You can view the entire segment and more @ http://video.wcny.org/video/2329517230

Watch Artifex on PBS. See more from Artifex.

History

The Lonaconing Silk Mill is nestled in the western tail of Maryland in Allegany County. The mills construction began in 1905 and the processing of silk imported from China and Japan began in 1907. Initially, over 300 people were employed by the mill, but numbers were cut to less than 200 in the 50′s due to competition with the larger and more modernized mills. The antiquated machines could not keep up with the times. On a cold Friday in September of 1957 the mills doors were closed and sealed. The companies machines, dyes, bobbins, employees records, and even their personal effects were all frozen in an industrial revolution time capsule.

The mills current owner Mr. Herb Crawford, seen here conversing with your’s truly, struggles with keeping the mill in tact. Only through a few small historical preservation grants and more so from his tours is he able to barely keep afloat. I strongly urge you to contact him for a tour and photo-shoot, you will not regret it. If you can get a group together he will kindly offer you a discount. Check out his contact info at the end of this article.

The Adventure

Originally when I booked this trip the weekend was free and clear. But, as luck would have it, my band booked a gig on the same day. So the trick would be to drive down the night before, stay over, get up, shoot the mill and then make the mad 5 hour dash back to New York to play the gig. After a good nights rest in Cumberland, MD we hit the road for a short drive into the small town of Lonaconing. The mill was easy to find, located just across the creek that runs through the middle of town. (as always click on the photo to enlarge it)

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We park the rental car and make our way up the rickety wooden stairs to the mills front office where Herb greets us. Immediately we are thrust back into 1957 where everything is still in place as it was the day the mill closed. It’s like it was open and operating just yesterday. Filing cabinets, a desk and a chair adorn the office, along with an old adding machine with the original cover on it as place there on that fateful day in 1957.

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One of the more curious objects in the office was this fire extinguisher bomb.

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This little grenade is loaded with Carbon Tetrachloride, when hurled at the fire, the glass would shatter and the the liquid would displace the oxygen and the fire would immediately be starved of oxygen and go out. Problem is, the oxygen in the persons lungs would be displaced as well. CT was also used as a spot remover/dry cleaning fluid but was found to cause kidney failure and was banned from use. Glad I didn’t pick it up and drop it. Herb opens the office door and sets us off on our self-guided photo shoot.

The first thing we see is a room fully loaded with machines and the morning light is just too brilliant to pass up.

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Though the thread has all been removed, all of the bobbins and tags are still in place.

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There were no looms here, this mill was making and dying thread for fabric manufacturers. Everywhere you look there are racks upon racks of the now famous bobbins.

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This first room is just filled with wonderful textures and industrial goodness.

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Personal effects are scattered everywhere. On one of the spooling machines there was a curious book that obviously belonged to quite the saucy employee.

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Along with the personal stuff, some maintenance items are also here and there.

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In the next room, much larger than the first we find some more personal effects.

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At the end of one of the machines were these very unique looking carts with tools and gadgets on them. All of them draped in cloths that looked to be soaked in a waxy grease. Quite odd, but I surmised that they were most likely used to maintain the machines. I couldn’t help thinking these things look like little maintenance robots.

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We make our way to the second floor of the mill where I see this cool switch on the wall.

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While I am always compelled to flip these switches and imagine all of the equipment magically firing up, there is still live power here in the mill so I did not dare try it. With the bright sun beaming through the old frosted windows, electric light wasn’t needed, or wanted.

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Down another aisle I spot this cool little sink and think to myself, what an odd place to put an ashtray. Truth be known, from what I have been able to ascertain, this is a dye or wash sink. The silk threads would be strung from the spools on one side to the sink filled with hot water or dye. The threads would then be wound on a pick-up bobbin on the other side. If anyone knows any different, I would love to hear the story.

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One of the things I like about industrial abandonment is the raw “on-the-fly” creativity that you see in the machines and construction. You just know these places were loaded with people that faced complicated problems with a “sure we can do that” attitude. Everything in these places is custom-made and maintained on site.

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While the main focus of the shot is the “Y” in the heating ducts, the hanging bucket was the fire extinguisher of the day. You will notice in this next shot that the bottom of the bucket was round as to make sure this bucket wasn’t used for anything but it’s intended purpose. These were filled with sand and not water and were used specifically in areas that oil or liquid fires may be a possibility. These machines needed continual greasing and oiling to operate effectively. Combine that with the heat of the factory and you have a high risk of fire.

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On thing is for sure on this freezing March day, the heat was definitely not on. Shooting was fast and furious, just to keep warm. This maintenance area was full of some seriously cool memorabilia.

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Everywhere you look here there is a photograph, the entire factory is a frozen moment.

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On of my favorite subjects on the second level was this old freight elevator. With the sun shining in from the windows it made for a classic photo.

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Have focused mostly on details it was time to get some shots of the machines. One of the more fascinating contraptions were these spindle winding machines.

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Spindles, spindles everywhere.

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And where there weren’t spindles, there where bobbins, lots of dirty bobbins.

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Some places though, there were both.

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Finished with the upper level and with time running short we decide to take a quick trip to the basement. Too bad the elevator was not working.

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We find the basement well-lit and the culprit to the dead elevator. Here is the dismantled fly-wheel.

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The basement also holds a machine shop, various dyes, tools, silk and garment washing machines (that I unfortunately missed) and this cool old Toledo Scale. Complete with the early afternoon sun shining in.

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On my way to the machine shop part of the basement I spot these old rusted out dye cans. I used my handy LED flashlight to “paint” the cans instead of using a flash. Camera settings here were as follows: 30 second exposure at f/8 and ISO100 to keep the noise to a minimum. Granted the original color version of this is pretty cool because you can see all of the hardened dyes, but keeping with the vintage theme I present it in black and white. It think it still holds up well.

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Finally I make it to the machine shop. It is apparent that parts for the old mill machinery were made right in-house. While many computer related repairs are done in factories these days, no one is making parts on site. Pretty cool!

