Tag Archives: abandoned

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Southern California

Abandoned Car, Desert Gully

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Abandoned Car, Desert Gully
Abandoned Car, Desert Gully

Abandoned Car, Desert Gully. Death Valley National Park, California. March 4, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An old and very weathered car abandoned to the elements in a desert mountain streambed.

There are many threads to the Death Vally story, and portions of these stories can be read by looking in the right places in the park. There is the geological story that involves seismic activity, a very old lake, and the surprising role of water in what is today a very dry place. Occasional remnants of their ancient presence tells the faint story of the people who lived here before Europeans arrived. And there is the story of extraction – prospecting and the mining of all sorts of materials, some of which has not ended even today. (There are a couple of inholdings within the larger boundaries of the park where mineral rights are maintained and mining work continues – a jarring sight the first time you encounter in while in a national park.)

Much of this work took place only a few decades ago, and the detritus of that period is still found throughout the park. A few examples are well-known, marked on maps, and even have directional signs and interpretive information displayed by the park. However, if you poke around even a little bit you’ll soon come across many other examples of old mines, tailings, buildings, automobiles, and more. (If you visit the park and see these things, please be very careful around them. They are deteriorating, and almost anything you do to disturb them will hasten that process and deprive future visitors of the experience that you are enjoying.) There is one such site that I have driven past many times, but where I have never stopped until this trip. Beyond the obvious artifacts that are visible from a passing road, the site continues. This time I stopped, got out of my car, and spent some time wandering up and old trail that heads up a gully and then switchbacks up a nearby hill. A ways up this hill, after passing some dilapidated buildings, I came to a gully that must have been the occupants’ automobile graveyard, since there were several very old, rusting vehicles in this gully, partially embedded in sand that must have washed down during rain.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Stairway and Broken Windows

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Stairway and Broken Windows
Stairway and Broken Windows

Stairway and Broken Windows. Near Vallejo, California. March 16, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Exterior staircase, broken windows, and peeling paint on the wooden side panels of an abandoned building near Vallejo, California

I had joined up with a group of night photographers that I often shoot with on this evening, and we were sitting around in the late afternoon hours sharing pizza when someone made the radical suggestion of going out to shoot before darkness arrived! In the past, this has been just about the only group of photographers I’ve ever met who would stay inside during a San Francisco Bay area golden hour and sunset period, anxious for the light to go away so that shooting could begin! But on this evening, the radical concept of shooting in the daylight must have seemed so innovative that quite a few of us headed out to find either landscape-style shots over the San Francisco Bay or else abandoned and dilapidated industrial subjects nearby. I opted for the latter, and hoping to cover a bit more ground before dark, rather than walking nearby I drove, trying to figure out where I wanted to be in the fading light.

I ended up near this lonely, abandoned and partially destroyed building that has been left to vandals, who seem to be doing their best to accelerate the natural destructive forces that eventually take such buildings. Many windows are broken, there is spray paint in many places, and the exterior of the building is tremendously weathered and worn. Just a few minutes before sunset I made a series of exposures of this building, using a long lens to isolate smaller sections of the building. The sunset light turned the otherwise-dull building a much more intense shade of brown/yellow, and the brighter sky and clouds over San Francisco Bay are reflected in the broken windows. Soon after I finished shooting, the sun set, and I headed back to where my nocturnal friends awaited, and we headed out to photograph in the night.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Events, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Hangar One, Control Tower, Water Tank

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Hangar One, Control Tower, Water Tank - An abandoned control tower and a checkerboard-painted water tank stand near the historic Hangar One, stripped of its outer skin, at the NASA/Ames Research Center Moffett Airfield
An abandoned control tower and a checkerboard-painted water tank stand near the historic Hangar One, stripped of its outer skin, at the NASA/Ames Research Center Moffett Airfield

Hangar One, Control Tower, Water Tank. NASA Ames Moffett Field, California. September 21, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An abandoned control tower and a checkerboard-painted water tank stand near the historic Hangar One, stripped of its outer skin, at the NASA/Ames Research Center Moffett Airfield

This is almost certainly the final photograph from my September 21, 2012 visit to the NASA Ames Moffett Field for the flyover of space shuttle Endeavour on its flight to its new home in Los Angeles. As I have written earlier, since I (and thousands of others) arrived here hours before the main event, there was plenty of time to see things and make photographs. I found a position at the edge of the runway with the huge historic Hangar One located right behind me. Hangar One was originally built to support and house lighter-than-air craft, and it has long been a visual icon on the San Francisco Peninsula.

After the Navy gave the base over to NASA it was discovered that the hangar was polluting the nearby waters of San Francisco Bay – as I understand it, largely due to the use of lead paint on this gigantic structure. (It is so large that 6 football fields could fit inside.) This led to a decision to remove the outer steel skin of the structure, leaving only the skeletal steel structure beneath. While there is talk of replacing the outer covering, for now the hangar remains in this incomplete state. I was intrigued by the huge open structure and its juxtaposition with the very old and weathered control tower in front and the colorful water tank behind.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Abandoned Control Tower, Hangar One

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Abandoned Control Tower, Hangar One - An abandoned control tower in front of the skeleton of historic Hangar One, stripped of its outer skin, at the NASA/Ames Research Center Moffett Airfield.
An abandoned control tower in front of the skeleton of historic Hangar One, stripped of its outer skin, at the NASA/Ames Research Center Moffett Airfield.

Abandoned Control Tower, Hangar One. NASA/Ames Moffett Field, California. September 21, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An abandoned control tower in front of the skeleton of historic Hangar One, stripped of its outer skin, at the NASA/Ames Research Center Moffett Airfield.

Moffett Field (now officially called “Moffett Federal Airfield”) is an iconic landmark in the southern San Francisco Bay Area. Located along highway 101, in sight of thousands of drivers who pass every day, the most obvious features are the three very large hangars that were once built to house lighter-than-air craft. The largest is the so-called “Hangar One,” which is shown in this photograph. When I was a child, my family used to go to Moffett Field (then “Moffett Naval Air Station,” if I recall correctly) on “Armed Forces Day” (which seemed to be a big deal back then) to see the annual air shows, often featuring the Blue Angels and more. Visiting Hangar One was always a high point. The thing is huge! The wikipedia entry reports, among other things, that it is large enough to hold six football fields.

In the 1990s the airfield was decommissioned and then turned over the NASA Ames Research Center. Not long after that it was discovered that the lead paint used in the structure and perhaps other elements, too, were polluting the waters of the San Francisco Bay, which lie at the end of the runway. To make a long story short, the steel panels that formed the outer shell of the hangar were stripped off as part of the work to fix this problem. I’m unaware of the ultimate plan, if there is one, for the hangar, though its historic status creates some hope that it might be refitted at some point. I made this photograph on September 21, 2012 while waiting for the flyover of the Endeavor on its flight to Los Angeles. Even without the skin, the massive skeletal structure is quite a sight.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.