Week 16 – #31. Shot With Flash/Speedlight

I have always been intrigued with the Walnut Street Bridge in Chattanooga, TN. Built in 1890, it was apparently the first non-military highway bridge across the Tennessee River. On a daily and nightly basis, it is now enjoyed as a walking bridge by thousands of Chattanooga natives and visitors. This photo was “shot with flash/speedlight” off camera with a red gel which turned the white railings red. My camera was set for a slow shutter speed; I placed a red gel on the flash and as the shutter remained open, I pressed the flash “test” button firing the flash multiple times as I walked along the rail. Although I also shot the scene with both a purple and blue gel, I liked the way it looked with the red gel best.

Week 32 – #18. Hidden From View

Until recently, this sign was “hidden from view” because for decades another building was attached to the wall of the Boulevard Pharmacy in Chattanooga, TN on which was painted this sign advertising several products sold at the soda fountain. The Boulevard Pharmacy closed its doors years ago but I found it interesting to note how little food and beverages cost. If you enlarge this photo, you will note that a donut and coffee cost a mere 12 cents; and the most expensive thing on the menu, a ham and egg sandwich, would set you back a whopping 35 cents! Just for fun, enlarge the photo and see how much it would cost to take a date to lunch at the Boulevard Pharmacy. A bit less expensive than today, eh guys?

Double-Cola was founded in Chattanooga in 1922; and I believe Sealtest Ice Cream products have been discontinued.

The signs will not be seeing the light of day for long because a new three-story building will soon begin at the site. It will include retail, office and restaurant space.

Week 24 – #43. Single Tree

This single tree is located in the Chattanooga National Cemetery, established in 1863 by an order from Major General George Henry Thomas after the Civil War Battles of Chattanooga, as a place to inter Union soldiers who fell in combat. 75 acres of land was initially appropriated from two local land owners, but later purchased. It was officially named Chattanooga National Cemetery in 1867. By 1870 more than 12,000 interments had been made, most of whom were unknown. Many nearby battlefield burials were also reinterred in Chattanooga, including nearly 1,500 burials from the Battle of Chickamauga.

During World War I several German prisoners of war who died while in captivity were buried in Chattanooga National Cemetery. After the war, the German government paid to have other POWs disinterred from Hot Springs National Cemetery and moved to Chattanooga.

Chattanooga National Cemetery was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.

Originally the site was expected to close for new burials in 2015. However, due to a recent expansion project that will add the capacity for more than 5000 interments, the cemetery is now expected to be available for burials until 2045.

Week 22 – #35. On The River

Chattanooga endured an excessive amount of rain during December, 2015 and it isn’t often that you see all of the Chickamauga Dam spillways open. On this evening just after 7:00 p.m., I was “on the river” with my camera and captured a long exposure which gave the turbulent waters beneath the dam a smooth, silky look. Alongside the river beginning at the Chickamauga Dam and stretching ten miles to downtown Chattanooga is a lighted and landscaped walkway dotted with picnic tables, fishing piers and public art, an example of which you’ll see in my photo.

Week 19 – #37. Part Of A Whole

I did a double take when I drove down the street and saw part of a 1954 Spartan Manor trailer. It was “part of a whole” because the rest of it was inside a building which housed a restaurant. The entire Spartan Manor served as the kitchen for the restaurant. I was intriqued and, although the restaurant was not open, I spotted the owner outside and asked if I could come in to see the rest of the Spartan Manor. He said when he bought it, the furniture was still inside and he totally gutted it and put in an entire stainless kitchen for the restaurant. What a terrific idea! I did a bit of research on the Spartan Manor and learned how famed oil tycoon, J. Paul Getty, turned an aircraft company into a luxury trailer manufacturing enterprise. Manufactured to the highest quality and sleekest design employing the monocoque building technique used in airplane manufacturing, they were truly the “Cadillac” of trailers.

