Tips for a Successful Barn Hunt/Photography Expedition

1.  Be Impulsive.  Just go.  Even if you only have an hour.  Just throw your camera in the car and go.  Even if I don't find any great barns, the drive, the music and the hunt are always worth it.  And I always find something to take a picture of.  

2.  Take the Back Roads.  If you're driving down a road with a line painted on it, you're going to miss the good stuff.  And even if you do see something great, there's no possible way you can pull over fast enough to get the shot.  

3.  Sometimes You Have to Get Out of the Car.  I'm a little hesitant to wander outside of my car for various reasons...like grasshoppers.  And I've taken some pretty good shots from the comfort of the passenger seat.  But every now and then it's just a better idea to get out, climb a fence or two, and wander through an abandoned building.   Beware of NO TRESPASSING signs and angry women who are inclined to chase you off their property in their white suburbans.  

4.  Take the Shot.  How many times have I seen something worthy of pulling over for and thought, "Oh, I'll catch it on the way back."  And you know what...I never make it back.  Rarely do those backroads snake around into a circle.  They just lead to another interesting dirt road and another and another until I'm back home.  

5.  Sometimes the Best Shot is Right Under Your Nose.  I often get frustrated that I can't find those big beautiful Cache Valley barns here in Texas.  And there really are no great landscape shots in this non-mountainous area.  But there are lots of wildflowers.  And cows.   And fences.  And what might look like a weed from a distance actually turns out to be a beautiful flower when you get up close to it.  

6.  Use Your Phone.  I don't always have my camera with me when there's something amazing to capture.  But...I do ALWAYS have my phone with me. The thing lives in my hand!  The picture below is my all time favorite.  EVER.  It might be the absolute best shot I've ever gotten.  And I took it with my phone.  From the passenger seat of the car.  

7.  Even the Gloomiest Days Have Something Sunny in Them.  In Texas, I hunt less for barns, and more for beautiful things that make me happy I live on this planet.  And no matter how grey the day or how dark my mood, there's always, always something that makes me glad I made the effort.