Wolf Creek Methodist Church, Wolf Creek, WV. (Click on image for larger photo).
I like old country churches. These’s a lot of them around. Some have been abandoned, and newer, larger buildings built for an ever growing congregation. Others are still in use, and have served their communities for many decades.
Ramp Church, Ramp , WV. (Click on image for larger photo).
Dry Pond Baptist Church, Dry Pond, WV. .(Click on image for larger photo).
The back road photographer shouldn’t have too much trouble finding one or two to photograph. Every state and county has them. Most of us are familiar with at least a few. Those are good places to start, but online maps, like Google, often show locations, both still in use and abandoned. Place names can offer a clue, but my favorite method of finding old churches is to start driving on a back road that I’ve never traveled before.
Allegany Regular Baptist Church, Monroe County, WV. ( Click on image for larger photo).
Harmony Church, Hancock County, IL (Click on image for larger photo).
All old churches have a history, and many people like to spend time researching a special place of worship that they have found and photographed in their travels. I’m often asked about the history of a particular church that I’ve shot, and sometimes I don’t have an answer, simply because if I researched them all, I would be doing little else. The internet, on-line forums and special interest groups can help supply some of that information.
Mt. Carmel Church, Craig County, VA. (Click on image for larger photo).Lane Chapel CME, Guthrie, KY. (Click on image for larger photo).
Mammoth Cave Baptist Church, This was shot on March 24, 1989, the day cave explorer Floyd Collins was buried (for the last time) in the church cemetery, Original on film. (Click on image for larger photo).
I like finding the old weather-beaten churches that have seen better days. Sometimes, they have a cemetery attached, which can be a great place to learn about the people and history of a community. Once in a while, I’m lucky enough to talk with a local that can tell me stories and histories that would be otherwise forgotten.
As far as shooting itself, everyone has their own style and preferences, so I tend not to give technical advice, other than the obvious: good lighting and exposure, along with a pleasant composition, make for an interesting image. I like to shoot on cloudy days whenever possible, as clouds can make an otherwise average picture interesting.
I’m often asked about what photographic equipment I carry with me, and use to get the photos that I post on this blog and my Facebook page. To be honest, I don’t think one brand is necessarily better than another. Most modern digital cameras are very good at the purpose for which they were designed. I would recommend that anyone in the market for photo gear, whether it be a camera body, body and lens system, lens, or a multitude of other accessories, read and watch reviews, or talk with someone who is using similar equipment.
Some of my everyday carry essentials for backroad photography.
Most of the time, I have at least two camera bodies in my truck – A Nikon D750 and a D800. Both are full-frame(FX) DSLR bodies, and serve my purposes well. I also own several Fuji X series mirrorless cameras and lenses, which are excellent, too. The Fujis have a smaller APS-C sized “crop” sensor and are smaller, and lighter weight than my Nikon DSLRs, which I often carry when I don’t want to walk around with a lot of weight.
The Nikon D750 generally has a 28-70mm AF Nikkor f/3.5-4.5D on it. I usually carry a Tokina SD 17-35mm F/4 on my Nikon D800. The D800 probably sees more use, as I like ultrawide lenses for landscape/backroad photography. Sometimes, I switch out a lens on one of the bodies, as I also carry a manual focus 14mm f2.8 Rokinon, an AF 28-200mm Nikkor F/3.5-5.6G, and an AF 75-300 f/4.5-5.6.
My Nikon mount lenses aren’t necessarily the most modern, and some are “older,” actually having been designed for Nikon film cameras. That’s one good thing about Nikon, most older lenses will still work just fine on today’s most modern DSLRs. Most other manufacturers can’t say the same. I still have manual focus Nikon lenses that work quite well on my DSLRs, as well as my film cameras (Yes, I still shoot film, once in a while). Older lenses are generally available used at online sites like Ebay and Amazon, and are often much more affordable than the newer lenses, many of which have image stabilization and other perks, but at a sizable price. I shoot for fun, and not for a living, so I buy what my budget allows, and not necessarily my choice, if money was no object.
I still shoot film, once in a while.
Other accessories that I carry include a flash unit/diffuser dedicated to my Nikon cameras; a tripod and monopod, and of course, exra batteries, battery charger, memory cards, and the like; and my Hazard4 Evac PhotoRecon Sling Pack, in which I carry some of my gear. The tripod, monopod and flash unit don’t see a lot of use, but are nice to have when they are needed.
My best technical advice for someone wanting to be good at backroad photogrpahy is to learn your gear and its capabilities and how it relates to your style of photography. Also, most really good pictures that you see, don’t come straight out of a camera. They are processed in a photo editing program like Photoshop and/or Lightroom, to enhance what the camera has captured. There is absolutely nothing wrong with dodging, burning, cropping, and adjusting contrast, saturation, and color curves, and the like. It’s all a part of photography, and has been since the early days of the film darkroom, where these terms originated.
More than anything, I recommend learning to look at a subject and its lighting. Get the exposure right, and a pleasant composition, and you can do pretty much what you want with it. I’m not a fan of gimmicks like HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography, where multiple frames at various exposures are combined to create a single image. I would much prefer to shoot one frame perfectly exposed, and bring out the details in my digital darkroom(Photoshop/Lightroom).
I don’t often give advice on the technical side of photography. However, I do understand light and how it translates to make a good photograph. I learned photography on an old manual 35mm film camera, and developed and printed my film in a darkroom. I’m grateful for today’s digital equipment, as it gives me the time to concentrate on taking the type of images that I like to shoot.
This western Kentucky barn is very typical of what a photographer is likely to find from day to day. Including a little background and cloud-filled sky adds to the interest. (Click on image for larger photo).
One of the most common subject for the back road photographer is barns. I’m talking old fashioned barns, made of logs, lumber, and tin, for the most part, dating to a time before the modern pole barn. There are lots of them still standing, and many still being used for farm related activities, or storage. Other’s are in various stages of decay, or abandoned. These are among my favorites to shoot.
An old dairy barn in West Virginia. (Click on image for larger photo).
Finding barns to shoot shouldn’t be difficult. They still dot the landscape, some even surviving in small towns and cities. The hardest part is finding the best angle and framing for an attractive shot. I like to include some background to show the environment, whether the surroundings be a cornfield, pasture, or mountain vista.
A West Virginia barn displaying a quilt pattern. (Click on image for larger photo).
Virginia flue-cured tobacco barns. (Click on image for larger photo).
I don’t like an abundance of blue sky in my photos. Some is fine, as long as there are clouds to add a little interest. I like even lighting, without harsh shadows, unless I’m looking for a specific look or feeling that calls for something else.
A barn on a working farm in West Virginia. (Click on image for larger photo).
A barn nearly hidden along a Kentucky back road. (Click on image for larger photo).
Over the years, I have photographed literally hundreds of barns. I’m always finding new ones to shoot, and never get tired of it. They’re getting harder and harder to find, as progress takes its toll on American farms, and what is left of them. Whenever possible, I always choose to take the back road, as you never know what’s around the next curve.
