The Barn Series - Day 8 - Shaker Village

After taking a few days off from The Barn Series, here we are still in the great state of Kentucky at Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill. This historic village originated in 1807 and closed in 1922. It is just southeast of Lexington in central Kentucky. Shakers were celibate, believed in equality of race and sex, and freedom from prejudice.

They called themselves the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, but because of their ecstatic dancing the world called them the Shakers. The Shakers were celibate, never married or bore children, yet they were the most enduring religious experiment in American history. You can read more about the Shakers by clicking on this link Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill.

Today Shaker Village is a registered National Historic Landmark and is a very popular tourist attraction. When you visit the village, you will find several large houses, barns and sheds, with animals grazing and organic crops growing in the fields. There are hiking trails and a lake in the village as well. The Shakers built over 250 structures.

These images were taken with a very old Fuji DSLR that was not very high end, but I wanted to share the Shaker Village images because it is such a special place. The Shakers that settled this village originated from one of the many Shaker villages in New York and New England in the early 1800's.

I really would love to visit during the Summer months and take in more of the property at Shaker Village. I can't say where we will be tomorrow, but I hope to come back with another posting. Stay tuned. ENJOY!

Sheep, Shaker Village!

Have a great weekend everyone. We're expecting snow here Saturday night. ENJOY!

Composition in Photography!

It's 2012. No disputing that. This is a new year and one of my best images from this new year is this image I chose to share with you on this Sunday. This beautiful black barn that sits adjacent to the gardens at Shaker Village. You've seen this barn in a previous post. There's nothing new there, but that isn't why I'm showing you this particular image today.

You see there are countless ways for a photographer to share their photographs. I've used a number of them recently to show how one might posterize it, stylize it, ink sketch it. Yet when you have the right composition and the greatest clarity, you need nothing more. Nothing. Every time I would cursor past this image in my database, one thought kept springing to mind. Composition.

So walk through that open gate. It's welcoming you into the gardens and step inside. Step inside this composition because that's what this photographer hopes you'll find yourself doing in your mind's eye. Because if a photographer can get you to engage in the scene and participate in the setting, then the composition is perfect and you need nothing more. There's that word again, nothing. And keep something in mind today as you read this, I'm not being egotistical at all. I'm being a good photographer. ENJOY!

Barn, Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill!

There are several black barns at Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill. And they are really nice structures. I really liked the original image of this barn but wanted to see if I could replicate the effect I gave the old barn from an earlier post this week. So I gave it a shot. I don't think it's as vintage looking only because this barn is not as vintage looking. Yet I still like it. We've got lovely rain and fog here today. I hope tomorrow is better. I'm not big on shooting in the fog but I just might try it to see what comes out of it. Have a great weekend everyone. ENJOY!

Sheep Grazing, Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill!

It wasn't easy getting a good photo of the sheep grazing in the Corn Bin at Shaker Village last weekend. First there was this horrible looking sheep pen in the background of all of the images. Then there was this mad donkey running around like a "mad donkey". So I chose these three images, cropped in, then I posterized, added a vignette and then softened each one. The effect was a little nicer than the actual images. I hope you agree. TGIF is coming. YEAH! ENJOY!

Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill, Kentucky!

It was a windy cold day today, but I decided not to let that stop me from taking a drive. I did my usual route through the Bluegrass Region north of Lexington and then decided to drive south of Lexington to check out Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill.

Shaker Village is America's largest restored Shaker community and a National Historic Landmark with 34 buildings and 3000+ acres. It's only a few miles south of Lexington and the drive takes you through the some beautiful country. I shot this image of one of the windows of one of the brightly colored painted houses scattered around the village.

The village is so neat and clean, but I believe that is the Shaker way of life.

I walked across the lawn of one of the homes to get a photo of this black barn sitting across the field. To this day, they still grow vegetables on the farm that they serve in the Inn and dining room.

Shaker Village is a pretty cool place to visit. There's lots of hiking trails in the nature preserve. I have to get back here when I have more time. I have more photos I'll share later this week. Hope your weekend is going well. ENJOY!