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Vanishing Vermont Historic Barns
The estimated number of historic Vermont barns is 12,000 or so but nearly 1,000 of these barns are lost each decade. Some say four historic Vermont barns collapse every week. Then there are those lost to fire, vandals, development or simple neglect.
Photographing Vermont Historic Barns - Challenges
Photographing classic barns in Vermont presents a number of challenges to the photographer:
Finding Them - There are some online guides to famous spots around the state where you can stand tripod to tripod with fellow photography buffs, otherwise you need to drive around and hope you come upon one. My favorite trick it to get lost and let my GPS lead me home, where hopefully I come across a hidden gem. More on this later.
Parking - I prefer to walk when I photograph so I can take in details but when one is barn hunting this is difficult since farmland is not necessarily compact! Vermont roads, especially those in rural areas, are often compacted gravel with ditches on either side. They typically have no shoulder at all so it can be extremely hard to find a place to park.
Things that can hurt you - You have to be careful when setting up your shot. Bulls with horns, barbed wire, electric fences, old well holes, steep ditches, poison ivy, ticks can all ruin your day.
Weather - New England weather can be tricky. Overcast days are nearly the norm in the fall seasons when one most wants to be out photographing the autumn foliage. Mornings can be foggy and in the mountains, the morning sun can be late raising and quickly setting.
Historic Vermont barns come in a variety of flavors. Whitewashed, stained, weathered gray and my favorite "bright barn red". The classic bright red barn stands out nicely against fields of green or snow covered fields.
Why are barns red? According to Grit Magazine:
Early 18th-century bridges and barns went unpainted. The right wood in the right place, it was discovered, needed no paint. Even houses in the earliest settlements were not painted. To paint the barn would have been viewed not only as extravagant, but vulgar and showy.
However, by the late 1700s, the art of wood seasoning gave way to the art of artificial preservation. Virginia farmers were the first to become paint-conscious. In Pennsylvania, the Dutch settlements latched on to the custom of red bricks, red barns, red geraniums, even reddish-brown cows. When a Pennsylvania Dutch farmer added big ornamental designs to barns, “just for luck,” he was accused of designing a hex sign to frighten the devil. Many old-timers sneered at their neighbors’ newly painted barns and accused them of copying “those superstitious Germans of Pennsylvania.”
But color caught on. Inasmuch as ready-made paint was not available, a farmer mixed his own. He discovered that skimmed milk, lime and red iron oxide made a plastic-like coating that hardened quickly and lasted for years. Occasionally, it hardened too well and peeled off in sheets. Linseed oil was subsequently added to the recipe to provide the necessary soaking quality. Thus American “barn red” was born. It came into being through function and utility, rather than decor or superstition. It was soon discovered that the red barn color was warmer in winter since it absorbed the sun’s rays.
Read more: http://www.grit.com/Community/Why-Are-Barns-Red.aspx?page=2#ixzz2AFnzpHJe
Back to Photographing Vermont Barns
Driving around the back road of Vermont, be sure to have a GPS unit, a good map, food, water, a spare tire, a cell phone etc. I'm not kidding! A GPS unit will take you on the most unimaginable back roads. The road system in Vermont is significantly rural with unpaved secondary roads the norm.
Once I followed the sweet voice of my GPS unit up a mountain, through a heavily wooded forest on a dirt road with ditches and either side and only enough room for a single car. For five miles I couldn't turn around and prayed that no one started coming in the other direction. Finally to my relief, I popped out in downtown Woodstock. Vermont is also the most unpopulated state in the country so you can't always count on a fellow human being to help you out if you get into trouble and there is spotty cell phone coverage so be prepared for anything!
Tips for Photographing Vermont Barns
The Magic Hour - There is a special time of day called the Magic Hour, also known as the Golden Hour, when the angle of light is low and the sun gives off a warm glow. It occurs one hour after sunrise and one hour before sunset.
Bring an assortment of lens - wide angle for capturing the whole scene and a telephoto for zooming in on details.
Tripod - You may feel that fast shutter speeds take away the need for a tripods but a tripod will allow you to use smaller apertures for deep depth of field in landscapes and I find a tripod helps to slow the process down so you can concentrate composition. Plus if its freezing cold your shaking won't blur the picture!
Polarizing filter - Early on in my landscape photos I was getting dull colors. It drove me crazy when I got back to the computer and the photos were kind of washed out. A polarizing filter will help combat haze that dulls colors. Its like sunglasses for your camera.
Copyright by Edward Fielding
Cameras used Panasonic G2 & G3 Micro Four Thirds bodies and lens.
