PRT and Me...

 

PRT stands for Parks, Recreation and Tourism...It is a department of the South Carolina government...Every year it puts out a new brochure on the finer points of our state and why people from around the world should come here to visit and enjoy...This brochure is free and can be gotten by visiting their offices or welcome centers or by writing either e-mail or snail mail to them...

Bottom line...It shows our stuff...

 

Several years ago in the eighties when I had my photographic studio open ...my friend Felix asked me to take some specific shots which he wanted to add to the brochure...Felix was in charge of it then...He knew I was heading to Aiken, SC to photograph the Aiken Horse trials...So he asked me to visit two state parks on my trip which were close to Aiken...Barnwell State park and Aiken State park...He also asked me to visit God's Little Acre which was an artesian well located on an acre of land which was donated to the state by a generous donor to be used by anyone who wished to use the water flowing from it daily...

 

Felix also requested that I find a way to take a shot of horses feeding up on a hill with the sun rising on the left and fences and maybe a barn or pond in the background...I laughed at Felix and said, "You're crazy...how am I going to do that?" He laughed and said, "Ron...I know you can do it cause you are a great photographer." (I guess he kind of buttered me up there, don't you think?)

 

So off I went in my old beat up Volkswagen van with the crease in it where I backed into a telephone pole by accident...I hit God's Little Acre first...I got some good shots there ...There were several people there filling their jugs and children splashing around in the creek the well created...Then I headed to Barnwell State Park...It was empty of people ...I don't think I saw one person there...I didn't even see a rabbit or raccoon...It was desolate...

 

So on I ventured to Aiken State Park...What a difference...Here were people enjoying nature and I had plenty of subjects to photograph...People were sun bathing on blankets and some were fishing off the short pier...people out in the water in paddle boats...Groups were barbequing hot dogs or hamburgers and the smoke filled the air around them and added visual pleasure to my shots...

I was happy here...

 

Next I went to the arena where the Aiken Horse trials were taking place...While I was taking shots of these beautiful  horses and their smartly dress riders I met an old friend of mine who lived right outside Aiken and he owned a horse farm...So I told him why I was there and about  the shot that Felix asked me to take for him...He laughed and told me to get in his jeep and we tooled out to his farm....He took me up on  a hill overlooking his paddocks and he said he would get his man to leave some feed up there and showed me where the sun would rise and then took me back to the trials...Wow! All I had to do was get back there the next morning real early...

 

That night I slept in my old van.. Well I tried to sleep...I had parked in between two of the horse barns that were being used by horses and horses...You can't imagine the sounds I heard that night...Horses pee and fart and whinny and neigh and stomp and fuss all night long...By the time I got up...I headed to the 7-11 for some wake up coffee and a roll...The sun would be up shortly...I raced to the horse farm and got up on the ridge where I was suppose to be...WOW! There they were ...three gorgeous horses eating the feed on the hill...I got out quickly and brought out my tripod which I had already attached my Nikon 35mm camera to with the wide angle lens...I had maybe twenty shots left on the roll in the camera....Here comes the sun...beautiful...The air was clean and the dew hugged the grass and bushes...When I finished shooting the rest of the roll I started to rewind  it so I could put a new roll in... That's when the horses looked up and trotted away...I got my shot!

 

I went back to the trials and shot many pictures of graceful horses and their riders till mid- afternoon...Then I decided to back to Columbia...I said, "Well maybe I should go back to Barnwell State park and see if I could finish up my trip with some good shots there. "...When I arrived there I knew I had wasted my time so I decided to give Felix a shot he would not forget...They had a pond there with a small dock pointing out to middle...I set up my camera on my tripod at waist level and aimed it down the dock.. Then I put it on self-timer and pushed the button...as I did so...I  stood in front of the camera , bent over and dropped my pants...

 

A few days later...I got my slides back and I put them all in Kodak Carrousels...Usually eighty to a tray...I brought them to Felix and told him I had got the shot he wanted and more but the shot I was most proud of...I called, "Moon over Barnwell State Park"  I had hid it about number 50 in the first tray...Later...Felix called me to bless me out...He said he took those trays right into the conference room and set up the projector and screen...He then called in his staff of nine women to watch as he ran the projector He of  course told them to look for my favorite shot...he said when it appeared... the gals whooped and hollered till they were hoarse ...(Mission accomplished!)

 

This is not the original shot ...It has been cropped...the original had three horses in it...This brochure came a couple of years after that one but they still liked the shot...

