Complete

When SoFoBoMo (Solo Photo Book Month) started, the idea intrigued me as a project. However, I really did not know exactly what I wanted to photograph. I just thought it would be a good idea and would stretch my experience and knowledge.

I assumed that I would do a book related to landscape and the outside. It was possible that it would be birds. However, my original idea did not pan out for several reasons.

My husband suggested that I photograph the Courthouses around our area. We have some lovely small town squares with the courthouses centered on them. There is a real feel for small town life on these squares. I thought I would try this.

It was a lot of fun going around and seeing the different areas. I am not from southwest Georgia, as my husband is, so this was a new experience for me to visit each city.

I have discovered that I am not a great fan of photographing architecture, regardless of how lovely it is.

More importantly though, I have found that I enjoyed the challenges associated with photographing buildings. I have learned much more than photography however. I do not do much post-processing with my images. These courthouse images with their resultant issues of wide angle leaning and curvatures challenged me to learn much more about post-processing.

Overall, it was a lot of fun. I look forward to doing it again, whether here or on my own restrictions.

I also want to say thanks to the other photographers that participated. Your books provided me with a lot of inspiration as I continue to enjoy photography.

The Courthouses

Welcome to southwest Georgia!

As a recent resident of southwest Georgia, it is a beautiful place to live. It is still pretty much an agricultural region. Peanuts, corn, cotton, tomatoes and even carrots are grown around our area. It is not unusual to be driving on the road on your way somewhere and have to pull off the road for farm equipment.

There is also a lot of hunting and fishing that goes on around here. So, in the middle of December sometimes we will wake up in the morning to repeated gun fire. The duck hunters were up before the crack of dawn finding their place to hunt. We also enjoy the treat of having deer, turkey, fox, quail and other wildlife crossing our property.

It is a wonderful place to live.

Most of the small towns in our area grew up around a town square. On these town squares you will usually find the County Courthouse. In most of the courthouse grounds there are some things you will see for certain. One of these is a clock which may be on the building or on a monument. Another is monuments to soldiers, to all of our men who fought in all wars. There are other monuments, i.e., to the person for whom the county is named, to the peanut which is a staple in the economy. Mitchell County also has a water pump (see in these pictures) that represents an artesian well that was located on this site. Fountains are another item found on the grounds of several courthouses.

Two other things I found on most squares were Magnolia Trees and Oak Trees. Some of the ones I found were exceptional examples of both.

There are a few exceptions, in Baker County (you will see the old and the new courthouses pictured here), the old courthouse flooded several times. Back in the early 1900s it flooded so much that you could take a boat through the second floor, going in one window and out another. Then again in the late 1900s it flooded again and covered the first floor. Thus, the decision was made to move the courthouse business to a better location. As I took pictures of the new one, a lady walked by and told me to be sure to photograph the old one.

Of particular interest to me was finding out when I moved to Decatur that I am related to some of the founding fathers. An ancestor of mine was a surveyor who helped to map out the county.

In Grady County, their courthouse burned in the 1980s. They rebuilt their courthouse and stayed with similar architecture to what you will see in the older courthouses around the area. Miller County’s courthouse is their fourth building. It is of a newer architecture yet still situated on the town square. Mitchell County’s Courthouse is built of Georgia white marble and was built in 1936. I mentioned earlier my ancestral tie to Decatur, my husband’s father was a county commissioner in Mitchell for a number of years and it is my husband’s home place.

Seminole County was named after the Seminole Indians who once lived in the area. On the front of the courthouse are medallions with images of a female and male Seminole Indian. I have included in Thomas County Courthouse the fountain and clock which, as mentioned above, can be found on many squares.

A short time back an acquaintance moved up here from South Florida. The first Christmas she was in southwest Georgia she was thrilled by the Christmas Celebrations around the square. Musical groups from the churches throughout the area sang. Christmas parades were held. Santa Clause frequently rode on a fire truck from a local fire station. Different churches and other organizations had food for sale as well as there being many handmade crafts. The main thing she enjoyed was the visiting with the neighbors; every one just enjoying life.

This is what centers around the courthouses in many small towns.

SoFoBoMo - Images Captured

Today is the ??? day of SoFoBoMo. Please someone tell me why I did this! Oh, I remember, for the experience and the learning process. Yeah, that’s right.

Well, I have experienced –

I have also learned –

But, it is not over yet.

I now have all of the images captured that I am going to capture.

The next step is creating a book from them.

One of the most interesting things I have learned is that though I am retired, I can (and will if given the chance) over extend myself. That is what has happened this past month. I have had several trips that I had to make, obligations given last year. I have subsequently been asked to speak to other ladies’ groups, and said yes. Thus I have created more trips to make. There are miscellaneous family obligations to take fulfill. This doesn’t even include finishing a quilt for a new baby, showing a friend how to make a baby quilt.

Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

However, progress has been made. Now I am to create a cohesive series of images and “publish” them.

With this said, it has been fun!

SoFoBoMo Began

Well, SoFoBoMo actually began 12 days ago.

I have not yet begun. Should I follow that with "to fight"? It seems sometimes that when I go to take photographs it is almost a fight with me.

Anyway, I digress. This is my first blog, on this blog spot created for this project, regarding my effort at making a book in a month. I will actually begin taking pictures next week, rather than starting and then stopping. A prior commitment made the middle of the month a preferable start date.

As to the photographs, they will be of the Courthouses in the southwest Georgia area. There are seven counties that I will be visiting: Blakely, Seminole, Thomas, Grady, Mitchell, Decatur and Miller. Some of these maintain their old courthouses, which were situated on the square in the middle of town. Some have replaced their old courthouses with new, modern buildings. I think they have lost some of the character that was in the old buildings.

I look forward to the exploration of each of the small town county seats as I visit them. Who knows what else I might find for future photography.