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Upon closer examination I discover that the lathe was a dangerous tool. An old NU-SKIN container, actually called NEW-Skin back then. I didn’t even realize this stuff was around in 1957!

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As I turn around to check out the rest of the area, a bright light through the basement window lights this beauty.

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Yes folks, that is a 1956 12 ounce Coca-Cola bottle. Only when I got home to process these shots did I see that on the neck of the bottle, near the top, is the thumb print of the employee that sat that bottle down in 1957. Probably thought to him or herself, I’ll take care of that on Monday when I come in. A color version of this has sold well at all of my art shows. This year I will be making this black and white version available. Just be hind me is the life blood to this mill. Lots and lots of oil.

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I round out the tour with a trip to the electrical room. I wasn’t sure if any of these were still “live” so I kept my distance.

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We make our way back up to the office to bid Herb a farewell. He gives us a couple of the bobbins from the factory and wishes us well. I head outside to snap some shots of the exterior.

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Purchase a Limited Edition Print

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It is pretty funny that it is actually warmer outside than it is inside.

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Though this old mill was “abandoned” by it’s original owners, it is definitely NOT abandoned by Herb Crawford, it’s owner and caretaker. Herb is working very hard to maintain the mill. He has had to install security measures to keep out the looters and vandals. We know that the photography and urbex communities support Herb and his efforts. Please do NOT try to sneak in. Do the right thing, Help preserve this wonderful old piece of American iconic history. For what your portfolio and life will get out of it, it is well worth the money. Contact Herb Crawford about an official tour @ 301-268-1168.

And remember!

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A.D.

Boredom. We have all been there in one facet or another in our lives. Like musicians courting the muse, photographers must follow this same archaic path as well. Being that I have been on both sides of this creative fence I can safely say there is no difference between the two when it comes to creating something new and fresh. My 8th grade music teacher told me something that I will never forget. He said to me, “We hear all the time, it is when we listen that is important”. I have carried this with me and applied it to everything in my life ever since. The same applies to photography. We see all the time, but it is when we look that is important. For the creative photographer can get in a rut with this, just as a musician can. To get out of the rut we must simply continue to work. The key is to force yourself, good or bad, to work in other genres you may not be comfortable in. If you are a landscape photographer, try some portraiture, or macro photography. This will not only expand your repertoire, but will exercise your creative eye and mind in new ways. It will give you new vision and freshen the way you “look” at the world around you.

Recently, I found myself in this very spot, as I often do. The upstate New York grey season, otherwise known as “Not Summer” can have quite an effect on you. So, I started scouring the internet for new ideas and directions to move my photography. A few sites that I recommend for this is 500px.com, Flickr.com and of course Google+. I will randomly surf for an hour or so and try to find something that catches my eye. This time is was the beautiful water drop photography of Corrie White. You can see her gallery at the link posted at the end of the article. There are a lot of water drop specialists out there, but for me, Corrie is tops. Not just because her images are amazing, but because she is a humble artist and I really appreciate that! Her work really inspired me to set up some lights, a pan of water, some food coloring and give it a shot. Now she uses a digital rig, but she did start out the same way that I am. I cannot afford a digital timer, but I also really just like the experimentation of trying to time it by hand for now. Here is the first water drop photo that I created.

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This shot was created with the simple rig which consisted printer ink syringe, taped to an old tripod, over a Pyrex baking dish filled with colored water. I would test a few drops, use a remote release with the camera, squeeze the syringe, click the release, and hope for the best. Here is a simple diagram of the original set-up.

I used a 70-200mm macro lens and zoomed all the way in on the water as to crop out the dish and background. It took about 45 shot to get the first one. Once I had practiced a few sessions it got easier. It is still a challenge capturing the exact moment. To me, that is where the fun lies. You just never know what you are going to get. Once you get your timing down better, then you can start experimenting with different strobe power, colored backdrops, using milk instead of water, or a combination of ingredients. Here are some more shots from the initial set-up.

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It would be some time before I would do anymore water drop shots, but this exercise did help me focus on smaller details in my landscapes as well as razor sharp focus and lighting. On my return to do more water drop shots I decided that a better drip rig was needed so off to the hardware store I went. For a few bucks I bought some brass fittings and some plastic tubing and this greatly stabilized my drops and helped me focus more on my timing. Another trick that helped with focus was to place a nail in the water where the drop hits. Then focus the camera on the nail. Remove the nail and commence shooting. Here are some shots of that set up.

In this last shot you can see that my focus is dead on.

With everything set up properly and my focus dead on, it’s time to let the water fly. Sometimes I drop just a single drop and others I try to successively drop several in sequence to get a reaction. Here I am using a mixture of water, skim milk and pink, green, and blue food coloring. I found a fluorescent food coloring at the grocery store that really makes the colors pop.

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By adding more milk to the mixture I found that the colors started to pop even more.

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Add to that some colored gels in front of my strobes and the results start to get interesting.

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Timing of course is everything with these shots. I have found that trying to time it by watching the drop hit the water is not always best. Sometimes, later is better with these shots. The experimentation is where the learning comes in and is different for everyone. As my aim and focus has improved I was able to capture my first partial umbrella. This phenomenon happens when a drops rebound splash collides just right with an incoming second drop. With a timer, this is pretty easy to do, by hand, not so much.

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The “Umbrella” type photos are the shots that Corrie White has made famous. Here work as far as I am concerned is un-paralleled. Here are a couple of shots from my last shoot.

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As with anything of course it is natural to further the experimentation. This next set involves a 10 gallon fish tank with a black back-drop. I will let you look at the shots and then explain what you are seeing.

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So by now you have to be asking, “What the heck”? The fish tank was cleaned and filled with water. I set a strobe up on each side of the tank pointing directly in. I then used a mixture of food coloring, dish detergent, and water in a large printer ink syringe. I fired off the syringe as fast as I could while triggering the camera remote with my free hand. The image is then flipped in Lightroom creating something uniquely different and creative. Here is another set using a different technique. I refer to this series as “inner space” as they tend to look like nebula and stars.

