Sunday, February 19, 2012

Covered Bridge, Switzer, Kentucky!


When you take a short drive with not a speck of sunlight in the sky, and it is so overcast it surely is 'the dead of winter', you just know you're probably not going to come away with a single decent image. No matter what you're photographing. I had wanted, for quite some time, to drive just east of Frankfort, Kentucky, to a small town, about the size of a four way stop, to photograph the historic Switzer Covered Bridge. And having done so, I found the only photographs from that spur of the moment trip that I felt were usable were several overlooking the entire span of the bridge from the modern day overpass which now stretches across Elkhorn Creek. The reflections of the trees and the bridge on the water was about the only thing that caught my eye of all the images I took.

I dropped one of those images in Paint and gave it just a hint of an oil painting feel in an effort to soften the harsh edges of the bridge. A little warming up didn't hurt either. What transpired was this image I'm posting today. However, I also wanted to post the same image in black and white just to be respectful. I felt it was fitting of this very old, historic, born again covered bridge.

Oops. I'm forgetting the back story. The Switzer Covered Bridge, a Howe truss bridge, was originally built in 1855 and stood for over a century. In 1997, however, a major flash flood swept the entire bridge downstream on the Elkhorn Creek. The Elkhorn, by the way, is more like a river in my opinion. I remembered the story of the bridge's demise when the news broke many years ago. Low and behold, that wasn't the end for this covered bridge, as many historical societies throughout Kentucky offered up funds to procure the bridge from its resting place, further downstream on the Elkhorn, bring it back home, and subsequently restore it.

It has been many years since I visited Switzer. I actually went yesterday to scout where I would like to photograph the bridge on a beautiful sunny, blue sky day, later in the year when the trees are fully green. It's amazing how different angles can give you a totally different take on this bridge. Yesterday after returning home from my drive and having gotten various angles of the bridge I researched any images online I could find from other photographers to narrow down how I would like to photograph the bridge later this year. I hope you enjoy these images as I actually didn't expect to post anything on this trip. ENJOY!

PHOTOGRAPHER'S NOTE: By the way, no, we didn't get a speck of snow here in Louisville from the storm moving across the region overnight as it tracked farther south than originally forecast. There's a cliche here in Louisville that goes something like this . . . "that's the Ohio River Valley for ya." Also, I wanted to extend my sincere thank you to everyone for your comments yesterday on my post about the image from the Lower Falls at Old Man's Cave in Hocking Hills. I really enjoyed reading them last night. If you had any idea how much I enjoy your comments.

BLOG HOUSEKEEPING: If word verification or my spam filter was creating a problem for you when leaving a comment, I googled how to turn it off and did so today. So let me know if it still shows up. Also did you know Google Friend Connect where many people are signed up to follow blogs will be going away in the near future. That is why I went to Linky and downloaded that follower. If you are on the Blogger format, Google Friend Connect is safe for a while. But if you have Typepad or Wordpress I think there will be an issue come up soon. Apparently the blogger community is saying that Linky will replace the Google Friend Connect down the road. Don't you just love the way Google is messing with our lives. Is that progress?

3 comments :

  1. Now you've inspired me to try Paint! Where I once lived in Lancaster County, PA, there were many historic covered bridges. I do like the B & W effect, too. Thank you, thank you for getting rid of word verification!

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  2. PS Wanted to tell you that if you're worried about spam, you can choose to moderate comments. That's what I do - they only get published after I approve them. I don't get much spam, but once in awhile some comes through which I just delete.

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  3. Howe Truss, indeed. The majority of our bridges up here use the Howe Truss. You got the bridge from a great angle. That reflection is perfect.

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