 

Here are three other shots of mine that they used in this particular brochure...

 

Riverbanks Zoo

 

Country shots

Karate and me or "I'd rather fight than eat!"

My friend in Vancouver wrote a recent blog about our government shutting down and titled it "Id rather fight than eat!"
I have a little story about myself...It has nothing to do with the our government but about his title, " I'd rather fight than eat!"
Back when I was spending 2 years of my time (1956-58) with the US Army at Fort Leonard Wood, MIssouri...I was part of a class of students learning the fine art of self defense...called Karate... Our sensi,(Teacher), Victor Lemire was a drafted Arizona Highway patrolman...He studied karate with another Arizona officer...Captain Robert Trias who acquired a 9th degree black belt while serving duty in China ... Trias brought Karate to the US and opened up a school called American Karate...

I was in fine fighting shape back then (165 lbs. and 6 feet tall) and I enjoyed learning how to kill or maim another person with my bare hands or feet or elbows or knees in seconds ...I became quite good at this...This class was not a part of my Army duties...It was a volunteer class...There was nine of us...We worked out mostly at night in an old storage shed... which our company commander (Captain Nicholson) allowed us to use...He also wanted to learn this extraordinary art of killing people...So we benefitted from his rank and power...We covered the floor with old hospital mattresses and covered them with a large tarp... He also provided us with Judo Gis (work out clothes) which his wife made for us...Little did we know that we were the first Karate school ever to be allowed to function in the US Army (main land)...We were written up by the fort newspaper back then which made its way to the Army Times...(the year was 1957)...I digress...

One weekend 5 of us decided to load up a friend's 1953 Chevy BelAir go on a 3 day fishing trip to Lake of the Ozarks, which was about 60 miles south of the fort...We drove the back roads down to our rental cabin and when we crossed the state line a stray bullet ricocheted off our front window which was probably shot by a deer hunter...Of course we stopped and looked around (carefully) and decided o keep going... shortly we came upon a honkytonk back in the boondocks and we decided to have a moon pie and beer or two...

We were drinking and laughing when a Harly pulls up outside with a young burly rider and his cute girlfriend in Tshirt and torn, worn jeans...They ventured in and immediately this little honey stated flirting with our group...The more she flirted the more her boyfriend fumed...Finally one of our party , am old staff sargent named Larry went over to the lad at the bar and asked him to calm down...at which time... he jumped in front of us at our table and shouted,"I'd rather fight than eat!"

Larry calmly walked in front to him and said "Son...You're talking to the wrong group if its a fight you want...My friends here would rather eat (and drink) that fight...You see...these boys are not trained to fight...they're trained  to kill...and then we all stood up and smiled at the the young red neck...and Larry said "how about we buy you and your girlfriend a beer and something to eat?

There was a log pause and the young biker grabbed his girlfriend's arm a stalked out the door...And "varoom varoom"... away they rode...

We didn't catch many fish that weekend but came back with some good memories...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was my diploma...

 

 

Mom and Dad 1920 and 1957

My dad has the black sweater on...

 

 

 

Here are some photos of my parents taken thirty years apart and ones of my dad with his steam engine and friends...I'm delighted I can post these on my blog...Dad worked for the railroad for many years...He became an engineer about the time I started grammar school (1942)...He drove an old steam switch engine for the Chicago People's Gas Light and Coke Company...Then he had 17 miles of track inside a very large yard and his engine would move the coke cars wherever they had to go...By the time I entered high school they had switched from steam to diesel powered engines...But then they got rid of their coke cars and sold only natural gas...In huge storage tanks...This created a dilemma for my dad since he was only a year or so from retiring at 65...They asked him if he wanted one of two jobs they could offer him which were ...1. Watching over the boilers or 2. Being a weed picker around the tanks...My dad took the boiler job since he had worked out of doors all of his life and the winters in Chicago were pretty cold...But...He got so bored watching boilers and reading the daily newspaper from front to back he requested the weed picking job..

In high school the guys would occasionally ask one another..."What does your dad do for a living?" I remember one kid say ,"My father doesn't do anything....He's a cop!"...And so my answer was," My father is the highest paid weed picker in the city of Chicago"...My dad got a kick out of that answer and told his friends down at George's bar...

I have thank my ex neighbor (Delores A.) an e-mail friend,who lived directly across the street from me in Chicago for the picture of mom and dad all gussied up at maybe at a  wedding reception...Dee now lives in Florida and found the photo amongst some others recently and sent it to me...

