Highlands Bits

Towards the end of last year, it was looking like there was a good chance I'd be moving away from Louisville for a few years. Ultimately that didn't come to pass, but while it was looking likely I decided to do a photo project on all my favorite haunts.

With all that's happened this year and a move no longer hanging over me, haven't been as focused on it as I'd originally planned. Needed a break from staring at protest photos, which made a perfect excuse to go shooting in the Highlands.

It's all well and good to set out to document a scene, but doing it justice is a taller order. I tend more towards the literal, which usually makes for lots of photos of buildings and such but not a real good sense of place.

You know, like this. The Highlands is one of the main bar scenes in Louisville but this liquor store near Mid City Mall gives you a bit of a sense of the area's fondness for substances more generally. The area is also known for being a bit quirky, which might explain why somebody decided to build this brick octagon. Probably not though, there's an identical structure a few miles down Bardstown Road (the main drag through the Highlands) that's now a hair salon, still trying to dig up the backstory on them.

Can't tell it from the photo, but this place is a bakery that's a bit of a local legend. Or at least their cookies, brownies, and blondies are. Never actually set foot inside but half the coffee shops and convenience stores in town sell'em, and once you try them you ain't likely to settle for much else.

Coffee has done wore off and sleep is calling but I can't walk past the glowing cups of caffeinated goodness without at least snapping a shot or two. Now who has some tips and tricks for 'sense of place' photography?