One famous barn

A couple of months ago, I was in the Big Sandy Superstore Arena in downtown Huntington WV covering the Create West Virginia conference. There were several banners attached to the bleachers, including this one.

As I stared at the photo, I wondered if this particular barn is the most photographed barn in West Virginia. It's along West Virginia Route 2 along the Ohio River a few miles north of the Robert C. Byrd Locks and Dam, nee Gallipolis Locks and Dam. With the CSX track in the foreground and lush, level land in the background, it's an easy shot, assuming you can find a place to park your car.

I've seen pictures of this barn on Flickr, and I've seen it on at least one Web site devoted to cataloging locations of Mail Pouch barns. And when there's Art in the Park in Huntington, there's often a photographer trying to sell a picture of  this barn.

Here are three pics I've taken of the same barn in the past couple of years.

First, in the rain on July 4, 2008.

A nice fall day later that year.

And in the morning fog this past September.

Playing with black and white

This is the time of year I call "retreat from the river." The weather turns cold and wet, and the sandy river banks turn to slippery mud. I just don't get down to the river as much this time of year as I don in spring and summer. That describes the weather here in the Huntington WV area this week, so I dug into my summer archives and found a few pictures to play with. I converted them all from color to black-and-white, and then, in some cases, played with the controls to make a semi-artsy image.

First, the mv. AEP Mariner as it came downriver toward Huntington this summer.

Next. the mv. Speedway of Marathon Petroleum. As I worked on this image -- it took some time, as I did a lot of stuff that left me far less than satisifed -- I came up with this one, which I like much better than the original color image.

This is the U.S. Grant Bridge at Portsmouth OH, seen from a boat ramp a little ways upstream. I like how the ridge behind the bridge is at about the same level as the bridge roadway. The next time I try this shot, I'll see if I can get them lined up better.

And here's one of the Huntington East End bridge. I've done several images in black and white with pleasing results, but this one leaves me cold. It just didn't work. Oh well.