Finding beauty in the ordinary
What used to be an annoyingly long drive to work in Preble County became something I really looked forward to. Starting last fall, I began taking backroads instead of using the interstates to get to work primarily because of my frustration with traffic. I found that even though Google said it took about 7 minutes longer to stay off the interstates, it didn't usually take more than a couple minutes longer because of the lack of traffic and construction. Another added plus was the nice scenery. If it was a warm (ish) day about 45 degrees or above, I'd roll the windows down and enjoy whatever type of music felt best for the day. The more I drove the backroads, the more refreshed I felt to start work, and I noticed more quirky and wonderful landmarks on my way there. It took me until December to work out the logistics of including my camera gear. I figured it would be unwise and unprofessional for me to wear my work uniform walking around in the darkness with a giant camera at 2 a.m. (or whenever my shift was over), so I came into work wearing plain clothes and packed my uniform, weapons, and camera gear in a duffel bag. After I photographed/hiked on my way to work, I would get to work, change into my uniform, store my camera bag in the locker room, and get started with my shift. After my shift ended, I would change back into plain clothing, warn my coworkers of wherever I would be in case someone was alarmed about me standing in the street with a camera and called 911 about it, and make my way home while completing my photography scavenger hunt. I would usually plan to photograph one landmark on my way into work, and one on my way back home. My boss noticed my change in routine, saw me carrying my duffel bag on my way in and asked me whether I was coming from another job. I said no, that I'd come from hiking. I imagine my answer was still a bit perplexing.
Sometimes I had an idea of what I wanted to photograph for the day, and sometimes I just changed plans as I went. One of my goals was actually to photograph only the things most people didn't notice or find remarkable, so that ruled out Preble County's 8 covered bridges. I wanted to have a project I did for the sake of joy, not to get perfect images to sell.
It took me from last December to this March to hit all the highlights I could find near my route. The beauty of it was that I was intentionally not in a rush to finish the project. I became one of the unrushed drivers that I used to find annoying to drive behind. A lot of these images I had to wait to make sure there was no traffic around me before I could safely stop for a photo. With the exception of the Franklin photos, I can count on one hand how many cars I had to wait to leave the area for my project.
Captured on my way to work
Preble County Line Road
This is the first image I started this experiment/photography project with- and I found it on a detour from my detour because of an accident east of Gratis. Preble County Line Road quickly became a favorite route for me, as I ventured off and found more unique ways of getting to work less efficiently, and more joyfully.
At the start of my project I was nervous about stopping for photos because I thought I would get in trouble with co-workers for being "suspicious" driving around with a camera. That shyness definitely dissipated over time. This landmark was on my scavenger hunt list because of the lovely shadows. The top of the concrete silo caught my eye too, and I would often drive by imagining that the next time I commuted, I would find that the top of the silo had fallen to the ground.
I was hooked on completing the rest of the project after checking this one off the list.
This is the view of Kinsey Road from Preble County Line Road. What drew my eyes this direction was the patchwork quilt of asphalt on the road leading to the barn and the lonely looking farmhouse.
Just sheep enjoying the sun. I later found out this farm utilizes regenerative farming and supplies beef to a restaurant I've enjoyed food at before. Very cool!
Gratis
It was hard to find a day that I could photograph this. This was taken towards the start of my project when I was still very shy about running into anyone who would have an issue with me being there. Twice when I tried photographing this property from the south side on Coleman Street (see the clown picture below), the entire street was blocked by vehicles of employees who work and live on the property. Though the school building itself appears vacant, the building adjoining it and the property surrounding it is still very much in use. I never left the public right-of-way to get any of these shots for my project. However, I knew from my previous job in Gratis that the property owner of the school never appreciated anyone using Coleman Street beside the school, much less stepping foot near his property.
This abandoned house is just down the road from the old school. I couldn't pass this one without a photo. What drew me in was the painter's tape holding the upstairs window matching the color of the sky. I've known it to be abandoned for at least the 3 years I worked at Gratis, with that same tape configuration. I did try photographing the Fudge Road house as well, but I couldn't get a satisfactory vantage point of it from the road. Perhaps I'll have to revisit that one with my telephoto lens.
This tree by this abandoned house on 503 just north of Gratis loomed large in my memory. When I was making a list of landmarks to photograph, I hastily wrote down "The tree swallowing the house." The scene was not exactly as dramatic as I remembered it by, but the beauty of it is still apparent.
I can honestly say I did not even notice the chair in the right corner of the photo until I returned home after my shift. It's so perfectly placed that it looks like it was staged. Who placed it there, and why? Who last sat in it, and what happened to them? So many questions...
This little gem sits on 725 just east of Gratis and west of Mama Mac's Pizza. I waited for a good snow to cozy up this cute little house, and this little snow is really all we got to accumulate. I parked at Mama Mac's and walked to get a good angle.
If you find yourself driving through Gratis, make sure to try Mama Mac's chicken bacon ranch sub.
Twin Creek
While I was progressing in my project, a new parking lot and sidewalk was made to access Twin Creek by Eckhart Road in Germantown. I took advantage of that one day and experimented with double exposure photography. That's when you take two images and the camera layers them together to create one. It's a fun technique and you never know how it's going to turn out until you've taken the second photo.
I got my camera to layer an image of the sycamore (my favorite type of tree) tree and an image of sunlight caught in the ripples of Twin Creek. I envisioned the water making a beautiful sky for the image.
