Month: May 2023

Indiana, Fall 2022, Part 3 – Rustic Farm Barn and Sheds

Monochrome Barn

Traveling an Indiana backroad I saw a group of old, rustic farm structures in various stages of structural failure.  The roadway was narrow.  Parking alongside the roadway and photographing from the roadway would not be satisfactory nor very safe.  There was only one house nearby, so I stopped and knocked on the door.  A lady with her hair in curlers opened the door and I briefly explained why I was there, asking if it would be ok for me to photography those old structures.  She quickly said she was sure it would be ok, although, I’m rather sure she was not the owner, but maybe others have asked her this same question.

There was a short grassy, dirt road at the old buildings.  I parked on that dirt road, just off of the pavement far enough for safety and proceeded to walk around the area photographing the buildings from various angles.

Stacked
Gathering Grass – Monochrome with Selective Colorization

A rolling stone may gather no moss, but a stationary wheel can gather grass.

Relaxed
Indiana Farm Sheds
Fall Lounge
Support
3160

I lived in a house with this same number many years ago.

Wet, Rusty, Tin Roof
Full Tilt Fall
Log Barn
Colorful Fall Hillside

After photographing the rustic farm building, I continued to meander around the backroads looking for other fall photographic opportunities.  This final photo is a teaser for the next post.

Ken

Indiana, Fall 2022, Part 2

Outcrop Fall

In Brown County State Park I walked along a creek capturing fall color alongside the creek bed.

Outcrop Fall 2

Having an interest in geology, I had to include some of the rock layers exposed along the creek bed.

Fall Creek
Rocky Fall Creek

There were only a few shallow puddles of water in the creek, so walking in and along the creek bed did not require getting my feet wet.

Fall Hillside
Brown County State Park, Fall 2022
Fall Falling
Creek Walk
Fall Creek
Peeling
Reaching Out
Reaching Out 2
Enticing Autumn

More fall in Indiana later,

Ken

 

Indiana, Fall 2022, Part 1

My wife and I began a tradition of spending a couple of weeks in Indiana in the fall a few years ago.  There are multiple reasons why we established this tradition.  1.  My wife has relatives in the area, having lived in Indianapolis during her early childhood.  2. A relative allows us to stay in their weekend cabin that is very near Brown County State Park, which is a very popular place in the fall.  3.  We both enjoy seeing fall color in the hardwood forests in this part of the U.S.  4.  I get to photograph the fall color and write about it in this blog.

Timing our visit to see the best of the fall color is always hit or miss.  Sometimes we are too early, sometimes too late and sometimes we see the peak fall color.

Photographing in the same location at the same time of the year is a challenge and I often worry about my photographic images being too repetitive.   After all, how many ways can one photograph trees, forests, barns and fall scenes?  Lots, actually, but how many are unique? Trying to get unique and interesting images is a challenge.  I can only hope that the scenery varies sufficiently, year by year that my images will not be too boring.

Fall Backroad

Driving the backroads of Indiana is a good way to appreciate the fall color and other rural fall country scenes.

Fall Medley
Indiana Barn

The barn in this image sits far back from a roadway on private property.  I shot it with a telephoto lens from the edge of the roadway, hand holding the camera.  I shot from different perspectives trying to get shots with the least amount of that pile of debris in front of it in the image.  However, this image may be the best overall, even with that unsightly mess in front of the barn.

Fall Progression
Bramble Morning

I was a little late for the actual sunrise at this location in Brown County Park, so I walked down a slope into the briars, weeds, grasses and brushy growth, thinking a shot from within all that foreground clutter might at least be different than that of the early photographers that were wrapping up their sunrise shoot from the top of the slope and there was no way to avoid getting that messy foreground in a shot from anywhere here.

I had to spend a considerable amount of time picking the stick tights from my clothing after this mornings’ shoot.

Crooked Tree Fall
Puddle Fall
Exposed
Up a Fall Creek
Fall Tease

Until next time,

Ken

Road Trips 2022, Miscellaneous Photos

This post is a catch all for a number of photos taken during a couple of road trips in 2022.

Ice Cream, Drugs and Beads

One might need to look closely to see the string of green Mardi Gras beads in this tree in old downtown Ocean Springs, Mississippi.

Coca-Cola Fade
Sky and Tree
Wired
Sky Flow 2

Standing on a Mississippi Gulf Coast beach, I observed clouds creating abstract forms.

Sky Flow
Empty – Waiting for Summer
Pi-Birds
Curious Praying Mantis
Cypress Trio

These cypress trees in Lake Chicot, Arkansas show how much the water level is below normal due to drought in the U.S. mid-continent area.  Lake Chicot is a horseshoe lake formed by an abandoned channel of the nearby Mississippi River, which was at an historic low level, at the time this image was made.