Week 45 – #12. Fences And/or Rails

This week, I am taking you to Chattanooga, TN and telling you about a place dear to my heart, the Industrial YMCA. The “Y,” a Spanish Revival-style structure built in 1929, is abundant with plaster casts of family crests, handpainted art deco patterns on wooden beams, and window handles forged by Chattanooga ironworkers. The terra cotta exteriors of many Chattanooga buildings were created by artisans whose skills, time and resources no longer exist. Their craftsmanship is irreplaceable. The “Y” offered basketball, badminton courts, a boxing ring, stage, trapeze equipment and a swimming pool. It offered 59 small rooms for people to stay in; that is until 1989 when its doors were closed for ten years. During that time, it was inhabited by the homeless and pigeons … lots of pigeons. A friend of mine, Jack Kruesi, purchased it in 1999 and began hundreds of hours refurbishing the building. To him, it is a labor of love because he, like a lot of other people, including me, remember vividly the good times we had there as kids. Most of the original building is still intact.

I was so grateful when Jack graciously handed over the keys to the building allowing me to spend many hours photographing it. The below photo of the wrought iron railing ended my search for something to satisfy the “Fences And/Or Rails” theme.

Week 21 – #15. Graveyard

Established in 1880 and located in the historic St. Elmo neighborhood nestled at the foot of Lookout Mountain, Forest Hills Cemetery is the resting place of many important people and a landmark of great beauty and history to Chattanooga, Tennessee. Each year in October, it has a program wherein the gravesites of a select number of Chattanooga’s forefathers are included in a cemetery stroll. During the stroll, a person belonging to the Forest Hills Historical Society is dressed in period attire, seated at a gravesite and tells the history of the person and his/her importance to Chattanooga. The narrator either portrays the deceased, his/her spouse or descendant. The stroll is not only interesting and gives an insight into the person’s personal and business life but is held on a day during the fall season when the tree leaves are beginning to change colors. This was my first time to take the stroll, but it will not be my last.

Forest Hills is where I have chosen to be interred, not because I think I am important but because my ancestors are interred there and if a cemetery can be beautiful, this one certainly is. It is a sanctuary of magnificent botanical beauty. Vibrant spruce trees, wildflowers, dogwoods, azaleas, and fruit trees flourish there. Cuttings from the rare species in the graveyard are used for transplanting in other parts of the country. In the spring, many people enjoy an afternoon drive through the cemetery to see its astounding flora. Forest Hills is a place of beauty, history, and great importance to the community.

Week 20 – #22. It’s A Mystery

There is something mystical, almost spooky, about foggy days along the riverfront. I love bridges, especially those with so much history like those which cross the Tennessee River in downtown Chattanooga. While there, I enjoy joining others who walk, run and bike across them. Early one foggy morning, I grabbed my camera and headed to the bridges in hopes of capturing a few mystical, foggy photos. There was nobody on the Market Street Bridge except me surrounded by thick fog and the sounds of boat horns – an eerie feeling. But wait! Who is that? She was not there when I took the photo yet when I processed it, she is there. Who is she? Why is she in my photo? Where is she going? If I were Stephen King writing a mystery novel, I would know the answers but at the moment, “It’s A Mystery.”

Week 18 – #29. On Two Wheels

My father passed away at a young age on Christmas day in 1967 and I can only remember him working at one place, Hatfield and Keefe Furniture Store, a 4-story building at 55 East Main Street in Chattanooga, TN. Not too many years ago, the building was renovated and now houses a restaurant on the main level and loft apartments above. In the renovation process, the old freight elevator was removed and its parts were cleverly welded together and made into a fence surrounding the loft owners’ parking lot. As I walked down the sidewalk and saw the wheels and pullies, I couldn’t help but remember as a child riding from floor to floor on that freight elevator carried partly on two wheels.

Week 52 – #A1. Black and White

For my last photo of this year’s 52-Week Photo Challenge, I have chosen to photograph Rembrandt’s Coffee House, a favorite early morning spot where I often enjoy a pastry, cappuccino or latte. Located on a tree-lined street on a hill in the museum district in Chattanooga, it is a quiet, quaint spot with outdoor seating underneath a flowering, vine-covered canopy. Once an apartment building reminiscent of European architecture, the building is now filled with various forms of art and, of course, the coffee house. I like how it looks in black and white.