503 - Manchester Farm
I’m gonna keep this one short and sweet because if I’m being honest, not a lot happened on this shoot. Besides the fact that I almost messed up. Majorly.
It all started in Lexington, Kentucky- the horse capital of the world. Where there’s horses, there’s barns. And where there’s barns, you’ll find my camera.
The barn I decided to shoot took a little digging to find, however. A few weeks ago I found a photo of it in a random article about Kentucky, but I didn’t save the link. I regretted this decision as I spent an hour the other day surfing the internet trying to find the barn again. Eventually… I found it.
The barn is on a property called Manchester Farm, and they don’t fuck around. It was a beautiful, multi-million dollar property complete with lush, rolling hills.
I rolled up about 30 minutes before sunset, and set up camp with my tripod. There wasn’t any parking (because it’s literally just a farm in the middle of nowhere,) so I set my car hazards on and just parked in the middle of the country road.
I’m not going to advocate for illegal parking jobs, but I will say that there are many scenarios where you will benefit by being bold with your parking to get photos. Some of the best spots aren’t “visitor-friendly destinations.” So grow some fucking balls.
Here’s the shot I got:
“Lush Falls”
Taken with Sony a7rIII + Zeiss 24-70mm f/4
[ISO 200 ~ 24mm ~ f/9 ~ 1/30s]
(Want a Print? Get it here.)
I had to wait for the juicy parts of sunset to arise for that shot. I took the photo right after the sun went down and the colors started popping. One piece of advice I have is to always assume the best colors of sunset might not come until 10-15 minutes after the sun sets. Don’t leave early! I see many photographers pack up shop right after the sun dips, only to realize too late that the show has only just begun.
And with that shot in the bag, I dipped. But this is where my fatal mistake of the evening lies...
I’d switched lenses a few times while shooting, and put one on the fence instead of back in my camera bag. It wasn’t until 3 hours later that I realized I’d never put it back in my camera bag.
FUCK. That was a $900 lens, and I was in the middle of Kentucky. I doubted there would be ANY camera shops around here, let alone one that sells a 17-35mm lens…
Funny thing was I was already in bed, so I immediately woke up and sped over to the farm. I considered my fate… There was no way anyone took it… It’s been dark since I left it. Unless the farm staff saw it…
It took about 30 minutes to get there, all of which I was intensely sweating. Then, with some stroke of luck, I found it right where I left it. Phewwww. Praise the god of the moon.
That’s basically it. The story of how I almost lost my shit. So here’s the tip of the day: whenever you set a lens down, put it back in your camera bag… not in the environment you’re shooting.
Next adventure I get into the Red River Gorge of Kentucky…. And become Lord of the Flies. Stay tuned.
I’m on a mission to explore as much as humanely possible.
Want to see my progress? Check out the Adventure Map.
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