series of photos from the files, Mar. 24 2023. I was walking home from work down Edenton St. near the Capitol, like I had countless times. I was looking across the street and noticed these letters chalked into posts. a couple years later the city tore up the sidewalk, the posts are gone now.

from the files- a bit of reverse graffiti, "Jazz Pete" done two ways. First is a film scan (Kodak TMY) from 2015, second is revisited in 2023. this is on the railroad bridge trestle over South Street in downtown Raleigh NC near the auditorium.

from the studio this day back in 2018. I had to reshoot this trophy that was originally done on 4x5 chrome back in 90s. the scan CT is the second view. A patron needed it done in the round, so I had to do 3 views of it. the 4x5 is better because you can use both front & back to correct.

selfie from work, this day back in 2024. I was documenting "NC A to Z" exhibit before it closed. we used to do this work at night after hours. this section deal with "Wildlife" and the carnivorous Venus Flytrap here was made by the exhibits shop guys.

noticed this building had been torn down yesterday. this funky view is me w/camera pressed against the front window of the old Marsh Woodwinds shop on Hillsborough. the window seen is actually on the back side of the store. around me is the reflection across the street in glass. #WindowsOnWednesday

looking thru the files last night and realized I took this photo back on March 24th 2018. same day as Berger finally conceded. I think I have another one in the same vein from a year or two earlier.

this will do

From the studio ten years ago today. A simple one light shot. I put a Speedotron 102 head with the 7 inch reflector covered in "spun" slightly behind to show off the veil, then used fill cards and a mirror in the front. My former boss used to say "backlight makes everything look better"

In the trenches, this day back in 2017

Hillsborough Street near the State Capitol, Raleigh NC during the beginning of Covid-19 shutdown, March 20, 2020. DK Thompson Collection/Southern Folklife Collection/UNC-CH

WWI helmet day this day back in 2017. This time it was the Germans, this shiny one was by far the trickiest, had to box it in and use a lot of reflected soft light made with hard lights reflected off white cards or thru the use of "scrims"--diffusers. Hard lights are more versatile than soft imho

“Train Go Fast” graffiti found on #stone & bricks near railroad tracks, Raleigh NC, 2023. #BlueSkyArtShow DK Thompson Collection/Southern Folklife Collection/UNC-CH

Detail of #stone facade, Confederate House of Memory, Oakwood Cemetery, Raleigh NC, 2015. #BlueSkyArtShow Scanned from 120 film. DK Thompson Collection/Southern Folklife Collection/UNC-CH

Shadow of photographer against the granite #stone mural on side of the NC Dept. of Public Instruction, Halifax Mall, Raleigh NC, June 2015. Scanned from print, Ilford FP4, Fuji 645W. #BlueSkyArtShow DK Thompson Collection/Southern Folklife Collection/UNC-CH

#stone Signage above doorway of the Cotton Classing building, Dawson Street, downtown Raleigh NC. Now offices for State Center for Health Statistics (SCHS). Jan. 2015. Scanned from 4x5 b/w negative. #BlueSkyArtShow DK Thompson Collection/Southern Folklife Collection/UNC-CH

this day back in 2017 I was working on the WWI book "NC and the Great War" and started in on helmets. the two with the gas masks went on exhibit with these mounts, so it was a good time to get them photographed. the museum has a very large military collection.

little bit of interesting "this day" memories from work today. Back in 2023 I started in on a request from one of the branch museums to document the cased images in their collection. Daguerreotypes, ambrotypes & tintypes. all three can be a bit tricky and also interesting.

this day back in 2015, the big tire in the studio. took three of us to get in place on the paper, weighing over 250 pounds, this tire was made for the Space Shuttle. Lighting here is pretty simple, big softboxes up close. D3X, 85mm PC Micro-Nikkor, Speedotron strobes. standard stuff.

Storefront window sign of closed business, The Clothes Doctor, downtown Rocky Mount NC, SW Main St. & Sunset, May 5, 2023. #windowsonwednesday DK Thompson Collection/Southern Folklife Collection/UNC-CH

work flashback from March 18 2014

today's social media at work has a Leprechaun outfit from a costume shop I shot back in 2015. this is a good studio 101 example of using a "slant board" which is just that. a board at an angle to line up to camera so you're not overhead. the angle is determined in part by whether object slides off

this day in 2023 with a studio trick my former coworker taught me calling it "cross lighting". Instead of regular copywork, you light only one side (opposite) and flag off the side nearest the light so no shadow is formed from the recessed frame. the tricky part is feathering the light in middle

and so it began on this day back in 2020. museum shut down to the public. even though no word on employees yet, I began preemptively gathering work to take home.

bit of March 15 museum work memories from FB today. first up is an exhibit catalog I worked on. cover shot and most of the details were mine. the guy I worked with did most of the overalls. the other is exhibit signage. I did the object shots, he did the views of the diorama, which was incredible.

