Tag Archives: weathered

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

Brick Building, Doorway, Reflected Sky

December 14, 2013 G Dan Mitchell 1 Comment

The desert sky is reflected in the windows of an abandoned brick building in the ghost town of Bodie, California

I have been to Bodie quite a few times, but I rarely go there anymore unless I think something interesting might happen with the weather. The place is often sun-blasted, with cloudless blue skies, and during the part of the year when it is most often visited it tends to be quite hot and dry. Don’t get me wrong – Bodie is a fascinating place and its story is even more interesting. I’ve visited a number of ghost towns and isolated abandoned structures in the outback of California, and the sheer scope of this ghost town sets it apart, as does that fact that California has worked to sustain it in a state of suspended decay.

We were wandering around the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada and points further east of that on the final day of our five-day “aspen chasing” visit this October. Most often my plans are a bit general and/or flexible, and I like to adapt to changing conditions rather than stick to a preset shooting schedule. On this day we were surprised to find it snowing when we awoke in Mammoth Lakes, and as we left town to explore in an eastward direction we stopped to photograph dawn snow flurries over the Sierra crest. Eventually, after going a good distance out toward the Nevada border, we looped back to the north and ended up in Lee Vining, where we grabbed a (very late!) breakfast at Nicely’s. The possibility of going to Bodie was somewhere on the list of options, but when we continued to see snow falling about the town and clouds to the north and east, we decided to head out there to see what we could find. In the end, there was no snow falling in Bodie – though it had fallen there earlier that day – but it was very cold and very windy and broken clouds provided interesting and changeable light. One of my main subjects as I wandered around the town making photographs turned out to be the doors and windows on the old buildings. Perhaps ironically, given my usual lack of interest in sun-blasted Bodie, I shot this scene in nearly flat front light – but it seemed appropriate for this old and weathered building and the reflection i the old windows of the very blue cloud-filled sky.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Decaying Tree

December 11, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The decaying stump of an ancient sub-alpine Sierra Nevada tree

I came upon this jumble of the remains of a very old and large tree while walking about on our first full morning camped at the spot where we would remain for six nights in the Kings Canyon National Park high-country. From our camp at about the 11,000′ level I walked uphill, intending to investigate a dome on the ridge behind us and to see if I could find anything to photograph around a small lake that I could see on our maps.

As I walked up the hill I passed through small meadows and by dried-up tarns with their barren rocks and the branches of various fallen trees. As I approached the location of the lake I had to find a route between rocks and various small but thick groves of trees. As I passed one of these spots I noticed this old tree in the (long) process of disintegrating. The boundary between these ancient and rugged living thing and rock has sometimes seemed fuzzy to me. While I understand that the rocks are far, far older than any tree, these trees grow so slowly, are often so twisted and gnarled, wind so intimately among the rocks and boulders, and are of a color that looks more like rock than wood.

Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Textures

Metal Shingles and Electrical Wire

October 20, 2013 G Dan Mitchell 3 Comments

Weathered metal shingles and electrical wire on the wall of an abandoned building in the historic Bodie, California ghost town

I’ve visited Bodie a number of times, and I find the history of the place fascinating – from its mining roots up to its gradual death in the 20th Century. That said, and despite the obvious wealth of potential subjects, I’ve had a hard time warming up to it as a photographic subject. It is difficult to get there at the times of day when the light is most interesting, due to the limited hours the state park is open. And the midday light can be very harsh. In addition, it is an increasingly popular tourist attraction, which adds an additional challenge to the photography – unless you are there to photograph the people.

The times when I’ve enjoyed photographing there have almost all been those with “interesting” weather – perhaps some building afternoon thunderstorms, light snow, or possibly rain. Bodie was on our “maybe” list for shooting subjects on this trip – but when we saw clouds and snow along the eastern Sierra on this day we decided to head out there and see if this would add some interest. Once you are in Bodie, certain subjects seem to come to mind – photographing the many old derelict buildings, the overall landscape of the town, the surrounding landscape, the mining equipment and structures. I first focused on the old buildings, but then began to look a bit more at some of the smaller elements, such as this section of a rusted metal shingled wall with a bit of old electrical wire dangling from its side.

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Abandoned Buildings, Leadfield

June 29, 2013 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Abandoned buildings at the site of the Leadfield mines, Death Valley National Park

In a way there is really nothing that special about Leadfield. It is one of many, many abandoned outposts and mining sites found all over California and, for that matter, all over the West. These sites remain, though precariously in some cases, as a reminder of a number of things: history that is not all that distant, the people who must have been willing to come to such places and attempt to scratch out a living by mining, the human capacities for misleading others and for falling victim to those who would mislead, and the temporal nature of things that might seem permanent at the time.

I’m no historian, but I can share a few facts about this particular spot. In the 1920s the town – with some semi-permanent buildings and reportedly many tents – came into existence and died again in the span of less than a single year. Although the reports of ore in the area and situation that might allow it to be successfully mined were wild exaggerations or downright lies, a road was built into this rugged area, work was started on a mill, and today there is still plenty of evidence of mines all around the area. I made this photograph from the tailings pile at the entrance to what I think may be the main mine shaft, looking out over the site in what I imagine might be the direction that a person working that mine might have looked. I wonder it these people took as much notice as I did of the tiny and inconsequential appearance of the human landscape against the vast and rugged natural landscape beyond?

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: weathered

Brick Building, Doorway, Reflected Sky

Decaying Tree

Metal Shingles and Electrical Wire

Abandoned Buildings, Leadfield

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.