Magnolia Manor (c. 1869), now a museum (top photo), was built by Cairo businessman Charles Galigher. It has 14 rooms and double walls with 10-inch air spaces meant to keep out dampness. Galigher was a friend of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant when he commanded Cairo during the Civil War. Following Grant’s second term as president, Galigher threw an extravagant celebration for the ex-president. Across the road is River Lore, (c. 1865), another well cared for Second Empire mansion built by River Captain William Parker Halliday. Both the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers can be seen from an upper level “pilot’s house.” (Click on photos for larger image).
The southern portion of Illinois is known as Little Egypt. Maybe, the name recalls the Biblical story of Joseph and the seven-year famine, as the region supplied grain to the rest of the state during an early 19th century drought. Others say the area around the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers resembled the fertile Nile Valley. Whatever the reason, the area is rich in history, and has been inhabited for thousands of years. Place names like Mounds and Mound City, refer to the once abundant Native American burial and ceremonial mounds, which have largely disappeared because of farming. More recently, the American Civil War, racial strife, depression, flooding and abandonment all became chapters in the history of the area, especially Cairo and the surrounding countryside.
Once thriving businesses along Commercial Ave., Cairo, IL.One of many abandoned historic homes in Cairo, IL. An old tow truck sits in a field, Cairo, IL.
I recently spent several months working of a fiber optic project in the most southern counties of Illinois, mainly Alexander and Pulaski. Of course, I always kept a camera in the truck with me, and would snap an image or two when I had an opportunity. I would drive through places with names like Cairo, Mounds, Mound City, Thebes, Karnak, and Tamms on a daily basis.
The Gem Theatre was once a thriving business in downtown Cairo.
The level of poverty and abandonment in this area is quite evident, as many of these photos show. This blog is a photography site, and does not deal with political issues, or speculate on the decline of these once thriving communities. Others have written extensively about this. I’ll leave it at that.
(From top left) Riveted flood gate (c. 1914) is no longer in use; abandoned apartment buildings, downtown Cairo; Old Illinois Central caboose along Cairo’s Ohio Riverfront; an old couch sits facing a mural on Cairo’s Ohio River flood wall; old vehicles on a residential street, Cairo, IL; A thriving country church, Villa Ridge, Pulaski County; an abandoned car service station, Mounds, Pulaski, County; an old freight car at the old Tamms Depot, Alexander County; at one time the Historic Downtown Cairo sign would have greeted visitors to a thriving business neighborhood.
Cairo is located at the confluence to the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. It’s a natural location for river commerce and the wealth that it can bring. Grain still goes up and down the rivers in barges. Others carry coal, building supplies and scrap, among various cargoes. These charged the economy decades ago, but today not to the same extent.
Towboat Tom Torretti is among the many working boats that moves barges full of grain and other goods on the Ohio River at the Port of Cairo. (Click on photo for larger image).
For the photographer, Cairo and the surrounding vicinity is a great place for the type of photography seen here. It’s an area where history is evident, and has contributed greatly to this great nation. Hopefully, someday, there can be a rebound and the area brought back to greatness.
Whitetail fawns photographed in Green Hill Cemetery, Monroe County, WV. (Click on photo for larger image).
Whitetail fawn browsing on leaves, Green Hill Cemetery, Monroe County, WV. (Click on photo for larger image).
A photographer doesn’t have to go deep into the woods to get photos of wildlife. Backyards, local parks, roadsides, lakes and rivers, and cemeteries all provide ample opportunity to take photos of wild critters. Wildlife photography can be as simple or complex as one wants to make it. Birds, deer and small animals that one sees on a regular basis can often be photographed from the “back porch.” Others, like bears, and mountain lions, are more likely found after a hike into their habitat. We won’t concern ourselves with those.
A rabbit in the backyard. Photo from our back porch. (Click on photo for larger image).
An Egret at Cook’s Mill pond, Greenville, Monroe County, WV. (Click on photo for larger image).
Equipment does make a difference, but one can use whatever they have. Long lenses and zooms are handy as they allow the photographer to close in on the subject. The lenses I use most for wildlife are a 28-300mm and a 150-600mm zoom on full frame Nikon bodies. Also, a tripod, monopod, or other method to keep the camera steady while using slower shutter speeds can make a big difference in the quality of a photo..
While I’m not a wildlife photographer, I do enjoy shooting photos of the animals that wander close to home.
A hummingbird perched in a tree munching on a mosquito or gnat. Photo shot from my back porch, Marshall County, KY. (Click on photo for larger image).
Bird feeders can bring a variety of feathered subjects within the range of the camera, and can even be placed right outside of a window to allow viewing from inside the home.
The photos in this article are examples of wildlife photographed at home, or in readily accessible locations close to home:
Various wildlife subjects found close to home. Click on photo for larger image.
It’s one of the oldest questions in digital photography: Should I set my camera to shoot raw files, or jpeg, or both, and is there a real difference?
Shot in raw with a Nikon DSLR, this ground to cloud lightning strike likely would not have worked out nearly as well if it had been shot as a jpeg file. El Dorado, KS. (Click on photo for larger image).
A kitten playing in a bag, shot as a jpeg with a point-and-shoot camera that does not have a raw option. Benton, KY. (Click on photo for larger image).
