By Randy McNutt
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Ian Adams could be called Ohio's official photographer.

His color photographs appear on the new Ohio stamp, to be released next month, and in OHIO: A Bicentennial Portrait (BrownTrout Publishers, $39.95).

The 37-cent stamp will enter circulation March 1 on the steps of the historic Ross County Courthouse in Chillicothe. Adams' photo of a Washington County farm was chosen as the image that best represents Ohio on the state's 200th birthday.

"I tell people it's my smallest color print ever and certainly the most affordable," he said. "It has stirred up much interest. When I took the photograph in 1993, I had no clue that it would be used on a postage stamp. I had been staying with friends and they recommended that I drive over to see a beautiful country place. The scene almost could be from 1803. It's not all that dissimilar to today."

He calls the book his "magnum opus of Ohio" - 240 pages, 260 images and weighing more than 5 pounds.

Adams will sign the book at 12:30 p.m. March 1 at the courthouse in Chillicothe; at 8 p.m. March 14 at Eastgate Borders Books & Music, across from the mall in Clermont County; and from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. March 15 at Joseph-Beth Booksellers, 2692 Madison Road in the Rookwood Pavilion.

The Cuyahoga Falls resident spent the last 10 years selecting photos for the new panoramic portrait of our state. He travels Ohio by Jeep to photograph its people and gardens, and logs about 15,000 miles a year driving through Ohio and 20-some other states to find covered bridges, lighthouses, historic sites and natural areas.

He has published five photographic books that focus principally on Ohio, including The Ohio Lands (1995) and Midwest Landscape Design (1999). He also shoots the photos for two Ohio calendars that are also published annually by BrownTrout Publishers, a California company.

"I do get around this state," he said.

Information: Web site.

David Verdin, vice president of Cincinnati's Verdin Co., will sign hand-cast bronze commemorative bells from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 5 at the Statehouse Museum Shop in Columbus.

Verdin's bell-making company is planning to cast 41 bells in 2003, starting March 1 - Statehood Day - in Chillicothe.

He will be one of several "bicentennial celebrities" to sign merchandise that day.

Also, Faline Fry Jones will sign handcrafted bicentennial barn keepsakes from the Cat's Meow bicentennial barn series.Information: Web site.

Bicentennial Notebook runs periodically. Send news to Randy McNutt, The Enquirer, 7700 Service Center Drive, West Chester OH 45069. Telephone: 755-4158. Fax: 755-4150. E-mail: Rmcnutt@enquirer.com.