Tag Archives: Louisville

Not a professional photographer: Shapes and angles

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I like taking pictures, with my iPhone and my digital camera, although I don’t have really expensive equipment or much formal training.

I love taking pictures of lonely spots, places only sparsely populated at the time I’m there, and among my favorite pictures in those moments are those that emphasize angles and shapes, either architectural or natural or created by light and shadow.

One of my favorite photo opportunities came during a 2009 tour of the former BorgWarner automotive plant here in Muncie, Indiana. The plant had closed just a few months before and equipment, tools and other bits and pieces of the plant’s history were being sold off.

The photo above is one of my favorites, of the cavernous interior of the million-square-foot plant.

Above is a selection of fans that, for decades, cooled workers in the stifling factory.

Another work-related assignment led me to take pictures in the soon-to-be-renovated Canopic Apartments in downtown Muncie. I was really intrigued by the light well at the center of the apartment building.

Nature-made shapes can be cool. (Heh.)

Then there’s the modern-style stained glass windows at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Louisville.

Lastly, two photos I took today with my iPhone.

They’re of the bell tower at Ball State University here in Muncie.

Falls of the Ohio

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One of the best things about a trip to the Louisville area is on the Indiana side of the Ohio River: The Falls of the Ohio State Park.

If you’ve never been, it’s more than worth a visit. Remember learning about trilobites in science class? Well, thousands of the fossilized marine creatures are embedded in the rocky floor of the falls area. The nearly-400-million-year-old fossil beds are the main attraction of the park.

Depending on the time of year and level of the river — which is usually held back by a 30-foot dam — visitors can walk far out onto the floor of the falls.

When I was there for a visit last fall, the river level was low and you could very nearly walk out to the dam. This week, the water level was quite high and the water was rolling violently.

The effects of the variable water level are obvious in the photo below. High above the water level we found this week were piles and piles of driftwood that had washed up onto the banks.

While the fossil beds are cool and the raging waters were impressive, one of the best reasons to go to the Falls of the Ohio is the peace and beauty of being close to nature — but still close to civilization, with New Albany on the Indiana side and Louisville on the Kentucky side.

Here’s the website for the DNR park if you want to explore further.

(Photos with this blog were taken by me in October 2011.)