It has been such a joy to watch my daughter’s photography grow, morph, progress. I have pictures from various phases of her work on my library wall. My favorite series was the nighttime photos for which she secured my help. My favorite photo from that series is this one:
You can find her post of it on her photography Facebook page, Amanda Abbott Photography in the album titled “Light”. I encourage you to explore her page and to like it. Young artists like my daughter strive to get their work out into the world in every way (or platform) possible. She is currently teaching at Marshall University as well as teaching “little kids” in an afterschool program sponsored by Huntington Museum of Art. She hopes to get her Masters and then teach full time while honing her craft.
This series of pictures above has a funny story attached – to do this type of photography, she had to have a light source inside of the buildings. Because we were shooting in abandoned locations, there is no electrical source. Her light kit required a huge battery to power the unit. I sat inside of the abandoned places, making sure light kits were in place and not wobbling and after a minute or two the picture would be finished. Many of the abandoned locations were home to people cooking meth or wanderers of some type. We found bedding and reminants of life from where they lived (or cooked) in some places. So, as I stood (ALONE) in these barns with Mander working diligently (and silently) outside, I was slightly terrified that someone was going to pop around the corner and scare the bejesus out of me. So every sound or settling of the structure would make me jump!
I am always looking forward to what is next up on her list of projects. I hope that I am able to help her again soon. She is such a busy woman now, I miss taking pictures with her.
Technical info:
Camera Used: Nikon d800
Lighting Kit Used: Alien Bees Lighting Kit
Type of process: Long Exposure
Location: Mason County, West Virginia – abandoned farm across from Mason Airport
