Country Road

A country road in Lumpkin, Georgia - just outside of Westville. Under exposed intentionally to detail the clouds.

The Truck

My ultra-cool, artsy lowrider magazine cover shot of my truck. Of course it doesn't quite look pretty enough to grace the cover of a magazine right now. Also, it's not - and will never be - a lowrider.

Fedora

The Smokey Mountains

Earlier this month Walter Mallard, Brian Mallard, and I took a trip to the far blue mountains. Here are just a few pictures from our trip... more to come!

The Smokey Mountains... and a whole lotta sky!

On the Tennessee/North Carolina border. The plaque reads... "FOR THE PERMANENT ENJOYMENT OF THE PEOPLE."

Same place as above... different angle, black and white - and a different day! I like this one a lot.

Growing up through the cracks... and what a view!

A Museum Piece...

...well, not quite, but another cool old camera. I used this camera in the past, however the shutter now needs repair. It's got a 50mm 1.8 lens on it there, the same type of lens I used to take this photo, only I used a Canon.

Lightbulb

Lightbulb, with a plant behind it, but you can't really make out the plant. I think this is a neat photo.

The Reverend

The Reverend (guitar) and pick. That's a sweet guitar!

Parking Light

The parking lights on the new '65 Chverolet C10 work, as pictured here! Yay!

Schwobilt Matchbook

An old Schwobilt matchbook (still with matches on the inside.) I found this bit of history while cleaning out the cab of the new '65 Chevrolet C10. It was tucked up under the gas tank. The Schwobilt name ceased to exist in 1976. I love stuff like this!

Also, while cleaning out the cab, I found stamps... from 1963, two years older than the truck!

Sources on Schwobilt: Columbus Museum.com and "Do You Remember..."

Brian

Brian Mallard in an Indiana Jones style photo - judging by the lighting, he is perhaps exploring an old mineshaft.

My Truck!

Above and Below: Most of you should be familiar with my 1961 Chevrolet Apache 10 by now. If not, here it is again. A couple of black and white shots. In fact, the first pictures I have taken of it since I have moved it.

I have often wondered what kind of history my truck has behind it. Well, I finally found out some of it. The other day I was sitting in the cab reading the Patrick McManus book, "The Night The Bear Ate Goombaw" when I noticed a raised square on the dashboard, where the black paint was peeling. I had noticed this many times before, but had never really thought about it - until then. I set the book aside and began scratching away the black paint to reveal - a sticker, (I guess that's what you would call it,) and it is pictured above. It reads, "No job is so important, and no service is so urgent, that we cannot take time to perform our work safely. Bell Systems." Finally! Some history on the truck! It was once owned, and probably originally ordered, by Bell Systems. A telephone company truck.

Due to the peeling red paint, I have always known the truck was not always red. The cab was a dark green. The bed was a happy light blue. I figured that the bed was not original to the truck - it's never sat quite right on the truck. It's the right kind, it just wasn't mounted right. Of course, my theory on the bed being from a different truck led to some disagreement from my "hired hand." Well, I took a look at the paint code - only to find SPEC - instead of a number. I am assuming that means special - and it was ordered by Bell Systems in that green.

Finally, I did something that I do not know why I had never done before - I decoded the vin number. Ah! My theory was proven. The bed could not have been original as the truck was ordered without a bed. A Cab/Chassis.

Disappointly, for me, that's about where the known history of my '61 Chevrolet Apache 10 ends. It was probably mounted with a utility bed by Bell Systems, and sometime later down the road someone put a true bed on it. I wonder how long it served as a Bell Systems truck. Was it used until Bell Systems 'broke up' in 1984? I do know that two owners before me the truck was owned by a drug dealer - which explains the happy red color, mag wheels, and Corvette engine. The drug dealer paid his lawyer with the truck. Then it was sold to Brian Mallard in the mid-90's, then I inherited it about three years ago.

But what of all that unknown history? I suppose I can only wonder!

The moon...

...behind the clouds!

Brent Lindley At The Fountain City Coffee Shop

The Fountain City Coffee Shop open mic night.

I love this photo of Brent!

Brent plays his lovely red guitar... also known as "Red."

For more on Brent Lindley, check out... www.myspace.com/brentlindley

Where The Trees Meet The Sky.

Where the trees meet the sky... or so it appears. A beautiful area!

The first in my "Around Taylor County" series.

Dropping A Rock Into The Creek.

Just for Ken...

First trip down the dirt road in the '65.

Brian (or is that Indy) is our tour guide down the dirt road!

Out the windshield...

View from the back glass... that truck kicked up a lot of dust! This picture is not a good example of how much. (Trust me, I drove behind him on the way back!)


The truck and the car.

Ah! Stopped at the bridge. The Byne hang out of the late-early to mid '90's.

Raindrops on Leaves

Here are two photos that I took of raindrops on the leaves of a plum tree. I really think both of these photos are very cool. They were taken using Canon's "secret" macro lens, the 18 - 55mm kit lens.

FBI Agent Dana Scully takes a ride in the TARDIS!

It's just as the title says it is. Must be a surveillance photo or something of the like.

Rain

It was lightly drizzling rain the other night while I was photographing rain drops on leaves, so I decided I would face the camera toward the falling rain and take a photo using the flash! And here it is! Turned out quite nice, in my opinion.

The Orange Guitar

Ah! The beautiful orange guitar. This was Brian Mallard's first electric guitar. A Dean hollow-body. It was purchased from AJ's Music in Columbus, Georgia. I borrowed that guitar many a time, and played many songs and many hours on it. I love it! However, it wasn't the best guitar to play live with, as it gave horrendous feed back at times. It also wasn't exactly a hard rock'n'roll guitar, so we traded it off for a Reverend guitar, which is also a sweet guitar, but doesn't seem to have as much character as the Dean (aka) the orange guitar did. Not long after we traded it in I heard that it was purchased, almost immediately, by some kid. I wonder if it's being treated with the proper respect, I sure hope so!