I stole the idea for the “Things I Promised Not to Tell” series from a political podcaster but no posts in this series will be about politics. Instead it will feature vignettes from my photographic and personal, life. Today, it’s all about how Mary and I are celebrating another year in our current home along with some updates on stuff I;m working on.
Today’s Post by Joe Farace
Home is the nicest word there is. — Laura Ingalls Wilder
With today’s post, I’m veering away from the normal assortment of photography tips, tools and techniques that usually populate this space to get a little personal beginning with answering a common question I get from reader email…
Where is Daisy Hill?
Other than how to pronounce my name and where do I find my models, people sometimes ask, “where is Daisy Hill?” Fifteen years ago today, Mary and I moved here from a semi-rural community north of Denver and was about 50 miles from Daisy Hill traveling via a toll road. The community where Mary and I live is located about 30 miles south of Denver and according to a recent census has a population of 11,311 souls, that’s up from 10,517 in the 2010 census. My Daisy Hill home is situated on a tiny, lightly wooded lot that’s located within that ten-square mile community, which includes a lake where I often make photographs. Our home sits midway up a small hill that I named Daisy Hill as a homage to the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm where Snoopy and his siblings lived before they were adopted by their new owners. Trivia: The Daisy Hill reference first appeared in a Peanuts strip on May 4, 1965.
The above self portrait of us (above) standing in our living room was made on this same date fifteen years ago just after settlement and we got the keys to our new home. The three tone Mondrian-style paint scheme surrounding the fireplace behind us was one of the first things to go and was replaced with the softer tan color that covers the walls in the rest of the room.
Home Office and Studio
One of the many things the new house afforded me was a nicer but not necessarily larger home office that has glass-paned French doors. The room also has two large windows. There’s a glass-paned exterior door that opens onto a small covered porch that lets me see the outside world and where I can catch a glimpse of the Rocky Mountains in the distance along with the near tame mule deer that stroll by our home on their way to feasting on our grass, bushes and plants.
Instead of shooting in an unfinished basement next to a furnace and my train layout as I did in my former house, I currently have a dedicated 11×15 studio space that’s located in a finished basement ,although it’s not far from my current LEGO-based train layout. Around the corner from the studio is a work room that was originally conceived to be an image, book and magazine archive as well as a place to make fine art prints. The large format printer I purchased after moving in ended up being more trouble than it was worth and I sold it after a few years. The room is slowly being repurposed to become a more image archive and film-related set up with a small light table and I have plans to add a film scanner to digitize some of my library of film images. All of the publications in the 40-year archive containing all my published magazine articles has been recycled to make space for my collection of Lionel train catalogs, including one autographed by Neil Young, LEGO books and instructions and my LEGO Batmobile collection. I did however save the last print edition of Shutterbug, which has one of my columns featured.
Many people have asked about my train layout that was often featured in my reviews and articles in the former print edition of Shutterbug, so here’s an update: My previous layout measured 8 x16-feet and I was without any kind of layout in the new house until 2016. Because of my newfound interest in LEGO, this new layout originally featured both Lionel and LEGO trains but not anymore; it’s all LEGO now. I created a short video called “Welcome to Brickhampton” you can watch on my YouTube channel. Since the video was made, the layout has grown slightly and has changed in content. I promise to post an updated video real soon now.
If you think I’m happy living here on Daisy Hill that is an understatement, I am deliriously happy here.
If you enjoyed today’s blog post and would like to buy me to a cup of Earl Grey tea ($2.50,) please click here. And if you do, thanks so much.