This past weekend I went to upstate NY to spend time with some friends I made through Flickr. I've made an amazing number of friends by connecting through Flickr and sharing our love of photography, people who have become real-time, real-life brothers and sisters.
I traveled with my daughter and the lovely Denise to visit our friends Pete & Kelly. It has been a difficult summer for all of us in different ways (well, except for my daughter, who has been having a blast). A time of transitions and questions and uncertainties.
A perfect time to connect with friends and relax.
Kate came up the next morning and we hooked up with Tamme and her kids to go shooting. We checked out the farmer's market in uptown Kingston and walked around a bit, before Tamme suggested an abandonment. I might have squealed a bit. I know my daughter did. :-)
We went to an abandoned brick yard and with Tamme being a former police officer, we were unconcerned. I took some self-portraits, of course, with my wonderful daughter assisting, and then she put on the dress I had brought and I invited everyone to come use her as a model. It was a blast! She got really into the creepy angle (being a horror movie fan herself) and kept coming up with cool ideas for everyone to shoot. Finally we went off in search of cold drinks, air conditioning, and some snacks at a nearby Mexican place, then back to the house to shower and get ready for a party that night.
More friends arrived and we had a great time. There was a LOT of meat. This of course became the running gag, "Check out Pete's meat!" "Can't beat that meat!" etc. Yes, we're 12. What?
Next morning, we planned to go to these now famous abandoned trains, but first we hit a diner for some bacon with a side of bacon. When the waitress asked us "What are you all doing today?" my daughter answered, "Trespassing!" without skipping a beat. That's my girl! She and Pete & Kelly's daughter, who is 8, had done some planning to both put dresses on and creep out for us on the train. I'd say it was rather successful:
This photo got a huge response on Flickr...even made it into Explore, which hardly ever happens for me! I decided to remove the girls' feet to add to the ghostly appeal (plus the little one was wearing Crocs LOL). I'm proud of this one. You can see the whole set here. And check out the other photographs from the weekend too!
It was a good weekend. Early tomorrow morning (like 4am), me & the family are off to the Outer Banks in North Carolina for a week with my college friends and their partners and children. I'm planning on a mid-week excursion to meet up with a Flickr friend a few hours inland. There might be some more trespassing.
