365 Day Project | Day 16 | Ocala Photographer

So, yesterday I clued you into the wonderful world of Weeks Auction. But previewing goods & test-driving equipment prior to auction day is one thing. The day of the monthly event is a whole other phenomena.

I want to explain what you are seeing in this picture. Various support equipment is tagged and placed in rows. We are looking 3/4 of the way down the first row. The equipment is mostly underfoot save for the larger pieces like the tires I’m standing on (very bottom of photo) and the tanks in the distance. We all take a load off and lounge on what horizontal surfaces we can find. That’s why you can’t see most of the items on auction. Oh and several bid spotters are on foot in the middle of it all aiding in the process. The white trucks (on either side of this image) are equipped with an auctioneer and a fellow who handles the online bidding. The owner happened to ride in the truck on the right.

First of all, the grounds are littered with golf carts, ATVs & RTVs. There’s even this one fellow who rolls around on his Segway! HA! I can see how they might be useful as the site is situated on 33 acres. Most of the folks driving them are  pretty skilled at weaving through the masses and are very respectful of us, “walkers,” but there’s always that one.

Speaking of “folks, ” the cast of characters is vast! As you can tell from this image, it’s a man’s world. There are a few ladies out there bidding though. I bet the bulk of these guys come because that’s just what you do on the 2nd Friday of the month. There may be no intention of buying, but if the price is right, why not? 3 spools of heavy gauge barbed wire for $150? Cheaper than the $300 retail price tag.

Then there are the very few who are sporting a more upscale look of clean blue jeans, brown oxford lace-ups…even a tie, topped off with a cowboy hat. I like to think that these fancy folk are from our area’s sprawling and profitable horse farms. And they’re going to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on equipment. I wonder if they actually do? They’re fun to pick out from the crowd.

My favorite character is like the man pictured in the lower right hand corner sporting the bright red shirt. Quiet and polite. I’ll bet he arrived at 8:30am for the 9am start. I’m not sure if he’s buying but he sure enjoys the company.

Oh, and there’s tobacco everywhere. If they’re not smoking it, they sure are chewing it. Par for the course, right?

I captured this image with my wide angle at 12mm. I was going for the “big picture.” And since I did not want to isolate any one story inside this scene, I shot at f/11 to capture it all.

I hope that enjoyed this glimpse into Weeks. I wish each of you could come and experience this. A little sensory overload but it’s fun.