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 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. I was right behind her.

 

Both of us were totally surprised when she disappeared, dropping straight down in snow up to her shoulders. 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 was in snow up to my waist, holding two cameras with lenses up in the air, one in each hand. Even worse, I was only inches from sliding into the deep hole she was in. That would be 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, other than not sliding in deeper, was “Is she ok?” I asked her. She was ok.

 

With Beth being ok, I knew instinctively without being told that my first job was to save the violin. It was an old university violin she borrowed for this shoot, not her 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 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 and with all my might I pulled her straight up out of the snow drift and on to higher ground. To this day I do not know how on earth I managed to have the strength to do that.

 

I am sure it 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 first 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 snow while I took pictures.