I did not plan to get a self portrait, nor did I dress for one. But the circumstances kind of presented themselves so I ran with it in a creative direction. With this image, I wanted to convey that I (and you, as the viewer) was an adventurer - one that was out in the wild west that just hopped off a train by the creek. I was wearing my old (repurposed and unbadged) deputy hat to keep the beating sun off me and the shadow it cast let my imagination run a bit. Perhaps I read a bit too much fiction - or maybe there's no such thing as too much reading.
Captured on my way home
Lewisburg
These two images were taken on a chilly night in Lewisburg. I spotted this substation lit up with some kind of generator on a trailer. A few weeks after I got these images, the trailer was moved and didn't have its lights on. With the ends of the fluffy grass illuminated with such an industrial background, it made me think of some kind of spaceship landing in a field.
This is just to the right of that same substation on a different (and foggy) night. The rain puddled up and created a nice reflection.
This was taken on the same foggy night. It's one of the arches at Tri-County North School. When I drove by the school earlier in the night, I noticed the shafts of light shining through the arches and I was really hoping the fog would stick around for me after my shift. I'm happy it had!
This is the north facing view of the building to the right of the old Gratis school. The old school currently is owned by a carnival staffing/ride company, and I found it very active (and therefore unphotographable) during the day. I really like the dimension that darkness brings into the image anyhow. The yellow of the old truck, with the blue in the truck window really pops. The light from inside the building makes me think the building still houses some of the carnival workers I encountered there when I worked at Gratis. I remember the building felt warm inside, thanks to kerosene heaters. I had visited there to investigate a stolen property complaint. The teenager I spoke with (my suspect) had received some articles of stolen property, and promptly sold them. My investigation prompted a warrant being issued for his arrest but the guy was from Canada. Perhaps he is back in Canada now. I had only been aware of a warrant having been issued for him a couple weeks ago when I was able to access the warrant list. It then prompted me to remember I had actually been in that building before.
Farmersville. Yep, it's a real place, and it's the only place I've ever seen a sulky store. It's also the only reason I now know what a sulky is. The store was festively decorated for Christmas with a horse drawn Christmas sulky. The shadow from the sign of the racing horse is what caught my attention.
It was a stiff 27 degrees and I accidentally packed my rain parka instead of my winter coat for this one. This is NOT the sharpest or most beautiful shot I got of these UFOs, but I'll tell you why this one is still the best shot I got. I set up my tripod and was fiddling with my camera settings with my cold clumsy fingers. The door to the UFO opened as the stairs lowered, exposing an eerie green light from inside the ship. My camera settings were not correct - but I began shooting because an alien exited the UFO! It's strange how similar the alien looked to a human person wearing a cloak or robe. The alien spoke very quietly (I could not make out its language or tone) and briefly stood beside the earth car facing me. I could not make out its face or features as I was across the road from it. As quickly as it came out from the UFO, it climbed the stairs again and it and the stairs disappeared into the ship and I did not see either again.
The alien must have used its technology to disappear from my images. This was the only image I got still showing the UFO door open. What a close escape I made! Still the coldest alien encounter I've ever experienced.
Now that I think of it, perhaps this wouldn't be a proper UFO image unless it WAS a bit blurry. So there you have it- a bona fide extraterrestrial encounter.
I love old timey lettering, and the fact that this barn is labelled "THE ISLAND" is very curious. When I first saw this scene, I imagined it as a scene in a thriller movie with the main character in the driver seat of the truck. They found themselves to be a sitting duck with those two (?) flat tires and the enveloping darkness closing in.
"Guardians"
This series I originally intended as one photograph. I wanted to highlight the lion as the guardian of the bridge on Central Avenue in Franklin. It was around 4 a.m. after my shift and I was trying to do 13 second exposures with no cars or traffic. I then realized the headlights and taillights of traffic looked terrific in the photos. I began shooting the traffic passing through, and one after another, 3 emergency vehicles passed through without lights or sirens activated. I figured they were perhaps on their way to a non-priority call somewhere on the other side of the bridge. I knew as soon as I saw each emergency vehicle pass through, that this series would not only be named "Guardians" for the lion guarding Franklin, but also the first responders working to protect the health and safety of the citizenry, sleeping safely and unaware of the stresses/dangers the guardians face during their shifts.
01 - Taken at 0408 a.m., it was a Franklin Police dodge charger. - note the thin blue line of light reflecting from the cruiser's light bar (above the red/brake light line)
02 - Taken at 0415 a.m., it was a County Sheriff's Ford Explorer. - this also has a small blotch of blue light to the right side of the image from the cruiser's light bar
03 - Taken at 0430 a.m., it was a Joint EMS services ambulance. - the streaks and blobs of light in the top left corner were caused by the street lights and business lights reflecting off the shiny exterior of the side of the ambulance as it passed me.
I waited to see if a fire engine would pass through, but did not have such luck. Then I began to think about dispatchers - and those guardians outside of emergency responders - such as military. Then I thought I'd never get warmed up again and back home if I wanted to photograph every type of guardian. That fact made me happy, and I left content that I was lucky enough to be a guardian, AND see and photograph three types of other guardians at work.
Where to next?
I now bring a tiny camera that fits in my lunchbox pocket with me to work in case I find something that needs photographed. If I do find something I want to photograph more intensely, I can plan to bring my professional gear with me on the following shift.
I still do not miss driving the interstate to work - and I now do it only when I'm concerned for the weather/icy roads or night time deer encounters.
Please leave a Facebook comment about your favorite "everyday" thing you find beautiful! Or, if you are a Preble County fan, leave me more ideas to photograph on my adventures before/after work!
