Of all of the non nature subjects I have photographed in my life, the only one I have carried into my more recent years has been human history.  In particular historic architecture or old buildings if you will.  Ancient petroglyphs are a favorite as well, but I have only made a few pix of these in my modern era of photography.

The images below will download and then slowly become clear.

An old 16th century ruin like the Quari Ruins in New Mexico lends itself to a photographic treatment very similar to what I would use for a western rock formation.  A fairly broad view from up close.  I want the wall to begin close to the viewer as the building runs into the distance.

My personal style of making photos of old building is to carve the building up into pieces.   I find most architecture more visually stimulating one section at a time.  The Pecos Ruins are also from New Mexico and are believed to have been built-in the 1700s.

Our next building was built-in 1837 and sits on the Mississippi River in Wisconsin.  The overall view of this building was not good despite its Mississippi River location.  That was okay with me as I was attracted primarily to the windows and other designs that were in keeping with this era.

I convert most of my Midwestern old buildings to black and white.  This is usually the way I see them when I am on the scene.  Texture and a weathered feel are the main ingredient I look for when I go the b&w route.  This is a 19th century Wisconsin workshop.

Nature is my first love and I will sometimes combine bits of my favorite subject with history when I can.  The first building below is a 1900 Norwegian settler’s cabin located in Door County, Wisconsin and is landscaped with a few flowers.  The second image is an old stone shed with a few flowers planted alongside and the third picture is a famous 19th century barn in front of Wyoming’s Grand Tetons.  This image is more of a nature landscape with a building in it than it is a building with some nature around it.

Man made objects including old buildings frequently lend themselves to abstract images.  I was exploring (of course) around this 1800s Tennessee barn and was immediately struck by the light patterns made by the sun as it infiltrated the interior via the large gaps between the aging boards.

Another great part of human history are ancient petroglyphs.  This Utah (Ute) drawings are both ancient and modern.  A section of this wall is still used by modern American Indians to tell their stories and express themselves.

An object does not have to be historic, just old and photogenic for me to be interested.  This old and well used train bridge is found along the backwaters of the Wisconsin River just before it meets with the Mississippi River.  This like the Tetons picture is more of a naturescape with a man-made object in it than a history image with a touch of nature.