Tag: canon rebel

  • Snow Bus to Nowhere – With Savannah

    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.

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    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.

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    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.

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    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!

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    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)

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    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!

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    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!

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

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

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    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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  • Roadside Vermont

    Early this morning,

    I had the task of driving to a friends house 30 miles away in Williamstown, VT to pick up a large metal shelf (Thank you, Vanessa!). I brought my camera along in hopes of making and adventure out of the drive. On the way down, I was pretty determined on getting the shelf, so I didn’t end up stopping at all. I did hear about a sock sale going on at the Cabot Hosiery Factory, so I ventured to that location afterward. I drove from over to Northfield to go to the sale for the first time. There were hundreds of people and thousands of socks. I ended up almost filling my bag, so I think I’ll be prepared for this winter (and Christmas)!

    After handing over the Benjamin and leaving the sock sale, my new goal was to find interesting places to get some photos of the Vermont roadside landscape. I took main roads and ventured off onto side roads that seemed like they could be promising.

    I saw some neat architecture and forgotten structures that really stood out on this dismal November morning. I stopped where I could, sometimes (many times) turning around to stop and take a few photos. The rest of this will be a presentation of the photos in order taken, with possible captions for some description.

    Enjoy 🙂

     

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    Caught my eye.
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    Had to stand on this stump to take the photo above! 
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    Far from the road was this little white shack. An unmarked police car was following me, so it seemed proper to turn off the road, turn around and take this photo.
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    “Alhenwood” From the front door of an old artistic looking house just outside Montpelier. 
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    From the same hill that the previous house is on, looking across town. Montpelier, VT

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    Through the Trees. Montpelier, VT. I took the same photo, but with the buildings in focus, will be on my Instagram @d.f0m
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    I decided to head up a dirt road, found this house and love the look of it. I hope they don’t mind 😉 Alternate vision on Instagram soon. @d.f0m
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    Lastly, a shack I’ve passed by many times, but finally stopped.
  • An Early Winter Drive in Vermont

    An Early Winter Drive in Vermont

    Today is my day off, Saturday. On this rare day off, I usually make a point to take my dog and my camera where ever sparks my interest that day. Today I began my drive hoping to end up at a hidden reservoir in Wolcott that my father had told me about yesterday evening. He used to go fishing there and told me the general location, where I should park, but when I got there I was at a loss. I followed a trail that quickly turned into a wide ATV trail. I loosely followed a small stream, which I thought might lead to the reservoir. After following the trail and attempting to figure out where it was, I ended up near a horse farm, “Private Property”.

    I turned back. It wasn’t a major disappointment because hey, I was out in the snowy woods on a nice day with my dog, Brixton. Intrigued by animal tracks and small snow crystals shimmering in the light. Brixton was having a blast too, running around sniffing evidence of wildlife. Our decent down the trail felt inconclusive. I never really go out with expectations, but fit still would have been nice to find this body of water.

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    Shimmering Snow

    I crossed the bridge of the stream where I had left my cup of New England Coffee (from Deb’s Place in Morrisville) cup on a log, deciding to take a few photos of it since it was right there. Brixton walked over and licked the lid and knocking it over, so I ran to grab it and went on. For a brief moment I thought to follow the stream and see where it led, but I felt it was time to move on and keep driving.

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    We made it back to my Subaru and I drove on with a brook in mind. Going through the town, I turned onto School Street and ascended up the eventual hill. There were a good deal of nice homes up here, with views of the distant hills extending to Belvedere. This road ended up bringing me to a sign with and arrow saying “To Elmore.” I decided to take this direction, with thoughts of lake reflections on this mild winter day.

    This ended up leading to a dirt road that I had been on during a previous photo drive one evening. This particular section of the road offered views of Mt. Elmore and its fire tower, as well as a red barn with trees lined ahead of it. The scene was a complete change from the last time I saw it, so I stopped for some photos.

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    Red Barn in Elmore, Vermont. November 11th, 2017

    From here I headed back home, east on Route 12. I was getting closer to Mt. Elmore. I could see the detail of the snowy trees and the tower standing tall in the sunlight. The light cast on the barren white deciduous branches in contrast with the dark evergreens drew me to turn onto Elmore Mtn. Road and pull over. I was able to take one photo before the light immediately change and the mountain turned dull. I was patient and waited for more sunlight, as the dispersed clouds were moving along. A truck (Toyota Tundra possibly) drove by as I snapped a photo, which was unfortunate. Once I looked at the result though, I was content with the result. The mountain in the background with the blurred truck taken over the bottom half of the image made for a unique look.

     

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    Cruising By Elmore
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    Elmore Shining