Monday, September 5, 2011

Brainstorming..If I onlyhad a brain...

Denny's on I45 at Shepherd
Whataburger on Little York
Whataburger on Mason Road in Katy
Denny's on I45 at Shepherd

..I could while away the hours, conferrin' with the flowers, Consultin' with the rain. And my head I'd be scratchin' while my thoughts were busy hatchin' If I only had a brain...

I am trying to come up with a project for next year's Portfolio Challenge. This morning I was on Texas Travel and noticed a posting about an event in Pittsburg, Texas. Since I don’t believe that I was even aware that Texas had a Pittsburg I went to check it out. From that developed a kernel of an idea.

The first thought was to go to Texas Travel and pick out and attend one “event” during the month in an unfamiliar town. But that could involve a lot of long distance travel. Then I remembered a television show of some years ago that began each segment with a throw of a dart. Wherever the dart landed the main character went there to do something—okay my memory is a little vague but it was something like that. Maybe it was some redheaded fellow, Bill Some-Thing-or-Other, on some morning show that went there and interviewed someone. Doesn’t really matter—it’s just the concept that holds my interest.

Making all of Texas the dart board is a little too ambitious so I scaled down the idea. I think I will make a dart board that encompasses maybe a 100 mile radius of Houston. That would make it more doable. Could even make it a one day affair. Pick out an unfamiliar small town within say ten miles of the dart to go spend a day of photography. I could use that for my Portfolio Challenge if I start in October rather than wait until January. I will be going to Fort Worth later this month, September so I actually could start it then. Rather than use the dart I might pick out one of the towns of the 287 project and spend a day, maybe Crockett or Palestine since they are well off my beaten bath. And within a comfortable morning drive from Ft Worth. Something to consider. With my dart throwing abilities I am sure that the Flower Gardens will come up frequently. For those not familiar with the Flower Gardens they are a coral reef located in the Gulf of Mexico. Favorite haunt of scuba divers and an anchorage for sailors.

What attracted me to Pittsburg was the description of an outdoor piece of art donated by Bo Pilgrim that sounded like something I would like to photograph. I still work periodically on the Outdoor Art in Houston project that Janet and I started back in about 2002. From the research I have done for the Hwy 287 Project I know I will be photographing a good deal of outdoor art in the small towns along the way. For the Travel Tex project it will need a consistent theme from town to town and outdoor art would be attractive to me. Unfortunately really small towns often do not have municipal art so I will need to find a different connection. I will give it some thought and if I do the project will probably make revisions as it gets started. Urban decay, especially evident in most small towns, maybe government buildings, buildings being updated, I like cafés so maybe café shots would be a thought. I like that because I greatly enjoy visiting the “local's” eatery in small towns. Yeah, I like that idea. Hope the Challenge doesn’t tire of my café shots if I do it twice in a row.  Anyway, we'll see. Could just use the 287 Project.

Interesting thought occured while scanning through the above photographs and the dozens that proceeded. You'd think someone my age would have developed a friend or two along the way. If I did it's darn hard to tell from my photographs. Maybe I need to do a parody, If I only had a friend...

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