Photos

Our Trip to Paris

August 30, 2009 by joewatts

What a great time! More on the trip in the coming week, but I’ve posted some photos to flickr. Just visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/joewatts/sets/72157622180323164/. I really need to add a link to flickr on my blog. The trip was certainly fun–loads of it, to be honest, but it was also a great experiment in travel. Going to another country to experience their wayfinding techniques and fumble our way around in a country where we didn’t speak the language was a great way to gain perspective on people that might come to Alabama as tourists.

We saw lots, ate lots, walked LOTS and LOTS and took lots of photos. Between the two of us, we took 1200 photos (don’t worry, I won’t post them all!).

A New Camera

July 12, 2009 by joewatts

This spring, my trusty Canon 10D died on me while taking photos in Selma, Alabama for a tourism project I’m working on in the Black Belt. I had my other camera with me and the 10D was getting pretty old in terms of digital cameras, so nothing really shocking about it finally giving up the ghost. BUT, I really don’t like having only one camera. If it had been my only camera, I’d have been stuck in Selma at 8 a.m. with basically nothing else to do. Worse, if that had happened on one of my trips to take pictures in a coal mine or at an event, I’d really have been up the creek.

I held out for a few months with only one camera while I researched (though I pretty much knew what I wanted) until last week when I ordered a new Canon 5D II. Wow! What a difference. Wide angle shots are really, REALLY wide. The resolution of a 21 megapixel camera is astounding. I’ve only taken a few photos with it so far, but I’m blown away with the difference in quality thus far! Here’s one from the farmer’s market this weekend.

A Black Belt Booklet

June 30, 2009 by joewatts

I did a quick booklet about Eco-Tourism opportunities in Alabama’s Black Belt last weekend. I got to use a good number of photos I’ve taken over the years, some photos taken by Billy Milstead, the hardest working brother-in-law to date on Black Belt GPS coordinates and photos, and a few from elsewhere. The booklet turned out pretty good. I think I’ll be able to use it for some other venues as well.

Here’s the cover:

Saturday Night Dinner

June 22, 2009 by joewatts

We had a tasty dinner Saturday night as a bit of a reward for cleaning up the house much of the day. I seared a tuna steak and grilled Ann a piece of Copper River Salmon. A bit of arugula tossed with a rice wine vinegar based citrus dressing, and a few panko crusted fried green tomatoes and the first of season fried okra were, to my mind, perfect!

Sunday Mornings

June 7, 2009 by joewatts

Had a great workshop at Camp McDowell earlier this week. Your Town Alabama’s 10th year of workshops. Met some great folks and reconnected with lots more.

Not much to say, but did make several tasty dishes last weekend. Here are two (Shrimp and Grits with Fried Green Tomatoes and Copper River Salmon with Fried Corn Salsa)

Black Belt Adventure Part II

April 16, 2009 by joewatts

Friend Ben Burford and I took another fun trip into the Black Belt: this time to Selma, Old Cahaba (Cahawba), Marion and Greensboro, Alabama. Check out my flickr page for more photos or read about our first adventure on Ben’s blog.