Beth warming up in the car after the incident.
It was January 24, 2020, out in the country in Decatur County Iowa. “The Incident” is etched in my memory!
It was five years ago today at about 4:30 in the afternoon. It was cold and the wind was fierce, but Beth and I were determined to get a portrait of her playing the violin in the snowstorm. Why were we doing that? That story is here.
One of the locations we picked was a wide open field of corn stubble. It seemed like a good idea at the time.
The snow looked even and smooth as it sloped gently from the roadside to the stubble in the corn field. We had no idea the even surface of the snow was hiding a very deep ditch. Beth got out of the car with her violin and headed for the field. I grabbed two cameras, one with a normal lens and one with a telephoto lens and I was right behind her.
Both of us were totally surprised when she disappeared, dropping straight down in snow up to her shoulders. The snow was that deep. Only her head, her right shoulder, and the violin (held high in the air in her right hand) were above the snow.
Like lightning I thought “Don’t fall in . . . .” But at pretty much the same instant I broke through the crusty surface and dropped own in the snow right behind her, only I was in was in snow up to my waist and slipping towards her. I was holding two cameras with lenses up in the air, one in each hand. Not only was I right behind her, my waist at her shoulders, even worse, I was in danger of sliding down into the deep hole she was in. That would make our situation even worse. I felt stuck in the deep snow.
It was also cold. She was wearing a formal concert dress and no coat. My first thought was, “Is she ok?” I asked her. She said she was ok.
With her ok, I knew instinctively without being told that my first job was to save the violin. It was an old Graceland University violin that Jack Ergo, the orchestra conductor, had loaned to us for this shoot, not Beth’s good violin.
I slowly extricated myself from what felt like the snow holding me with some kind of suction. Once I gained some secure footing, I put both camera straps in my left hand and held the cameras up in the air above the snow. Then I took the violin and bow from Beth and put both of them in my left hand along with the two camera straps and held them all high over my head.
Then I reached down with my right hand. I grabbed her right arm just above her wrist and she grabbed my right arm just above my wrist. With all my might I pulled her straight up out of the snow and pulled her on to higher ground. To this day I do not know how on earth I managed to have the strength to do that. I happen to know how much she weighs and on my best day I can’t lift that amount with one arm. It must have been one of those adrenaline things you read about.
I am sure the whole scene was hilarious to watch and it would have made a great video.
Back in the car, we both laughed. Since we and our gear were all ok it really was funny.
After we sat in the car and recovered from the cold we found a better corn stubble field to shoot in. This time I walked ahead of her to make sure there was no deep hidden ditch under the snow between the road and the field. She played her violin in the cold driving wind and snow while I took pictures. The wind was still ferocious and it was seriously cold. So we looked for another location.
We found a better spot where a row of trees provided a nice wind break. Yes, she really was playing violin music while I took pictures.
Camera gear and two violin cases.
We came well prepared. She had two violins, some changes in clothing, and I had plenty of backup camera gear.
Links
It Started at a Christmas Concert
How to Photograph a Musician in the Cold and Snow – more photos of Beth