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This last set was inspired by midsummer’s day of boredom. I was just driving around town and stopped at a local city park. No one ever photographs this park and it’s fountain due to sour taste that it’s construction has left in many a residents mouth. So, instead of photographing the fountain in it’s entirety I decided to just focus on….you guessed it, the water. The fountain cost the community a rumored 1 million dollars and was built where many businesses used to stand after the 1972 Agnus Flood. Instead of commerce, the city decided that a park was much better than any business could ever be for the downtown area. Needless to say, this place is practically a ghost town now. But, we have this lovely granite fountain so why not photograph it? The granite edges are very sharp and the water flowing over these edges streams like glass. That is, until the wind hits it and then it bubbles and flares like ribbon candy. This caught my eye so I slapped on the 70-200mm Sigma 2.8 APO and went to work.

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Post processing on these consisted of a simple 2-color filter and that was it. I have no names for these, I just thought they were very organic and neat to look at. They would work well in large format in a lobby or office. The greatest thing about shots like this is that they really can be colored any way you wish, to match any decor.

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Purchase a Limited Edition Print

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This final set is a culmination of all of my work from the previous water abstract shoots. I took all of the things that I had learned from these shoots and applied it to a landscape shoot. This summer, as part of my going west 2012 series I made stops in several places along the drive out to Utah. Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore at the foot of Lake Michigan, just east of Chicago would be one of those stops. Lake Michigan like the other great lakes looks like an ocean from the shore. The wave action on a fairly calm day is lighter than the ocean and this would be such a day. I had some ideas lined up for the shoot and you can find those in another series I am releasing soon. But when the shoot ideas ran out, I decided to fall back on my water abstract knowledge from the previous year. It turned out to be not only fun, but rewarding as well. After I had captured all of the wide-angle, sweeping landscapes I could muster, I put on the macro lens and started focusing on the waves and their motion.

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No strobe use here, but still angling myself to the useful muted sunlight from the clouds to get the results I wanted.

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Purchase a Limited Edition Print

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And there you have it. An otherwise missed opportunity if not for feeding the muse out of boredom. Always push yourself in to un-chartered territory, as it will always expand your knowledge and further fine tune your skill set. I hope you find some inspiration in this post to go out and try something different, I am sure you will greatly benefit from it.

Corrie White on 500px: http://500px.com/CorrieWhite

~A.D.

Today, (Sunday 12/9), @ 5:30pm EST on WSKG HD.

The Winners have been chosen.

************CONTEST RESULTS************

816 Total Entries. Minus my personal promotional entries left me with 753 total. That list was then pumped into Random.org and the top three winners are:

16″ x 24″ Metal Print “Executive Meeting” ~ Sarah Troiani
8″ x 10″ Curved Metal Print ~ Krys Krys
8″ x 10″ Stand-up Metal Print ~ Rob Dietrich

Congrats to the winners, I will be contacting you shortly. A HUGE thank you to everyone that participated in making this a successful give-a-way. Stay tuned for another coming soon!

$15 each / $25 for two ~ Free Shipping in time for Christmas throughout the lower 48. If you are outside the area, please contact me for shipping and arrival time.

To Pre-Order, just fill in the form below and I will contact you for payment and shipping info when they arrive.

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This first destination while exciting at times, and nearly disastrous at others, was that failure. And I use that term lightly. We made it out alive and managed to capture a few shots as well so “failure” here is a little strong. Staying in Kanab, UT we searched google maps for interesting locations and found the ghost town of “Pahreah” or as it known as now, “Paria”.

Paria as per Wiki:
The area was first settled in 1865 by a Mormon group led by Peter Shirts. This early settlement was named Rockhouse, for Shirts’s strongly built sandstone house. After the end of the Black Hawk War in 1867 settlers began to arrive at a rapid pace. Farming produced good crops for several years, but irrigation was very difficult; each spring the surface runoff water was absorbed into the desert soil too quickly to properly water the fields. In 1870 the residents agreed to move the settlement. They divided in two groups; half the people went about 5 miles upstream and founded the town of Pahreah.

Pahreah grew through the 1870s, gaining a general store, a church, a number of sandstone houses, and many log houses. The population grew to 47 families. The town hit hard times in the 1880s, however. The Paria River flooded every year from 1883 to 1888, washing away fields and even some buildings. People started to move away. By 1892 there were only eight families left, but for some reason the town was granted a post office that year, under the name Paria. Not much changed until a small gold mining operation was established here in 1911. Within a year, that too was wiped out by flooding. The post office closed in 1914. A lone bachelor prospector held out until 1929, then Paria was empty.

Filming location

In later years the film industry became interested in using the picturesque ghost town, with its canyon vista background, as a location for making Westerns. Several scenes for Buffalo Bill were shot here in 1943, but crews were in a constant struggle against the flooding Paria River. Producers of other movies and television programs used Paria more or less throughout the 1950s. Then in 1961 the old ghost town was used as a major location for the Rat Pack film Sergeants 3, the largest western ever filmed in Kane County. Not satisfied with what remained of Paria, the film’s creators constructed an imitation Old West town about a mile to the west. Visitors often confused this movie set with the real Paria, as it fell into disuse after the filming of The Outlaw Josey Wales in 1976. After more flash flooding severely damaged the set in 1998, a team of volunteers and employees of the Bureau of Land Management disassembled the wreckage and replaced the structures in 1999–2001. New interpretive signs explained the movie set’s significance and distinguished it from Paria itself.

