DrivingBackRoads is a blog devoted to photography along America’s back roads, emphasizing rural areas, and abandoned places. The old house below was found on a Sunday drive to Giles and Craig Counties, VA.
I had planned on visiting a covered bridge and an old church that I had found online while examining Google maps. By early Sunday afternoon there were some clouds in the sky, so my wife and I loaded up the Suburban with our three dogs, Dolly, Boo, and Daisy, and headed out for an afternoon drive.
The goal was to get out and have some fun, while seeing some new places, and possibly find some new subjects to photograph. I like to shoot old barns, abandoned homes, churches, and the like; all part of a quickly disappearing rural landscape. I work as a right-of-way-agent in neighboring West Virginia, and get to drive a lot of the back roads there as part of my job. Of course, I always have a camera with me, and often find great subjects for my type of photography. Weekends are different. We sometimes go to where the job doesn’t take me.
I have a few rules. The first is that I don’t go out planning on shooting pictures if the light isn’t right. I prefer days with big, fluffy clouds and even lighting. So, not every day is perfect for shooting photos. But, any day can be good for scouting and planning for future visits. I rarely shoot when the skies are blue, and shadows are harsh. Otherwise, I choose my subjects carefully, and shoot what I like.
A covered bridge and church were on my original agenda, as I had found them on Google maps, sometimes looking at “street view” to see see where I might want to venture. I was pleasantly surprised that that afternoon, I also found a couple of other churches, an old country store, and a few abandoned houses to shoot.
I usually carry at least one DSLR, or mirrorless camera and several lenses. I’m a big fan of wide angle glass, as it serves well for the type of shooting I do. My camera bag always has lenses ranging from 14mm to 300 mm (full frame). A 20-40 mm , or 28-80 zoom are two of my favorites. I also carry extra batteries, and I usually have a tripod, but truthfully rarely use it, unless I go inside a dimly lit structure.
Gravel Hill Church (below) was on the original travel agenda. I shot several images, but this one is one of my favorites.
From the time we left home, we spent about four hours total on the road, and had a wonderful time, and came back with several nice images. I’ve been back since shooting the original images a couple of weeks ago, and re-shot some of them on a day that had better lighting and cloud cover. We’ll be doing some more exploring in the area. Watch here for updates.
