View from Atlanta's Jackson Street Bridge

Atlanta Photography

Okay - so the title is overly dramatic. It's not a crime, but a scene. A photographic scene. A life scene. A beautiful scene. 

I often tell myself I'm sick and tired of seeing shots of Atlanta from the Jackson Street Bridge. But, am I? Yes...and no. 

The view from Jackson Street Bridge is beautiful and ever-changing. As much as I tell myself, "No more shots off the bridge!" I can't help but go back. It's an easy walk from my house, so maybe it's pure laziness. 

Yesterday, I was in such a funk. I felt like I was spinning my wheels. Marketing is not my dream, not my love, but as a photographer, I have to market myself over and over and over.

And I don't like it. 

Before I go to bed at night, I have a list of all the things I'll do the next day. Yesterday was:

• Write a blog post
• Send marketing emails
• Write 1-2 articles

There was also photo editing and a couple of other things on the list as well.

But I felt paralyzed yesterday. I'm in a rut. I've been playing with my Sony and the newest little CCTV lens that I discussed in last week's post. But I feel like most of my photos have been...well, shit. Or at least not what I'm imagining in my head when I take them. 

I haven't loved anything I've done recently. 

So as the sun was sinking, and I'd been at my computer most of the day, I grabbed the Sony and Jack Bauer (my dog, for those who aren't regular readers), and walked down to Jackson Street Bridge. 

I was hopeful for a couple of minutes that the sunset might be good. There was a little color in the sky but not much texture. Not one of the better sunsets I've seen there.

The walk was nice, though even at 7:30 it was still hot.

As we walked down the street, we fell in behind a super drunk dude wobbling his way back and forth across the sidewalk. I passed him once and then Bauer, of course, had to stop and sniff and lift his leg, so the guy nearly bumped me off the sidewalk passing us. 

I hung back watching him for a sec. I didn't want to keep passing him and having him pass us. I was afraid he'd fall or get tangled up in Bauer's leash. 

Drunk dude walked under a low branch and his baseball cap got knocked off his head. It took him a minute to pick it up - almost falling over as he did so.

I kept an eye on the bottle of beer he had in his hand, sure it was going to come smashing to the ground. Sometimes when I'm out walking Bauer in the neighborhood I have to pick him up so his little paws don't get broken glass in them. 

I felt bad for the guy, though he seemed happy enough. He was having a lively conversation with himself.  

I caught the sun rays sinking behind the buildings as we stood on Boulevard and J.W. Dobbs waiting to cross the street, realizing we'd be just a couple of minutes too late to catch the rays from the bridge. 

Taken from the corner of Boulevard and J.W. Dobbs

Bauer and I finally made it to the bridge and did indeed miss the rays of the sun sinking behind the buildings. 

Oh well. It felt so good to get out and get photos.

One of my favorite shots of the scene was when I first picked up a digital camera after my divorce. It was a nice nighttime shot of the city from the bridge with lots of light trails. I hadn't been seriously shooting in many years. And it felt satisfying to get a great long-exposure capture right out of the gate.  

Maybe I just have to start over now and then. Monet painted his haystacks over and over at different times of the day. And the paintings were all so different. 

I have the city and the always-changing light too. We all have to start and then start again. Forgive and forgive seventy times seven. Reshoot and reshoot. Edit and re-edit. 

It's all good. 

I like this shot considering the sunset wasn't that great. There was enough color in the sky to work with in post.

I shot this with the little CCTV lens. You can see the fuzziness on the left top of the photo. But since I left things so dark it's not as pronounced. I like shooting with this little manual lens. 

So this post is a day late. I was too tired of the computer to sit and write when I finally got home last night.

Today's a better day!

I hope you're having a good week and look forward to an even better weekend!

See you between the raindrops...

xoxo,
Susan