Cannon Village - Kannapolis, NC

I grew up in Kannapolis, NC and most of my family worked at Cannon Mills until it closed in the early 2000's. A staple for this mill town was the lovely Cannon Village, but as a kid, I didn't know how to appreciate the area. Recently, I decided to go back and see what I had been missing for all of those years -- apparently it was an amazing photography venue.

Cannon Village is a wonderful, colonial style village of shopping, history, and eating. Not to mention the staple of the entire area the Gem Theatre built in 1936. To me, it just screams Americana. Throughout its 75 years, the theatre has seen poodle skirts, bell bottoms, 12 cent movies, and anything else that makes you nostalgic for any of the decades. Keep each decades fashion, feeling, and attitude in mind when in Cannon Village because you can use those to your advantage outside of the Gem Theatre.

Gem Theatre

Box Office

Cannon Village has a lot of nooks and crannies that can be taken advantage of for photos. For example, beside of the Gem Theatre you have an alleyway with white walls and a rusted staircase. I utilized this area for a more masculine photo for a Mother's Day shoot, but I can easily envision a more high, fashion feel female shoot here too.

Alleyway

Up shot from the stairs

Rusted stairs

White wall

Throughout, the center of Cannon Village there is nothing but bricks, stores, and ornate design. Take advantage of the storefronts and the lamp posts to add a vintage look to your photos.

Storefront

Other side of the storefront

Building entrance

The features of Cannon Village include all types of greenery and sitting areas for you to enjoy the outdoors and the small town, upscale feel that this place affectionately known as "Idiot Circle" by car lovers who would cruise the circular drive around the shopping center. Again, take advantage of the little things that this place has to offer.

Picnic area and these are located throughout the village

Greenery growing up the sides of the walls at Forty Six

On the other side of Cannon Village, within the last decade a park area with a statue of racing legend, Dale Earnhardt. You can utilize the statue, the brickyard surrounding it, or even the Music Hall of Fame beside of it for your photos.

Park around the statue

Dale Earnhardt statue

Overall, I am in love with Cannon Village and all that it has to offer photographers. You just have to appreciate the vintage look enough to make it modern if that's not your or your client's style. Don't just stick to the areas that I have listed here. Walk around and look between every building and get different vantage points for your shots. You never know what kind of amazing photographs that will definitely make your client happy.

Cannon Village
200 West Avenue
Kannapolis, NC 28081

Combat Camera Shake

My biggest limitation in photography is camera shake. The unsteady hand or the uneven press of the shutter-release button can cause some unwanted blurryness in your photographs. I hate having to deal with great photographs that are ruined because of a little motion blur.

This photo of the Dale Earnhardt statue in Kannapolis, NC at a glance may not look blurred, but take a closer look at the eyes. The focus should be here but instead there is a faint blur. I expected this to happen because in order to get this photo I had to stand on my tip toes in front of the statue and take the picture way over my head. A monopod with a shutter button extension would have worked better.

If you're into taking scenic photographs or portraits, then you may want to think about investing in a tripod or a monopod to help with this problem. Depending on your needs, you can invest in a full-size tripod or a mini-tripod.

Tripods are not ideal when you need to move around, so you could think about purchasing a monopod. I use one of these and it works for me. I can carry it around and it's has adjustable height. However, the monopod is not ideal because of the camera being attached to the pole. You are unable to shoot in all directions.

Looking into some camera shake techniques to help my shooting, I came across this Youtube video on a cheap method to help with camera shake, when you don't want to use a tripod/monopod:



I have yet to try this method, but it got some pretty good reviews. I will post and let you guys know when I try it out, but in the mean time, please let me know if you've tried it out and how it worked for you.

Another method to reduce camera shake is to increase your shutter speed. On digital cameras with Tv mode, you can increase the shutter speed and the camera will adjust the aperture to insure correct exposure. Or, if you are using a point-ands-shoot camera that does not offer this mode, then go to scene selection mode and choose your Sports mode. This allows the camera to automatically increase the shutter speed and will often fire a flash. Both of these methods will cause the shutter to close faster and get rid of camera shake.

Camera shake is not the end of the world nor does it doom you to horrible photographs forever. You just need to figure out the best way to combat it for yourself. These tips are helpful starters and basic ways to stop camera shake.