#cooperroad

What Photos Can I Find In Winter?

The photo above is a good representation of what you might find in the winter. This photo was taken from the right-of-way on Cooper Road. The barn is part of the active farm and may have implements and machinery around it.

The old farmhouse is abandoned and has frequently been broken into by scrappers, people looking for a way out of the weather, and photographers looking for their next IG photo. It is now boarded up and covered in poison ivy.

The barn looks great no matter which angle you shoot it from. It’s an unusual shape with a slightly faded red roof and recently painted white exterior. It is weathered but sturdy.

Suggest when an afternoon snowstorm is in the forecast that you go to the farm at sunrise for a photo. Mark your location with a stick in the ground. After the snowstorm, go back, find your stick in the snow, and shoot the same photo. This might take several snowstorms to accomplish as the sunrise might not be very photographic and the storm might not yield a dramatic change.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t fill a memory card with snow photos from the farm. Shoot away.

Also, look for stands of wildflower stalks and weed stems. They can be effective foreground objects with the barn and house as background.

A moderate zoom lens will let you compose to eliminate clutter and objects that don’t contribute to telling the photo’s story. It may be that a wide-angle shot of the stalks and stems that includes a moody sky marking the gloom of winter is going to work best. Don’t expect to get all of these photos in one trip.

Look for Red-tail and Cooper hawks, coyote, deer, fox, rabbit, groundhog, and field mice.

Two areas of the farm were recently developed. A large section along the bike path near Alum Creek is now covered with an apartment complex. Another section in the corner of the field across Cooper Road from the apartment complex is now multi-story senior housing.

Trespassing

All of the farm and the two buildings are private property. Ohio law prohibits trespassing on private property, even if signs are not posted. You will be asked to leave. You might get a trespass warning which means you will get a trespass citation if you violate the warning. That may be a criminal citation.

Trespassing Rule: Don’t.

If you do and are asked to leave, leave quietly, without discussion. After you’re off the property you can then begin to explain your purpose for making photos, what you intend to do with them, and ask permission or ask how to get permission.