God bless you Dee!

 

Oh yes...don't let me forget...Dee's parents were my God parents...Thanks again Dee...

John McCormick does Millers Beer Ads...

 

Scratchboard art is a thing of the past...Not anymore ...it's coming back strong...In 1954 when I was apprenticing at a large art and photography studio (Kling Studios) in the city where I grew up, Chicago ... I met an illustrator by the name of John McCormick...He had some Scotch blood in him and he grew up  in Australia...He had a gift that made him famous...He knew the art of scratchboard...and he knew it well...

There were other famous artists working there...Ralph Ballantine ...H. Charles McBarron Jr...to name a few....My job was as a gopher...(go for this...go for that)...I also matted and framed art work ...Back then the studio provided a still photographer for the artists so he could photograph various models in the poses which the artists has laid out before they finished their final illustrations...The apprentices (there were three of us) were ready models to be used by the artists ..Once I posed as a Roman centurion fast asleep while guarding Christ's tomb...the artist was illustrating a bible...I also posed as a WW I soldier on a scouting trip down in Panama...The in-house photographer was quite  character...He would always ask us if we knew any young girls who were aspiring to  become fashion  models to send them to him so he could work up a portfolio for them...This was how he would make extra money...

But let's get back to John McCormick...He would allow the apprentices to come into his small studio to watch him as he worked...I had never seen anything like this before and so I would spend as much time as he would allow to watch him bring his art to life...The ads you see here are for Miller High Life Beer...They respected John's work so much they even gave him a byline..Look at these ads closely and you will see why...

 

Check out the leather of his shoe...and the softness of his cap...

 

Check out all the textures of the various elements in the picture...

 

John had a fine sense of humor and would keep a bottle of whiskey in the bottom drawer of his short file cabinet... Back then it was common for the owner  of the studio to lead potential clients around to see the various artists while they were working.in their small studios ..Once ever so often ...when John heard them come to his open door which was to his back...he would pause as if he didn't hear them and then reach down to get a swig from that bottle...I think it might have disturbed Mr. Kling at first, but then I think once he knew John was teasing them and he would lead them to John's studio on purpose...

 I spent two summers working at that studio and I was fortunate to know this fine man and great artist...

Picture of the Day...Capital Dome...

This was a grab shot I took driving over the railroad tracks in downtown Columbia some months ago...
I'm surprised at the composition of the picture 

The Hummingbirds are back...

 I have always enjoyed my hummingbird feeder...It welcomes those little guys back to my deck every year..

 

This is the female...She's a little more hungry than her spouse...

LA VITA'E BELLA a poem by Uncle Ron

                                                                        LA VITA'E BELLA

                 LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL...

                                        IT CAN MAKE YOU LAUGH

               IT CAN MAKE YOU CRY ...

                                         IT CAN MAKE YOU LUST...

               IT CAN MAKE YOU SIGH.



                                  LIFE KNOWS NO BONDS AS IT GOES ROUND AND ROUND...

           THE FIRST DAY YOU'RE HAPPY...

                                            YOU'VE MET SOMEONE NEW...

                      THE SECOND DAY YOU'RE LAUGHING ...AND SHE'S LAUGHING TOO...

   THE THIRD DAY YOU'VE TRIPPED ON SOME UNKNOWN WIRE....

                              HER LAUGHTER IS STILL AS SHE PUTS OUT THE FIRE...

OH WHERE ARE THE MATCHES?   WHERE IS THE WOOD?

                         "SPEAK TO HER GOD...    I'VE BEEN MISUNDERSTOOD!"



BUT HER LAUGHTER IS GONE...THE ASHES ARE COLD...

                             HIS EYES THAT ONCE SPARKLED...  HAVE NOW GROWN SO OLD.

                IS THERE NO GOD?   IS THERE NO HOPE?

IS THERE NOT SOMEONE ...   WHO CAN HELP OUT THIS DOPE?



                    THE LONE RANGER IS DEAD... AND TONTO...AND SILVER...

SMOKE THE BEAR MIGHT BUT HE CANNOT PLAY WITH MATCHES...

                          SO WHAT IS HE TO DO?        THIS ILL FATED FELLOW?

A CLOWN WITH A BEARD AND A BRAIN FULL OF JELLO?

                          HE COULD SEND HER A FLOWER...  A VERY LARGE ROSE...

A FLOWER SO RED...IT RESEMBLES HIS NOSE.

                                        

                                                                                       ~Uncle Ron~