Author: danrouth

Greensboro, NC based commercial and editorial photographer.

You’re doing what Dad?

Family, Poetry, Portraits

(image copyright 2008 by Dan Routh)

When I told my younger son Devin that I had started a blog, all he could do was stare at me with a odd look on his face. You’re doing what Dad? Guess I will have to work hard to prove to him that the old man can learn a few new tricks.

Speaking of my son Devin. He’s an undergrad at UNC and an aspiring writer and poet. Here’s some of his work:

Where I’m From
Devin Routh

I’m from rolling pastures
Veined by dry creek beds.
Where centenarian white oaks,
Younger than great-grandma Lucy
And her calamine feet,
Shade the black angus mixed with
The santa gertrudis as they
Chew their cud.
I’m from kitchens
Where green beans
And ice cream
Make music when we
Cook them,
Gardens and orchards where we
Grow corn and tomatoes,
Watermelons and apples,
And enjoy the occasional persimmon pudding.
Ambrosia isn’t coconut and pineapple,
It’s two cups of sugar,
Two cups of milk,
Two cups of flour,
Four eggs, cinnamon, vanilla,
And two cups of persimmon pulp.

I’m stuck between Erect
And Climax,
On the way to High Point
But I never go there.
I go down yonder
And ask ‘chup to?

I buy hay from Jack Fagg,
Honey from Janice Horny,
Meet John Brown at 3 a.m.
To discuss politics and watch
His drunk father drink more.

I see my cousins
When I drive 22 to town,
“Routh Oil Company,”
“Alvin’s Automotive.”
Eric, adopted Cherokee,
Still my blood kin, gives me 5th Avenues
To say goodbye.

In the barnyard,
I smell the diesel
Granddaddy Routh used to scrub
The grease from under our fingernails.
At the dinner table,
I taste fire in the peppers
Grandpa Cranford collected in his shirt pocket.

I’m from coldwater springs
Where we lose boots and calves
To the mud, like quicksand but only knee deep.
I’m from flower gardens
Where opossums slumber,
Where they wake under the moon
To eat the leftover cat food.

On my farm,
We build cairns as monuments
For the dogs and cats,
Feed corn to the deer and save them
From the hunters.
Sanctuary. “Jesus is Lord
Over Gray’s Chapel,”
But my grandpas taught me
How to fish, how to sow,
To kiss the catfish
And throw them back
(Their lips look just like a person’s),
Taught me how to look for pine hearts
And cut wood already fallen,
How to give life
And only borrow it.

Motor Racing

Motorsports





One of my weaknesses is cars, especially race cars, and in particular, old race cars. Something about seeing and hearing a 50 year old race machine attack a track at speed sends a thrill down my spine. Not that I aspire to be a Juan Manuel Fangio or Jackie Stewart or even a Richard Petty, but the excitement is there. I travel north from Greensboro from time to time up to Virginia International Raceway where time rolls back. In addition to sanctioned Rolex, SCCA and AMA races, VIR holds it share of vintage events where Ferraris still fight it out with Porsches.

In addition to vintage racing, I have covered many racing events over the years for editorial and advertising assignments. I have shot NASCAR, NHRA, CART, AMA, Rolex GrandAM and ALMS events as well as providing studio and track images for several individual teams.




(images copyright 2008 by Dan Routh)

Black & White or Color, Film or Digital ….. Stock or Assignment

Business, Native American, Photography, Portraits

(image copyright 2008 by Dan Routh)

Black and white. I learned photography shooting and processing b&w and that’s where my heart is. I guess most advertising and product photography is shot in color, but I still get excited when I see a good image in tones of gray. It may be all those books I read by Ansel Adams and I do still think in terms of the Zone System.

I learned on film, I shot every format of film available from 126 to 8×10 and for most of my professional life I survived on film. But, I guess I will take digital. Not that I think digital is any better than film; to be perfectly honest, I don’t really see any difference in the end product. Face it, film cameras and digital cameras are just tools to produce images. It’s just that today, it’s a whole lot quicker and easier to do things digitally. In my area labs are becoming fewer and farther apart and it’s almost impossible to find large batches of film for sale. Even if I shot on film, I would have to digitize the image to get it into my workflow so I find it easier to start with a digital file. I shoot in RAW format so my original files act as a sort of a digital negative. I find it pretty easy to replicate a film image with digital. Granted it does take some post processing. And, I really don’t miss keeping my hands in D-76 and fixer.