So we drove our new Hyundai Veloster out west for this trip. It is a great economical car with a great ride and it turns out, quite an off-road vehicle as well. Without too much trouble we found the road entrance to Paria. Now, before I continue, there is one thing you should know about Utah roads. Just because the road you turn onto is paved, doesn’t mean it will stay that way for long, nor will it be indicated when that change will occur. Now this would be great if I owned a 4×4 off-road vehicle, but not in my Veloster which has 4 inches of ground clearance, maybe. Oh well, we have insurance and a good warranty so off on the dirt road we go. The road quickly goes from dirt to dirt washboard and stays that way, for the next 4 miles. At the end of the 4 miles, the road turns to trail and now we are crossing wash-out beds and muddy rutted trails. Suddenly the road/trail, just goes away and we are at the foot of a large rocky butte with nothing but a field of cracked earth below us. It is at this point, we decide we may have gone the wrong way. We are also too far out, and starting to get into hardcore 4×4 country. We turn back and find the junction we miss and it takes us to what looks like, yes, in the middle of nowhere, a restroom and stop.

After a quick bathroom break and wandering around a bit we find a couple of plaques that inform us that the ghost town we are looking for was washed away by floods and that there is another, the movie set, about 2 miles up the road, er, trail. So we hop in the car and head out in the direction the maps shows. Around the first bend we are face with a creek to cross and not with a bridge. It is the end of the line for us. It wasn’t until I sat down to write this entry did I find out through some extended research that the movie set was burned down by suspected arsonists in 2006. This hits close to home for me as I see this in the urban exploration world quite a bit. Beautiful historic sites are often lost to vandals and scrapers. We get turned around and head back to a pull off we saw on the way in.

On the way in there were about 20 photographers mobbing this area. Now, 45 minutes later it is completely desolate. Here is a full resolution 360 degree panorama of the area. This final shot consisted of 84 vertical frames and was shot using a tripod and a Sigma 50mm 1.4 APO lens.

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Here is a nice shot of chasm I perched myself on for the shot, sans car.

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On the way out, because we have to keep our speed to around 5 miles an hour on the washboards, we take a few stops to view the local flora. Throughout the desert beautiful flowers dot the landscape.

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We decide to head off to Page, AZ and destination we are a little more sure of. Along the way, outside of Page we stop at in information center and the nice attendant there tells us of a great overlook just outside of Page that most miss on their way through. We decide to check it out. Our instructions include looking for the Denny’s outside Page and heading around back and down a road that we will find there. I have followed stranger instructions. Along the way we make a stop at an offshoot of Lake Powell called Wahweap Bay. Wahweep is located just North of the Glen Canyon Dam and our secret scenic destination and is part of the snaking Lake Powell.

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Before heading to the secret overlook we decide to hit a car wash and clean the mud and sand off the car and grab lunch at local BBQ in downtown Page. We have a great BBQ sandwich at Big John’s Texas BBQ and head over to the Denny’s to find this secret overlook. Without too much trouble we find the road to the overlook. Upon first look this place doesn’t look too scenic. After exploring a bit we find a natural trail down the sandstone to a hidden overlook of Dam and Glen Canyon for which it is named.

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All around the scenic overlook are beautiful layered sandstone cliffs.

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This natural and somewhat uniform erosion makes for some interesting abstract shots.

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Time to climb back up the cliff and head out to find the elusive Toadstools. They are not to difficult if you have a little direction. I will make it easy on you and provide the Google maps address to save you some time, but remember, leave nothing but footprints and take nothing but photographs! You can find the trail entrance on Route 89 between Kanab, UT and Page, AZ here: GOOGLE MAP LINK The trail is for foot hiking only and about 1 mile long to to reach the toadstools. The elevation change is only about 100 feet but it can be blistering hot and the trail is sand and can sap your strength quickly. Make sure you take water with you and know that cell phone coverage is not existent. The trail can be challenging in some areas but nothing over moderate. Here is one of the more unique parts of the trail.

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It was about 93F out and very little breeze. The only relief was when we could catch a cool breeze in a shadow cast by one of the surrounding canyon walls. All along the route lizards scattered from our path, several species of large insects scurry about and we also run across some cool tracks in the dry creek bed. Care to take a guess?

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We had originally thought that maybe a hiker brought along their dog but there were no accompanying human tracks. After further research I discovered that they were coyote tracks. There were so many of them that the canyon must be loaded with them at night. Finally we make it to the toadstools. The toadstools are spire-like feature with a boulder perched atop a pedestal rock, like a mushroom, or “toadstool.” They form when softer rock erodes away, leaving a column sheltered from wind and water. This area is very unique and conditions are perfect for the toadstool development.

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A vigorous climb up a sandy mound opens up to a large amphitheater where the toadstools reside.

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With some further exploring up the mesa I come across the water source for the area. This is actually a dried up waterfall. This really must be fantastic during the flash flood season.

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Along the ridge, further up the trail there are more toadstools in different formations. This is such a beautiful area, and though we passed a couple on the way in, there is no one here. The quiet, plus the lack of people milling about just lends to the magical quality of this place.

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Unfortunately, some malicious people feel the need to knock over these amazing formations. If you go there, I cannot stress to you enough, be kind to the land. These things take thousands of years to create, don’t let 5 minutes of stupidity ruin it for others.

As with many of the destinations I visited out west this year I brought along the looking-glass for some variety.

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During my entire shoot this little guy hung out with me. I make such great friends on my travels!

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The sun is setting and it is time to make the 1 mile trek back to the car and the 40 mile trip back to home base in Kanab. On the way back we run into this guy.

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That my friends is the Darkling Beetle. A big boy for sure, and also known as the Utah Stink Beetle. If he is disturbed he will stick his rear in the air and let you have it. Luckily, we did not piss him off. Well, for a day that started out nearly disastrous, it turned out pretty great. We say goodbye to the toadstools and head back, for tomorrow, we hunt for GOBLINS!!

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The next day we are up early as this will be one of the longer journeys from home base for us. Goblin Valley State Park is located about 216 miles southeast of Salt Lake City near a small town called Hanksville. That won’t help you find the place though. Best to have a GPS, and the last 12 miles of desert road into the park will have you watching your rear view mirror for Leatherface and his pick-up truck.