With many inexpensive cameras and cell phones, you don’t have a choice. Jpeg is it. The camera processes the file according to its programming to give you what it interprets to be the best exposure and settings for the subject you are shooting. With good lighting, the results can be fantastic. More advanced cameras often give you an option of shooting raw files, which aren’t processed in the camera to give you optimal results. They let you use a photo editing program to let you decide what the photo should look like. Some cameras even have slots for two memory cards, where raw images can be stored on one, and jpegs of the same shot on the other.
Wonderful, even light enhanced this jpeg file, shot with a Canon DSLR camera. Shiloh Church, Huntsville, IL. (Click on photo for larger image).
My wife shot this one of Sam Carpenter (left), his pug, and I at his country store in jpeg mode using my Leica. The camera also shoots raw files. Max Meadows, VA. Photo by Debra Bell. (Click on photo for larger image).
Jpeg file sizes are generally much smaller than raw, as unused data is discarded, after the camera has recorded an exposure. This unused data can include information needed to adjust highlights, shadows, sharpness, color, and a variety of other properties of a photo. Since the camera has already used an internal program to edit the photo, this information is no longer needed. This means that editing a jpeg file to further enhance a photo is limited, as the unused data is no longer there.
Another image shot in raw with a Nikon DSLR that likely would not have turned out as well if shot as a jpeg. Union, Monroe County, WV. (Click on photo for larger image).
Raw files are much larger, and generally look somewhat flat when you look at them on a computer monitor. This is because no adjustments have been made to the file. It is up to the photographer to make these adjustments using his photo editing software of choice. I use Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop, as they are the programs that I know best. However, there are other alternatives including free and open-source options.
A jpeg file captured with a point-and-shoot camera that came out just fine. Wadley, AL. (Click on photo for larger image).
Advantages of shooting jpegs include small file sizes, and the photos are already edited. You can take a jpeg straight out a camera and use it as it is, post it on social media, or send it to a friend as an email attachment that can readily be seen without special software. Also, you can get significantly more shots on your memory card, and your camera’s buffer won’t fill nearly as quickly, when writing files to the memory card. Smaller files sizes mean you need less space on your computer’s hard drive to store them.
Clothes hanging on a line at a Cassville, West Virginia residence, shot as a jpeg with a point-and-shoot camera without raw option. (Click on photo for larger image).
On the other hand, raw files are specific to a camera manufacturer. Nikons shoot .NEF extensions, Canons shoot .CR2, while Fujis shoots .RAF. Other cameras have their own extensions, and they are not readable between camera brands . Special software (Photoshop, for example, or the camera manufacturer’s own) is required to edit the photo and convert it to a usable, final image in jpeg (or other) format. The big advantage of shooting raw files is that you have complete control to use the recorded data to make the finished photo look as you believe it should.
An Amish man and his team taken as a raw file with a Nikon DSLR, Monroe County, WV. (Click on photo for larger image).
A farmhouse in Pickaway, Monroe County, WV shot with a Nikon DSLR as a raw file. (Click on photo for larger image).
I’m often asked if I shoot raw or jpeg, or both. I sometimes shoot both, but I rarely do anything with the jpeg files. I generally shoot photos of old homes, abandoned structures and farms. I like cloudy days and generally expose for the sky, making sure that I don’t blow out the highlights. I then bring up the shadows in Lightroom/Photoshop. I sometimes dodge or burn and make other adjustments to get the desired results. While a jpeg might look okay for my subjects, it’s certainly not going to look as good as a well edited raw file.
The Confederate War Memorial in Union, Monroe County, WV, shot as a raw file with a Nikon DSLR. (Click on photo for larger image).
Many people believe that jpegs are more true to life, and closer to what you actually see, basically because the camera does the editing for you, and no other changes have been made. I guess that’s a matter of opinion, but I can get much closer to what I see by shooting raw and adjusting shadows, highlights, color saturation, sharpness, and a number of other factors in Lightroom and Photoshop.
Cherub on a bird bath shot in raw with a Leica, then converted to B&W. Beaver Dam, Ohio County, KY. (Click on photo for larger image).
What about black and white photography? I know some photographers that shoot raw files on one memory card and black and white jpegs on the other. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this, as long as one is satisfied with the B&W jpeg as it comes out of the camera. Again, the B&W jpeg image has discarded information and can’t be edited to any significant extent. I prefer to convert a raw image to B&W in Lightroom or Photoshop to maintain more control over what a final photo will look like.
A favorite shot of a window in an abandoned store, Monroe County, WV. The file was shot in raw with a Nikon DSLR. A jpeg file would likely not have produced the fine detail and colors. (Click on photo for larger image)
I, like most people, use my cell phone to take quick snaps of things around the house, or for social media, like food cooking in the smoker. Most cell phones shoot jpegs, like this one, but some of the newer ones have raw options (Click on photo for larger image).
I’m certainly not telling photographers that they should be shooting raw files, and not jpeg. I’m letting you know what works for me. Not everyone has my taste in photography. Many photographers love to combine different jpeg exposures using multiple shots of a subject in what is known as High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography. While that’s not my thing, it is very popular. And, so is shooting plain jpegs out of a camera or phone. I’m truly amazed by the quality of many cell phone shots.
My advice would be to shoot whatever works for you. However, I would suggest that anyone who hasn’t tried raw photography to give it a try, and spend some time learning to edit the raw files. It’s not difficult, and will be worth your while whether you choose to use it all the time, some of the time, or not at all. At least you will be satisfied knowing that you have tried it and found out if it’s for you, or not.
