D and set off towards Birmingham. As we would be arriving around lunch time, our first priority was to locate some barbecue. I searched for the best barbecue in Birmingham and Bob Sykes Barbecue came up. It had several good reviews, so we exited the freeway in Bessemer and checked it out. The building was appropriately quirky and the parking lot was packed, so we stopped in and had a delicious lunch.

bessemer

After eating lunch, we decided to explore Bessemer before heading to Birmingham. The first interesting thing we came across was the abandoned Bessemer Battery, which appeared to have been a retail establishment.

We wandered around downtown, where I took a picture of the Bright Star Restaurant sign. I also took a photograph of the letter y.

After that, we drove over to the railroad tracks and discovered a vacant train depot. While the building appeared to be abandoned and had plenty of broken glass and other debris inside, there were some signs that a renovation was about to begin. Stacked against a column were several plates of glass with a recent receipt.

birmingham

Instead of the interstate, we took US 11 from Bessemer to Birmingham in hopes of finding something interesting to photograph along the way. We were sorely disappointed.

When we arrived at downtown Birmingham, we found a few things worth taking pictures of. I took this photograph of the Cabana Hotel sign. At the end of my last roll of film, I took a picture of this puddle in a parking lot that clearly has a few maintenance issues.

sunlight and garbage @ castleberry hill (fujica ax-5)

Despite being invented by musicians in the 1930s, Kodachrome is still better than any modern color film. I was overjoyed to discover it is still manufactured and processed. While some clarity and color depth of the slides is lost in the scans, enough of the unique feel is retained to be worth posting.

While hanging out with the Atlanta Photographers Guild and shooting models, I was rather bored. I noticed the evening sun on a railing and took a shot, as I knew the Kodachrome would reproduce the colors well. Conversely, in cold light, Kodachrome is capable of producing some fabulous blues and greens, as shown in this photograph of garbage in the ghetto.