#Horizontal bands of shadows & light, found on an upper level of the Greene Square parking deck, downtown Raleigh NC, 2015. Hasselblad 500CM/250mm Sonnar Film scan - DK Thompson Collection/Southern Folklife Collection/UNC-CH #BlueSkyArtShow

#Horizontal messaging on the side of the NC NAACP's bus during a year long protest outside the NC Executive Mansion over the wrongful conviction of Dontae Sharp, Raleigh NC, Dec. 2021. Sharp spent 26 yrs in prison for murder he didn't commit, was pardoned in 2021 by Gov. Roy Cooper. #BlueSkyArtShow

The Harrington street side of the old Tire Supply building at end of Lane Street, Raleigh NC, 2015. The longtime tire service for commercial vehicles and downtown state employees closed up shop to be bought out by a city transit project. #Horizontal #BlueSkyArtShow

A passerby stops to read the #Horizontal signage making up Black Lives Matter “The George Floyds of Raleigh” exhibit on the old Kimbrell’s Furniture building, 210 Fayetteville Street, in downtown Raleigh NC, May 18, 2021. #BlueSkyArtShow

A dobro, like a lap steel or steel guitar, is played in the #Horizontal orientation with steel finger picks and a slide.The Gibson Bros. at IBMA "Wide Open Bluegrass Festival", Raleigh NC, Sept. 27, 2019. DK Thompson Collection/Southern Folklife Collection/UNC-CH #BlueSkyArtShow

A #Horizontal Dexter Romweber lays on stage during a performance with his band the Flat Duo Jets at the Milestone Club, Charlotte NC ca. 1985. Romweber was a long time fixture of the NC music scene since the early 1980s, he passed away in 2024 leaving behind a roots rock legacy. #BlueSkyArtShow

#Horizontal Police tape blocking Hillsborough Street near the intersection with Salisbury, as the Confederate monument is removed from the State Capitol grounds after protesters attempted to pull it down several nights earlier, Raleigh NC, June 22, 2020. #BlueSkyArtShow

Marquee with a #Horizontal message at the start of the Covid-19 shutdown, the Rialto Theater off Glenwood Ave. near Five Points, Raleigh NC, March 2020. #BlueSkyArtShow DK Thompson Collection/Southern Folklife Collection/UNC-CH

A vertical view of a #Horizontal moment when protesters at the "Triangle Climate Strike" in Raleigh NC, 2019, laid their signs out on the ground for an overhead group photo. #BlueSkyArtShow DK Thompson Collection/Southern Folklife Collection/UNC-CHsigns

ha-here's another oldie that popped up on my FB memories today. this was at the Black Mountain music festival in 1987. Back in the Birkenstock days.

here's a neat object I had in studio this day back in 2019. sorry no set snaps for this, but if I remember right I propped the pistol up on a short brass rod I had in one of the holes I had drilled in the table. I have posted about this before. drilling holes and then poking rods thru the paper.

from the memory feed this morning. back when I had hair nearly 40 yrs ago. sitting on top of roof of a house I lived in, that had been broken up into apartments. mine was one room, rent was $150/month. the house was on top of a hill as a result was one of the tallest in town. I was a PJ student.

another old chrome I came across this morning looking for something else. I always liked this Civil War era ambrotype of Ellen Richmond Ramseur, like most cased images it's very hard to reproduce what it looks like in real life. there's just a hint of rose tinting in certain areas.

here's another one of my old chromes from Jan 1998. I had a patron request from the UK, an institution doing an exhibit on pharmaceutical narcotics. I did this set on a Cambo shooting table, a 4x8 plex and got light below as well as above with softbox. they needed a C-print, so an inter-neg was made

another one of mine from 90s. A Fayetteville rifle for you history buffs. this type 55 Polaroid on a light box? aka “candling” a print was how Polaroid was used proofing in studio. viewed under light for the highlight exposure, candled for shadows. The negative used to check fine focus

another outtake. this chrome is about a half stop + overexposed. instead of pitching it I held onto it because we had done a bit of work for the science museum next door, doing photos for a fund raising package for their “new” bldg which if you know what I’m talking about means it was a while ago

looking thru old chromes this morning. this shot is a good example of downside of color reproduction with film. this kayak was green actually but the pigment wouldn’t reproduce on film. we shot it three times with CC filters including once on Kodak EPN and then gave up. BW was used instead.

here's a neat artifact I had in the studio this day back in 2023. I have photographed a ton of textiles on forms for work, and learned over time that with shiny fabrics what works best is to use soft light as the main from front, but with a bit of hard mixed in to give some highlights. sets below

some old school down & dirty speedlite work from this day a decade ago. I had to document construction of an exhibit environment that was too dark with the work lights on. I went down to the studio and just grabbed a few things to make it work. usually we use the work lights for construction doc

fun memory from work, this day ten years ago. we had to photograph one of the portraits over in Senate chamber at the Legislature. many of the paintings in the chambers and some of the halls are actually part of the museum collection. While the guy I worked with was busy, I found this odd device

more big copywork from this day back in 2023. this CSA headquarters flag was large and had been mounted post-conservation. we typically use the auditorium for these, but it was unavailable so I had to set up in a storage room. as a result it took a lot of black fabric & cards to shield the camera

#Flowing lines of the Johnson Street Railroad Mural by Gabriel Eng-Goetz at dusk, Raleigh NC, Feb. 9, 2024. #BlueSkyArtShow

Colorful lights appear to be #Flowing past the NC Executive Mansion on Blount St., Raleigh NC, Dec. 8 2023. The lights are the result of a long exposure with traffic passing the residence which was lit for the holidays. #BlueSkyArtShow

The Haw River #Flowing under the Bynum Bridge, Bynum NC, Oct. 1, 2023. The historic bridge spanning the river between Pittsboro & Chapel Hill, has been closed to vehicular traffic since 1999 but is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and open to pedestrians. #BlueSkyArtShow

Water #Flowing over the dam at Historic Yates Mill pond, Wake County NC just south of Raleigh, 2015. The historic water powered grist mill on site served the local area for nearly 200 years before winding down in mid 1900s. #BlueSkyArtShow scanned from print, TMX100, Hasselblad 500CM 250mm Sonnar

Flashback to this day in 2023 to the smallest furniture photography studio in NC. It might not be well known, but at one time NC had the largest furniture studio in the country in High Point--Alderman's. The Triad region is still the epicenter for catalog studios catering to the Furniture Market