A Weathered Barn Story

A while back I got to thinking about a silent movement taking place in America. In order to confirm my suspicion, I took a short drive to the outskirts of the tiny town of Portland, in north central Tennessee, about thirty miles north of Hendersonville. I turned my car down a narrow country road where fields of vegetables and hay are harvested every year. Below is the barn I was in search of taken back in 2016. It was still in its original condition, minus a plank here or there, sitting in the middle of a farm field bringing charm and beauty to the landscape around it.

Below is the same barn two years later as I photographed it a few weeks ago. Notice the distinct difference in the appearance of that beautiful, old weathered structure?

A barn wood trend has taken over the remodeling industry and especially in middle Tennessee. Barn wood doors, barn wood tables and more are all the rage. I thought perhaps a storm had come through partially destroying it. However, there's another barn right across the street from this one with whole sections missing. The barn wood trend has reached out and stripped these two old structures of their original form. I pray this trend doesn't take out all of our vintage barns dotting the landscape. They bring such charm to our surroundings. I love to drive down an old country road and look over to see an old weathered barn sitting in the middle of a field. Who doesn't love that. I wanted to share this story as I knew before I took that drive to capture new images of that old barn that I might find it in a different condition. Time changes everything, but only if we let it. ENJOY!

Red Barns of Sumner County

There are so many winding roads here in Sumner County where I live. Every now and then I take one because many of them criss cross Old Hickory Lake and I like to see if there are any wildlife viewing spots around. On this day I had taken a road that actually had quite a few farms on it. Here are a few barns I captured on that drive. I don't know if the three x's have any significance on this first barn.

Further down the road I discovered this old red barn with it's peeling paint. The owners even decorated it for the holidays with a wreath. I absolutely love that. Who doesn't love a red barn. I'm starting to notice there's a fair amount of red barns in this county. Wonder if there's anything to that. I hope your week is off to a good start. Mine will be very busy with end of year work related meetings. Back soon. ENJOY!

Looking Back at 2017

Wherever you travel in the world, more than likely you carry a camera with you today. It may only be a camera on your smartphone or a tiny point and shoot or it might be a larger digital camera with interchangeable lenses. Here's a look back at a few of the venues I captured images of in the past year from the Tennessee all the way west to the Pacific.

One of my favorite places to visit in all of the States is the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. At the highest elevation, any visitor in an automobile can drive, sits Clingman's Dome. On this beautiful day in the Smokies, I captured this image of Fontana Lake way off in the distance with clouds floating by.

Capturing images of farms and farmland is by far one of the many photo ops photographers enjoy doing. To take this urban image, I only traveled about thirty miles north of my home and about a mile from the Kentucky/Tennessee northern border, just outside of Portland. This vintage barn with it's peeling red paint sits in a large field with beautiful yellow Canoli flowers in bloom in the background. I love to see the gorgeous fields of Canoli seeds in bloom every Spring. They are breathtaking.

Visiting Cheekwood Botanical Gardens is a great way to spend a few hours and get outdoors in nature. This Spring I walked over to the arboretum one last time only to find all of the visitors had dissipated and there was the beautiful arboretum just waiting for it's close up. It's yellows and purples and reds were so pretty, but I especially loved the urn at the back of the arboretum filled with flowers.

I flew across many states to land in the great state of California to spend a few days in San Francisco this Spring for a sales conference. While out on the Belle of San Francisco one evening, I walked out on the deck looking toward the Golden Gate bridge. When I turned back this image stared back at me. The city's lights were so beautiful I snapped a few images to share with you.

Photographing flowers is one of my favorite past times. Who doesn't love a beautiful flower. To capture Sunflower images this Summer, I traveled south almost an hour to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, to Batey Farms to snap images of the beautiful Sunflowers in bloom. It was a picture perfect day with blue skies and tons of sunshine and the time of day couldn't have been more perfect for flower photography. It was the best photo opportunity I have ever had to take images of Sunflowers.

I hope you enjoyed coming along as I looked back at my travels in 2017. I can't wait to see where 2018 takes me. Are you ready for a major cold front that is on the verge of sweeping down from Canada in the next day or two. Today was 70 degrees and really didn't feel like Christmas at all, but this cold front will surely remedy that. Are you deckin' the halls. I trust you are or have and are now in hot pursuit of that perfect gift for your loved ones. My tree is decked, the gifts are purchased and I'm all set. Hope you are having a wonderful Holiday Season. ENJOY!

Canola Fields of Northern Tennessee

Say 'hello' to the Canola flower. A bouquet of beautiful, bright yellow flowers with a plethora of Canola seeds situated smack dab in the middle of the petals.

