Wow, what an Adventure!

I know I've mentioned in previous blogs about various excursions with the www.meetup.com photography groups.  Recently I went on an outing to Gary, Indiana to explore an abandoned church/cathedral.  It was such an awesome experience, and I had such a great time.  More info & pics will follow, but I just had to share the story of this particular image, and why I am still limping today.

This was an AMAZING opportunity for photography - I felt like a kid in a candy store, and my artistic eyeball was on overload.  At one end of what was probably the theater area, there is a raised stage off the concrete floor, covered mostly in old clothing- riddled with holes.....I shot pics for awhile, watching other photographers pick their way across this stage, carefully, but with no serious issues.  I decided to go for it myself - the balcony area at the back of the theatre was so cool - the sunlight was streaming through the broken windows - I just couldn't let it pass me by, despite the potential dangers.  Up on the stage I went.  There were other photographers in the area, wandering around, shooting, and I worked my way across the stage to the far back, and took a series of images encompassing the entire balcony area from left to right. 

After reviewing the images in my camera, and deciding I had "gotten the shot" I took a step back while putting my camera down (it is on a strap that goes across my body diagonally and the camera hangs at my side).  No sooner had I let the camera go at my side when....crack!  There goes the floor out from under me...and I start falling thru a hole in the stage.  It's amazing how many different things can run through your mind in a split second.  Things like "well, this is going to hurt" and "maybe I'll get out of work for a few days" "I hope someone figures out to call Jeff for the insurance info" to finally "holy shit, there is literally over $4,000 in camera gear hanging at my side that is going down with me." In a split second, I had my camera back in my hand, held up over my head - while yelling "someone get my camera" as I fell.  I literally ended up hanging waist deep in a hole, feet dangling - one arm holding myself precariously up, the other holding my pride & joy up over my head.  Many of the men there rushed to my aid, and I wouldn't even think about taking a hand up out of the hole until someone took my camera and got it to safety first :)

All in all, I was lucky.  The camera suffered no real damage other than getting a little dirty, and me - well - it could have been worse.  I got a couple scrapes on my leg, and somehow managed to smack my knee on the way down on something, and it's four colors of black & blue right now, and swollen pretty much twice the normal size.  Want to know what stung worse than my knee?  Yep, my pride.  The guys were complete gentleman, and I got a hoist to safety out of the hole, and I am happy to report the girl in a hole jokes were kept to a minimum.  Did I let that end my day?  Nope.  Out to the truck, took some Advil, and carried on!

Below is the magical shot I was after right before the grand fall.  I had decided I wanted to try my hand at stitching a panoramic image together in Photoshop.  Here is my balcony shot that will always remind me of the day I took a plunge for photography...literally.

So what do you think?  EMAIL ME and tell me!

As always, see more of my photography at www.mtsphotography.zenfolio.com and don't forget to add me on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook