Sarah LaBrie is a model by day, paranormal investigator by night. She joins us to share stories about life in front of the camera and behind the IR. (Photo courtesy Prodigy Images)
Dark and Stormy Night
A tornado warning flashed across the TV screen as I packed the last outfit into my bag and fixed my hair. I looked out the window to see pouring rain and branches flying across the yard.
Through the downpour and into the car; I made my way to a photo shoot. What was supposed to be 20 minutes away turned into a long and very wet 30 minutes. As I was pulling onto the street, a branch flew down and hit the side of my car. I screamed and swerved, trying to miss the on coming traffic.
Glancing down at my directions, then up at the road, I was trying to find the house that matched the description jolted down. Found it.
I grabbed my stuff and ran through the rain to be welcomed by a man my own age. He welcomed me into his home, where the white screen and lights were all set up - and where a Monster Energy drink was already waiting for me on the table. But the indoors shoot quickly changed pace and we packed our stuff to head out into the storm and shoot in the rain.
A graveyard sat silently behind the photographer's house, and I eagerly made my way through the mud puddles, broken tree limbs and pelting rain into the open and flat cemetery.
There were no large headstones, only small ones sitting flat against the ground. It wasn't a typical cemetery, with angelic statues and moss-covered monuments, but it did hold a wandering spirit. As we searched for a place to shoot, I tried to ignore the spirit of the old man who stood nearly 10 yards from us.
Although you may be surprised to hear it based on previous entries, I try to avoid bringing up the things I see. So I never brought up the man I'd witnessed just moments earlier. Instead, we shot in random locations until the rain let up, then made our way back inside to shoot in the studio. We had a blast and the energy level was high. We joked and laughed, and several hours (and a few outfits) later, the sun had set and we decided to go back out into the cemetery.
It was raining again and very dark. There were no lights in the area, but there were fuzzy images of figures darting this way and that. Later, a few of the pictures caught my interrupted gaze off into the distance, but my secret stayed safe and quiet that night.