Hey Everyone! Hope you're having a great week. Me? Not too bad. Thanks for asking. The title of this photo is "Visiting a Historic Photograph." I would love to say that this adventure was my idea but alas it was Robert my photography wingman that came up with this idea. He had done a presentation to our camera club of famous photographers. During his research he came upon the works of Dorothea Lange. She is known for her Great Depression work that she had done for the FSA (Farm Security Administration). This was one of the programs of the New Deal that president Rosevelt had started to bring the country out of the Great Depression. He employed hundreds of thousands of people to build things like the Hover dam the Blue Ridge parkway and many other things for the country. He had commissions that employed artistic folks also. He had painters painting murals in Bus and Train stations and photographers going around the country documenting things like the Dust Bowl migration of farmers to California and rural life all over the country. Famous photographers like Gordon Parks, Ben Shahn and of course the most famous Doretha Lange one of the most famous for her "Migrant Mother" series of photographs. All of the photo's that they took in the decade or so when these programs were in full force can be found in the National Archives website. And let me say they are stunning and amazing photographs that really tell a story. They were in every state of the US documenting what was happening in this terrible time. It is well worth a look. I have spent hours looking at them. The famous photograph that we were going to visit was in North Carolina in July of 1939 by Doretha Lange. She took a series of photos of a Rural Store / Gas Station in Gordonton NC.  The photo shows what life was like at a country store in rural North Carolina which was mainly an agricultural area with cotton and tobacco being king. It shows farm workers enjoying a relaxing moment at the local country store.

Our goal was to go visit the store and take photo's of it . We brought two 8x10 photographs of the famous photo's that I had got printed at my local Walgreens. Robert had all the info of the place where it was at. I hadn't really done much research on it. I was familiar with Dorothea Lange and the photograph but didn't know where it was at or what condition it was in.  I really didn't think that the porch would be there but I was game to go and explore the site.  The ride through the country side was nice after we got off of the interstate and all the large roads. Rolling hills and small farms were on either side of us until suddenly we were there. The porch was still on and even one of the signs that was on the original photo was still in the same place. The modern road that goes right beside it had ditches on both sides that I know weren't there in the original photo. Just a dusty dirt road. Now as I didn't think this trough too much and when it came time to shoot a shot I didn't bring the correct lens. Nothing wide enough. I only brought a 35 and 50mm for some reason. I guess I was thinking that's what she would have used. Well I was wrong and without standing in the road I couldn't get a good shot with the whole store in the frame. Robert had done better with his choice. I ended up using my phone and got some shots. We took some shots with the photographs to show the connection from then to now. Eighty Seven years have passed since Dorothea took the photograph of the guys sitting on the front porch of the store resting out of the hot sun of summer. This was not the only photo that she took that day just one out of a series of photos that she took.

I really didn't know how going to the same place as a famous photographer had been would affect me. But it really was something to experience. I know folks go to famous places all the time like in Yosemite where Ansel Adams took so many landscapes and people try to replicate the shots but I hadn't really done one of a famous person before. I did try to replicate a photo that my Grandfather took in the 40's and that was cool but that was a family photo only known really by me. But these photo's were published in magazines and newspapers all over the world. The building is in bad repair and don't know how many storms it will withstand before falling down. When we left we heard some creaking and squeaking as we walked away. Maybe a cat or squirrel was running around the old store but maybe it was ghost from the past saying thank you for visiting. Maybe Doretha herself was watching us take selfies with the old building. It was kind of eerie . Well that's enough jibber jabber for now until next week " Get out and Shoot" and find some history to shoot.

Hey if you want to check out my photography go to my instagram account Max Stansell Photography there are over 2000 posts there. Here is the link

 Max Stansell Photography Instagram Link

Hey Guy's! Hope you're having a great week. Me? Pretty good! I just got back from a week long trip with the MAV (Max's Adventure Van). It was the first real trip with the MAV. I've taking it out on over night trips but not on a week long trip. I drove about a 900 miles on this trip. My wife and Forrest the wonder dog came along. We learned a lot on this trip about how to live and travel in a small van with two people and a dog. It's a little more difficult than you think.  So let me tell you the details of the trip.

