Category Archives: Amish

Auction Day

Posted by reesephoto on

This past weekend, I did a short stint shooting at a local mud sale. Sunny skies proved to be a real challenge in this situation, because using fill flash is not something I feel comfortable using with such conservative subjects. I used longer lenses from 300mm-400mm range for most shots,so I need not be right in their face to get a few images of this culture. I must say I did see some rather unique haircuts throughout the day. It would take me twenty years to grow a beard this thick, and I commented to my buddy that I have never seen an Amish man or woman bundled up for really cold weather. Perhaps they use layers or are just tougher than the average joe. Looking at these shots,you can see they are not wearing heavy coats, while I was wearing 2 sweatshirts and a coat,long underwear,gloves with hand warmers and a wool hat. The man in the bottom photo was very serious most of the time, except this light-hearted moment, and something about his look reminded me of Clint Eastwood in High Plains Drifter.

The Makeover

Posted by reesephoto on

This weekends mud sale was less than ideal due to bright sun, which is terrible when you consider that most subjects are dressed in black and are wearing hats casting hard shadows. Myself and a friend did shoot a few shots,but we are hoping for overcast at an upcoming mud sale. I took this grab shot of several plain girls who suddenly stopped to work on this one young ladies hair and scarf. The recipient of all the attention seemingly enjoyed the help, but I am not sure if they were sisters or friends.

Mud Sale Season

Posted by reesephoto on

Spring is rapidly approaching, and in Amish country, that means it is mud sale season. For those who have never heard of the mud sale, it is basically an auction held by numerous fire companies in the spring, and is held in the farm fields, which are usually a sloppy mess from spring rains. This weekend I hope to attend one to shoot a few Amish images, as they attend in large numbers and come with the understanding that cameras will be around, and tend to not be particularly irritated by that. I still try to stay low-key, shooting with longer lenses , and tend to snap a shot and move on, as to not over stay my welcome, so to speak. Each weekend or so in the coming weeks, a different fire co holds their own sale across the region, and items range from buggies to bird houses to horses and everything in between.I have included 3 shots from last years mud sale season. The two boys shown were truly stuck in the mud and were giving it their all to get loose during an extremely muddy sale.

Hats off to the simple life

Posted by reesephoto on

I have always had a great respect for the Amish and their way of life, and even though they are not big fans of being photographed, I continue to capture the images that present themselves. I have seen so many things in the Amish community over the years,and I have countless memories of those experiences. The Amish have problems just like the rest of the world, and they have some very friendly characters and some unfriendly ones as well. I have watched younger kids get the greatest joy out of the simplest things, and know they are usually more content with an old tattered item than the person who has every electronic gadget. I have been invited onto hay wagons to shoot at harvest time, as long as faces are not shown, and have seen empty beer bottles flying out of buggies while a boom box blares inside. Hopefully I can share more stories and images of my experiences in the future. This buggy/ hat rack was captured a while ago on a sunday drive in the country, shortly after the men headed inside the barn to begin worship. I took this with a long lens from the road, but the day I took this, a tourist with a little point and shoot pulled up, got out and was on his way to the barn door when I basically told him to get the heck off the property. He must have figured it was some sort of scene that was staged for tourists. This was really the only buggy that everyone seemed to pick to place his hat, and looking at the shot now, I counted 32 hats scattered about.