Ricky Davis 11/11/25 Ricky Davis 11/11/25

Happy Veterans Day - A Small Town in Georgia Honors it's Vets - Ringgold, GA

Catoosa County Courthouse decorated for Veterans Day - Photographed on Kodak Tri X Film by Ricky Davis of TRD Photography

Scenes from the South - Veterans Day Edition from Ringgold, GA.

Several years ago my wife and I happened to be driving through Ringgold, Georgia one Friday afternoon. The roads were lined with white crosses and American flags. At first I didn’t realize that Veterans Day was coming up. As we drove further through downtown Ringgold, more and more flags decorated the streets, each cross with a name. The county courthouse lawn absolutely covered in flags and crosses.

The next morning I came back with my camera to try and photograph them. The lighting was horrid. Harsh sunlight and not a cloud in the sky. For my style of photography, it just didn’t work. I’ve tried the past several years with my digital camera and each time I’ve been unhappy with the lighting and colors. This year though, I lucked out knowing that Saturday morning was going to be super foggy. I left before sunrise (I live an hour away) and I took my film camera to photograph on black and white film instead of in color.

Ringgold is a beautiful little small town in North Georgia and I love seeing the honoring of our veterans in this way. If you have the opportunity to check it out, I highly recommend it. In this time in our country’s history, it’s important to remember the men and women who have served to help preserve democracy and our freedoms.

Ringgold, Georgia decorated for Veterans Day - Photographed on Kodak Tri X Film by Ricky Davis of TRD Photography

Ricky Davis 11/10/25 Ricky Davis 11/10/25

Scenes from the South - James County Antique Police Car (Outside of The Whistlestop)

James County Police Car outside of Whistlestop in Ooltewah, TN - Photographed on Kodak Tri X Film by Ricky Davis of TRD Photography

Scenes from the South - 11/10/25

This past Friday night we had some storms come in through the middle of the night and I had seen that it was supposed to be extremely foggy on Saturday morning. I had a set destination that I wanted to photograph in the fog, so I got my camera bag and headed out before daylight because I knew in the past few years when I’d tried to capture it early morning, the lighting has been rough. More on that in the post tomorrow though.

On my way back from photographing that though, I was driving through Ooltewah, TN. I’d been eyeballing this old police car with the James County lettering on it for years. I’ve always pictured photographing it on a foggy morning as it’s outside The Whistlestop there in Ooltewah. When I got back to Ooltewah from my first destination, there was still a good bit of fog around. So I drove over on Main St and snapped a few photos. I got several shots that I really like, but this one is one of my favorites. So I just wanted to share this one with you guys today.

Ricky Davis 11/9/25 Ricky Davis 11/9/25

A Glance at Historic Rickwood Field in Birmingham

Historic Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama. Photographed by Ricky Davis of TRD Photography

A Glance at Historic Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama…

I wanted to take a moment and offer a glance at a recent visit that I took to Rickwood Field, which happens to be the oldest standing ballpark in America. It’s located in Birmingham, Alabama and was built in 1910. It has been utilized as a field for the minor leagues, the negro leagues, and last year even Major League Baseball used it for the East-West Classic between the San Francisco Giants and the St. Lous Cardinals. Over 200 baseball Hall of Famers have played games at Rickwood Field.

Now I’m only offering a glance in this blog because the day I went the field was closed for tours. It wasn’t my primary destination but since it was so close, I had to stop by and take a few photos from outside the stadium. I look forward to making a trip down so I can see the historic park inside as well. I cannot wait to take that trip! I love baseball history so much and cannot wait to get to actually be in a park where Satchel Paige, Cool Papa Bell, Willie Mays, and so many others have stepped foot on the field.

For now, here are a few photos that I took that day.

Ricky Davis 9/9/25 Ricky Davis 9/9/25

Mickey's Dining Car - St Paul - Documenting America with TRD Photography

Mickeys Dining Car - St Paul, Minnesota - Kodak Tri X Film - Documenting America with TRD Photography

About a month or so ago now, I visited Minnesota for a long weekend. My wife was on a work trip, and as I’ve mentioned before, she is a huge Peanuts fan. (Peanuts being the comic strip by Charles Schulz) Charles Schulz grew up in the St Paul, Minnesota area before moving to California, so St Paul and Minneapolis have a ton of Peanuts Statues all over.

Long story short, as I was driving her around looking for the statues we came across Mickey’s Dining Car. I wasn’t out looking much for places for me to photograph because I was focusing on my wife’s love of Peanuts that weekend, but we couldn’t pass up checking Mickey’s out. We had already eaten lunch, but we had to go in and we were not disappointed!

The atmosphere here was just amazing. It was like stepping back in time. I grew up loving the 50’s and 60’s music and aesthetic, and this was just making me happy. We sat down in a corner booth and were looking over the menu. We were still stuffed from lunch, but we grabbed a milkshake and fries. The service was terrific! As we were waiting on our food, I looked around and started taking a few photos.

After getting back and looking up some info on Mickey’s Dining Car, I discovered it was actually used in the first and third Mighty Ducks Movie. I knew they were based in the St Paul/Minneapolis area, but I just thought that was awesome as The Mighty Ducks movies were childhood favorites of mine! It also was featured in Jingle All the Way.

If you’re ever in the area, I highly encourage you to stop and check it out. We are sadly losing more and more of these types of establishments and they need all the support we can give.

Ricky

Ricky Davis 9/7/25 Ricky Davis 9/7/25

Cades Cove Missionary Baptist Church - Documenting America with TRD Photography

Cades Cove Missionary Baptist Church - Great Smoky Mountains National Park - Kodak Tri X Film - Documenting America with TRD Photography

I grew up visiting Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains in the 1980’s and 1990’s. I have so many fond memories of camping in the campground and then either biking the cove or riding in the back of my dad’s small Nissan pickup. Of course as a kid you were excited about the deer, and ever hopeful of seeing a bear, but I also loved seeing the old cabins and churches along the loop trail.

I always love the Missionary Baptist Church, I honestly don’t remember why I was drawn to it. I think that back then it may have been that it was the third one on the loop road and may not have been as busy as the first two! Whatever it was I still love it to this day.

Recently I made a trip to the Cove to photograph with some film. I don’t go into Cades Cove hardly anymore because it’s so busy. I honestly prefer to explore areas that are less crowded and popular, but I really wanted to photograph some of the churches on film. It wasn’t as busy as usual, but by the time I hit the midway section of the loop, traffic was backed up to the exit. I didn’t stop at anymore spots because I had another appointment to get to.

If you don’t care about traffic or time, it’s definitely a nice drive, but in the Smokies there are some places that you may find a little less crowded like the Historic Nature Motor Trail in Gatlinburg, TN.