Monday, April 23, 2012

Mysterious Monday - Seance

Dusk, Antebellum Mansion, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved


A few years ago, I attended a seance with the purpose of trying to contact a long deceased relative of mine... my great, great, great, great uncle Wild Bill Hickok. Many legends surrounded this supposed lawman of the Wild West, including the wrestling of bears. So I wanted to ask him if it was really true he wrestled grizzly bears.

While calling upon his spirit, the seance table began to lift off the ground and slowly turn. The lights in the room dimmed, and mist began swirling around me. When I heard strange thumping sounds, my eyes grew wide with astonishment 

and my hair stood on end.

Suddenly the spirit of Wild Bill manifested itself. In a bone chilling voice, he neither confirmed nor denied the bear wrestling stories. He did however advise me against playing poker, especially sitting at a table with my back facing the door... especially in a saloon... and especially while holding a hand of aces and eights, 

the dreaded dead man's hand.

Since that night, I gave up saloons, hard liquor and gambling. Now I only drink sarsaparilla and play an occasional game of tiddlywinks. But I decided to continue the family tradition of wrestling grizzly bears, which by the way, is much more dangerous than I thought it would be.




31 comments:

  1. complimenti,una vera bellezza!

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  2. First of all congrats on the depth in this photo. Second, I enjoyed you story. Still smiling. Must get me some of that there Sarsparilla.

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  3. a tall tale for a tall building. great perspective on both counts.

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  4. Великолепное фото! Интересные слова. Каждый получает то, во что он верит.

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  5. Another shot with great lighting. Perfect balance of the lighting throughout the photo. The blue sky background really makes everything esle stand out.

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  6. Love this kind of shot Doug, really beautiful!

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  7. Bravo Doug, you did a perfect work with your camera,really dramatic and beautiful!
    Léia

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  8. NIce angle and the front tree really makes this mysterious! The light in the center window is perfect !

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  9. Is it just me, or does that tree look a little furry?

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  10. I love the shooting angle you chose and the giant tree that seems to be taking the house in its claws. Beautiful tones of night also.

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  11. Wonderful + words :)

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  12. You'll have to teach me bear wrestling next time I visit, Doug. :) Nice picture.

    Sequoia

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  13. Ha Ha, Wonderful story Doug !!!

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  14. i ALWAYS knew that seances were meant to wreak havoc on your sanity ... but in your case it wasn't so bad - since it kept you away from 'hard liquor and cards' ;-))
    awesome image of this 'haunted' house, with superb light management and a perfect pov! i especially love the skeletal branch looming over the house ...

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  15. Just a picture that makes me say wauw. It is just great.

    Greetings,
    Filip

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  16. You sir, are awesome. Great image to match a delightful post!

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  17. The long exposure of the Antebellum caught me Doug... but your telling of your encounter with Wild Bill was a smash hit... drink rum daily and give up on the grizzly bears... you will live much longer lol....peter:)

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  18. Ha ha... Surely Wild Bill was still in England at that time.
    No, there were no bears back then.

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  19. Fantastic framing and light. What a shot, Doug!

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  20. :) Love how you've framed this. I tried a very similar shot at Christmas time, but it didn't work out. You've inspired me to try again, Wild Bill!

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  21. woooo Doug, light is splendid!!!

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  22. Beautiful, spooky shot!! Funny writeup as well, you got a grin out of me :)

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  23. Great little story Wild Doug. But I reckon it's more likely that you wrestle Koala Bears although I could be wrong. Meanwhile, in between bouts you've captured a superb image - perfectly lit and enhanced by that little bit of light falling on the branch.

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  24. Great deep and Its a great success the branch as hand on the house.
    You have expressed very well the idea, the text with the capture.
    Fantastic.
    Greetings

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  25. Mahtava kuva. Tulee aivan kylmät väreet, odotan vain kummitusten ilmstyvän.
    Terveiset.

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  26. You lead a very hard life. Too bad you gave up hard liquor...it's more fun than wrestling grizzly bears! Great shot of the mansion--actually quite beautiful!

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  27. Creepy!! Looks like the tree would attack the house! Great capture!
    Have a nice day.

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  28. Great picture. And what a wonderful story (I could really imagine your relative...)

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  29. if the scene gets any darker, this'd be really creepy.. but with this lighting, it's just so so, in fact, it's just about right.. great catch! never tried attending a seance, but after what you said, i'm having second thoughts.. :D

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