05.26.11
Ok, so that’s a goofy reference to a Willie Nelson song. But since it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything to BluegrassPhotography.Net I thought I’d start this post out goofy.
It’s been a while because the weather here in the Cinicinnati Tri-State area has been horrible. Although we know it could be worse. All we’ve had to deal with is rain every day. If we think that’s bad, we need to think about the people in the mid-west that have had everything taken away from them by Mother Nature’s furry. As a matter of fact, this post is dedicated to them!
Back to the photograph….. For some unknown reason, I find myself shooting the “Big Mac” bridge quite often. I have no idea why. It’s not like I have a thing for McDonald’s. As a matter of fact, unless I’m desperate I won’t even eat there. I do however drive past, or over the “Big Mac” every morning so I guess it catches my attention. On this particular morning I approached the river and saw the fog, so I decided to head towards the riverfront in Bellevue and see if there was a good shot to be had. I ended up on Don Pablo’s deck at 7:30 in the morning to grab this image.
For those “photo geeks” out there, this image is comprised of 20 vertical shots stitched together to create a 13000 x 4000 pixel image at 72 dpi! For those non-photo geeks, it’s big enough to make a 200″ x 60″ photograph!
Again, as we complain about our weather…. it could be worse! Please keep the mid-west tornado victims in your prayers and if you find it in your heart to help financially you can do so here.
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05.04.11
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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04.11.11
I love contrast in a photograph. In this case, historical contrast. This was an awesome find! I saw this sign back in February from atop a parking garage in downtown Cincinnati. The weather was just not suitable for shooting but I took note to return at some point and shoot these two department store signs.
I’m not a big Macy’s shopper, but more of a “remember Shillitos” person. I have fond memories of my mom taking us down to Shillitos to view the Christmas windows, and have our picture taken with Santa Claus. That’s back when everyone traveled to downtown Cincinnati to take in all the holiday festivities. I don’t remember frequent trips to downtown, but I sure do remember those holiday trips! How about you? Although the dates do not match up, my memories have me in line with Ralphie from “A Christmas Story”.
How about you? Remember Shillitos, standing in line for Santa, taking in the windows downtown or Christmas on Fountain Square?
Here’s a few more of the Shillitos and Macy’s signs. Enjoy!
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04.11.11
I love old brick walls. Even better than an old brick wall showing it’s age with slight deterioration is an old brick wall with an old hand-painted sign on it. If you’ve browsed my galleries at all you’ve probably ran across some of my images capturing these old marks in advertising history. Every time I find a sign on an old brick wall I find myself wondering about it’s history. Who painted the sign, Is the company represented in the sign still in business, are there other signs hidden beneath the visible sign?
Today I ran into a sign (maybe best described as artwork) that may very well be the subject of a photographer wondering the same things in the future, I wonder today. Driving through downtown Cincinnati I ran into a sign being created right before my very eyes. Portuguese-born Alexandre Farto has been commissioned by BLDG, a Covington based studio, to create Cincinnati’s own original “Urban Structure” as Alexandre describes his art.
VHILS is the tag name of Portuguese graffiti/street artist Alexandre Farto (1987—) He gained prominence when his work of a face carved into a wall appeared alongside a picture by street artist Banksy at the Cans Festival in London in 2008. Not long ago, street artists were objects of scorn, stigmatized to the point of risking jail time in order to smear their messages in alleyways and on overpasses. Lately, however, with a growing public appreciation for all things graffiti, urban communication is no longer such a target of public disdain, but rather is increasingly being appreciated as high art.
Here’s the rest of the gallery. Enjoy.
BLDG will be hosting a release event Friday, April 15 from 7-11 PM. For additional information visit the BLDG website.
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03.28.11
Looking for something to do this Friday night? How about a walk along Fairfield Avenue in Bellevue, Kentucky? You’ll find a wide selection of shops at “First Friday” – a monthly event along the avenue. There’s a great selection of shops, galleries and cafes. Park your car and walk along the avenue and you’ll soon find yourself relaxing and forgetting the busy week you’ve just experienced. It’s a great way to start the weekend! And if it’s raining, don’t let that stop you because the friendly merchants even share their umbrellas!
Along the way you’ll find the Bellevue Bistro, a cozy little bistro located at 313 Fairfield. Although the “bb” is a great place to stop anytime, this Friday is special for me because I’ll be displaying some of my photography. The owners of the Bistro are kind enough to allow local artists to share their talents by decorating the walls with their work, and after a 6 month wait, it’s my turn.
I’d love to see you for this upcoming “First Friday”, but if you’re not able to make it you can stop by the Bistro anytime in the month of April to view a wide variety of photography I’ll have on display.
Hope to see you there!
313 Fairfield Ave. / Bellevue, KY / 859-581-5600
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02.12.11
I’ve been wanting to make a run to West Virginia for quite a while. If you’re a regular on my blog you read in my last post that I headed that way a few weeks back but missed it by a few counties. Finally I decided to go for it on the last Saturday in January. Whenever I go out on one of my photo trips I try my best think about the cost of gas and plan the trip accordingly. This was not one of those well thought out trips! The first three hours were spent driving out route 32, which I had done just the weekend before.
Although I planned this trip to shoot six Mail Pouch barns I had located, as usual I found some other great shots along the way. I ran across the scene above on this old dirt road I probably shouldn’t have been on to begin with. After all I drove through a creek to get to it. I also ran across the Bob Evans Farm in Rio Grande, Ohio. When I saw the sign along Route 32 I thought about a Bob Evans menu I had seen of the Bob Evans logo painted on the side of an old barn so I figured I’d drive the few miles off the main path to check it out. Unfortunately I was let down. Either the barn I had seen on the menu was somewhere else or Photoshop trickery.
Even though I’m glad I finally made my West Virginia trip and had some good captures I have a feeling the “Mountain State” is still on my short list for the next trip. I think it will end up a weekender.
Here’s the entire gallery. Enjoy!
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01.31.11
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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