Gravel road photography is my term for driving around out in the country and taking photos. It\’s one of my favorite ways to spend my time.
Gravel road photography is street photography from out in the middle of nowhere. Finding your subject matter as you wander the back roads.
Photos added to this pool should have been taken within 1000 feet or 333 meters of a gravel, dirt, low maintenance, etc… road.
Backyard Exploring
There are 32 posts filed in Backyard Exploring (this is page 1 of 4).
Street Photography in the Middle of Nowhere
<blockquote>Gravel road photography is my term for driving around out in the country and taking photos. It\'s one of my favorite ways to spend my time.Gravel road photography is street photography from out in the middle of nowhere. Finding your subject matter as you wander the back roads.
Photos added to this pool should have been taken within 1000 feet or 333 meters of a gravel, dirt, low maintenance, etc… road.
Source: Flickr – Gravel Road Photography
Urban Combing and the Lost Art of Found Objects
The lost art of found objects. (It sounds great as a phrase but I don't think beach-combing (or urban combing) has ever been lost).Every where you go there are little things to be found. Most people would call it bits of junk. But, its all in the eye of the beholder. An assortment of bits of things found while urban combing can build a whole story, or maybe become part of a creative project.
How to Start Urban Combing
You won’t need to buy or carry around a metal detector. Keep something like a spare make up bag, a pencil case, or something smaller you can fit into your pocket or purse and use it to gather what you find. Get home and sort out (was dirt off) your findings. Make notes or start a scrapbook. Photograph the results of each excursion.
Urban combing can be a hobby, free and good for getting exercise strolling around the neighbourhood (or while travelling). Its psychogeography.
You’re not walking off with someone’s treasures just the little bits of flotsam and jetsam from urban life.
Like beach combing but in an urban setting.
Being a little land-locked, it’s not possible to go beach combing in Long Eaton and urban combing is probably the next best thing. Here are lots of bits and pieces I recovered from my garden whilst digging the mud and also a few odds and ends from my walks with the dog.
Source: Urban Combing – Allison Giguere.
Bench By Bench with Rebecca Kennel
<a href="http://benchbybench.com/">Victoria: Bench by Bench</a>Another idea for backyard explorers, public benches in parks, along trails, anywhere you can walk to. Some benches have been built for people to take a break during a walk. Some give people a place to sit, read awhile and admire the scenery or a great view. Some were donated as memorials with a plaque for a family member, local business or celebrity.
So far I can’t find a copy of the book, but that happens with local history books published by the author/ photographer. Rebecca Kennel lived in Victoria, BC. While there she wrote a book about the public benches in Victoria, BC. She photographed them, wrote about their history and the surroundings. It looks like a charming book and I have emailed her (if she gets email at that address still) and maybe I will be able to get a copy, if there are any still in print. I can find the book on Amazon, but it is out of print, no more copies expected. I was hoping for better news, but not surprised.
I found a personal site Rebecca kept, until 2018. She had moved from Victoria to a town in Saskatchewan. She was/ is looking after her Mother and her husband, Galen, has passed away. I don’t know what she has been doing since then. I found a YouTube channel, Twitter account, and a Facebook page but nothing is updated. I hope she is still ok herself. There are two posts about her book on her YouTube channel.
The site for the book has a backup link on her personal domain. I’m leaving that link in case the other site disappears.
Searching for Metal with Magnet Fishing
Do you know about magnet fishing? I just heard about it for the first time today. It is metal detecting with a big magnet tied to a rope you throw into water and then drag through it to find anything metal enough to stick to your magnet. I think that is another form of exploration, seeing what you can find basically. I'd prefer it to actual fishing, trying to catch fish. But, either way there is a lot of patience and stuff you don't keep. Magnet fishing benefits the water systems. If, people don’t just throw all the junk right back into the water. People I have seen (Random Andrew in video posts) magnet fishing seem to keep a bucket to throw in the bits of wire, nails, and assorted bits they find. I’d be hoping to find old coins but I didn’t see much of that turning up in the video posts I watched today. Guns, which have to be turned into the police, and a metal sign were more interesting than bits of wire.
There is also the problem of your magnet getting caught on debris and the chance you might lose it. I think most of the time it can be saved one way or another. But, there will be that less lucky day when you can’t pull it out again, or your rope snaps. This is a good time to learn a few good sailor knots.
Expect to get wet. I’d bring a change of clothes and foot wear for walking in rivers, streams and generally wet places.
Payphoneographer – Photographing the Urban Phone
Found on <a href="https://twitter.com/payphoneprojekt">Twitter</a>. You can follow the <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bellpayphoneproject/">Instagram</a> account or see the photos on <a href="http://bellpayphoneproject.tumblr.com/">Tumblr</a>.
