Friday, April 17, 2009

Traveling through the depths of darkness Part 2


The haunted road trip last week went extremely well. I had such a wonderful time traveling to all these haunted places and being creative with my photography. This has been a dream come true for me and after looking over some of the pictures I have captured I’m very pleased with the results.


Over the course of the week I shot about a place a day. Depending how near to other places I was, I shot two. The weather worked well to my advantage despite the two inches of snow that fell Monday morning. The weather was cold for the most part which added to feeling of autumn.


My girlfriend came down half way through and she was able to go to few places for the rest of the trip. We went to a cemetery in Chicago and a haunted house in Woodstock. We took back roads and along the way stopped at a few antique places and talked with local residents.


I shot a ton of images! I wanted to cover every angle and ideas that flowed through me. I wasn’t sure when I would have the chance to return so I needed to get what I could.


Depending on our schedule I want to take another haunted trip in the very near future, maybe in the fall, hopefully next year but we will have to see since a trip to Germany is planned for next year. I’m excited to see what we can get from there.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Traveling through the depths of darkness Part 1


The weather in Illinois has been just as strange as this trip. I left a day early due to weather reports that a storm was going to move in to the Alton area on Sunday. That was the day I wanted to originally shoot down there. So I made a few calls and was able to be in Alton on Saturday when it was expected to be sunny. 

The mansion was worth all the hassle. It was a truly amazing place. I don’t want to reveal too much at this moment because I want to give a full account of the history and activity that has taken place there when I have a chance to polish the work.

I had to leave Bloomington around 5 a.m. Saturday to be there 

by 8 a.m. Of course I woke up an hour before I needed to so I had very little sleep.

 

Sunday was exactly what the weatherman said it would do. Lots of rain, hail, and snow so I spend all day Sunday watching hockey and planning the next days trip. 


I’m currently in Decatur IL. Looking at my photos after spending a cold day shooting at Greenwood Cemetery and various mansions around the town. I’ll be staying overnight because if the weather turns better I hope to go back and see if the previous places are worth reshooting with sunnier light.

 

Here are a few images I have enjoyed so far. I hope they give a sense of melancholy and foreboding.


The next few days I’ll be going towards Chicago. I’m excited to see what those places hold for me there.