I long assumed that Google's Street View was focused almost exclusively on urban areas. And perhaps that was correct in its initial roll-out. In any case, I've learned that the product long since has reached into rural areas as well.
Street View also is not about the art of composing photos. Yet it often yields marvelous views.
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| July 2009: looking south on U.S. Highway 169 in the heart of St. Joe, Iowa. I really like how the clouds look; also the light on the church. The Street View car passed through fairly early in the morning judging by the shadows on the highway etc. |
A couple months ago I was poking around in Google Maps - checking out the (yes, rather dear) places in northern Iowa where I grew up - and was pleased to see that Street View is offering what turn out to be some thoroughly enjoyable perspectives on these decidedly rural places.
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| August 2009: Highway 169 heading south on left side of picture; county blacktop heading west on the right. So this vantage point is a few hundred yards north of the picture above. Three things of note: (1) EMG mowing grass on the vacant lot just north of his house - where his uncle Billy Devine ran a country store when I was a kid; (2) my parents' house on mid-left side of picture; (3) not very visible, but the farm where my dad grew up is the first clump of trees on the right side of the road on right side of picture. |
Note on the middle photo: my dad tipped us off to this Street View gem - which includes him, a few months after his 80th birthday, mowing grass just north of their St. Joe residence. Nice!
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| September 2009: here's the farm on which I grew up. I really like this photo. Partly because of the fall colors here - corn has turned color quite a bit, the trees in the grove just starting. The county blacktop - "P56" - heads straight north. |
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