02.02.12
For the past few years I’ve taken a “Photo Trip” on New Years Day. Never really having a plan, I’ve ended up everywhere from Eastern Kentucky to Southern Indiana. I’ve recently run into a problem in that I’ve taken so many one day trips that I’ve “day tripped” to every state and county within 150 miles of Fort Thomas. So this year I decided to skip my normal New Years Day trip and planned a 2 day West Virgina trip. I spent a week or so planning my route and decided on hitting 16 Mail Pouch barns throughout West Virginia. Starting directly east of Cincinnati via route 32, then shooting north to Morgantown, West Virginia the first day, then around Morgantown and southwest towards home the second. The first day was not so successful as I discovered barns were missing and I had bad GPS data for some so I thought my 16 barns in 2 days was just a dream.
The first day ended with a visit with my bluegrass friends Trae and Jamie Lynn Buckner. I met Trae and Jamie Lynn a few years back when they played at Poppy Mountain Bluegrass Festival and have become a big fan of their band “The Hillbilly Gypsies” ever since. If you like traditional “ol’ tymie” bluegrass you should check them out!
Day two of my trip took me searching north of Morgantown. Day two also taught me that West Virginia in not so friendly to iPhones. After locating and shooting a couple of barns I was headed to my third “subject” of the day when I totally lost my signal and ended up in Pennsylvania. Once I had a decent signal I was 20 miles into Pennsylvania and decided to Google my way to some Pennsylvania barns. I soon discovered that southern Pennsylvania is full of Mail Pouch barns so I decided to forgo my planned route. Deciding to discover Pennsylvania was a good choice because the barns I shot there took me over my original 16. I ended up shooting a total of 21 Mail Pouch barns in 2 days!
I’m aware that most of you reading this story are not as into Mail Pouch barns as I am, and typically a road trip like this one would include some other nice countryside shots. But this trip was all about getting as many Mail Pouches as I could, so for those people I say “Get over it”, I’m sick that way! And as I tell Betsy, “It could be worse, I could have a lot worse hobbies”.
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12.05.11
Thanks to everyone that stopped by and visited during our first BluegrassPhotography.Net open house this past weekend.
Betsy and I decided to have the show at our house just a week before hand. So to say our house was pretty crazy last week would be an understatement. But after lots of help from friends and family, we pulled it all together.
I do have to specifically thank Betsy for helping me turn our house into a gallery in a week and all the food, Tom and Caroline for keeping Betsy and I in check and my Mom for helping out with the Christmas decorating. The weekend wouldn’t have been the same without their help.
In case you weren’t able to make it, you can still order photos as Christmas gifts. Take a look at my galleries and feel free to drop me an email if you see something you’d like to order.
Again, thanks to all for your continued support and encouragement!
Chris
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09.24.11
Fall is the bluegrass time of year for me. I just got back from Poppy Mountain Bluegrass Festival, and shortly before that I was at Mandolin Farm Bluegrass Festival.
Since I’ve been around so many of my bluegrass fans recently I thought I’d post a link to a bunch of past galleries from festivals and shows I’ve shot. I have been asked if I have a place where you can go to see photos from “just bluegrass shows”. I’m not sure if that means they don’t care for my other photography, or they just love bluegrass, but I’m happy to oblige.
The link below is to a gallery of quite a few shows. I’ll be digging out from my archives and adding to it until everything I’ve ever shot is uploaded. Stop back often and check up on where I am in the process. I’ll be adding shows from 1998 up until just tonight’s show at the Richwood Opry.
Be sure to pass this along to any of your friends, family or festival owners.
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09.07.11
Mandolin Farm Bluegrass Festival is back! Despite missing last year due to personal reasons, and this year’s 100º Labor Day weekend weather, owner and promoter Willie Jarrells pulled off another great weekend of bluegrass entertainment.
Although Mandolin Farm is a fairly young festival, it has become one of the favorites of festival goers looking for great bluegrass music in a family friendly setting. From the moment you pull up to the main gate at Mandolin Farm you know you’re among family. After all, who, other than family, would actually help you set up your camper? Or for that matter set it up all the way for you, as you sit and watch? And the staff doesn’t disappear after they set you up. Help is always within a few minutes away at “The Farm”, from Willie’s dad helping out with electric to his uncle taking deposits for your site next year.
Beyond a first-class staff, you’ll also find top-notch bluegrass music at Mandolin Farm. Rhonda Vincent, IIIrd Tyme Out, Mountain Heart, Ralph Stanley, Marty Raybon and Dailey & Vincent are among the many great acts that have entertained crowds at Mandolin Farm. And in case you’ve not had enough bluegrass after the music stops on stage, you can always catch one of the many jams throughout the campsites. This year one of the favorites were the Weary Jammers. As host band, the Jammers entertained the crowd on stage for two shows on both Friday and Sunday as well as playing late into the night off stage.
If you’re looking for a great festival with the best of facilities, great music and a staff that make you feel like family, then you should put Mandolin Farm on your list of “must attend” events.
Check out the entire gallery here. Enjoy!
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08.30.11
I shot my boy’s soccer games for close to 10 years collecting an image library of thousands upon thousands of shots. After shooting all those soccer games one would think I’ve had my share of soccer but when a friend of mine asked me to shoot the Highlands varsity girls I jumped right on it. Of course I didn’t realize it was an 8:00 pm game! Nothing like testing the old skills under the lights. Shooting at night really boosts my respect for pro sports shooters. For those of you with any understanding of photography, I was shooting a good part of the second half at ISO 2500. Thanks to Canon’s CMOS sensor on my 5D Mark II there wasn’t a huge grain (noise) issue. Though it’s not the fastest Canon for sports, the full-frame helps with tighter crops. So much for the photography mumbo-jumbo. I try to keep my blog on the lighter side, without a bunch of technical junk, so sorry for getting off topic!
I hope to get to some additional games this season, so if you or someone you know has any interest in me shooting for “your” team, drop me an email and if I have the time available I’d love to shoot some more games.
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08.09.11
I recently visited The Fort Thomas Military and Community Museum and decided it would be a great place to shoot some 360º panoramic photographs. The image above is a shot of the Military History Room. Click on the link below to be taken “into” the room through an interactive 360º tour of Fort Thomas’ rich military history. Be aware this is a large file, but worth the wait. Also, be sure to click on the “full screen” icon once the page loads to get the whole experience.
I will be returning to the museum soon to shoot a couple of rooms from the recently opened Beverly Hills Supper Club display.
If you’re from Northern Kentucky or Southern Ohio and remember the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire, I’m sure you’ll enjoy the new exhibit prepared by students of Northern Kentucky University.
City of Fort Thomas Museum
940 Cochran
Fort Thomas, KY 41075-2314
(859) 815-8481
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08.05.11
Shots of Great American Ballpark during the Paul McCartney show.
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07.24.11
NASCAR fans in Kentucky have been waiting for NASCAR since the Kentucky Speedway opened. With the inaugural running of the Quaker State 400 their dreams finally came true.
I did not have a ticket to the race but thought I’d go down for the day and just hang out and shoot the pre-race festivities. If you’ve ever been to a NASCAR race, which I hadn’t, you’d know about the craziness before the races. Think NFL game tailgating times 100.
Typical of my bluegrass festival photos, I wanted to capture the event so that after you’ve seen the photos you feel like you were actually there. That’s very difficult to do, but I sure had a great time trying. I did end up going to the race, although these photos are not really about the race. They’re about the fans of NASCAR, and the pre-race party.
Thanks to all the great fans that let me capture their moment. Again, like the bluegrass festival crowd, the fans were friendly, down to earth and love anyone with a camera!
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