A recently developed passion of mine is drive-by shooting, and our home state of Ohio offers some great locations in which to pursue this activity. No, I clearly am not referring to shootings of the ghetto gangbanger variety. My own version is quite the opposite, and involves peaceful drives through the countryside, armed only with a camera.
Ohio has some terrific cities, including Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati, all connected by stretches of interstate that make it quick and easy to get from one place to another. However, one need drive only a few miles outside any of those urban centers and then exit the highway to discover a completely different world. Ribbons of country roads twist and turn their way throughout the state, and a leisurely cruise along any of these byways provides a wonderful glimpse into another era, when a rural lifestyle was the norm and tiny country towns thrived.
A drive along those back roads reveals that the countryside of Ohio is dotted with covered bridges, antique brick churches and schoolhouses, century-old farm homes and rustic barns. To my eye, any such quaint relic of the past presents a charming country still life that deserves to be preserved on film (or a digital memory card, as the case may be).
Scott and I have spent a couple of Sunday afternoons this summer taking country drives, enjoying the scenery and the fun of searching out cool things to photograph. We are definitely fascinated by the character and charm of aging rural structures, but also delight in the beauty of the simplest things we regularly come across while driving Ohio's country routes.
Be it bright orange day lilies or creamy Queen Anne's Lace growing wild alongside the road in summertime, the gleaming white stone monuments of a historic settlement cemetery, or a rusting vintage tractor sitting in front of a dilapidated and vine covered shed, we thrill in the discovery of each new visual treasure. After admiring such things for years while driving by, we now stop to document them.
Scott takes the wheel on our drives and, whenever we spot something that strikes our fancy, he pulls over and then I shoot. We find it relaxing and fun, it costs next to nothing, and we have an increasingly good collection of some really unique photographs as a result. A few of our favorites follow.
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