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Touted as Utah’s most popular park we were hoping that it won’t be too crowded to get some shots. The drive into the park entrance is un-assuming and rather boring. You pass by a couple of hoodoos and think, “This is it?” Then you reach the over look to the basin and realize this is going to be a LOT of fun! We hike about 50 yards down the hill from the over look and are instantly thrust into something akin to the movie set from the “Dark Crystal” What?? You didn’t think I would get through this entire series without a crazy 80′s SciFi movie reference did you? Don’t worry, there will be more I am sure. This place is truly fantastic!

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Every angle, every step changes what you see. A face here, a character there, a truly remarkable experience. Some look like little gnome homes.

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Others, look like the gnomes themselves. Ooh, nice hairdoo Elvis!

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How about H.R.Puff-n-stuff delivering a pizza? Okay, too old? How about Jabba the Pizza Hut? (Sorry, I couldn’t resist)

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Goblin Valley is about 4.686 square miles of fun shapes, mazes and cool places to explore. Let’s dispense with the commentary for a bit and explore. You can imagine for yourself what some of these remind you of.

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See what I mean? The fun here is literally never-ending. No fences, gates, just a big playground that changes all around you. In addition to the hoodoos, the desert floor changes color beneath you as well. Here you can see where the flash flooding has deposited some nice white sand among the typical orange.

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When you are tired, all this reminds you of is a nice cold orange creme-cicle. Unfortunately, there are none of those for miles around. I digress. For 90% of this trip it has been virtually weather free and when shooting landscapes it is preferred to have some clouds for drama in the sky. About halfway through today’s exploration the wind started to get violent. Dust devils come out of nowhere. After much dodging and diving behind hoodoos to avoid a good sandblasting, the winds move on and a nice wispy cloud front moves in.

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Because of the nice clouds, this next shot is one of my favorites on the day.

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It’s a little alien, it’s a little earth. Speaking of aliens, this really reminds me of an alien spine.

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Taking that a bit further, here is an infrared treated hoodoo that looks a bit out of this world I think.

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Without too much imagination you can easy think yourself lost on another planet which is quite understandable seeing that the Tim Allen movie Galaxy Quest was shot here for that very reason. I have never actually seen the movie but I have looked at the stills on IMDB. I may have to check it out on Netflix now that I have been there.

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Purchase a Limited Edition Print

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This place is so vast, it makes perfect sense why they put the trail head and entrance up on a hill overlooking the park. You can scan the horizon at any time and find your bearing. With nearly no one in the park today it would otherwise be very easy to get lost here. This one kind of reminds me of Jar Jar Binx for some reason.

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While some of the hoodoos represent single figures or villages, some of them clearly define why the park is called “Goblin.” In these next shots you can see what looks like little hooded goblins standing around passing judgement and plotting hi-jinx against the passers-by.

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Did you see? Yep, they were definitely plotting! Okay, maybe I needed some water and shade at this point. 2 sides of the park is surrounded by giant sentinels standing over the goblins in the form of steep canyon walls.

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Some look like they could be kings castles!

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Even the Navajo spy plane is too scared to stick around.

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And a view of the crow’s nest as if on an old pirate ship of rock and sandstone with the Sigma 70-200mm @ 75mm. Love the versatility and clarity of this lens.

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It is also the go to lens for use with my looking-glass. I set the f/stop as wide open as I can stand it to blur the background and draw the viewer into the scene within the ball. Here are my “looking-glass” shots from Goblin.

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Have to put the ball away before I burn myself and a goblin. Off in the distance I spy a slot canyon entrance.

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Unfortunately, the shadows are growing long, and time is growing short for shooting. A couple of the shots that I wanted to get while here were panorama from down on the floor of the canyon and then one from the overlook. I find the ideal spot and set up the shot. Using the tripod and the camera set up vertically I proceed to shoot a complete 360 degrees to cover the entire area.

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That shot took a total of 42 frames shot at 20mm and then assembled in Photoshop using Photomerge. We climb up the hill to the overlook to do another. This shot is about 180 degrees to basically capture a view of the entire park and the nice sky overhead.

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What a great day playing with the goblins, time to head out. As we exit the park and prepare for our long journey home I pull off briefly to take a photo of the 3 wise goblins that guard the parks entrance. I think this single photo sums up the magic of this place. Definitely do not miss Goblin Valley State Park when visiting Utah. It’s not the biggest, but it is among the best.

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If you enjoyed this blog, please consider purchasing a few prints to help fund my travels. Make sure to keep an eye out for the fifth and final entry in this series, coming soon!

~A.D.

Via Wikipedia: Zion National Park is located in the Southwestern United States, near Springdale, Utah. A prominent feature of the 229-square-mile park is Zion Canyon, which is 15 miles long and up to half a mile deep, cut through the reddish and tan-colored Navajo Sandstone by the North Fork of the Virgin River. The lowest elevation is 3,666 ft at Coalpits Wash and the highest elevation is 8,726 ft at Horse Ranch Mountain. Located at the junction of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert regions, the park’s unique geography and variety of life zones allow for unusual plant and animal diversity. Numerous plant species as well as 289 species of birds, 75 mammals (including 19 species of bat), and 32 reptiles inhabit the park’s four life zones: desert, riparian, woodland, and coniferous forest. Zion National Park includes mountains, canyons, buttes, mesas, monoliths, rivers, slot canyons, and natural arches.

The geology of the Zion and Kolob canyons area includes 9 formations that together represent 150 million years of mostly Mesozoic-aged sedimentation. At various periods in that time warm, shallow seas, streams, ponds and lakes, vast deserts, and dry near-shore environments covered the area. Uplift associated with the creation of the Colorado Plateaus lifted the region 10,000 feet starting 13 million years ago.