The Trip. I have been planning this trip for a few months and was very excited to go. It was a multi stop and camp trip. We stayed at 4 different campgrounds and stayed a couple of nights with my sister. We visited 2 National Parks and 3 State parks on our trip. This was going to be a big loop starting in eastern North Carolina west to the Mountains near Cherokee then travel south to Greenville South Carolina then east again to Santee State Park then north to Carolina Beach and then back west back home. After packing the MAV up we departed our home and headed to our first destination Lake James State park. This state park was picked because it was about 4 hours away and that's about how long we wanted to travel in a day. I have stayed here before and was familiar with it. It was the first night that my wife and dog had slept overnight on a trip. It went well. The biggest adjustment for me was the room that my dog took up in the floor. Something I have to get used to. The next stop on our journey was to Cherokee NC. We walked around the town and had lunch then we went to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Oconaluftee Visitors Center. We checked out the visitor center and the surrounding grounds. We then went to our next campground which was in the National park Smokemont Campground. This was a very beautiful campground the prettiest of the trip. It had a small river that flowed thew it and people were fly fishing just across from our campsite. When we checked in the Ranger said that there could be Elk that roamed in the campground so be on the lookout. We didn't see any Elk that night but the next morning we went back to the visitor center and we saw some Elk on the way and at the visitor center there were a group of maybe a dozen Elk. The next stop was to Greenville South Carolina to visit my sister and two new grand nieces that I haven't met yet. We spent a couple of days there and had a great time. Next it was off to Santee State Park which is in the south eastern part of the state. I picked this park because it was about 50 min away from Congaree National Park which we went to visit. We stayed at Santee for two nights and had great sunrises each day. The next stop was traveling north to Carolina Beach State Park just outside of Wilmington North Carolina. We traveled up through Myrtle Beach to get there. After a quiet night at the Campground it was about 2 hour drive home. All in all it was a full week of travel with the MAV.

Lessons Learned- Now I have done a lot of work to get the van (MAV) ready for this trip. I had even taken it out for a couple of over nighters by myself to prepare and learned something each time. This trip with 2 people and a dog was a real learning experience. Things that went right.  The MAV performed wonderfully in every aspect. From Driving to Camping it did well. The power situation with battery life worked out great and we were never under mid 80's on power percentage. Driving and recharging worked great. Three of our four campgrounds had no power and one did. Water consumption was also very well. With washing dishes hands and such we only used about 2ish gallons out of a 5 gallon tank. So there was no need to refill the tank or empty a tank. We did wash dishes at a wash station the first night so we really din't use any water then. I did forget to open the air vents on the tanks so the freshwater tank walls kind of collapsed until I opened the vent and the dirty water leaked a little until I opened the vent on that tank. But that was all on me so make sure vents are open. We made a departure and arrival checklist of things to do. Like make sure the cabinets are closed and Locked. We drove off a couple of times with doors opening and slamming into something scaring us. I also figured out that unless we are driving or sleeping Forrest bed needs to be put away somewhere because it takes up too much floor space. I also learned that either me or my wife should be standing doing something like washing dishes or cooking at the same time because we just get in each other's way. The Starlink Satellite dish works best with a clear view of the sky which we had at two of the 4 campsites. One of the campsites we only had partial view and the wifi was weak but usable. The other site we had great cell coverage but no clear sky so it worked out.  The Fridge worked great kept everything nice and cold and frozen. We should have got some ice cream the fridge would have had no problem with it. Cooking went well we brought a charcoal grill but couldn't use it the first night because of a burn ban but we used a cheap one burner stove I got for the MAV and it worked great. The induction cooktop worked great and I made breakfast on it each morning and make coffee with it. Our biggest lesson learned its that being organized is important. Knowing where everything is and making sure it gets there. Before you leave a place make sure you put everything away for one it won't be falling everywhere and just looks neater.  Poor Forrest world was shaken up with the trip. He enjoyed the hikes we did but had to stay in the van quite a bit. I could monitor the temperature and had either the fan or the AC on to keep him nice and comfortable and those systems worked flawlessly. 

