Photographing Pieces of History

 I've love photographing history. Doing so requires not only photographic skill, it requires a solid grasp of the historical significance of what you are photographing. Putting the two together in a meaningful photograph is a challenge, especially one that serves to hold within its frame what that significance represents.

So what classifies as a photograph of history. Well, it can take many directions depending on the photographers interest. For me, it includes such things as vintage cars, airplanes, locations, and even old barns. Some of the most meaningful historical photographs for me include vintage aircraft. I love their form, their performance, their connection to events, and their connection to our personal lives. Capturing them beyond simple snapshots of one sitting on a tarmac requires you look at the photographic solution from beyond the ordinary. 

Using artificial lighting can transform their appearance. But it takes more than that. It requires placing your camera in a position that captures not only the form, but in such a way as to bring to life their performance. Aircraft were designed to fly and your photograph should capture them in such a way to represent that unique element. 

Their are so many angles from which to capture their history. I am so thankful for the organizations that restore and maintain vintage aircraft.

Vintage cars are perhaps my second most favorite piece of history to photograph. Not unlike aircraft, vintage cars retain that same style and form that is so indelibly ingrained into our collective memories. American cars of course are my favorite because so many of them I grew up with and around and even drove at one time or another. I love old cars. They not only possess unique shapes and forms, they represent pieces of history we all lived through and can appreciate.

Oddly enough, even things like old barns are perhaps my third favorite type of historical photograph. Many barns are well over 100 years old and they can be found across almost any rural area. Some are still in good shape, many are falling down, but each possess their own unique contribution to the historical landscape.

The setting in which they reside enhances their historical impact. Often I will be driving around and out of the corner of my eye catch an image of an old barn tucked away into the base of a hillside across a field. I love that kind of scene.

Included within the realm of old barns as historical photographs are old homesteads and homes. 

Their settings often reflect that sense of place, the kind of places that reside deep within our mind and heart. The kind of place where most of us wish we could reside.

Sometimes looking through the barn becomes the photograph. It is those simple yet rustically powerful images all of us have seen at one time or another. Lighting of course makes all the difference. one cannot help but wonder what kind of history has played out within and around these old barns. When they were first built, they were someone's dream, and now possibly 100 years or more later, that dream has played out across time to enhance our personal vision of what the rustic world represents.

Photographing pieces of history can elevate your appreciation of the subjects you are encountering. Thinking of them as pieces of history opens your personal vision of how to capture them toward new and unique creations.

 

 Finally managed to put together a 3 day, end to end solo canoe camping trip. It was something I've been planning for almost 3 years. For the past several months the weather just has not cooperated. Lots of storms, rain, wind, and high lake levels prevented me from getting out. My campsites were flooded because the lake was up to 16 feet above its normal summer pool level and it took a good month for it to drop back down.

This past week, the winds moderated, the lake level was once again at its normal level, my campsites were high and dry, and the hot and muggy summer weather cooled down to a comfortable 83 to 85 degrees. For three days I paddled and camped. the weather was beautiful and I enjoyed a long and challenging trip. Please enjoy this simple video about the trip.

Running The Edge - Available Now On Amazon.com

 AVAILABLE NOW ON AMAZON.COM - It's been a long time in the making and gone through numerous iterations, changes, improvements, development, but it's finally here; my first published Novel. A great deal of work went into its writing, an effort that literally spanned across years.

Running The Edge is a story about redemption, an action packed saga played out across an epic setting where two people struggle to overcome personal challenges as they run the edge of their emotions while they run the edge of danger.

thanx

Keith

What to do When the Weather Don't Cooperate

2024 has been a frustrating season. Certainly one of the wettest seasons we've seen around here in a while. I had all kinds of plans to get out and do some canoe camping and make an end to end adventure on Barren River Lake (BRL). But...mother nature had other plans.

First of all, a while back we received something like 17 inches of rain stretched over a two week period causing BRL to rise to over 16 feet above its normal summer pool level. This effectively delayed my planned end to end trip as the few camp locations I planned on using were all underwater.

Eventually, the lake level was lowered to less than a foot above its normal level, but by this time the summer heat had kicked off in earnest with scorching highs and sweltering humidity thrown in. Plus we've had a lot more wind this year than normal too. Between these events, scattered thunderstorms seemed to roll in about every other day, again circumventing my being able to get out.

So...what's a guy to do. I have managed a couple of day trips, one a seven mile trip on BRL with a buddy of mine. That was one of the few days when the wind was not so bad. I also made an afternoon trip with my neighbor when we took his yet untried new kayak over to Shanty Hollow lake. I have also been getting out with my camera some and I've also been working on a few projects. One project was to repair/upgrade my canoe seat back. It sort of cracked on me last time out and I had to reconstruct part of the frame and cannibalized parts from the original to rebuild it.

Along the edge of my backyard a stretch of blackberries are beginning to ripen so I've spent some time picking through them, a hand full at a time. In that same area a few spiders found a place to spin a web.

As of the last few days we've again received several inches of rain which has raised the BRL level another foot or so. I still plan on making that planned end to end trip on BRL, but it just might have to wait a bit longer, maybe until early fall. Anyway, I'll be taking a few pictures and getting prepared for when mother nature decides to settle down. See ya out there.