Artist on Asphalt

I photographed Patrick Powell, Jarvis Ingram and Edward Scott Wednesday morning painting turn lanes on Georgia Highway 49 between Byron and Fort Valley. Guys painting roads always make good art. These guys were no exception.

I first found them at the top of a hill near Old Powersville Road. I got out knowing I wanted the top photo, them on the crest of the hill, shot with the 300mm. I wanted the compression effect of the long lens, the backlight to show the heat and steam from the machine. I had planned on coming away with one photo.




They were about finished at this location, so I followed them to their next stop closer to Byron. I had planned on waiting for them to get the striping machine running again before I started shooting but when I realized they were doing the design pretty much freehand, without using stencils, I decided to do a photo package.




I shot the rest of these while they worked. i really liked my first imae, but it didn't fit with the rest of the story. I tried a telephoto shot here , but it didn't fit into my story telling as good as the wide angle shot that showed the pattern forming.

I really liked the first image, but felt like my choice was go with it alone, or use the others as a photo story. The second image was so strong that the photo story won.