Broadside #14929

The Story

The old expression the broadside of a barn came to mind for an image title with this one, but it’s not entirely accurate. What broadside of a barn means is the longer side of a barn, not the end as seen here. But, if you can hit the short side of a barn you’re still an okay shot in my opinion.

This retired dairy barn shot in black and white sits under a wispy summer sky. Way past its dairying days, the cows have all gone home elsewhere and so has the farmer. Now the only residents are a handful of horses.

Being well built, the old barn still stands foursquare and firm along with the cement silo and block milkhouse with a metal roof. However, someone painted it with latex paint that is now peeling off in long strips which gives it a rough appearance. Stain or oil paint works best on barns and outbuildings. Just ask any farmer or the Mail Pouch people.

The ventilation louvers on this barn are notable and a little more elaborate than usual. They look like shuttered windows and are capped with fancier trim headers in a rhythm of three. The peaked header above the large upper window is more than I’ve seen on any barn before. And I’ve never seen a window up there on a barn before, it’s usually more louvers for ventilation.

The infrared photo makes those high flying fair-weather clouds really stand out and they seem to trail like smoke. Infrared can make the most of a good sky and I really enjoy the added effect on a picture. Interestingly, infrared makes blue skies go black and the white clouds show up in better detail.

If you’d like to see a nice color version of this barn, have a look at Red White And Blue #14922. You can really see the peeling latex paint in that one.

Location: outside Thurmont, Frederick County, Maryland. Picture and story © Andrew Dierks