art.of.a.rock

Tag: adventure

Snow Bus to Nowhere – With Savannah

First off, thank you Savannah!

On Monday around noon after spending the morning at Smugglers’ Notch, a winter photoshoot is on the agenda. I drive with Savannah to the first unplanned destination. After a few miles of driving, we turn left onto a snow covered dirt road. As we reach the end, I back into a wide part in the road to park. We gather our things, Savannah with her spare shoes, mirror, and glasses. Myself just with my camera gear. She knows we are going to an old school bus, but she can’t see it at first. It show it to her through the trees and falling snow in the distance. The scene is white… a bus painted white, snow covered logs, trees, mountains and sky. It’s just under 30 degrees, with the temperature dropping.

We enter the bus and immediately get excited at the opportunities around us. The bus is old and tattered, with no seats inside. Snow dustings are scattered about, and beginning to cover the shards of glass that are shattered throughout.

Since we are here, we are ready. It’s time to shoot some photos! We look around a bit and decide what to do first, and that is to go to the back of the bus, being careful not to make footprints. Savannah does a good job at this, but as I am shooting, I’m not paying attention and track up the floor. My bad… Hopefully this photo of the floor untouched can help forgive that.

Savannah hasn’t modeled in over a year, so there was a quick warm up. After several minutes, we both became very inspired with all that the bus had inside and out. At this point, I’d like to share the photos featuring Savannah.

Here are the shots. Make sure to view them all in full screen for full effect!

She wanted the candle, I wanted the broken glass. We got both, plus the snowy outside in this next shot!

Trying different angles, slowly working our way up the bus…

Part of the magic that comes with a photoshoot in a snowstorm. It helps when all of the windows are busted out! (DON’T DO IT)

It was definitely chilly for Savannah, having no jacket, though I’m sure the thick furry vest did some good. We both had to take breaks to warm our hands up again.

She was always good to get back into it!

Before we moved too far along, I wanted to get some photos from outside of the bus. This would offer a whole different perspective from the inside. My main thought was to go to the side of the bus, but before that was able to happen, I got caught up on the backside. It was such a good position!

After being at the back for awhile, I finally decided to make it around to the side.

I asked Savannah if she’d be able to bring her head out of the window and look back; she made it happen!

Lastly, a little slideshow of some images from the front of the bus, a candid, plus some other detail hand shots!

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While we were almost ready to go, Savannah found a small skull, so we decidedly started to take photos with it, At the same moment, I heard a loud beeping noise coming from the road. It was the sound of a vehicle backing up, so I was quite distracted. Unsure if my car was about to be towed or what, a few blurry pictures later, I decided I would run up and check it out. After trekking through up through the snow I found there to be a plow truck and a man with a sheet of paper. I found out (which was my suspicion before) that I wasn’t supposed to park there. It’s a turn around spot for large vehicles… snowplows and school busses. The dude was nice and handed me the note saying I’m not allowed to park there, and asked if I saw any deer, then went on his way. I’m just fortunate he was able to turn around. The long duration of the beeping tells me it wasn’t the easiest task.

Overall this was an awesome location, especially for being just a school bus in a field. We lucked out with the snow, as it made for a unique atmosphere. I was able to work with the falling snow to my advantage in certain shots, and I’m happy with the way they came out. Savannah was a awesome to work with, she was a champ in the cold!

This was only our first location; soon after she followed back to my car and I blasted the heat. We went on our way back down the snowy dirt road to find the next spur of the moment stop.

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November 29, 2017
A Hand in Nowhere Land

Yesterday, I did I wonderful (but cold) photoshoot with Savannah. We’re excited to show the photos! I’m not quite finished with them yet, but here’s a “teaser.” This is from our first location, far up a dirt road and through a snowy field. Luckily Savannah brought her boots to trek through the deep.

I bet you’ll never guess! … More to come tomorrow

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November 29, 2017
A Spontaneous Drive to Calais, Vermont

On Thanksgiving Day,

I didn’t have much going on until 6pm. Having the entire day off for the holiday meant I’d have to find something to do. Since everyone else was busy with family, I decided to go for a photo drive with Brixton, while also finding places to let him run around along the way. I feel like this is Vermont at it’s core, and I enjoyed every minute of it. Driving for many miles on dirt roads, seeing different areas of the state, and just wondering what actually goes on in these towns kept me interested. There are always surprises along the way

One of the first actually stops was a brook to the side of the road. Brixton and I were there for about 20 minutes, slowly traveling upward. It was neat to see the new ice formations and getting close up with them. The way light interacts with the glimmering clear solid can be fascinated. Navigating the brook can be tricky at times with the secretly iced over boulders, but we managed just fine.

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I really like older the look of older vehicles. There is something about them that is genuine in nature. New ideas were being tried out for the first time, and they just rolled with it. The Saab in off white parked center with the barn really caught my eye. The three vehicles lined up in the slideshow were apart of a classic car graveyard that was fenced in. If I could have gone down there, I would have spent way too much time taking photos, I know it. I think it would also to use the cars and a model for a photoshoot. Maybe one day it can happen, I’d just have to get the courage to ask the landowner, who seems pretty strict his gated drive and No Trespassing signs with images of security cameras on them.

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I drove by one of the many bodies of water in the area. I’m not sure if they were deserted because of thanksgiving or the lack of summer. Nice reflections though!

While on a dirt road and unsure if I was in the right area, I saw a large pond coming up. As I got further, I saw this building with water streaming down beside it. I immediately thought it was amazing, so instead of driving on past, I pulled over I felt good about it. It is the Robinson Saw Mill, built in 1803. It’s one thing I know I’d like to see again, because of how one of a kind it is.

Further down this same road, I saw the snowcapped mountains of Northern Vermont in the distance. In the field before me were some quite clean and happy looking cows. I kept driving since there was a truck behind me, but once I got a chance to turn around, I did. I wanted to get a photo of the cows grazing with the mountains in the background.

Instead, when I pulled up next to their fence and got out of my car, the came over and greeted me. So interested in whatever I was doing at their fence, they just stood and watched while I took photos.

After doing a lot of stopping but not being able to let Brixton out, I saw an old wooden sign that read “Maple Parking.” I looked to the other side of the road and saw there was a trail that led up into the woods. It seemed like an ideal spot to stop, so again I turned around and pulled into this “parking spot.” I had to slowly make my way into this pull-off, not to skid off down the hill, since it was large enough for one.five cars at most.

The woods called Maple Hill, had were nice to be in after being on the road for awhile. The clouds were unique, being able to look straight up made for a cool perspective with the trees and branches.

Go out and see something new, now matter what it may be! There is a world unknown to you out there, might as well check it out! You don’t know what you might find.

P.S. On my way home, I grabbed some eggnog from a store that was open. I had a nice thanksgiving dinner with my family a couple hours later to end the night.

November 25, 2017