Joe West Transforms Old Barn Structures Into Beautiful Photo Art Through Unique Light Painting Technique, and He Gives God the Credit

Photographer Joe West is remembering the past by photographing old barns with creative lighting techniques.

West grew up in Kentucky before leaving in 1991 for Hawaii, where he would spend over 20 years.

He returned to the South in 2015, locating in Murfreesboro, where the photographer was reminded of the dissipation of old barns throughout the South.

“My first priority, in everything, is to give God all the credit for everything I do,” the artist said.

“Driving around, I just started to see all of the beautiful old barns—a lot of them just falling down. And it really hit me that there’s a way of life just disappearing,” West said. “So, I tried to figure out a way to document what was left in the most colorful, beautiful way possible.”

Winter Barn and Pond / Photography by Joe West

West began his photography career around 44 years ago with the Kentucky State Park systems after graduating from Murray State University. Since then, he has worked in multiple areas of photography including drone aerial imaging, real estate, nature, portraits and more.

Being one of the first to do commercial drone work in Hawaii, West spent years photographing beautiful islands and more from the air. Having been one of the first in the country to pass the Federal Aviation Administration’s Part 107 certification, which allows someone to legally use a drone for commercial purposes, he had the ability to explore and push boundaries through his photography.

Drone aerial pano of the Island of Maui – Olowalu

During this exploration, West began flying out over the ocean and looking back at an island with a drone. With the difficulties of the drones capturing an entire island while remaining close by, West began using a technique of combining several images to create one big mosaic of the island. Drone aerial imaging began to find popularity, and West started to find a new unique path.

Evening Chores

West’s current passion is using exciting and creative lighting techniques to bring old barns and other classic structures of the South back to life through his photography. The goals of sharing it are to raise awareness of the hard-working generations before us and to provide a glimpse into history.

Day and night, The Last Evening

Transforming old barns without electricity by taking the time to light the interior, exterior and even the trees, West uses a combination of timed exposure and the blending of multiple shots with varying lighting effects. Through light painting, West is able to significantly enhance the scenes of the often broken-down Middle Tennessee barns.

Tennessee Tobacco Barn

Light painting is a technique of opening a camera’s shutter to record the light being exposed onto the subject of a photograph. The light is moved around as if you are “painting” and then blended together for a final product. West uses this technique in his photographs of barns and other classic buildings to elevate their appearance.

Barn and Corn Crib

“It’s almost like putting a puzzle together,” West explained. “You got a piece here and a piece there and then, once you get back and you start editing, you start putting it all together.”

When photographing the barns, West merges technique and experience from both nature and real estate photography. West is able to apply inspiration and skills from both areas to his current barn photography.

American Flag

West takes the time of day into account when planning for his shoots. He found the prime shooting window to be about an hour before sunset. It allows the photographer to have better control of the light. But this can affect the quantity of barns being photographed, leaving only about an hour to shoot each day.

Tractor Evening

After the shoot has taken place, the photos need to be edited before they are ready to be shared and sold. Depending on the initial conditions, editing can sometimes be extensive. When using the light painting technique, the photos need to be blended together, a process that can become tedious.

The Cathedral

Community members will occasionally reach out with locations of potential barns for West to photograph. Social media is the primary source that West uses to scout out the locations for his shoots. Social media has also provided a way to gather more business through sharing the photography.

Night Shift

West has been working hard to highlight the beauty of former generations and ways of living through his photography. The project has been pleasantly well received throughout the community.

Old House – Last Lights

“I hope there’s an increasing awareness of this way of life represented by these old barns and houses. That people, if nothing else, will just take a moment and just appreciate what came before us and understand how precious it is,” West said.