Reub's journey

11 September 2009

My Town Shoot-out: Aged and Weathered

The idea of the My Town Shoot-Out is to post photos of your local community every Friday. This week's assignment was chosen by Pauline, from New Zealand: "aged and weathered."

All photos shot in Corvallis, Oregon.

This sounded like a classic photography assignment to me. Cool! I felt like a real photographer. I did wonder-just a little-why I couldn't be from St Augustine, Florida, a site in the UK, France, or other aged-and-weathered shooter-hangouts. Corvallis, except for our yard, seemed rather new-looking.

So all of these shots were taken in our yard. Well, I am lying about one of them. There is one which was NOT taken there. Hmmm, which one?

We have a gargantuan piece of driftwood in our front yard, dragged to Corvallis by an elderly friend, and bequeathed to us just before she passed away. Like most weathered things in this part of Oregon, it has begun to cover itself in moss. I like to look at it.


The ferns are just beginning to fade in the back yard, which you will see best if you click on the photo. Ferns remind me of Henri Rousseau, who was decidedly not from Corvallis.



Our tomatoes are in season; the bowl I use to collect them has been personally aged and weathered by my youngest son.



The peas were dead a month ago, but I am a negligent gardener and never pulled them out. I now thank myself for this because it was fun to take their picture.



These marrow bones are actually not that old, but Ed and Reub have helped them along.



We have a big oak tree in the back yard, and it has begun to lose its leaves. Here they are, all caught up in a dewy cobweb.



I shot a bunch of b&w pics, figuring they would all look old. But they came out creepy, and I quit. A family of squirrels attacked our old shed this year. I thought it was odd that they went through the side of the building rather than just chew the screen out, which is what I would have done. If I had to get out. Or in.



Vegetation grows extremely fast here in Oregon. Really, it does. You should get somebody to move your vehicle around if you plan to be gone for a month, like we were this past summer, otherwise this kind of thing might happen.

21 comments:

  1. Nice shots, perfect for this theme - I love nature! I didn't even think to wander in my back yard full of woodland to find the aged and weathered (duh) - oh well.

    Glad you went a wandering, these were perfect to share.

    Happy Friday :)

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  2. Love all of them. Nature is such a great subject!

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  3. That first shot is terrific! Love it.

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  4. Hmm, I think my favorite is the leaves covered by the "dewy cobweb". How magical!

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  5. Fabulous post. Sometimes the best stuff is right in front of you!

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  6. That cobweb got me, it was wonderful as where the rest.
    Happy weekend.

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  7. Hello, thank you for stopping by our blog. I'm trying to decide if Ed is a PWD. He certainly looks like it.

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  8. fantastic post! like the aged bowl and the leaves in the web. very cool!! have a fabulous weekend!!

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  9. You have captured the beauty in aged and weathered things - the leaf and the dead peas! Lovely photos!

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  10. Nature never grows old with me. Great outdoor experience.

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  11. It looks like you've had quite the adventure recently and that your daughter is still having one.

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  12. I just went to my unused garage cum store room. The entrance is just like your mossed first photo. Sometimes it is a good idea to leave plants and let their dead leaves become compost. Back to nature LOL

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  13. the dead leaf in the cobweb is a great photo, I enlarged it to see it better and is one I would keep.

    your tomato yeild looks like ours I will have to post my annual yeild photo sometime!

    I think that if what is in your yard is indicative of the town, then it is legit to take photos of your home....

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  14. I should have added that ferns, oaks, moss and driftwood are all common to Corvallis. The junked car was at the edge of Mary's River, which runs through town.

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  15. I love seeing pictures of houses and yards where people live. You did a great job!

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  16. Wow, I love the dewy spiderweb.
    We sure get our fair share of moss up here in the PNW, don't we? It is rather photogenic, though.

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  17. Excellent shots, all. I love the bowl.

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  18. i third the cobweb - i'm loving the millions of webs out in our neck of the woods this time of year, and in the dewiness of the morning they are spectacular...

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  19. These pictures are wonderful. It's amazing how children manage to age new pots and bowls quickly. The children are kind of like squirrels that way. I like your natural shots of the driftwood and the fern. Your driftwood is huge. It looks too large to ever move. A wonderful aged and weathered post. Thank you for sharing.

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  20. Ha! Your peas look like most of my garden :) I gave up on it looking pretty once it starting hitting 90+ degrees every day. I love the picture of the dewey spider web - very cool shot!

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