GREENSBORO — “Want a ride?” my friend asks one day after lunch.
Nah. I’ll walk. Who knows what I might see.
Taking out my “snappy” camera, I start my brisk walk into the wind. Snappy is my point-and-shoot, my fun camera that I carry along in case I see a photograph worth capturing.
I travel Spring Garden Street multiple times a day in my car. But walking Spring Garden is different. It gives you time to take a closer, slower look at things.
Let’s make up a theme as I walk. What about ... industrial? Maybe I’ll look to see what I can photograph that has an industrial feel to it.
Encountering a bicycle rack with sweeping arches to hold tires, I lay my camera on the ground and get a few frames.
Snap. Snap. Snap.
Nope. Don’t do it. I’m not going to look at anything I shoot until I finish.
I continue along my way.
Hmm. Industrial ... industrial ... wow. Look at the rust on that red pole. What happens if I make the camera telephoto and go in for a close up?
Snap.
Interesting. Looks like something that could be a bad medical condition.
Stop. Don’t get hit by the traffic coming out of that business. As I wait for a car to go by, there are flashes of color passing through the holes of a street sign post.
Snap.
Hey, this is fun. What next?
Razor wire with sharp edges intertwined with vines form an abstract design contrasting the harshness of security with the reality of life. Snap.
That’s too heavy. Walk on. Loosen up. This is supposed to be fun, I remind myself.
Who knew there were so many kinds of manhole covers on the road? They’re mostly nondescript and only worth driving over. That’s until a different one comes into view — a Revolutionary War soldier inside a circle of branches and leaves with the words “Greensboro North Carolina 1808” underneath.
Who knew the city has a manhole cover so cool looking?
Nobody, probably. Until now. Snap.
Even when staff photographer Lynn Hey isn’t working, she’s working. Contact her at lynn.hey@news-record.com or 373-3489.
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