Danville haunted bridge

[Steve M Hostetter]

Hello,,

Well my new obsession is now a bridge close by that is said to be haunted. You be the judge. Notice the evil face in the last shot?

[Steve M Hostetter]

The first shot is made on 8x10" paper neg and is very dark but If you look close you will notice a fog like substance but it really should have recorded on the film since it was a 10 min. exposure. Very strange.

Also I have a short video of the shoot on youtube called Danville Indiana haunted bridge revealed. Please check it out.
Notice that as the video pans down to the step ladder we used to get up into the catacones there is a rock that travels from right to left and goes under the ladder.

I went back to see if I could re-create a rock being tossed in the same area with several different size and shaped rocks. The angle of the slope is around 52 degrees and every rock just fell down the slope to the bottom and I was unable to make it happen. Very strange

Anyway,, please watch the video and let me know what you think..

[Brian Bullen]

The first image is excellent. Double exposure? The bridge looks like an interesting place to visit.

On a side note, I was just in Danville doing some video work for Hendricks Regional Health.

[Steve M Hostetter]

Hello Brian,

Yes, double exposure as a result of a lucky mistake :D

thx steve

[Brian_A]

That rock you mentioned (@1:43) is kinda nuts. If I had seen that while filming I think I would have made a quick exit. I assume is a bridge that's still in use as it sounded like there were cars going over it? Anyway, cool pics! Thanks for sharing. You gunna do any more stuff out there?

[Steve M Hostetter]

Hello Brian A,

We didn't notice the rock while we were there and in fact I almost missed it when reveiwing the footage of over 9 film clips we took.
The bridge is a double track train trestle and the trains go over at 50-60 mph. The cars you hear are going under the first arch and the second "biggest" arch spans white lick creek..
What really creeps me out is getting down through the main collumns to reach each arch. They are dark shafts you must navigate through on a ricketty old wooden ladder.
I would like to bring in some light and see what I can get on film in there.
Funny thing,, I been going to this bridge ever since my late teens, back before they built the more direct road that goes under it. The bridge was real remote and a lot quieter back then and harder for the average guy to find.. We used to bring our dates and some wine out there at around midnight and just sit,drink and make-out.
We would tell the stories and listen for the sounds of spirits, which we thought we heard.!depending on how many drinks we already had :D
Yes, I truly believe there are spirits there and even more so now.

regards
steve

[Brian_A]

Steve,

You gunna post more video and/or photos?? Would love to see some more of it... You got any quality sites on the history of the bridge?

-B

[Steve M Hostetter]

Brian,

I'll try to get some more clips downloaded from that trip.. They seem to take forever to load to youtube so It will be like an on going thing for awhile. I intend to keep adding to this thread more stills of the bridge but as of now I don't have any more except for the one test I done w/ my new 11x14" back.

I was able to find some information on the bridge by googling and you can find all the stories that surround the paranormal activities there.
I wish I could add links but try googling,, Danville Indiana haunted bridge and you should see a slew of links you'll just have to start thumbing through em ..

There are actually two bridges that share similar stories ... There is the Avon bridge which is just down the tracks in the next town east and it's identical to the Danville bridge, which is why they are called twin bridges.. Only difference is the one in Avon has had it's concrete capped in attemp to keep the old crete from falling off.

I hope to keep this thread "alive" :D for awhile with more pics as they accumulate.. I wanna get some shots of the bridge full exterior which is all three arches. I will have to wait till winter do to the thick foliage around the bridge in summer.

steve

[Ash]

Reminds me when I was in an abandoned (mental) hospital last summer, 2 or 3 times. The ground floor & upstairs had rooms with gorgeous sunlight, warm, still, quiet.

In the basement all the high windows had been boarded up (as they were ground level/dangerous/potential squat entrances) so it was cold and pitch black. The remaining decoration looked sinister. There was a cool breeze on our backs.

We made a sharp exit and started to speak very loud.

[Steve M Hostetter]

Ok,, more videos up on youtube.com under Danville Indiana haunted bridge " still photography instructional"?

[Kirk Gittings]

This belongs in the image sharing section right?

[Steve M Hostetter]

This belongs in the image sharing section right?

It's up to you Kirk. I just put it in here because it's initial purpose is for an instructional on photography.

[Brian_A]

"We gotta get some ghosts" haha That's great. I love how the wind seemingly picks up right before you make an image and dies off just as soon as you're done. I'm sure that probably has to do with him maneuvering the camera, but it's still kinda odd - especially after the rock thing.

[Steve Hamley]

Steve,

Maybe your camera is haunted, not the bridge!

Cheers, Steve

[Steve M Hostetter]

Steve,

You know you could be right, after all it is a digital :D

[John Kasaian]

Hmmmm....it looks kinda like a girl I used to know...?

[Steve M Hostetter]

LMAO,, I hear ya John:)

[jvo]

there are 2 faces!!! wooooohhh...

[Steve M Hostetter]

hey j,

you know I think your right!

[J. E. Brown]

Steve,

Really cool bridge. Playing with the lighting on the bridge and water would make for some spooky effects.

On a side note, I am not sure if you make wet prints, but a few months back I had a creepy experience. I had been shooting some 4x5's of a building that was supposed to be haunted and was finally printing some of them. I was just printing the first test print and while the image was appearing in the developer, I wondered if there would be something in the windows that I hadn't seen when shooting. A cascade of ghostly images ran through my mind and for the first time, my dark room felt really creepy. I had to wrap up the session and turn a light on, just to make sure I wasn't going insane. It's funny what our minds can conjure up when we turn them loose.

-J

[Steve M Hostetter]

Hello J.,

Yeah, I know what you mean.. Before they built the more direct road to this bridge you could only access it from a remote country road that lead southwest out of town .
You had to make sure you turned left at the Baker funeral home and wind around for about a mile till you reached an old iron bridge that crossed White Lick Creek..
As you got to the road bridge you looked to your right and there it was just looming right over you and cold chills would just run down your spine.
You had to ask, "are we going up there"? I had to just keep telling myself, "It's just a bridge"! Course this was the first time I was there and I've been back many times but there was nothing like that first time! and pitch black out
regards
steve

[John McMillin]

I really do apologize about debunking a good story here. And with my very first post! But I watched the video, and it's obvious to me that it's not a rock moving in the background. It's a leaf, most likely, blowing in the wind. Those roaring microphone sounds reveal that it was a windy day. Even if it was somehow windy enough to send stray pebbles downwind, a rock moving at that speed would ricochet when it hit the obstruction, because it would have too much mass & momentum to stop so easily.

More to the point, I enjoyed your photos. Especially the first one, with reflections (?) that create a strong but illogical architecture of man-made and natural elements. Now that's spooky...

[Steve M Hostetter]

Hello John,

No need to apologize and to be honest I thought leaf but the object is white in color and the leaves here are still very green.. Also the object has a skipping motion(showing some weight) even as it slows down.. Very un-leaf like
Thank you for your input..
regards
steve