Welcome to the farms of Northern Tennessee where the Canola seed is one of the main crops grown here. Within a few short miles of Interstate 65, just across the state line from Kentucky, there are multiple farms with large fields of Canola blooming. Each Spring in mid to late April, the fields come alive with color. The brightest, most beautiful sunny color one could possibly imagine paints the landscape.

While the farmers own the land and farm the fields here, the Canola fields seem to dominant in Spring while in full bloom. On one rural road, I encountered several old dilapidated barns with Canola fields nearby. These old barns seem to come alive with the bright yellow Canola fields as a backdrop.

It is a breathtakingly beautiful area to drive on a Saturday afternoon. One added benefit, there is virtually no one on these country roads, with the possible exception of a farm tractor or a farmer heading to town. So if you are in the vicinity, plan a stop. You'll leave with a bright sunny smile on your face. You won't be able to help it. ENJOY!

Barns of Tennessee

Oh, but for the beauty of those old, abandoned and vintage barns that we all love to photograph as we travel, off the beaten path, and drive, the scenic byways, throughout our countryside.

Visiting my archives, I encountered numerous images that I began to collect in a separate folder titled simply Barns. Before long I had assembled quite a collection of barn images from across quite a few states. Each time I opened the folder the barns seemed to scream, 'please put up a post and feature me." I finally surrendered and now what you have before you is a collection of images from the Volunteer State of Tennessee.

Are you ready? Here we go with a few of those beautiful icons that dot our landscape.

Historic Barn at a Homestead, Cade's Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee

Barn and Horse, Winter's Snowfall, Hendersonville, Tennessee

Old Barn, Summer, Leiper's Fork, Tennessee

Vintage Barn and Conveyor, Spring, Portland, Tennessee

Red Barn in Spring, Portland, Tennessee

Barn and Pond, Evin's Mill, Smithville, Tennessee

I hope you enjoyed my look back at some of the barns I have encountered in my travels across the state of Tennessee. I would love to know your favorite if you have one. I'll be back to post another collection of barn images I've captured across the beautiful state of Kentucky very soon. I hope your week is off to a wonderful start. ENJOY!

Linking to The Barn Collective

Field of Dreams

As the warm months of Summer approach, 

I dream of long Summer nights, the hot sun sets low in the sky.

A soft breeze cools the warm night air.

As I drive down the dusty country road,

fields of corn sway in the late day breeze,

insects flit in and out of the rows in earnest.

The last light of the day falls below the horizon.

The sky turns a pale pink hue as another day draws to a close.

ENJOY!

Vintage Barn

As I searched fervently on a winding country road for the rumored yellow Canola fields blooming just north of Nashville, I happened to pass this vintage and pretty dilapidated barn sitting near the edge of the road. As I stopped and turned around, knowing I had taken a wrong turn to find the Canola fields, I stopped a good distance from the old barn to capture several images.

It couldn't have been a more perfect day to stop and snap a few images of a vintage barn out in the middle of the countryside. I love the tan grasses in the field and the gorgeous blue sky with the white fluffy clouds. It's the perfect contrast. I like the way the old vintage conveyor was still perched up against the loft almost as though it had just been used. I don't think I have ever seen an old conveyor still in place. I wonder why the farmer didn't take it down. This area of northern Tennessee is filled with flat farm land and so beautiful. There's nothing like vintage America to make you appreciate times gone by.

It's a rainy, rainy weekend here which meant a postponed photography workshop. Aside from the last two weekends, every weekend for months past have been rainy here in middle Tennessee. This Spring has been exceptionally wet which has kept me from scheduling any other workshops and no meetup group outings. I hope May proves to be a dryer month so I can get outdoors a tad more. Enjoy your weekend all! Back soon. ENJOY!

Yellow Canola Fields

After learning about a farm in northern Tennessee, not far outside of Nashville, with blooming Canolas, I had to take a drive this weekend in hopes of finding it. After a good deal of turning down this road, turning around and backtracking and then turning down that road, eventually I found the farm. Sure enough, there were several fields on both sides of a country road in full bloom with yellow Canola flowers for as far as the eye could see. It was a beautiful sight, not to mention a definite pick me up, what with the bright yellow blooms.

I read online that canola is not only an edible oil for consumption by both humans and animals, but it is considered to be one of the healthiest plant derived oils. As I was snapping photos one of the farmers stopped and mentioned that the Canola fields aren't planted every year. I hope your week has been a good one. The weekend is upon us and I will be conducting my second photography workshop. I will teaching Bird Photography and fortunately, for this workshop I don't have to travel. There's a ton of bird photography hot spots right out my back door all up and down Old Hickory Lake. Wish me luck! ENJOY!