I don’t normally drive over 600 miles for a photo shoot…especially when it means driving straight into a major snowstorm!

But this time, maybe I was going crazy.

Here’s the story behind the assignment and just exactly what happened on this adventurous excursion to snowy Connecticut!

 

 

Behind the Scenes Insights:

• The whole adventure began on the drive home from the North Carolina Family Encouragement Conference. The original plan was to arrive home to northern West Virginia on Monday night, fly to Connecticut on Tuesday, and be all settled in up in Colebrook when the snowstorm hit on Wednesday. Well, those plans never happened.
• A flat tire certainly slowed our progress from North Carolina on Monday, but that wasn’t the reason we didn’t make it home that day. In southern Virginia, not too long after pulling out of the tire shop, the van started misfiring. Thankfully, my aunt and uncle live on a farm just across the border in southern West Virginia so we were able to limp the van to their place, spend the night, and get the van fixed the next day. However, this meant missing my Tuesday flight from Pittsburgh. The only option left was to head up to Connecticut on Wednesday, the day of the storm.
• Of course, there was the option to not go at all. But after talking it over with mom and dad, and seeing that the major part of the storm would not be hitting Connecticut until later on Wednesday afternoon, it was decided to head out super early in hopes of arriving before it got too bad.
• I do not recommend driving in the snow. Avoid it if you can. If you have to, make sure you’re prepared for it. I would not have made the trip if I did not have an All-Wheel-Drive vehicle. We carried plenty of water, extra food, lots of blankets, and never let the gas get below half a tank.
• Not only was I risking my own safety when traveling in the snow, I was also risking the safety of my vehicle. Even if I am unharmed in the event of some unexpected difficulty, there’s no telling what might happen to the car, and I don’t think anyone finds enjoyment in paying for vehicle repairs, major nor minor.
• It turns out that this was no small snow storm. A week out, the weather folks were calling for 3-5 inches in northwestern Connecticut. A day or two before, it jumped to 8-10. When we arrived, they were saying something like 12-16, if not more.
• Ultimately, it was worth it. God protected Jonathan and I on our way up and we had a fantastic time doing photography related things while we were up there. That first night was the most picturesque though, in my opinion. I’m glad we arrived when we did, and we got some awesome shots that will definitely be used for a long time!

To view the pictures that were used from this photo excursion, visit the Airbnb listing, The Colebrook Dream.

As you can see, sometimes it takes a lot of work to be a published photographer. But it’s very rewarding! Get some of your photos published too by shooting for any of the open photo assignments on Shoot to Serve.