Tony and I returned from a whirlwind of a trip to Ohio just a couple days ago. We left Michigan on Thursday afternoon, and arrived in eastern Ohio some twelve hours later – more than 90 minutes longer than expected. Not an easy journey thanks to never-ending construction on I-75.
I was the photographer for my cousin’s wedding – something I had committed to last year, and then immediately began second-guessing myself. Tony stepped in as my second shooter and assistant, and while I have barely peeked at his shots, I cannot thank him enough for his help. He claims to be antisocial, but he was so gracious and thoughtful the whole evening. It really helped with my stress and made things go more smoothly for me 🙂
We left the Wheeling area Saturday around lunch, and headed to visit our more immediate family in southwestern Ohio. Though they are 500 miles south of us, their fall is further along than ours, I suspect thanks to a dry season and some serious wind.
I had looked forward to kind of an extended fall, but instead I got a preview of what November will soon bring us. Regardless of the bare trees, the leaves on the ground provided ample beauty – enough to make it so that Mom and I didn’t regret our now-traditional hike back to the “falls” at Fallsville.
We didn’t get to see much of Tony’s siblings, but I managed a fun dinner with my sister’s family, and lunch at school with one of my nephews. And since my brother lives in between our parents’ houses, we squeezed in a visit to catch up with him.
My roots, where my dad and brother go to work each day
The whole trip, I looked and looked for farm country photo opportunities – something to memorialize the area in which I was raised. I took and trashed a few photos, but got lucky our last night in Ohio with a surprise storm. This isn’t my parents’ farm, but it’s one I see every time I’m in the area, so it still says “home” to me.
It’s been fun catching back up with all of you! I’ll be checking in on your blogs and such over the coming days…in between the hundreds of photos from Monica and Chad’s wedding 🙂
Oh! And there’s a chance that we’ll be getting a contingency offer on our house – I’ll keep you posted!
Adventures in Michigan's Up North 
So often in farm country it’s the sky that makes the shot isn’t it! Did you process these? Love all of them of course…really really like that last one. And of course the wedding shots are wonderful. Congratulations to the newlyweds!
I agree completely about the skies! I like the ground scenery, but without something overhead, the images can be really flat.
I have to “process” all my photos, since I shoot in raw. I develop each of them with an eye for contrast and realism.
Chad and Monica were so incredibly happy! (Chad was a total wreck before the ceremony – got some good “first look” shots 🙂 )
I admire your courage for doing a wedding. The photo of your family farm is beautiful. Because we grew up in farm country in MI, farming scenes feed my soul, just as you said. I am always looking for how to capture the beauty of barns and fields. You did these so very well – but I think they always require a lot of deleted photos. There are so many things like scent and sounds that make the scenes that the camera doesn’t include. We need scratch and smell farm photos. 🙂
I’m not sure I’d shoot many weddings for people I don’t know and love. I might… But man is it a lot of work. I have So.Many.Photos to work with now…
Farmland can be tough to capture. Seems like not many photos really get the spirit. I *so* wanted my dad to be out running beans, but they weren’t dry enough just yet. Having grown up on a hog farm, I think it might be best that we don’t have scratch-n-sniff photos 😉
LOL
What is it about Mother Nature’s fall litter that’s so appealing? Perhaps that childhood desire to roll in a pile of leaves? Your autumn skies are incredible, making me torn between standing and admiring them and running for cover.
Childhood desire? Sometimes I *still* roll in them! And I certainly kick them around like a child 🙂
Those skies were incredible. Glad I grabbed the photos when I did. We got to Tony’s parents shortly after, and the clouds spilled their innards upon us. Overflowed the gutters for a bit! Not much else by way of angry storms, though, so no complaints.
Great stuff. Sounds like you all had a great day. You are right, the land certainly needs the sky to make it look right.
🙂
I suppose there isn’t much of a horizon without it 😉
Love that last image 🙂 fingers crossed on that offer!!
Indeed! We could be almost-neighbors soon 🙂