Thursday, April 17, 2008

Farm Shots

I'm somewhat back on local time here in Okinawa. I've been editing and working on photos I took in Ohio, both of the Bowman Family Farm and the family members themselves.

Craig's grandparents had a cattle farm in the outskirts of rural Magnolia, Ohio. It has been in the family for nearly 200 years. I said "had" because next week there will be an auction, and the farm has been sold. Most of it, anyway. Craig's uncles and aunt who are still around inherited some land and a couple of them live there in homes now. But the main farmhouse and the working part of the farm will no longer be in the family.

In a way, I'm happy Craig, Mia & I got to visit one last time. This will not be a gathering place for the family anymore. Craig and his brother and sister grew up on this farm, helping to sell Christmas trees, raise the cattle, and of course play and enjoy the amazing time that is outdoor farm life in Ohio. It's a piece of them. And I was glad to take photographs of this keystone in Bowman family history. Below are a few, the full set is here on my flickr site if you care to see it. I obviously didn't put it in any Okinawa groups because the subject matter is different. Family pictures are still to come - these had to be done first so that I could mail out a photo book to the uncles, aunt, and siblings as soon as I could put it together. The pictures in the flickr set are in the book which I purchased from the reliable Apple company.




My favorite pages of the book are two facing pages that have smaller pictures of the details. Here are a couple of my favorites.
I also LOVED this old Ford truck they had on the grounds. This color is amazing, isn't it?


As for Okinawa happenings, well- let's see. Mia's in school and very happy about it. I'll be signing Mia up for some piano lessons soon at the Sunset Music School. Craig went back to work today. We're hopefully going to unload an Air Asia voucher we have for about $275 to someone who might want it (anyone? I'll give you a deal!). And we'll also hopefully plan some kind of family getaway for fun since we had to cancel our Thailand trip.

Summer's comin' - it's getting a little warmer here for sure. At least it's more gradual this time. When we arrived in June last year it was like a smack in the face! Ok - more soon, photos & otherwise. I missed you!

5 comments:

NickA13 said...

Love those pics!

Also, here is another good way to make books. Not sure how it compares, but their layout software is pretty cool.

Rachel said...

Wow, I love the detail shots. I'm glad you guys made it back safe and sound.

erniesbudolab said...

Those are truly inspiring pictures. You're very clever with depth of field as well as composing a narrative of the family farm. I wish I could spend more time traveling so I cound spend more time behind the lens (and field record audio, too).

.E. said...

what a beautiful farm.. I want a farm someday..

Suwanee said...

Aviva,
These photos are incredible. My hubby's grand mom also have a farm in WI. When I explored it last year with my camera, I never look at farms the same way again! There's something romantic and timeless about American farms and your photos are nothing short of amazing! I've missed you and welcome back.
Suwanee