Posts Tagged ‘Old Church’

I never win anything! Except… John Prine tickets in Ashland, Kentucky.

A FaceBook friend turned me on to a radio contest in Morehead, Kentucky to win tickets to the John Prine show in Ashland so I signed up thinking, “Here’s just another way of someone getting my contact information, to be used to fill my spam box for the next 10 years”. But no, I actually won. As I said, I never win anything like this so I was really excited. I mean, John Prine, and I won something.

So the debate started. Who should I take? My wife, who knows not one John Prine song? My son, who loves John Prine? My buddy Ken, who is such a fan he’s seen John Prine before most of us knew who John Prine was? Ken’s seen his share, Michael has had his share of free shows with dad, so once I made Betsy a “best of John Prine” CD and she thought it was “good”, the wife was the choice!

Unfortunately, since I was honest and asked about bringing in my camera, and turned down, you don’t get to see any shots of the actual show. But if you’ve been here before and read any of my posts, you know I shot images along the way. Since I’ve driven the AA highway dozens of times most of the shots are from right around and in Ashland. I really didn’t have a ton of shooting time but thought I’d share what I did end up shooting. Of course there’s a Mail Pouch Barn. But there’s also some shots of the Paramount Theater, the venue the show was at. The Paramount was an awesome theater that I would have loved to shoot interior shots of, but again, they wouldn’t allow me to take my “professional” camera in even though there were hundreds of people shooting during the show, with “amateur” cameras. There’s also a few shots of downtown Ashland as well.

Here’s the entire gallery. Enjoy!

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I’ve been wanting to take a trip to shoot West Virginia’s Mail Pouch barns ever since one of my boys gave me a book of Mail Pouch barns in West Virginia shot by Steve Shaluta for Christmas. Last Saturday I was packing up to venture off to “Almost Heaven… West Virginia” when Betsy reminded me we had a “date” at 7:00 that night! So much for West Virginia. Since I already had long johns, 3 shirts, 2 pair of socks and my hiking boots on I decided to head out, with no destination.

I thought I had shot every Mail Pouch barn within a hundred or so miles from home but soon learned not so! I decided to head out Ohio Route 32 east since I hadn’t been out that way. I ended up hitting Highland, Pike, Jackson, Scioto and Adams counties, shooting 6 Mail Pouch barns including re-shooting one that I had shot way back in 2000. That was my first Mail Pouch photo, long before I became obsessed.

Although my goal is to shoot Mail Pouch barns, I usually end up running across so many other great scenes that catch my eye. Those usually end up being the better shots of the day. Like the shot above. I discovered this barn and bails of hay driving up a steep hill in Adams County. It’s one of those shots that just appear. It’s scenes like this that keep me going out on my day-long drives.

By the way, one week later, yesterday,  I made my trip to West Virginia. But since I only hit 2 counties I plan a return weekend long trip soon.

Take a look at the whole gallery here. Enjoy!

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I’ve been wanting to get into this Church along Freeman Avenue in downtown Cincinnati for a couple of years now. I actually went to shoot it about a year ago very early on a Saturday morning. I ended up not going in because as I approached the entrance I noticed fresh prints in the snow. As much as I enjoy shooting these old buildings, it’s not worth what may have been awaiting me in there. Of course it could have been my imagination I suppose. Still yet, I chickened out!

Having this place in the back of my mind ever since, I jumped at the chance to go shooting with another local “Abandoned” shooter. As a matter of fact this shooter happens to be a sort of a mentor of mine. I’ve appreciated his work for a while and always thought it would be great to shoot with him. After becoming FaceBook fans I would throw out the occasional comments on his shots and he asked about my stuff as well. All said and done we decided to meet up last Sunday and go shooting. I told him I had been wanting to shoot this Church for a while. Although he had shot it in the past we decided to meet up. I was excited about getting into this place. So much so that I “abandoned” my wife for part of the day… her birthday! Hopefully I made up for it later that day!

