Third

The third place we found was setting way back off the road and we had to hike from the road because I didn't want to risk getting stuck in knee deep snow.  Needless to say I got a good workout, which is good because since I hurt my back with an unknown cause, I haven't been able to run.

We hiked up to the front door and was greeted with disappointment.  The floor portion of the front of the house was totally caved in.  



That was sad, so we went around back to see if we could get in.

The back door worked!  Here is what we seen:




Here is the front room that was caved in:


Since the floor was mostly in the basement, we were not able to get to the second floor of this place.

What I found most amazing about this home was that normally when people leave or abandon a home, they take everything, sometimes down to the wires, literally. This house still had everything, in disarray but it was there, in the back entryway there was still a tv and a chair under all the rubble and trash. So, it leaves me to wonder did these people pass on or just walk away from their lives and treasures?


Now I said last post that I found my most favorite shot up to date and, drum roll please:




I know, it's three different tones of the same shot, but I am really loving this shot and now that I am done with these places, I will begin work on the abandoned factory that I went into last weekend and hopefully we may be able to get out and go another way this weekend! Stay tuned to find out and watch for the factory photos!!

Here is what went down

Two weekends ago, Mar, myself and my sidekick Jaden went off on an abandoned house hunt. Although it wasn't necessarily a hunt since I knew where I wanted to go, it was still loads of fun! The first house we stopped at was totally boarded and locked up! We could not get in at all and believe me we tried! If there is one thing that Mar is good at, it's finding a way into something she is not supposed be in! This is the house that I would have wanted to go into too. We looked through the windows that were still there and this house had old wall paper peeling and old furniture, dusty of course, but old. It had old door mouldings and brass knobs. The thing that really caught my eye was the old heater next to the front window! Man did I want to get into this one. Unfortunately we couldn't get it I took a couple of shots outside and we moved on to the next location.



This window was open, kinda, but there was no way to get up there, but Mar and Jaden were willing to try.

We moved on down the road to the next house.  The back door was wide open and so was the basement.


Well of course we went in, not down stairs though--too dark! The house smells like a barn. The floor seems stable enough to walk on. Here is what we see:




The not so exciting stuff:



I am going to end it here because the third house we visited that day is where I found my most favorite shot to this point shot! I love the shot so much I have already done 3 different versions of it! Stay tuned until later!

A couple of complaints

I am going to complain a little bit just because I wanted to vent a little bit! First, how big are purses really going to get? Can some one explain to me what the hell people are carrying in these gigantic purses? Personally, I have no intentions of packing clothes or items aside from my wallet and women necessities. Plus, when your a mother and wife, the bigger the purse the more toys and husband stuff you can fit in there, I am not going to haul around their stuff too! Enough on that.

Secondly, last week we called 3, yes 3 realtors because we wanted to look at a house we found for sale. Three realtors completely ignored us. One of them had the audacity to ask about all our business, do you have to sell your house, buyer or renter, are you pre-approved and then totally blow us off! We just wanted to look at the inside of the house, that is all we wanted to do. Yeah, sure we could save time and go get the bank info to make things easier in the long run, but why bother when you don't even know if you love the house?

Thirdly, why is it so hard for people to give a courtesy call. In one of my previous blogs, I mentioned that I had a modeling company interested in using me as a photographer. This sparked the studio makeover, which has been completed and the month of March is my grand opening celebration. For those of you that have been to my studio you know that it was a small space in my laundry room. Well I moved a bunch of stuff into storage shoved my laundry stuff out of the way and made myself a bunch of room! Now that all this is completed, I call Adrian--that was the guy who contacted me, and I say I have completed the make over and I am now ready for you to send me models. Waiting, waiting, one week passes, I make yet another call, leave another message.....Hmmm. Okay, so then I go back to the website of said modeling company and send another email--which is also like the third email I sent as well with out one reply! Not 1 no sorry we don't need you any more, or we found someone else because you took too long, WHATEVER! Be a decent human being and let me know! I clearly know now not to count on this. Yes I was very excited, but fine, I will make it on my own, as I always do!

On to the photos! You all know that I have been on an abandonment hunt. Don't ask me why this has become an obsession, because I don't know I just have a compelling need to take photos of these forgotten places. Here are a few more that I have had time to play with. Opinions?




Once I get a good collection of these photos, I am going to put together a hot book, and maybe even a coffee table book and title it "Abandonment"! Are you surprised?

If I get board, and I am sure I will, I may write another blog today! That will make up for my lack of blogging everyday!

I wonder......

5Last post told you of how my son and I went out to find something abandoned. Worked on a couple more of the photos from that trip to show off. The first place we found was located next to a public parking area for state land. That's where we parked and we hiked a bit down the trail then veered off toward the crumbling barn and falling house. Of course we were trespassing, BUT we were following other foot prints. We stopped at the barn and took some photos then moved on to the house. The good news, it's was so bad, we couldn't have went in anyway, which I promised my husband I would NOT do. Here is a shot to show you how that looked, with a little some editing of course:


I don't know if I am extremely happy with this one, but I like it so it's hard for me to say, I am open to opinions!

These shots are some older ones that I found when I was cleaning out my bridge to makes space on my computer.





That's all I got right now, currently working on more and I spent today out finding more abandonment!

What with the weather and all...

So In the last two weeks, it has been crazy!  Last week there was a snow storm, and last night there was a super wet snow that resulted in a mess and no school!   When there is a lot of snow I like to get out and take photos for my yearly winter photos and I have a blast driving in the snow, but I also have to take care of my husband too because he is out there plowing and he won't stop and get himself food so I take him food and drinks and tools and what ever else he needs!

This last weekend my son and I went out to find something abandoned, if you remember from previous post, that is my favorite thing to shoot and I would really like to get some models to go along with me and be my contrasting element--girl in a pretty dress with crumbling abandonment around them.  Well we didn't find as many as we wanted to, but here are a few that I have played with:

I have added my own texture, and then a gradient and other little tid bits as well
This one below is one of my favorites.




These ones will be posted on imagekind.com for sale.

Now I am hoping to have a couple models this week to show off. Until then, I will cross my fingers that facebook will not suck up so much time and I will get some more photos edited for your viewing pleasure!

Looky

Now I planned a week ago to share more cars with everyone. Well I wanted to show the shots I got of this classic Lincoln:



I was very impressed with my own shooting skills!!  So where have I been?  Why didn't I share this sooner? Well I got a call from an modeling agency and they need to send me a model and, well I needed to make more room and organize my studio area, which is taking longer than I planned.

The weather as been rather snowy lately, so there are some snowy photos to share here soon! For the last two days I have been also been working on some collages for one of my recent photo shoots. Collages are fun for me because they are my own designs:
This was Amber's favorite:

This was mine

This was a third one so there was variety.

More cars

Last post I spoke briefly about the test track in the down stairs of the Cobo hall. Well here are the photos of that:




Yes, they did seem to have some mood lighting going on. No, we didn't drive anything, the line was longer than the lines at Cedar Point!
You might think this is funny, but this was my favorite thing about the down stairs:

and

You know that means I am craving spring time. Flowers, warm air, Weekends at Grand Isle and sun.