One of the greatest things about Zion is the tram system that the parks association has in place there. Basically, wherever you park, either in Zion or in a neighboring town, you can hop a bus right into the park. Those buses also takes you to key trail heads throughout the park while providing piped in informational audio during the ride. It is a very easy to learn and understand system for the first time visitor. The drive into the park is pretty spectacular. We got up at 5 a.m. and drove to the park from our home-base in Kanab, just about a 60 minute drive away. The first thing you notice when approaching the park is that the roads, are red. (Click the photos to enlarge)

The red roads are colored with cinders or chips from local rock fall and are a signature feature of the park. Since it was so early in the morning, the clouds from the previous days storms were still hanging low in the canyon. Our first traffic stop due to one way traffic in the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel. The 1920′s built tunnel is subject to 1-way traffic when over-sized vehicles must pass through it. Over-sized vehicles must obtain a special permit. Any vehicle that is over 11’4″ tall and/or over 7’10″ wide is considered over-sized. You can imagine the jams this causes on busy days such as the day we visited. We decided instead of waiting in the car, we would pull over, explore and get some shots of the clouds hanging in the canyon.

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The tunnel is only lit naturally so no shots from inside. Here is a shot as we are leaving though.

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Only a few switch-backs down the mountain and I have to pull over to shoot and one of the first things I realize is that today, would be a panorama day.

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The very first thing you notice when exiting the tunnel is that you are now no longer on what you perceived to be a plateau. You are actually a canyon rim and while you are up very high and can see this giant drop off to your side, you are also surrounded by enormous amphitheaters and canyon walls on all sides. It truly takes your breath away.

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Purchase a Limited Edition Print

We stop at several parking areas but all are full. We are forced to drive all the way through the park and to Springdale to find a spot, which was actually a good thing. It gave us an overview of the park that we otherwise may have missed. Roughly 2.5 hours after we arrive, we finally find a spot to park. We are able to hop a tram not 20ft from where we parked and head off to the first stop, a small trail that lead to a waterfall/dam on the Virgin River. The park had just suffered a 3 day downpour so the Virgin was muddy and high.

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Here is a shot of the East Temple, shrouded in low clouds.

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All along the river, life is teeming. This little guy was shy at first but then showed up for the shoot.

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Here is another little guy that isn’t so little, and he looks like he recently has a grown a new tail. I think we saw more lizards in Zion that any other place in Utah.

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It’s a short hike back to the tram stop and then it’s off to our longest hike of the day to the Emerald Pools trails at the foot of the Court of the Patriarchs, seen in this shot.

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The long hike is not strenuous on this first leg to the lower emerald pool. The trail is narrow though, and quite busy. About 3/4ths of the way to the pool there is a small stop that looks as though there used to be another viewing area. I make the short climb to check out the unique rock formation.

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Another 1/4 mile and we arrive at the first pool. This area was packed with photographers all budging and jockeying for position on this tiny overhanging waterfall. Nothing but a small trickle there on this day, which after all the rain is surprising.

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This was probably my most challenging shot of the day. How to capture just the scene around roughly 75 other photographers and hikers. Careful positioning and timing was needed as well as standing in 3 inches of thick red mud. This fall must be spectacular when the flow is higher. There were other obstacles such as a huge dynamic range of light, high winds, and spraying water. Overall, considering the conditions, I am pretty happy with the shot.

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The hike back was refreshing and leisurely. Here is a shot of Angels Landing from one of the stops a long the way.

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We make our way to the end of the trail where there is a small foot bridge that crosses the Virgin River. We notice that there are horses here and stop to say hello.

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Back in the day, horses and mules were the primary vehicle here in the canyon. Mules were especially prized for sure-footed and having a willingness to follow each other along the trails. Everyone knows of the mule rides at the Grand Canyon and that same company offers them here in Zion. When I was a child my family owned a farm and raised horses. And though it has been many years since I have ridden I often miss it. After feeding the horses a couple of carrots and being won over by them, we decide to inquire about taking a ride. We talk with the nice folks at the corral and they actually have an opening on the next ride. Generally, canyon rides are booked many months, sometimes up to a year in advance. This is our lucky day! As usual we are short on time so we opt for the one hour ride. We are assigned a mule and saddle up. One lone cowboy leads the pack of eight horses up the canyon with our first obstacle out of the gate being a high river cross. This serves a few purposes but mainly to clean the mules hooves and cool them off.

As you can see, I was slightly surprised to see a photographer poised on the riverbank taking MY photo! There are many reasons why I stay on the other side of the camera, this is one of them. All along the way, our guide is extremely kind, funny, and informative. The views along the ride are spectacular of course.

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Purchase a Limited Edition Print

The ride takes us out into the canyon for about 30 minutes makes a turnaround and then heads back. Which is probably a good thing, because at the end of the ride it was clear I had not been in the saddle in about 30 years, my thighs and butt were feeling it! The ride for two was $160 and we gave our guide a $20 tip. Which, seems like a lot of money, but let me tell you, the ride was the best part of my whole trip. It was truly worth every penny! After our exhilarating ride we head back to the Zion lodge for a quick bite to eat. As with everywhere here, the view at the lodge is beautiful.

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After a nice light lunch among the canyon walls we hop the tram and head off to Weeping Rock and the Hanging Gardens. Instead of just going directly to the trail head we decide to head to the next stop past Weeping Rock and get a glimpse of Angels Landing from the other side along with The Great White Throne, seen on the right side of this panoramic shot.

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The sun is going down and it is time to catch the tram and head back to Weeping Rock, our final tram destination for the day. It is a quick 2 minute ride there with a stop at what first appears to be a fairly flat and simple trail. As we soon discover, this will be one of the more vigorous climbs of the day. I don’t mind hiking but we had already been on the move for 6 hours. Way to go US for leaving the hardest for last. Just so you know, this is not the hardest hike in the park by any means. It is also not the easiest. We finally make it to the top, 60 pound camera bag and all. The feature here is a mammoth overhang where water seeps down through the sandstone and hanging gardens grow from the lip of the rock face. It is very wet up here and you have to shoot through a constant shower of water.

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The weeping wall was beautiful and awe-inspiring, but the view down the valley, phenomenal. As the sun set, beams cast across the valley and the whole scene just reminded me of something out of “The Land of the Lost”.

