The Kindness of Strangers

Ok so this is a long one but I have a lot to talk about! I’ve been busy gathering props and new things to shoot while enjoying what New England has to offer this time of year. Again, I’ve been visiting the local farms and have had so many great experiences. I’ve never been a very outgoing person and never had the confidence to talk to people I didn’t know on my own. Even now I still get nervous but I really am much better than I used to be. Recently I realized how just asking questions and talking to people you don’t know can be a great thing. Yes you may get rejected or turned down, or you might discover what you are looking for and make a new contact and meet some one really interesting.

While driving around near where I live looking for places to shoot an upcoming senior portrait session, I stumbled upon one of the most beautiful pieces of land I’ve seen since I lived in Western Mass. I drove by a few times and then eventually parked at one of the gates. I looked around a bit and guessed that it probably looked suspicious since a man came down to the mailbox where I was parked to check his mail. I was feeling especially confident that day and couldn’t pass up this opportunity. I timidly asked the man who owned the land and explained that I was a photographer. I came to find out that he owned this gorgeous place and he went on to tell me that his family was spread out along the road and owned different parts of it. He also said I could come by and shoot here whenever I wanted. How awesome is that? He said I could walk around and take a look, so that’s what I did, and it was not disappointing. Needless to say I am very excited to shoot at this place this weekend and I can’t say enough how grateful I am that I am able to go here anytime. I never got his name, but to that man out there, thank you!

Gorgeous right? ahhh.

Over the weekend I got to take a little trip to the lovely Newport, Rhode Island. If you’ve never been I highly recommend it. Also if you do, you must get some fudge from Kilwin’s . It’s so good. Anyway, I went there because my dad and his girlfriend wanted me to go with them to the boat show. It was a great day! Besides me falling in front of large crowds of people and injuring myself, it was really fun haha. We saw lots of beautiful (and expensive!) boats, mostly sailboats which is what we prefer. My dad loves sailing and boats so he was having a blast and after a long day of walking around we had a delicious meal at The Red Parrot . Just thinking about it makes me hungry! And to end the night, we walked around downtown, got some coffee and enjoyed ourselves. It was so nice. :)

My dad, in his happy place.

My mom and I took a day to explore around and what started as a see what we can find at yard sales kind of day we ended up back at the local farms and had a great time! First we went to a place we’d never been before, called Running Fox Farm , where we met Claudia Conway, who owns the farm with her husband Dave. She was so nice and showed us all around the gardens that she has at the farm. She told me about the different flowers she grows and how beautiful they are and that I should come back in the spring to take pictures of them. She was so nice! I bought a chair and some of the coolest looking garlic I’ve ever seen (you’ll see those pictures in a moment) and we exchanged business cards. I will definitely be going back there.

Next up we headed to Hackleboro Orchards and also took a stop at Apple hill Farm too. We found lots of good looking veggies and things, bought a pumpkin and talked to another awesome person, Linda Weiser who works at Hackleboro and also is an artist. She does theatrical face painting as well as many other things such as logo design and murals. I couldn’t find a website for her but she has a fan page on facebook if you type in Linda Weisers Face Painting. She was kind enough to let me look around the farm for some srap wood to use for a prop as a back ground or surface. I found a great piece and used it in my upcoming photos. We also exchanged business cards.

So I met some great locals and made some new contacts while taking loads of photos along the way. I’d say it was a very successful time. Enough writing, here are some of the pictures I took!