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| "Abandoned?" |
Back before summer temperatures got out of hand, I spent two or three mornings each week traveling farm-country highways near home. On one hand, I love getting out and driving slow through the countryside with my window rolled down. On the other, I like finding old or abandoned buildings to photograph.
One morning, while working my way down one of these roads, the old house in the above picture caught my eye. I parked across the road from it and hopped out with my camera. Behind the house were two or three chicken barns, so I walked back and forth on the highway to find the best perspective in order to not include them. Since it was mid-morning, there was no traffic. It was peaceful. A couple of brown mutts crawled from under a fence, saw me, and trotted out to see what I was up to. I'm glad they were friendly.
I first took some practice shots with my 55-200mm lens. Not happy with those, I swapped back to my 18-55mm lens and crossed the road.
One thing I want to make clear at this point is, I never go on a property without permission. Not only was I raised to respect other people's property but there are safety issues to consider as well. You will understand why I brought this up shortly.
I wish I could have gotten inside the fence to work my way around the entire house to find the best shot. But I stayed either on the road or just outside the fence to get all of my photographs. I did walk, squat, sit and lean every which way to get the pictures I took. Had anyone looked out their windows at the time, they probably wondered what the heck I was doing.
I spent about 15-20 minutes photographing the old house. Satisfied I'd done all I could to capture the essence of the building, I hopped back in my truck, tucked my equipment safely away and headed off. As I passed what evidently was the currently inhabited house of the farm, I heard a gunshot. That's right--GUNSHOT!
I ducked and looked back toward the farmhouse. Remember how the brothers in Second Hand Lions prepared for 'company'? That's what I saw when I looked toward that farmhouse: Two older men, sitting in rocking chairs on the front porch, one with a shotgun pointed my direction. You better believe I floored my truck to get out of there fast!
The experience serves as a reminder to always check my surroundings when out photographing. It isn't just snakes and dogs I have to look out for, it's also making triple sure I'm not putting myself in harm's way with people either, just for the sake of a cool picture. I don't have to have every photograph but I do have a family to take care of.
And that's exactly what I was thinking when I blew past that old house in order to get back home...
No photographers or trucks were harmed in the pursuit of cool pictures on this trip.