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I could just imagine the dinosaurs roaming these canyons and pterodactyls soaring over head. It was so amazing I decided to break out the infrared camera and take a panorama with that as well.

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We make our way back down to the base of the canyon. Here is another couple infrared shots from the Weeping Wall trail head entrance.

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With the sun set we make our long tram ride back to the car. As we drive out of the park and back through the Zion-Mount Carmel tunnel I make the suggestion that we park and set up the camera for some night/star shots. I had heard that the skies get very dark here because of no interfering ambient light and that the milky way is easily visible with the naked eye. Here is a twilight shot while we wait for the big show!

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Not to be disappointed, roughly an hour and 35 bats flying around later, the great Milky Way makes its appearance.

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The sky was jaw-dropping. The milky way stretched from one side of the canyon all the way over to the other. Here is a shot from the other direction. Both the previous and this photo were taken with a Sigma 10-20mm lens at f/4.0 for an exposure of 30 seconds.

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Wow, this day flew by so fast! Out of all of the places I visited in 2012, this was the peak for me. If you make it out to Utah, do NOT miss Zion National Park. You will be sorry if you do!

About Kanab

Kanab is a city in and the county seat of Kane County, Utah. The area was first settled in 1864 and the town was founded in 1870 when ten Mormon families moved into the area. The population was 3,564 at the 2000 census. Locals refer to Kanab as “Little Hollywood” due to its history as a filming location for mostly western movies and television series such as Stagecoach, The Lone Ranger, Gunsmoke, Daniel Boone, El Dorado, Planet of the Apes, The Outlaw Josey Wales. Kanab is situated in the “Grand Circle” area, centrally located among Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Bryce Canyon National Park, the Grand Canyon (North Rim), Zion National Park, and Lake Powell. Other nearby attractions include Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park.

Through our listing and being a freelance photographer for AirBnB I was pretty confident and secure in our choice. We contacted Brookside’s owner Cathy Church and booked our stay in one of her 2 private rooms. We were able to stay 6 nights for an un-believable $595!! (rates may vary of course) You may be wondering what kind of accommodations you can get for a price that good. Well, before we left, I snapped some shots of the place for you to check out. We stayed in the double room which is actually an old converted garage. You wouldn’t know that to see it though. Cathy’s property is an oasis in the desert. A lush Eden-like garden surrounds the apartment. (as always, click the photo to enlarge)

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Purchase a Limited Edition Print

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Purchase a Limited Edition Print

Purchase a Limited Edition Print

Along with Cathy’s amazingly infectious personality, her hospitality was totally un-matched by any other host we have had. Cathy was always willing to take time out of her busy schedule to give us directions and attraction hunting tips. She had checked out my website and got a real feel for the photographic subjects that I was looking for and then went so far as to put together a personal tour for me to shoot. Add to all of that this wonderfully comfortable place to stay at such a good price and it is a triple win. Take a look at the accommodations and then it’s off on the adventure we go.

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As I said, the apartment is a converted garage, and it should be noted that this was no hack job. Textured concrete floors and walls gave the sense of being in an Italian villa. An open loft-style design and rafter ceiling also contributed to the extremely warm and welcomed feel.

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The room was appointed with a few pieces of artwork but not too much to clutter. This minimalist approach keeps the dwelling simple, spacious, and comfortable.

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Purchase a Limited Edition Print

The bathroom is an open glass wall design, which took some getting used to but wasn’t that difficult.

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No stove here, but there is a coffee maker and fridge. When you are in Utah for vacation, the last thing you want to do is cook so it really is all you need.

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Saturday rolls around and Cathy tells us it’s time for the adventure she has planned to begin. The first destination on the list is a private slot canyon that Cathy gave tours at back in the day. This slot canyon is known to the locals as “Indian Footsteps” and is one of the most unique un-advertised features area. After a short but exhilarating 4×4 Jeep ride through washed out creek beds and a sandy off-road trail we arrive. Cathy easily proves she is not just another pretty face with her excellent off-road driving skills. A short hike around the bend puts us right in the thick of things.

Cathy walks us all the way through the slot so I can get a lay of the land and wait for the perfect light. The whole canyon is divided in about 3 sections and a total of approximately 1/2 mile in length. It is all relatively flat with no scaling or climbing. The most difficult part of the journey is deciding when and where to shoot due to the ever-changing light. As the sun moves across the sky the narrowness of the slot causes reflections of light from the top down. These reflections are what causes the amazing colors in the sandstone. In more narrow slot canyons you generally wait for the light to be directly overhead. In this canyon you need to wait for just the right light bounce and avoid the direct overhead light if possible. Here my first set from the shoot.

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Purchase a Limited Edition Print

The sandstone waves are flowing and defy logic. Cathy points out that the monsoon season has dumped roughly 3 feet of sand in the slot and that floor of the canyon is a lot higher than usual. She says that is what she loves about coming here. It is ever-changing and there is always different view for her to enjoy. Definitely a woman after my own heart!

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Purchase a Limited Edition Print

The greatest part of the experience for me was the changing light and color. I would shoot a frame or two and 15 minutes later it would be completely different. A true natural color kaleidoscopic!

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Purchase a Limited Edition Print

I have doing a lot of shooting utilizing the 110mm looking-glass I bought earlier this year. Once again I carted the beast with me for a few non-traditional shots in the slots.

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Purchase a Limited Edition Print

The more I shoot with the ball the more I am challenged. In this next shot I was inspired by those shots you always see of the rolling rocks in the desert.

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Time to pack up the ball and continue exploring.

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If you take your time in these slot canyons you will see a lot more than first meets the eye. For instance, this guy was hanging out near the sandy floor and I had to grab a shot of him.

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A few steps past Mr. Stick Bug and we arrive at the marker for which the slot is named. The small pock marks in the sandstone wall are actually holes dug by the native Indians to be used as steps to reach the canyon rim in case of flooding.