I think this is a great idea for backyard urban exploration. I don’t own or use a cell phone so I do still think about payphones, notice where they are and I’m glad to still see them around, and functional.
The classic steel/aluminum phone booth that we all remember was invented and manufactured by Benner-Nawman. In 1948, the Pacific Telephone Company had their corporate headquarters in San Francisco. They called Rollie Nawman and asked him to design and produce a telephone booth made of aluminum and glass to replace the wooden phone booths that they had in service at the time. With Pacific Telephone’s adoption of the very first design the company began making thousands of telephone booths and enclosures used by every major Telephone Company here in the United States and in 45 other countries; many of those enclosures are still in use today. With the advent of the cell phone, payphones were on the decline, and with them, the phone booth itself. In 2005, Benner-Nawman sold off all remaining stock and got out of the phone booth business. Myrmidon-PBG bought most of B-N’s stock, presumably for servicing old booths.
The above information is from the Flickr group for Phone Booths.
Ontario Letterboxing?
<a href="http://bumblingacrossletterboxes.blogspot.com/">Bumbling Along</a> is (so far) the only Canadian link I have found.I’m hoping to find more but.. there are two main sites which have world wide links and resources.
Letterboxing is a outdoor recreational activity which combines collecting, puzzle-solving, and treasure hunting.
Briefly, letterboxing enthusiasts hide and hunt weatherproof containers in remote or scenic places. Each container holds a guestbook, a rubber stamp and stamp pad. The planter of the letterbox distributes clues to its location; solution of these clues may require a combination of skills such as mapreading, orienteering, and puzzle-solving.
Letterboxers carry their own stamp book and personal stamp when hunting for hidden boxes. Upon finding a letterbox, they will impress their own book using the found stamp, and leave their own stamping or personalization in the letterbox guestbook.
Letterboxing has its roots in Dartmoor, England, in 1854.
Description of letterboxing from Curlie, the category for letterboxing links.
Address Photography
Edward Donnelly, from California, in the US, posts photographs of address plates from buildings. How often do you pass by these house numbers and not even think twice about them? But, some are unique, old and interesting.Do you have a house number visible on your home? Numbers should be easy to read, big in size, and a contrasting colour to the background they are affixed to. Placing house numbers on your mail box isn’t enough. These days not everyone has a mailbox and they tend to be smaller numbers, not so easy to read from the street.
I have large house numbers over the garage and another set at the front door of the house. No credit to me, the numbers where here when we bought the house. One of those little things people usually don’t think of when they move into a new house. But, a nice thing to give your home some extra character and a practical item too.
House numbers on Etsy, shop VEVA Designs Co.
SmartSign has more tips about house numbers.
Using clear house numbers is important! It makes life easier for your guests, for your postman, and for emergency service workers who might need to find you. The rules for displaying house numbers vary, depending on where you live. However, the following recommendations will ensure that your house number is placed where it can be seen by emergency responders, postal services, courier companies, and so on.
Dump Diggers in Toronto
<img class="alignleft wp-image-55502 size-full" src="http://ontarioexploration.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/dumpdiggers-1.jpg" alt="" width="257" height="257" />Just Rob Campbell on the site currently. The original link and photo were from 2008. Rob continues digging, finding and collecting old bottles (in his recent posts) and other Toronto based old treasures.Dumpdiggers chronicles the adventures of low tech treasure hunters Rob Campbell (that’s me) and Tim Braithwaite as we research and recover antiques from forgotten historical sites.
Found site on Canada Blog Friends.
Address Photography
Edward Donnelly, from California, in the US, posts photographs of address plates from buildings. How often do you pass by these house numbers and not even think twice about them? But, some are unique, old and interesting. <em><a href="http://addressphotoblog.blogspot.com/">Address Photography</a></em> Do you have a house number visible on your home? Numbers should be easy to read, big in size, and a contrasting colour to the background they are affixed to. Placing house numbers on your mail box isn't enough. These days not everyone has a mailbox and they tend to be smaller numbers, not so easy to read from the street. I have large house numbers over the garage and another set at the front door of the house. No credit to me, the numbers where here when we bought the house. One of those little things people usually don't think of when they move into a new house. But, a nice thing to give your home some extra character and a practical item too.SmartSign has more tips about house numbers.
Using clear house numbers is important! It makes life easier for your guests, for your postman, and for emergency service workers who might need to find you. The rules for displaying house numbers vary, depending on where you live. However, the following recommendations will ensure that your house number is placed where it can be seen by emergency responders, postal services, courier companies, and so on.