Adriana and I have a new member of the family. We brought Ilex home on Friday the 15th with the help of John & Susan Kuhn. He was a little reluctant to leave his mama, but he was very well behaved for the 3 hour ride home. We stood with him in the trailer for the extent of the ride and by the time we pulled into the driveway, we were all ready to be out of there. He walked down to his new home with a brave inquisitiveness. He had never seen cats before. He hadn’t walked on a hill before. I managed to get a decent picture of him during a moment’s rest. His little mowhawk mane and tiny chin whiskers blowing in the breeze. He is set to be the most photographed horse ever.  Welcome home, pal!

It was 8:15 am and I had just arrived at the Kuhn’s house to help restock the stores of hay for the winter. John and Susan are great friends that I met through my wife, Adriana. They have shared a common love, horses, and a friendship for many years. John is a photographer as well and we have had many a great talk about our fondness for capturing moments. Without getting too sidetracked, the story continues as we jump into the truck to drive to the farm that has, for many years, supplied hay for the Kuhn’s equine family. The farm’s owner, Lou, sadly passed away recently, but the family and a neighboring farmer wish to continue making hay.

After we loaded the first wagon, 168 bales, I peeked into one of the rooms in the barn to see some beautiful light falling on some old equipment. After we unloaded the first wagon, I asked John if it would be all right to bring my camera back to get a couple of shots in the barn. I threw the camera bag and tripod from the car (because, never leave home without it) into the truck for round two.

Another 168 bales were loaded onto the wagon, and John said.. “Grab your camera. I’ve got some things to show you in the basement.”  I snapped a quick shot in the room that I peeked into earlier, then followed John to the basement.

What I saw was a mix of possibly 100 year old equipment next to some modern machines. There was what John described as a “potato picker” in one corner, and a very old, but beautiful International Farmall Super A in the corner, covered in cobwebs. The light was hitting it perfectly.

I moved over to the other side and found myself thinking about the life of the gentleman that once rode this piece of equipment. I had met Lou on a previous outing for hay. He was easily in his 80’s, but jumped right up with us and threw bales around right alongside John, Susan, Adriana and I. I thought… If I’m in this good of shape when I’m 50, I’ll be happy.

I took a few more photos of the collection of things that were Lou’s for many reasons. They were a product of a simpler time, but they still got the job done. They looked amazing in the little bit of light creeping in through the gaps in the boards. I’m a photographer.. that’s what I enjoy doing. Most importantly, though, I took them to remember. I only met Lou once. He made an impression on John & Susan’s life. He made an impression on mine as well. My muscles will remember the day very well tomorrow morning. I will enjoy looking at these images many years from now and remembering the happiness of a morning of the hard, but simple work of stacking and transporting hay with some great people.

I’m glad that it wasn’t overly sunny and beautiful today. It would have made it infinitely worse to sit in my office and edit the 3 overdue portrait sessions that have been waiting for me. It has been a silly week filled with too many things. I’ve worked my usual “nine to five” (ish) and installed 120SqFt of tile in my mom’s kitchen. I managed to get some new rooftop images of Pittsburgh on Wednesday morning (coming soon), and even snagged a couple of fall pics on Friday afternoon. After sorting & culling images from the past week’s sessions, designing a case for a client’s wedding images, created a new business card, modified an old one, and sending all of that to the lab, I rewarded myself. I edited a couple of the shots of a glowing autumn tree from Friday’s quick shoot. Enjoy!