Assignment for sure. Today we are seeing more and more agencies and companies depend on stock imagery, the predominant reason being cost. I understand the economic reasons. Believe me, I understand the state of the economy. It just pains me to see part of the creative process disappear. Traditionally, an agency would create an idea for an image and then assign someone to produce it. I always have enjoyed being part of a collaborative effort to bring an ad or a brochure or an article to life. Today those same creatives either by choice or necessity seem to lean more towards stock imagery, royalty-free images and now even to free image services like Flicker. Sometimes they start with an idea and locate an image to illustrate it, and sometimes they find an image and come up with an idea to match it. If it works they are successful. But it seems to me that a lot of folks are trusting to luck, luck in finding that right image. There is an old saying that “it’s better to be lucky than good”, but my father told me that for the most part in life, “you make your own luck”. Don’t get me wrong, there are some talented designers that can use stock images very well, and there are some talented designers that can also shoot their own great images. I myself shoot stock photography and do indeed make sales. I just hope assignment photography survives, partly for the selfish reason that I survive financially on it, but mostly because I want to see the most creative, professional part of advertising and commercial photography continue. I hate to see that artistic collaboration between photographer and art director go away. After spending 30 years producing images, I think I still have something creatively valuable to offer. For the agencies and companies that depend on free or royalty-free or stock photography I hope they consider assigning more work and recommending to their clients that they do so, before someday their luck runs out.

Moving Day

Family


(Photo above courtesy of Sara Lyn Photography. Many thanks Sara and Phil. You guys did a wonderful job covering the wedding.)

(image copyright 2008 by Dan Routh)

Today was one of those parent days. You know, rent a Ryder and spend the day sweating trying to get the kids moved into their apartment, struggling all day getting boxes of books and furniture up stairs. But today was a little more special. We moved our son Tristan and his new wife Christine. Married on August 1st and back from their honeymoon, today they launched their life together in their own apartment. Christine was able to get her china on display and her kitchen together, so things really did look like a home. My wife and I are so excited to have a new daughter. She is a keeper! And thanks to my other son Devin and his girlfriend Rain. We couldn’t have done it without them. Oh yea, we move Devin on Saturday.

Farms and ….. Chickens

Animals, Chicken

I live on a 150 acre farm in rural Randolph County, North Carolina. I’ve lived here all my life. My Dad ran a dairy farm and taught school for about twenty years. When my brother and I left for college, he lost his free labor, became a school principal and shifted the farm over to beef cattle. When I married, my wife and I moved into the old farm house and have lived here for 31 years. I helped my Dad with the cows until he passed away last year. Since then, I have taken over responsibility for the farm. We’ve raised 2 sons, one an undergraduate at UNC and the other entering law school at UNC and just married. My wife has always loved the cows, but recently she and my older son decided that a farm can’t be a farm without chickens. Now I’m in the chicken business with 3 bantams, 3 Dominickers and 6 Guineas. Here we go. Hope I get an egg soon.

(image copyright 2008 by Dan Routh)

Here’s Marco Polo, our rooster.

In My Own Backyard

Flowers, Nature, Thistle

(image copyright 2008 by Dan Routh)

I’ve begun to notice that you don’t have to go far sometimes to find interesting images. I love to travel as much as anyone and sometimes I feel that if I’m not in some exotic local, I can’t find anything to shoot. Then I walk out my backdoor and stumble upon something that grabs my attention. I hope from time to time to share my backyard moments.

I’m finally here.

fashion



In this day of unbelievable gas prices, it’s becoming harder and harder to travel for jobs. Fortunately, I am blessed to live in an area that is full of wonderful locations. We were asked to shoot a series of fashion images to go in the window of a showroom in Los Angeles with a vintage car and a gritty American background. We pulled it off just a couple of miles from my farm in rural North Carolina. Oh yeah, the model came in from LA.

(images copyright 2008 by Dan Routh)