Both Shelly and I enjoy photography. She is much better than I am, but still it is something we can do together. Usually we plan a day and a place to go take our shots. Some are larger or have more subject matter, still we have a good time. We each shoot away then we compare our work.
On this day we got a late start. There were a number of old barns and sheds about 5 miles from our house. We live in the middle of tobacco world, so there are lots of old barns used to cure tobacco. For years I had driven past them and wanted to get some shots before they fell down, or rebuilt. I had wanted to catch that "low afternoon angle golden light."
I believe very strongly that a person's property belongs to them. Sure I may want to take some pictures, but we would ask permission first. We knocked on the near by house and no one was home, so we went to the neighbor to ask them if they knew who owned the near by barns. To our surprise the elderly woman said she had grown up in the house next door and she knew the owners very well. They had treated her like a daughter as she was growing up. Just about that time it started to rain. The elderly couple invited us in while she called the owners. It was very nice and unexpected surprise. They were friendly and interested in what we were doing. They told us lots of the history of their family and beamed about things in their home. The owner of the barns gave us permission and the rain finally stopped. So we said our good byes and headed out to shoot some pictures.
The clouds were very dramatic, and the barns had lots of texture. Mostly it is just an excuse to enjoy some time together. Probably this will be one of the last times we will get to do this. Shelly is getting older and will be soon moving out to her own apartment. Her life will get busy, and there will not be time. I understand this is the way of life. Still I will miss our times together. Maybe someday she will look back at some of these shots and it will remind her of our day together. That will be enough.
