Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Tag Archives: fun stuff


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Talking about scale

I’d been thinking  how to complete the latest assignment over at Scott Thomas’ blog Views Infinitum. Scale is a funny thing, and sometimes I’ve been surprised while looking at photos how little you can really tell about the size of something.  For example, we take so many close up photos of our dogs that it’s hard for everyone else to see how big or small they really are.  But for this assignment I wanted to do something totally different.  So Katie is off the posing hook.

Most of you know I went to the county fair this week. I expected to find some things to photograph at the fair that would show scale.  You know, typical over the top fair stuff.  But out there is one of Michigan’s biggest barns.  I hadn’t thought about the barn when I was considering what to photograph for this assignment, but as I drove by it that evening I knew it was something I should try to capture.

The 14,000 square foot Ellis barn was built in 1848 and used to sit out on our main road next to it’s farm house.  We all drove by it every day and mostly didn’t think about it until the property was sold to a developer for a subdivision.  Then everyone wanted to know what would happen to the structures.  The house was moved toward the back of the property and became part of the new subdivision.  The barn was too huge to move in one piece so it was dismantled in 2004 and rebuilt, board by board, on the Oakland County  fairgrounds.  I hadn’t been to see it in it’s new home before, and I have to say it’s even bigger when you’re up close!

Friday night there were lots of people around to give you some sort of context.  Here’s a shot of the front of the barn.  Can you see the person standing in the doorway?  Or the people sitting under a canopy on the right?  It was difficult to photograph as the sun was going down, shadows were creeping toward the barn, and it was just so darn big!

Here’s a different angle…from the end of the barn, looking up another ramp.

I grew up visiting my grandmother’s farm, hanging out inside barns and I can attest…this is one huge barn!  Perhaps my favorite way of showing the scale of this immense building is to show you the inside.

Even more fascinating than the exhibits inside is the structure itself.  You couldn’t help but stand in awe and gaze up at the giant beams, the height of the roof and the cavernous room that once housed dairy cattle on a working farm.  Thank goodness it was saved, because we won’t see the likes of this again.

And for a more intimate look at scale, do you see the newborn calf curled up underneath his mama?  She’d just given birth to him the day I was at the fair.  I’m sure he didn’t feel all that small to her, but he’s tiny compared to a full grown cow.

I had lots of fun looking for ways to show scale at the county fair.  I hope you enjoyed coming along for the ride!

 

 


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County Fair

One of the favorite summer events growing up was heading to the county fair.   It’s a place that kids get to show off their 4-H projects, be it an animal they raised or a sweater they knit, or fruit they canned.   We’d win ribbons, ride the carnival rides, watch tractor pulls or musical concerts and eat fancy junk food.  Grown ups can ride and eat too;  I think it’s really a place for kids of all ages.

I have fond memories of excitedly deciding which rides to spend my limited amount of tickets on, and checking out the barns where all the animals were, not to mention perusing the other project displays areas, to see if we won any ribbons that year.  Mostly I have memories of lights and colors and sounds and smells.

Well it happens that my tiny little town has the fairgrounds and every year for a week in July we host the county fair.  It’s just a couple miles up the road and though I’ve lived here almost 20 years I’ve never been.  Somehow it comes and goes and I always think I’ll make it next year.

This year I marked my mental calendar and Friday night after work I headed up the hill to the fair.  I got there around 7 and had to park in the far far far away lot, back several farm fields from the fair, but it was a nice walk.

And as I got closer I could hear the sounds of my childhood.  Someone was singing, there were monster trucks roaring, hawkers were selling their wares and people were squealing on the rides.  Awesome!

I took my camera because I thought that maybe I’d find something for Scott’s photography assignment, or maybe Karma’s August photo scavenger hunt. You never know, and the county fair has endless possibilities.  You’ll have to wait to learn how my search for appropriate shots turned out.  I do encourage you to visit their blogs and check out the assignments, because this is just so much fun.

I have a feeling I’ll be sharing more stories of the fair in future blogs.  Stay tuned.  (Remember to click on the photos to make them bigger and easier to see!)