Archive for the ‘Barns, Barnyards & County Living’ Category

I was in Columbus, Ohio this past week on a 2-day photo shoot with my boss. We were shooting his father’s collection of antique pharmacy products (gallery coming soon). Since we were going to be there for 2 days I of course looked into any Mail Pouch barns in the area. There are quite a few barns around the Columbus area but since I wasn’t driving and had to talk him into a diversion from our original mission, I had to find the closest barn to his parents house in Galena on the Hoover Reservoir. I located a barn a mere 16 miles away! Which to me, who will drive 150 miles to shoot a new barn, seemed reasonable.

After a peaceful night stay in the beautiful farmhouse he grew up in, and his father keeping us up late with “old timer” stories (meant to be respectfull not sarcastic) we were headed to breakfast then off to shooting more. I think Pete’s dad was rather confused as to why he had to wait for his breakfast so I could take a picture of some old barn, but he was a good sport about it. The drive from the farmhouse to the barn reminded me of my days in Minot, North Dakota. Cold, windy, flat lands with snow blowing across the roads. It was actually a beautiful drive and if I was alone I would have stopped quite a few times to shoot some barns and a couple of little churches spotted along the way. But we were on a mission, find one particular barn, then get Mr. White to breakfast! Thanks to Google maps and our iPhones with GPS we found the barn with no problems and they dropped me off to get some shots while they turned around. Wow, it was cold! But I was very thankful we made the trip because it turned out this barn was very nice, and I always love to shoot the red Mail Pouch barns.

On our return trip Pete and his dad messed with me being so into taking pictures of barns. I know in reality Pete understood, but I’m not sure his dad really did. As a matter of fact the rest of the day while we were at his pharmacy shooting he would mention to people, “You wouldn’t believe it, this morning we drove way out in the country, just so this guy could take a picture of a barn”. I enjoyed knowing that maybe from now on I will be part of one of Mr. White’s “old timer” stories!

I know this is a rather long story just to end up with more pictures of a Mail Pouch barn, but I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed sharing it. I will be posting some of our photo shoot at White’s Pharmacy soon, of course with more “Mr. White” stories!

Here’s the rest of the barn shots. Enjoy!

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I was on my way home after a very long day of shooting through east Kentucky not quite knowing how I was going to get home when I “stumbled across” Grayson, Kentucky. Which is the eastern end of the AA Highway, a straight shot home. Right as I pulled on the AA Highway I ran across this Mail Pouch barn. It’s always nice to be surprised by one of these, afterall I had spent my day driving 4 hours to shoot one further south (which I did), so this one a welcome added bonus for the day. The lighting was very bad. Almost dusk, just all around bad light but I wouldn’t walk away without shooting it. I will go back at some point and re-shoot this one.

Here’s the gallery with the rest. Enjoy!

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The Old National Highway runs 3,157 miles from Atlantic City to San Francisco. Last August I drove a small section of the historic road from Wheeling, West Virginia to Columbus, Ohio. Prior to my trip I researched Mail Pouch Barns along the highway and decided my trip would include some GPS guided photo shoots. This is a collection of 6 barns along the way. These barns are either on Route 40 or just off the main highway. There are quite a few more than I shot, but my son and I were on our way home from a 3 state, 7 skateparks weekend trip and we were ready to get home.

I have decided that if I ever have more money than I know what to do with I would buy this building and have the sign on the brick wall cut out and moved to my house. I’m not sure what I would do with it, maybe install it in my basement. After all I have more money than I know what to do with, so my basement has 12′ ceilings. Of course I’d have to talk my wife into it, and the chances of that are the same as me having more money than I know what to do with!

Here’s the entire Old National Highway gallery. Enjoy!

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For the past few years I’ve gotten up on New Years Day and gone out for an all day photo trip. This year I missed New Years Day by a couple of days. This gallery is from my first photo trip of 2010, January 3. My goal was to shoot a Mail Pouch barn in Adams County, Ohio. I did end up shooting that particular barn (Adams County barn), along with 3 others, a couple of Churches and some other barns. The last Mail Pouch Barn in the gallery is the only Mail Pouch Barn in the country with all four sides painted with Mail Pouch advertising. There are a few close-up shots of Harley Warrick’s signature.

Here’s my first road trip of 2010 gallery. Enjoy!

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Betsy and I took a ride a few days after Christmas just to get away after all the holiday craziness. Well, for me it was to find this barn. I’m assuming she came along for the ride just to get away?

This is on Route 128 just outside of Miamitown, Ohio. I hate finding a barn with a bunch of “modern” stuff around it, which this one did. The light was also messing with me so I just shot a few. I have at least one shot showing each of the 3 sides. This particular shot was with the sun right behind the barn so I didn’t expect much. With some work, I think it turned out fine.

See the other sides here. Enjoy!

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I never travel more than 50 miles away from home without searching the web for Mail Pouch opportunities near where I’m traveling. Irecently traveled to Prestonsburg, KY for work and discovered I would be passing near these 2 barns.

I located the first just outside of town on Route 114 (Old Middle Creek Rd.). My normal method for shooting on private property is to shoot as though I’m supposed to be there. If I can see for sure someone is home, and I don’t fear being shot at, I’ll ask. If it appears no one is around I just go for it and pray there’s no “killer” dogs around. As soon as I got out of the car a dog ran up to me barking, which sent me running back to the car. Just as I got my hand on the door a lady yelled to me, “he won’t bite!”. I wonder how many people have heard that right before getting bit? I’m a trusting sole so I stopped running and the dog was indeed fine. Although he did bark the entire time I was shooting, he was fine with me being there. After I introduced myself and asked if I could shoot the barn she said that would be fine and that it has been shot many times in the past and is “on that computer Internet thingy”.

The second barn was less than a mile away on the same road. I almost drove right past it because it’s hidden behind some trees. This made it difficult to shoot an overall shot. I did get some overall shots, but nothing I was happy with. I love the red versions of the barns so I shot some detail shots and 12 image panoramic (shown above).

Click here to see the entire gallery. Enjoy!

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Every year on New Years Day I take a road trip to shoot photos. Usually I just get in the car and go wherever I end up. This year I missed New Years Day due to “not feeling well”. At least that’s what we’ll call it.

This year instead of just heading out I decided to go find myself some new Mail Pouch Barns to add to my collection of images. I specifically decided to find some of the rare red versions. Here are a few shots from the trip. Stop back soon to see an entire gallery of shots from the day.

Fayette County, Ohio. Rt 41 north of Rt 28 (Greenfield) by 5.7 miles. Map

Fayette County, Ohio. Rt 41 north of Rt 28 (Greenfield) by 5.7 miles. Map

Adams County, Ohio. On Rt 136 north of Rt 125 by 1.2 miles. Map

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Well it’s been quite a while since I’ve posted anything new so I thought I’d post an image I shot today. I was running out to the feed store in the county to get my ice melt for the year and ran across this home made flag on an old barn in Campbell County.

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