Knowing When to Leave
Overall, I’ve had pretty good success as far as getting shots of old signs and not having anyone complain. I probably have more positive stories than negative, because most people recognize the fact that the more pictures are taken of their sign, the greater the publicity. I’ve been given the raised eyebrow twice, and told to outright leave the premises one other time, and two times total I’ve felt the need to get in my car and get driving immediately. The first time was at the Nor-Pole Drive-In in Orangeburg, during which I’m reasonably sure my license plate number was noted.
This was the second. I was on my way back from Lebanon County when I spotted this old rusty devil along US 422. I did a U-Turn and pulled off to the side of the road. There’s a hill below, from which I took some shots. The field was open before me, and I couldn’t resist getting some closer shots, including the one above. I took five pictures in all, and suddenly I began to hear this odd snapping noise. I look over at the motel and out of the corner of my eye I see a man bursting out of the motel, his arm raised, his fingers snapping wildly. He didn’t say anything, but he had conveyed his message. I dipped back down the hill, got in my car, and drove off.
Later I discovered perhaps why the reaction. A quick internet search of this place revealed a cadre of bad reviews. Oh, well, such things happen.
Let me know if you have had some similar interesting entanglements!
Too funny! I’ve driven past that place a trillion times – as recent as last week and often think I should stop and photo. But sometimes I just get a vibe not to do so. Especially being a GIRL doing this type of thing, I am extra sensitive to pay attention to my spidey-sense. Now I see I was attuned to it!
Crazy to believe how many old abandoned places I clambered around in in days past, mindful, but nothing bad happened. Especially back when not everyone was snapping photos of everytrhing with their cameras, it was hard to explain to people what you were doing. But I only got called out on trespassing once.
Now it’s so much easier with cameraphones etc but I still try to be quick and discreet and NOT GET YELLED AT! 🙂
Yes, your spidey-sense was dead on! I must admit as I clambered up the hill the red lamps were flashing in my head, but I foolishly ignored them. That guy was comically angry…I expected to see steam coming out of his ears!
The other time I get yelled at was when I (again) climbed a hill, this time to get up close to the O’Brien’s Inn sign in Waverly, NY. That one left me considerably more shaken, but when I see the pictures I got, I truly have no regrets!