Early Fishermen

The link in the photo above, actually takes one to another, slightly different composition, than this one.

Lone Cypress

Until next time,

Ken

 

Road Trip Photography Between Destinations – Part 5, September 2022 – House of Eight Gables

This is a continuation of September 2022 road trip photography.

House of Eight Gables 1

This old, abandoned block facade house, sitting in a wide open area along a gravel roadway was visible for some distance from the highway I was traveling on in Kansas.  It is impressive enough to justify a detour to check it out.

Through A Window
Interlocked
House of Eight Gables 2
Corner Collapse
House of Eight Gables 3
Stairwell

Until the next adventure,

Ken

Road Trip Photography Between Destinations – September 2022, Part 4 – Rural Abandonment

This is a continuation of road trip photography of September, 2022.

No More Loads
Pastured
Abandoned Farm House, Kansas
Roofless
Window Sitting
In the Hay

To be continued,

Ken

Road Trip Photography Between Destinations – September 2022, Part 3 – Abandoned Farm Homes

This is a continuation of road trip photography of September 2022.

Prairie Home, Nebraska High Plains
The Gate
Homeward Lean
Still Spins

After shooting and driving away from this abandoned Nebraska home, I realized that I should have used a slow shutter speed to capture the motion of the windmill.  The windmill still spins, but the pump is disconnected.

Old Prairie Home
Stormy Horizon
Duplex Model 55

This is apparently a popular pump gear box that is or was used with windmills.  In researching this item, I found online listing for parts for this model gear box.

Listing Porch Roof
No Panes
Distraught Tree

The evergreen tree on the left seems to be distraught about the dilapidated condition of this abandoned farm house.  Maybe children once played around that tree.  This image was chosen for Flickr’s Explore Page.

Hanging On

Even more road trip images in the next post,

Ken

Road Trip Photography, September 2022, Part 2 – Historical Bryan Bridge, Niobrara River, Nebraska

Homeward bound from the Badlands National Park of South Dakota and traveling through Nebraska, I needed a place to pull over for lunch.  Seeing a sign indicating a historical bridge loop, I was too slow to react to take the first exit to that loop, but I was able to take the second exit.

I pulled over just before a bridge at a small parking lot with this historical marker.

Bryan Bridge Historical Marker

I made a sandwich, taking it with me as I walked onto the bridge.  Soon another person joined me on the bridge.  He informed me that the Niobrara River had no fish in it.  I found that quite surprising, as it looked like a nice, but shallow river.  His theory as to why there are no fish in this river is because the river water gets too hot for fish, since it is shallow and completely open to sunlight all day.  My research indicates that there are fish in this river.  However, I did not see any fish in the clear, shallow water at this location.  So maybe the range of the fish is limited in the Niobrara River.

Niobrara River and Valley

The river at this location, at this time, was quite shallow and one could easily walk across it.

Bryan Bridge over the Niobrara River

This bridge has been bypassed by a newer bridge nearby, but the Bryan Bridge still seems to be in good condition and is open to traffic.

Niobrara River

The water level was too low, at this time, to float that downed tree in the middle of the river; although, the fact that the fallen tree is in the middle of the river, indicates that the river level was higher and flowing rapidly to deposit the tree there.

Algae Island
Niobrara River and Newer Bridges

The newer highway and railroad bridges are just downriver from the old Bryan Bridge.

Square Blocks with Holes

In the river near the bridge are square blocks with round holes in their centers.  Were these an original part of the bridge structure or were these dumped here for another reason?

Maybe there is a reader that can answer this question.

More later,

Ken

 

 

 

Road Trip Photography Between Destinations – September 2022, Part 1

When traveling from one destination to another, I always keep an eye out for interesting subjects to photograph.  Taking time to stop and photograph in route helps to break up a trip and it is good to take breaks from sitting in a vehicle for hours at a time.  So if I can afford the time, I will stop as often as necessary to capture images along my route.

Fading Away

There are many abandoned homes throughout rural areas.  Often these can be photographed from a public roadway.  These abandoned places are always on private property and nearly always posted with “No Trespassing” signs.  Please respect others’ property and obey these postings or get permission for access.

Peeling – An abandoned rural church.
Abandoned Church
Bird House
Obsolete
Abandoned Farm or Ranch Home
Untinned
Abandoned Home and Farm Sheds
Terrestrial Lean

When shooting such scenes during a road trip, one can’t be too choosy about the time of day or the lighting conditions.  It is best to get a shot, when the opportunity arrises, as one may never pass this way again.  Indeed, on this trip and others, I’ve often used the excuse of being in a hurry or worrying too much about  shooting conditions and passed up opportunities.  I nearly always regret those decisions.

More road trip shooting next,

Ken