Antiques

Enjoyed a shoot with the Cache Valley Photographers, yesterday. What a great bunch of folks they are! everyone has a different perspective, and a different skill level, and a different set of passions. The skill level doesn't even matter when you're together with them because an image the gal standing next to me--hunched over her tripod, squinting through her viewfinder--is making ends up being absolutely different from mine. Her subject, framing, lens choice, depth of field, perspective, even white balance choice make such a different image from mine, that it's like we aren't even at the same location when compare pictures later. Take these images made yesterday, for instance: it's like looking at another place when I view others' pictures. By the way, it's free to join this terrific bunch, so sign up while you're there.

Yesterday we toured the northern reaches of Cache Valley to see some really wonderful vistas and some very striking historic barns. We had three barns on the schedule, but I could literally spend three days at the first one alone. The fellow who owns the place, Wes, is 95 years old, and has lived there for ages. He has a terrific barn, and a few sheds, as well as an amazing home. All of it is in good condition...just old. 

And well used.

The patina that Wes' place naturally has couldn't be copied by the best in Hollywood. They should come here to learn what a working barn really looks like. Everything is in just the right place.

The only things newer than about fifty years on the whole property were the Dodge in the barn ('86, I think) the TV, and the satellite dish on the front porch (when analog broadcasting was discontinued last year, his neighbors convinced him he'd like it; and as I understand it, ESPN is on pretty much constantly).

Even Wes, himself, just belongs there. His look and attitude are precisely what you imagine when you think of lost agricultural heritage of the American West.

 Wes was kind enough to allow us to thank him for letting us come, and let us take a few pictures of him (lemee think here...16 photographers...82 pictures each...carry the 4...yeah, we took a few).

He enjoyed us enjoying the barn just fine; but he couldn't understand why we'd want to waste the expense of film on him. I showed the pictures on the back of my camera, and explained that there was no additional cost by taking his picture...

...he just snickered, and excused himself. The game was just coming on, you see.

Go Yanks.