Once inside, I decided this place was worth the wait. I was surprised at the condition. Yes, it was beat up but I expected a lot more destruction. I actually only saw one bit of graffiti in the whole place. We were there about an hour, although I would like to have stayed longer. I’m not overly happy with what I came out with. I forgot to take my remote shutter release which is not a good thing in such low light and the fact that it was rather cold didn’t help the situation. I suppose I’ll just have to take another trip some time.

I want to thank my shooting friend for meeting up. I’d like to do it again sometime. I haven’t asked him about using his name so for now he’ll just have to remain a mystery.

Here’s the entire gallery. Enjoy!

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I try to take my “Photo Trips” on Saturdays as to not miss church, but this trip was a last minute decision after church on May 16th. It had been a while since I went shooting and was itching to get out, so I decided to head north towards Preble County Ohio to find a couple of covered bridges. The Brubaker covered bridge and the Roberts covered bridge.

As usual, I found much more to shoot along the way to my final “target”. For one, I ran across the partially abandoned Crystal Tissue Company’s factory just south of Middletown, Ohio. I seriously considered jumping the fence and shooting the inside, but Betsy has scared me into re-thinking trespassing with her threats of not coming to get me out of jail. I had to settle for shooting the water tower from outside the fence. Maybe I’ll go back one day!

I also ran across a couple of very cool abandoned farm house. One of which at the time it was abandoned was occupied by a retired U.S. Air Force officer. It was rather eerie walking into one of the upper bedrooms and seeing his uniform hanging on the closet door. I also found a box with his discharge papers and his military records in it. Sad to think of it, but all my uniforms and paperwork are in my attic. I’m hopeful that no one finds it when shooting photographs of an abandoned house in Fort Thomas in the future!

I also ran across a previously “undiscovered” Mail Pouch barn, although it’s more of a garage, and new, but all the same a Mail Pouch sign. And the last shot of the day was a rather sarcastic political statement of a local pizza parlor’s owner.

Here’s the entire gallery from my Preble County trip. Enjoy!

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Last Saturday I had to run over to Cincinnati’s west end to drop off something to a supplier and figured I’d shoot some stuff while I was out. I’ve had a list of shots I’ve wanted to get in that part of town for a while. Most importantly I wanted to sneak into an abandoned church next to my supplier’s shop. The First German Reformed Church along Freeman Avenue has been on my list for quite a while so I was excited over the prospect of shooting it. There’s only one way to “get in” to the abandoned church. A 24″ pathway between 2 buildings. I was a bit paranoid as I worked my way down the path, but as I got closer to the one opening I started to feel a bit cocky. I was actually getting ready to trespass to shoot an abandoned church. I was about 4 feet from the opening when I noticed fresh footprints in the snow right in front of me. I mean very fresh! If you know anything about Freeman Avenue in Cincinnati, you know it’s not a great place to be with a few grand in camera gear, in an abandoned building, where there MAY be someone with you! Well so much for the church. I chickened out and hit the road. I will however make my way back. I’ve just got to!

Not to be deterred by my willingness to stay alive I decided to hit some of the other spots I’ve been wanting to shoot. I’ve recently become interested in old signs and the west end of Cincinnati is filled with them. From an old brewery, a wide variety of churches and pawn shops to recent signs of “Hope”, the west end is filled with visual eye candy. Depending on your taste of eye candy of course!

Check out the entire gallery here. Enjoy!

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I found this little church on my way to Prestonsburg, Kentucky last week. I typically stop and shoot these “little white churches” and go on about my business. I often find them on my way home from a camping trip on Sunday mornings. I’ve thought many times about stopping and attending a service, but I’m paranoid they may be snake handlers! Joking aside, maybe one day I’ll work up the courage to stop in one of these little churches.

Here’s just a couple more. 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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This is a gallery I put together when I first opened my Zenfolio account. This is a variety of barns, Mail Pouch Barns, old churches and more. These were taken at various times and locations. From around Campbell County, KY, parts of Ohio, Indiana and West Virginia. Since I shot most of these I’ve attempted to document my shots much better so I’m not even sure where some of the images are from. Big mistake! I’ve vowed to document better because people ask, and I suppose I should know.

As I said there are a ton of images here, some of what I think are my best stuff to date.

Here’s the entire gallery. Enjoy!

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