Way Out There

Making this image was certainly an adventure and memorable experience.

Valorie found this house through some Flickr research and recommended we go here for the evening to shoot. We packed up, fueled up, and headed out.
Turns out, this place is out there. Way out there!  We spotted a structure in a wheat field on the peripheral of our headlights and pulled over to check it out. As usual, we got out there later than anticipated/desired; so didn't arrive until 11pm, so the place was completely dark. And did I mention we were way out in Nowheresville?

We get out of the Jeep and walk into the field to check the place out.
Wow- CREEPY.

The house is an early 1900's farm house in the middle of a field, abandoned, and devoid of all paint, windows and doors. A cliche would be to call it a shell of a home, but that's exactly what it was. More like a skeletal shell of a home. In the light of our flashlights, we could see the inside was a wreck of fallen wallboard and piled timbers. Carefully we approached the entrance, stepping over rusted farm equipment, each step rustling the dry wheat grass- the sound of our own steps making us constantly look behind or nervously peer into the darkness beyond our flashlights.

Finally we stood at the doorway, shining our lights into the house, neither of us making a move to go inside. The second story loomed above us, empty, but suggesting an occupant in the house biding his/her time to peak out the window above and looking down on us, ask us our business coming there. Fortunately that never happened.

Still standing there at the door, I called out into the house, "....HELLO!?...."
No answer.
I looked at Valorie. Valorie looked at me.
She broke the silence first, "...Why did this seem like such a fun, great idea when we planned this???..."
At loss for spine straightening encouragement, I merely replied, "....I know....."

At some point I got the guts to step into the house, then we proceeded to cautiously explore the residence.

I can only speak for myself, but I believe Valorie agrees, the fear never left us. Three hours there shooting and the hair never went down on my neck. She get's the prize of the night for staying in the house alone to pose in the window while I went back out to shoot from the field.

Finally, we both had our fill of self-induced fear and called it a night. Valorie was so unnerved by the experience, and unable to sleep, she voted to skip camping out for the night, and instead, jumped in the driver's seat and took us back home to Portland safe and sound, back in bed at 5am :-)