Saturday, October 29, 2016

Fields, Farms, and Other Stuff

I’ve been incredibly tense lately, for various reasons. 

One way to reduce tension is to:
           
Keep Calm 
and

This is the blog of a fellow student in my photography class.   His mission: to explore back roads, to seek out American life and civilization, to boldly go off the superhighway.  The Common Household has taken a back road sometimes, and it was well worth it each time.

Last weekend, my son and I drove via the Pennsylvania Turnpike and interstate highways to Maryland, completely disobeying the advice of TakeBackRoads.com.  Many is the time I have made this trip to visit my mother and aunt (which I could practically drive in my sleep) while wishing I had made the time to get off the highway and see some local things:  Big Pool, Fort Frederick State Park, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Park, the Sept 11 memorial at Shanksville, PA, and that pie shop in Hancock, MD, to name a few. 

But Son had a limited time for his fall break from college, so we were in a rush.  The truth is that the weather and road construction were so horrible on the trip there that we probably would have made the trip in the same amount of time if we had taken back roads. 

On the way back, because my son was doing some of the driving, I had a chance to take photos.  So I here present to you: 

Fields, Farms, and Other Stuff You Can See

On the PA Turnpike

(Western Third)
            Twenty-one photos



What you won’t see:  covered bridges, quaint shops, family-owned restaurants, waterfalls, wooded glens, state parks.  

Please click on photos to embiggen them for optimal viewing.


Fields and Farm Buildings


Autumn fields and a few horses grazing (if you look closely)

Extensive farm buildings

White farm building and silos

Large farm building and a few cows

Old and new building


Old building
Red building
New and red buildings



Moo cows


On the road and Over the road:

Tire skid marks
Road construction.  It looked like they were just measuring things.

Driver silhouette (that's me; photo taken by Son)

Trucks of all shapes and sizes.
I think those double-trailer trucks should be outlawed,
but then they probably have carried packages for me.

Hiking trail overhead

Other Stuff:

Old railroad bridge

I'm pretty sure this is a strip-mining operation.
Seen in Somerset County.
Windmills generating power in Somerset County

Many, many mountains and trees

Special effects photos:

Solar panels on a house roof.
Photo was taken on camera effect setting called "color sketch"
in which the camera pretends it is an artist.


Taken on camera effect setting "Supervivid"
in which camera pretends the reds and blues are
what we really want to see.

Sunlight and cloud shadows.
Taken on camera effect setting "Supervivid"


I am almost embarrassed to tell you that I have taken a photography class and then show you these photos.  It was difficult taking photos while flying along on the turnpike!  Another reason to take back roads....




6 comments:

JJ said...

Love the photos! Good composition!

Kathy said...

It doesn't look as beautiful when I am driving it.

Cassi said...

Actually, I was just thinking what great compositions they are, and wondering how you managed that from a car! Great photos :-) I'd say your class is paying off.

The Crislers said...

Such beautiful photos! I have driven through Pennsylvania a grand total of two (2) times, but from what I remember you captured it well. The farm shots are probably my favorites, along with that final photo, and the "moo cows" caption made me snort.

Strip mining, wow. Southeast Kansas, where my mom is from and where I went to college, is full of former strip mines, and it's taking the land a long time to recover.

I love that you're taking a photography class, and that you're sharing the fruits of your knowledge with us.

Karen (formerly kcinnova) said...

But I *do* want to see the reds and blues! It's a treat to see all those farm buildings in use instead of being allowed to rot in place like so many out here. (My husband tells me that is because they no longer need many scattered buildings, but it makes me sad nonetheless.)
Please take those side roads someday soon -- says the woman who is usually in a hurry on those drives, too.

Patience_Crabstick said...

Very nice photos!
I have driven on the PA Turnpike many, many times from Breezewood - Pittsburgh over the past twenty years, and there has never once - not once! - been a time when there wasn't construction on the turnpike.