Bicentennial Barn
The first of 12 barns to be painted with the Niagara country bicentennial logo, the 30-by-50-foot front half of the Sweeney barn dates to the 1840s. It currently houses a dairy herd-it’s a wonderful thing that the county chose a working farm for the first barn to be painted. As the painting is completed, we will be driving out to each barn to photograph it-it would be great if each barn chosen was still in use! We were a little disappointed that the logo being painted on the barns is really just the falls and doesn’t take into account the rest of the county’s heritage. Although Niagara Falls is certainly the most well known part of Niagara County, there are many other historic and interesting parts to is. At the south. there is North Tonawanda, once the largest lumber port in the world. It is bordered on it’s south end by the Erie Canal, and is home to the famous Herschell Carrousel factory. At the north of the county, there is Youngstown-home to the historic Old Fort Niagara, which dates back to the 1700’s. In between, there are many wonderful little towns like Wilson, Lewiston and Hartland-as well as acres of grapes, apples, peaches and other crops. If you’d like to bring some of this unique Niagara County heritage into your home or office, click on the photo above or follow this link to our Americana and Rustic Country section in our shop: http://www.cafepress.com/photographz/2633112.
Eternal Flame Falls
This unique and unusual photograph is of a natural phenomenon known as the Eternal Flame Falls. Located in Shale Creek Preserve in Orchard Park New York, this naturally occurring flame behind a waterfall is the result of a small natural gas leak. The day we visited the water was pretty low due to a dry spring, but the flame was high enough to touch the top of it’s cavern. It is about a 1 mile hike into the park and up the creek bed to get to the falls-but it’s well worth the walk to view this amazing site. We have heard that there are times the flame goes out, however it’s usually relit by a hiker with a match or lighter. There are several natural gas wells in the area, so it’s no surprise to find a leak or two that has reached the surface-it is rather unusual to find one behind a waterfall! If you’d like to add this unique sight to your home or office decor, click the photograph above or follow this link to the Scenic Photography section of our shop: .http://www.cafepress.com/photographz/2633138
Garden Cherub
This adorable little cherub was found relaxing in a garden filled with irises and chives. A traditional garden statue, cherubs can be found sharing space with gnomes and flowering plants in gardens everywhere. This little guy would make a great addition to any home or office-or a super gift for a hard to buy for gardener! You can take him home on framed prints, a mousepad or journal-even coasters and tote bags! To purchase any of our great products featuring this cute photograph, click the photo above or follow this link to our Garden Photography section in our shop: http://www.cafepress.com/photographz/2725638.
Another Barn
I have loved this farm for years-as a kid, we used to go fishing nearby, and I always looked forward to seeing this farm when we drove by. It’s on a nearly 90 degree bend in a road, so it makes a grand statement when you come around the corner! This is a working farm and bed and breakfast. It’s nice to see that some of the original barns and farms in western New York are still in use today! If you’d like to add this beautifully kept barn to your home or office decor, click on the photograph above or visit our Americana and Rustic Country section in our photography shop here: http://www.cafepress.com/photographz/2633112 .
Log Cabins
This log cabin is located in Wilson New York. These historic structures once dotted the American landscape as people moved west and into areas where building with clapboards and cut joists wasn’t feasible. Easily constructed from trees harvested on a homesteader’s land, they became icons of American history. While log cabins are still popular in wooded areas as a traditional styled home, they are grown quite a bit from the early one or two room structures to extravagant homes. If you’d like to decorate your home or office with the simple beauty of an original log home, click the photograph above or follow this link to our rustic country & Americana section in our photography shop: http://www.cafepress.com/photographz/2633112 .
Norwegian Fjords
These beautiful tan horses are among the oldest breeds in existence. Directly descended from the Tarpan horse, the ancestors of the Fjords can be seen in cave paintings! The hard working Fjord makes a good light draft horse, although they can be a bit on the stubborn side. Their size makes them more manageable than the larger draft breeds, such as Clydesdales. Our photograph was taken at a farm festival, and the team shown was working in a field along side much larger horses, turning the soil with ease. Available on a variety of items from mousepads to framed prints, it makes a great gift for horse lovers or anyone that likes a bit of country in their decor! Click the above photograph for items featuring that image, or follow this link to our Farm Animals section featuring more horse photos: http://www.cafepress.com/photographz/2979606 . Or, visit our country & Americana section for draft horses at work in the field: http://www.cafepress.com/photographz/2633112 .
Antique and Vintage Tractors
Tractor shows, farm festivals and pulls all stand to show that even though times change and the vintage tractors might be gone from the fields they are certainly not forgotten! The evolution from horse to tractor was huge-but the changes in the tractors themselves is amazing. These tractor
photographs are symbolic of the machines that many associate with country living, simpler times and open lands. As farms turn into subdivisions, antique tractors become lawn ornaments on the land they once worked. Bring home a bit nostalgia today with one of our vintage tractor photographs!
Click on one of the photos above to view items featuring that specific image, or follow this link to view our Rustic Country and Americana section which features several tractors as well as other rustic country images: http://www.cafepress.com/photographz/2633112 .
Swan on a Lake
The beauty of the white swan has been immortalized in plays, poems, even children’s stories. A symbol of love, it’s the bird of choice for “tunnel of love” rides everywhere. Their grace and beauty are a favorite of artists and photographers the world over. They truly are a beautiful sight when they glide through blue water as they go about their daily activities. We’ve been lucky enough to capture two swans with our lens and you can share their wild beauty too by adding one of our photographic products to your home or office. We also have them available on ornaments that make beautiful and unique wedding keepsakes! To look thought the available products that include prints, posters and mousepads, click on the photographs or follow this link to the wildlife section in our shop: http://www.cafepress.com/photographz/2633146
Americana Style
Searching the word Americana online can bring a wide variety of results-from music to decor. What is Americana decor? It’s a blend of country, rustic, and things that make people think of early America and being patriotic. Americana usually incorporates the US flag (either in it’s current 50 state form, or earlier versions from the American past). It also is signified by simpler art styles like painted wood and hand crafted pieces, as well as things associated with Early America and farming. Barns, antique tractors, milk cans-all features of an Americana decor. If you’d like to decorate your home or add to your existing decor, check out our Americana photography section in our shop here http://www.cafepress.com/photographz/2633112 or click on one of the photographs above to see those specific designs. Americana decor also makes great temporary decorations for days like Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. Our photographs are available not only on framed prints and posters, but on things you can use to celebrate in style-like t-shirts, mousepads, journals and coasters.
Barns-An American Icon
Once these huge wooden structures dotted the rural landscape of a preindustrial America. Now, fewer and fewer of the original wood barns remain. Used for animals, equipment and food storage as well as early billboards, they were an important part of life on a farm. Many of the early barns are built of hand hewn lumber-some beams even have the bark left on (cosmetics weren’t important here). These iconic structures are falling victim to wood boring powder post beetles, carpenter ants, rot from water infiltration in cases of neglect-and progress as former farmland is turned into house developments. Even farms that remain in use are replacing the old drafty structures with newer steel ones. Some places have begun grass roots efforts to save the salvageable barns before they are gone for good-and some have decided to at least save them in photographic records if they can’t save the structure. Barns are symbolic of American history, rustic country living, and a simpler time. If you’d like to add one of these bits of Americana to your decor, click on the photographs or follow this link to our “Americana and Rustic Country” section in our photography shop: http://www.cafepress.com/photographz/2633112
