(photograph copyright 2009 by Dan Routh)
A bird’s eye view at feeding time in our barnyard in Grays Chapel, North Carolina.
Commercial, Advertising and Editorial Photography. Greensboro, North Carolina


The area of downtown Greensboro, North Carolina south of the railroad tracks is known locally as Old Greensboro. A center for antique shops, it is also a thriving hub of artists and artisans. Across the alley from my studio is John Foy Piano Restoration. Run by John Foy, they specialize in maintaining, repairing and rebuilding grand pianos, primarily those made by Steinway and Sons. John has been doing this for about 27 years. He was trained as a classical pianist but began tuning and maintaining instruments. Soon, the need for repairing pianos arose and since he was familiar with woodworking from his father, he trained at North Bennet Street School in Boston, MA in piano repair and rebuilding. He and his staff now perform complete piano restoration in their Elm Street shop. For info, go to his website at http://www.johnfoypiano.com.


Below, John P. Johanson, a member of John’s staff, works on rebuilding a Steinway piano. While the technology in these instruments is old, the craftsmanship needed to work on these beautiful pianos is truly an art.

My son Tristan and I made a Saturday morning trip to a local landmark in Asheboro, North Carolina, Weston’s Feed and Seed for a bee feeder and some winter rye seed. A third generation family business, Weston’s has been in Asheboro for as long as I can remember. Just the place to go for plants, seed, fertilizer and other garden supplies as well as pet, livestock, chicken and beekeeping equipment and supplies. You can even buy dried beans and hard candy. The staff is helpful and always willing to discuss what your projects are, what you need and how to use it. Their website is http://www.westonsfeedandseed.com/.

My wife’s wild horse Rienzi sprints from her corral to join the cows in the morning at our farm in Grays Chapel, North Carolina. Rienzi is a 28 year old wild Mustang mare my wife and I adopted from the BLM when she was a yearling. She came from near Lake Tahoe in California and is named for a famous horse ridden by Philip Sheridan during the Civil War (Sheridan had his Rienzi stuffed and placed on display at the Smithsonian Institute). Our Rienzi spends her days grazing with our cattle herd and her nights in her 100 year old stall originally built for mules (she comes in on her own every evening). She’s in excellent shape and very docile. She was trained to ride, but we don’t ride her anymore except for the occasional bareback jaunt by my son Devin. I think she really thinks she is a cow now; she is definitely a herd animal. Rienzi is lucky, but a lot of her cousins aren’t. Right now there are thousands of Mustangs in BLM holding pens, removed from government land. Some will be adopted, but it seems that many are to be sold for meat. Most of this removal is unnecessary and pushed by big western cattle interests. Several groups are pushing the government to stop these removals. Information on supporting wild horses and their preservation is available at http://www.wildhorsepreservation.com/. Go there. Wild horses need your help.