Giles Hoover

Photography and design for print production

Category: Photography

Photography in all its forms, including — but certainly not limited to — portraiture, landscapes, objects, macros, and still life. Most of the photography Foreword looks at are appropriate for books or walls.

  • Gallery Update: Dublin

    Gallery Update: Dublin

    Named for the city in Ireland, Dublin in Georgia is an hour or so southeast of Macon. It’s my third trip there, and, like last time, I enjoyed Gerald’s company.1He seemed to enjoy the trip, rain notwithstanding, but apparently the creative juices didn’t flow. (Sorry, man.) Details here.

    It has a photogenic downtown, too:

    Corker (of a) Building, W. Jackson St.
    Fountain and Holiday Tree, N. Monroe St. and Bellevue Ave.

    The Welcome Park includes a clock and bell complete with clover, reminding visitors that the name is, in fact, a tribute:

    Dublin Welcome Tower #1

    As has become typical, my favorite — “best” is debatable, of course — shot is a close-up that’s almost an abstract. In this case, a turquoise box car in the appropriately-named Railroad Park:

    Pull Down for Camel, Dublin Railraod Park

    Just off the main drag we found an item thankfully not yet painted over:

    Aqua Fox, Jefferson and Madison

    . . . Which may, in fact, be a holdover from a bygone era. In fact, I’d be remiss if I didn’t call this subject out:

    Laurens and Dublin Mural (No Biases Shown), S. Lawrence St.

    The only people of color depicted here are Native Americans, relegated to viewing (probably from afar), and two Blacks, very much shown “in their place.” (Dublin still prominently features a Confederate memorial, as well.) Let’s hope that this small city continues its journey into the 21st century, one step at a time.

    See the updated gallery here. As always, once in the gallery, click on any photograph to start a slide show.

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      He seemed to enjoy the trip, rain notwithstanding, but apparently the creative juices didn’t flow. (Sorry, man.) Details here. ↩︎
  • New Gallery: Fickling Mill

    New Gallery: Fickling Mill

    An unintended postscript to the recent photostroll, and another in the lengthy list of places you pass through without stopping — except, this time:

    Signs of White Flash
    Shell Motor Oil

    While tiny, Fickling Mill in 2022 is eye-catching, thanks to this building at the water crossing, and likely represents exactly what the name advertises — the location of a former mill of some sort, driven by the power of the water of Patsilinga Creek.

    Patsiliga Creek Over the Fickling Mill Dam

    We were there late in the day, hence the fading-yet-still-golden light:

    Windmill Decor and Patsiliga Creek

    Only nine photographs, but posted as a dedicated gallery. Enjoy your virtual photostroll — and thanks for visiting.

  • New Gallery: Talbotton

    New Gallery: Talbotton

    The county seat of Talbot (Wiki) was the primary destination of our recent photostroll, another of those places that are often passed through without stopping. A small, poor town — and county — its rich history absolutely deserves a home here amongst the galleries of Georgia.

    Monroe Street Storefonts, Downtown

    Founded in 1828, Talbotton was a center of education for the area; its architectural splendor reflects a wealth no longer present. Even the later courthouse (1892) is a beautiful structure:

    Talbot County Probate Court, 26 Washington Ave.
    Talbot County Court Tower #3

    There was one structure in particular that I wanted to visit: the Zion Episcopal Church, an 1848 wooden item, painted dark brown with white shutters:

    Historic Zion Episcopal Church, Circa 1848

    Unfortunately, Georgia’s early- and mid-century legacy survives intact. From the Zion Church’s Historical Marker:

    The choir loft at the east end of the structure opposite the sanctuary, above the narthex, is flanked on each side by a gallery, where slaves worshipped prior to the conflict which many believed temporarily destroyed Southern culture.

    Georgia Historical Commission, 1955

    The church is still beautiful, it’s still beautifully preserved and maintained, and I’m glad that we can, in 2022, look at it in the historical context it deserves.1Read more about Zion Episcopal and its place in Talbotton here.

    Zion Episcopal Church (Window Detail #2)

    See the church and all of Talbotton — 34 photographs in all — in the new gallery here.

    Thanks to Gerald for a pleasant Sunday of fine photography.

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      Read more about Zion Episcopal and its place in Talbotton here. ↩︎
  • Updated Gallery: Thomaston

    Updated Gallery: Thomaston

    Despite the leaves pretty much, well, leaving us, yesterday was too nice a day to not do a photostroll — or three, in our case. First up: Sprewell Bluff Park. Located in rural Upson County on a lovely bend in the Flint River, the park has long been one of those places that was driven by and not visited.

    Flint River from Sprewell Bluff #1

    Glad to have fixed that! Better still, it’s more than just a bluff with a view:

    River and Tree in Afternoon Sun, Sprewell Park (#2)
    Cairn on the Riverbank, Sprewell Park
    Flint River Shoals at Sprewell (#2)
    Bluff Base, Flint River

    As it’s technically located there, the Thomaston gallery has grown by nineteen photographs — check it out. (As always, once in the gallery, click on any photograph to start a slide show.)

    Stay tuned for Talbotton and Fickling Mill, which will be posted as soon as possible.

    Thank you!

  • Architectural Photography 2022 Awards Shortlist

    Architectural Photography 2022 Awards Shortlist

    As most of you know, I’m not a huge fan of photography competitions. Like I did last year, though, there’s an exception for this one: not because it’s better than some — there’s still the problem with rights, methods of compensation, etc. — but because it’s so up my alley. (Pun intended.)