Over all it was a great trip where we went to 2 National Parks and 3 State Parks and I got to meet my two new Grand Nieces and visit with my Sister and her family. It was a good week and the MAV performed great. Looking for my next big adventure that will be in West Virginia. Until then get out and shoot and have fun! Here is a link to a video I made of the trip. MAV's first real trip

Hey if you want to check out my photography go to my instagram account Max Stansell Photography there are over 2000 posts there. Here is the link

 Max Stansell Photography Instagram Link

Barker House Hey Everyone! Hope Ya'll are having a great week. Me? Pretty Good. Thanks for asking. This week I want to talk about a trip down memory lane that I do every couple of years or so. The town I call my home town I moved into when I was about 12 years old and lived there until I graduated from High School and went into the Military. This little north eastern North Carolina Town is Edenton. It has a population of about 5000 and is very small town. When I grew up in it all of the businesses were downtown the local Pharmacy's, movie theater, 5 and Dime stores, Belk, the hardware store. This was the time before coffee shops the internet or cute diners. If you wanted a sandwich you went to the
drugstore and they would cook you a grilled cheese or a BLT. The local paper only came out once a week. The high school was the biggest and most important thing in town. Only two things were open past 9 o'clock and that was the Movie theater and Hardees. We all ate at home and didn't go out to eat for every meal like a lot of folks do now. It's where I went fishing every day during the summer with my friends. We would jump on our bikes and grab our cane poles and some worms and off we'd go to fish. In the afternoon there was sandlot baseball or basketball and then in the evening we'd play little league baseball. It was like growing up in Mayberry. I am so fortunate to
grow up in such a place. This was the biggest gift that my parents could ever give me and they didn't even know it. The town centered around Friday night football in the autumn and baseball in the spring and the stands would be full of all the towns folk. Hot chocolate and freshly roasted peanuts and the sound of the marching band which was a big thing when I was there. The Christmas Parade and the Peanut Festival were big events. The town is a very historic town the house across the street from mine was built in 1775.  Every year in the fall we have a pilgrimage where people dress up in 18 century
clothes and tours of the old houses are held. It's very cool. A signer of the declaration of independence and one of the first Supreme Court justices appointed by George Washington were from Edenton.

How things Change. When I lived there tourism was not a thing but since I have left it has become one of if not the biggest boost to the local economy. The drugstores that were downtown when I grew up have been turned into little diners or soda shops the hardware store is more a antique shop and there are coffee shops and restaurants littered up and down the little downtown area where there was none before. Shopping centers have popped up on the edge of town with the likes of Mcdonalds and the stores that were downtown have moved to the shopping centers. They have tour busses dressed like trolley cars that give tours and there is walking tours and lots of neat art things to see. The population hasn't changed since I left and the median age is 46 years old. A lot of older folks live there they have come from the north and retired in this small town. Where there was once a cotton mill has turned into Apartments and all of the little mill houses have been bought and fixed up for folks to live in or Air B&B. I remember a friend of mine lived in the mill houses and his mom worked in the mill. Water sports have always been big in Edenton. When I was there it was water skiing and some fishing and Sail boating. The water skiing has gone away but the sail boats and fishing has really gone crazy with bass fishing being the major fish. Of course there is also kayaking there as well which was never the case when I lived there.  It's been a couple of years since I've been back and the high school where I went has had a big facelift and may be the biggest building in town. It looks like they've done a great job of it. 

How the town sparkles. To me and maybe it just that I'm from there but it truly is a beautiful town. People take pride in there homes and all the yards are neatly kept and the whole town is really spotless of trash and uncut yards. Edenton is frequently recognized as the Prettest small town in the south one year by Forbes Magazine. If you like 18th century history this is the place for you to visit. From the Chowan River to the Albemarle sound the beauty of cypress trees with Spanish moss hanging of limbs and the quaint little town is a must see if you live near by. I'm sure when I go back in a couple of years it will be again changed, but the same in a way. When I look down the oak linked streets I can remember riding my bike to school or on the way to go fishing with my cane pole hanging way out front while riding down the sidewalk. It will always be a place of memories for me and even though I don't have any family that still lives there and I don't really know anyone that still lives there it will always be my hometown. I'm sure many of you may have the same experience as me going back to places you grew up in. Well that's enough of reminiscing for now Until Next Week Get Out and Shoot!

Hey if you want to check out my photography go to my instagram account Max Stansell Photography there are over 2000 posts there. Here is the link

 Max Stansell Photography Instagram Link