My first gig of the year had me heading out on a mini road trip to Manchester, TN (yes, land of Bonnaroo). After finally finding the giant field that the construction site was in, I was greeted with a hard hat and bright yellow vest and a tour of the site.

I was tasked with documenting the progress of this new TCAT facility, a college of applied sciences. I do think that these types of schools are such a great option for people that know exactly what they want to get a degree in. Hands on training in the field of the student’s choice. So good.

So, I wondered from classroom to classroom getting it documented. And when I say classroom, they are like factory sized rooms for learning things like welding, nursing, cosmetology, and others. The company that hired me is called “Batten Shaw” and I did get a little laugh out of the trash cans being spray painted to say “BS”.

I photographed the whole building and then the outside, wrapped with goodbye greetings with the crew and was on my way. I felt like I wanted to do a hang in a Manchester coffee shop to get some work done instead of rushing back to Nashville. I mean, I was in Coffee county. Sorry. Cheesy. I found the coziest little place called Golden Hour Coffee in the square in Manchester. It was perfect, and a plopped on the couch and got to work.

I sat on that couch, in a coffee shop that did feel a bit like it was out of a early 2000’s sitcom, and thought how much the start of a new year of business feels like the start of a new season in a TV series. So, I Instagram declared that day the start of Season 15 of House on a Hill Photography, Episode 1: Hard Hats + A Mini Roadtrip.