    If you’ll pardon the cliché, great architectural photography is more than the sum of the building’s parts. These great shots show just that:

    Cycling Under the Circles, Berlin, Germany, by Marco Tagliarino (Exterior)
    Shapes of Soul, Milan, Italy, also by Marco Tagliarino (Interior)

    Entry photographs are divided into six categories: Exterior, Interior, Sense of Place, Buildings in Use, Mobile (with Bridges being this year’s theme), and Portfolio (focusing on the theme of Transport Hubs).

    Glass Floor, Tokyo, Japan, by Tom Ponessa (Buildings in Use)
    Architecture 1, location not listed (but pretty cool, IMHO), by Stephane Navailles (Bridges)
    Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport, China, by Kangyu Hu (Transport Hubs)

    There are many more to be enjoyed: ArchDaily has an article and gallery up, and the Guardian has a gallery, too. Enjoy.

    The post’s featured photograph, top, is Nest, Dali, China, by Alex Chan, from the Exterior category.

  • Updated Gallery: Milledgeville

    Updated Gallery: Milledgeville

    The small city of Milledgeville, on the banks of the Oconee River in nearby Baldwin County, is a favorite for photography. In this case, Gerald and I stopped on our way home from Sandersville, and spent some time wandering the historic district.

    Aged Signage, 101 W. Mcintosh St., Circa 1911
    Fall Color, First Presbyterian Church (#1), S. Wayne St.
    (Extended) Weathervane, Old Courthouse Building, 201 W. Hancock St.

    I especially liked this gate:

    Gate and Stairs (Going Up), 129 S. Wayne St.

    We were these the day after (part of) the Deep Roots Festival, which meant some street decorations lingered:

    Deep Roots Festival Balloons, S. Wayne St.

    Oh, and happy Halloween:

    Happily Haunted Window, S. Wayne St.

    See all my photographs from Milledgeville in the updated gallery. Thank you for visiting. See you in November!

  • Beautifully Briefed, Late October 2022 [Updated X2]: Translucent Hummingbirds, Honda, Landscape Photography, and … Vampires!

    Beautifully Briefed, Late October 2022 [Updated X2]: Translucent Hummingbirds, Honda, Landscape Photography, and … Vampires!

    In this edition: Hummingbirds, the UK’s 2022 Landscape Photography of the Year 2022, a potential new logo treatment from Honda, and something just in time for Halloween.

    Who Knew: Hummingbird Edition
    Wow.

    Taken when the creatures are mid-flight and beating their wings at incredible speeds, Spencer’s striking photos capture sunlight as it filters through their feathers, emitting a full spectrum of color. The opalescent phenomenon is caused by diffraction and transforms their limbs into tiny, ephemeral rainbows.

    This is Colossal

    Let’s set aside for the moment the time and energy get these photographs and just celebrate that Australian photographer Christian Spencer worked to get these shots. Better still, there’s a book:

    Like the typography in addition to the photograph, too. Thanks to This is Colossal for pointing us in this pretty wonderful direction.

    New Honda Logo?

    This hasn’t been reported anywhere, so I don’t know whether there’s a shift ahead for Honda (pardon the expression), but…:

    This is a photograph — well, graphic — of the 2024 Prologue EV. Note that instead of the classic “H” seen on every Honda since I don’t know when, the name is spelled out.

    Maybe it’s because this is a rebadged GM?

    Either way, you heard it here first. (Read more about the Prologue on Motor1.)

    Update, 29 October 2022: Motor1 has another preview, this time of the upcoming 11th-gen Accord, the rear of which uses the usual “H.” So, electric-only? Models from 2024?

    Update, 7 November 2022: Here’s a future Honda model for China with the name spelled out. (Here’s the Motor1 story, and a second, better article from Autopian.) So … maybe?

    2022 Landscape Photography of the Year

    These haven’t gotten much press here in the US, and they deserve better:

    Windmill in the Mist, Itay Kaplan – winner, historic Britain
    Loch Awe, Damian Waters – winner, lines in the landscape

    My personal favorite is this stunning shot:

    Ascension, Demiray Oral – winner, classic view

    The Dragon’s Back.1The aptly-named Dragon’s Back is in the Brecon Beacons National Park, Black Mountains, Wales. Take a walk. Thanks to The Guardian for the slideshow. See the entire list of winners on the official contest website.

    Vampires!

    Speaking of slideshows on The Guardian, they had a great subject just in time for Halloween: “Cinema’s unquenchable thirst for vampires celebrated in posters.”

    A classic.
    A future classic — scary-great.

    Unquenchable thirst, indeed. Enjoy.

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      The aptly-named Dragon’s Back is in the Brecon Beacons National Park, Black Mountains, Wales. Take a walk. ↩︎
  • Updated Gallery: Sandersville

    Updated Gallery: Sandersville

    As promised yesterday, there’s more from Sandersville. This time, the City Cemetery, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places:

    Sandersville’s City Cemetery National Register Sign

    Some beautiful statuary within:

    Not all of the plots are marked with statuary, but some have beautiful markers.

    Sandersville the site of a skirmish on Sherman’s March to the Sea, and according to the official history, probably took place in the cemetery grounds itself.

    A plot marker in marble, together with the U.S. and Georgia flags.
    The St. Paul AME Church, seen through the fall foliage.
    Long-leaf pine is typical of this area, and provides some lovely shade.

    An enjoyable time on a beautiful fall day. See all of the photographs from Sandersville in the updated gallery here.