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Purchase a Limited Edition Print

The shallowness and size of the holes is a clear indicator of the erosion and change here from the rushing monsoon waters. A beautiful, natural museum whose exhibit is in constant change.

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Purchase a Limited Edition Print

This next section is known as “the horseshoe” as it makes a big sweeping bend in the slot. This was a very challenging 5 shot panorama that I had to prop my tripod tightly against one side of the slots ledge to get the angles right. The entire shot was then stitched together in Photoshop.

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Just past the horseshoe is another slot illusion. It is said that an Indians face appears in the rocks when the light is right. Cathy tried her best to point it out to me but I could not see it. I am sure I was looking in the wrong place. Regardless I attempted to capture the phenomenon.

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Water, sand, stones, boulders and dead trees all take their toll on the canyon walls. The giant boulder in this next shot was moved several hundred feet in this last monsoon season alone.

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It’s not only the canyon walls that get shaped here. Anything and everything in the slot is affected by everything else.

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This giant 400+ pound log was snapped off at its base. As the light shifted it looked as though a giant had laid his torch down, still burning and walked off. Can you see it?

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As the morning rolls on, the light just keeps evolving. The next 3 shots were taken just a few yards from one another within a 15 minute span.

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Purchase a Limited Edition Print

Purchase a Limited Edition Print

While the slot canyon is full of flowing lines and smoothly lit transitions, at places it borders on the chaotic. It boggles the mind to understand how some of these lines and patterns were created.

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Purchase a Limited Edition Print

Almost back to the beginning of the canyon now we come across another large washout log. Something that I did not notice on the way in was that the lines of the log and where it has been laid to rest match the lines in the sandstone almost perfectly.

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We reach the last open area before the canyon slots up again for the final stretch. These open areas are extremely rough an are good candidates for falling rock and slides. The water must be pretty violent in these open areas during big storms. I cannot help but to wonder what it must be like when it storms here. I would love to set up a remote camera and film it!

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These washout areas are prime areas for unusual rocks and tree formations.

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Water in force can do some amazing things. Take these holes carved neatly in and around the sandstone for instance.

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Purchase a Limited Edition Print

So our trip through the canyons comes to an end! What a day.

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As we start to drive off in the Jeep across the sand, Cathy says that she has a short appointment and then would like to meet after lunch to take me someplace special. Here I thought we were done for the day and just did something special. Little did I know, Cathy had done her homework.

We break for lunch and after a short time Cathy returns to the BnB and asks if we ready to go. We load up the camera gear and head out on the road. After a short drive up an old canyon road, Cathy pulls to the side of the road and says, “Here we are”. Well, yep, there we were, but where were we? She points to an old corral gate and says, “Just hope the gate, head out that way, and watch for rattlesnakes”. Um, okay. We hop out of the jeep and proceed to jump the fence. Cathy assures us this is a friends land and there is no problem with us snooping about. I pause at the top of the gate and lean back toward the jeep. “Rattlesnakes?”, I exclaim. Cathy tells us to scuff our feet as we walk as the stones will disturb them and they will rattle. Apparently, this gives us a chance to RUN LIKE HELL! Either that or lets the snakes know which way we are coming from so they can get the jump on us. Reluctantly, and jokingly, I carry on. We scuff our way 150 or so yards into the field, and there it is….

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Yep, it’s a hangman’s gallows. But not just any hangman’s gallows. This gallows is from the 1950′s TV show set of Gunsmoke! Remember how I said earlier that Kanab was also known as Little Hollywood? Well, this is really all that is left besides the trinkets at the museum in town. This amazing old town replica, now a real ghost town, has been left to rot.

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All of these shots were in color, but I thought the sepia black and white treatment was a much greater tribute to this once famous town.

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While carefully maneuvering through the ruins and side-stepping rattlers, I could not help but reminisce on how cool this must have been during the filming days. I could almost hear the distant dissonance of an old ragtime piano playing as I approached the old saloon.

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Purchase a Limited Edition Print

Took me a second to get up the nerve. You know, rattlers, rotted boards, and all that. After a moment, and a deep breath, I powered up the steps to take a closer look.

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Purchase a Limited Edition Print

There are roughly 10 buildings on the property. A full fledged western town for sure. Some buildings are completely fallen and some, like the old barn are ready to go at any moment.

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Now, with the confidence and courage of a lion, (not really) I venture into the rickety barn to take an interior shot.

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It is so sad that this amazing piece of history is just melting away.

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An old homestead and the chapel seem to be in the best shape. I fear another winter or two and these will be nothing more than a pile of sticks as well.

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I feel very fortunate to be able to see and photograph this amazing piece of history before it is wiped clean off the map.

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We make our way back to the Jeep, rattlesnake bite free. “See any Rattlers?”, snickeringly asks Cathy. Nope, not a one thank goodness! Upon loading back into the jeep, Cathy says she has one more stop for us, and she is sure there are many rattlers there! Oh. Joy. Off we cruise up the road about a half mile. As we pull up a minivan full of tourists with a large cowboy in a ten gallon hat cruises slowly by in the other lane. Cathy says to us, “Oh there is so and so giving a tour.” She laughs, “Everyone used to be afraid of him because he is so big and always wears that 10 gallon hat, and a six-shooter on his hip. Now he gives tours.” Kanab is full of folks that are a little off-center, but it’s a good kind of off-center.

Our last stop of the day is an old farm corral at the base of a sandstone butte with yet another fence to climb. This time, Cathy insists she comes with. Before we hop the fence she fills us in on the history of this area and points out an old sign painted on the rock wall for the Jensen & Brooksby Store and Garage in Fredonia, Az. Notice the kodak logo on the left.

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We hop the fence to see what Cathy brought us here for, ancient petroglyph drawings. Petroglyphs are drawings by ancient tribes that are pock-marked into the sandstone instead of being painted. There are a host of theories about who actually put these pieces of art here. One thing is for sure, aside from the he loves her, and movie star markings, some of these are very, very, old and kind of creepy. Take a look and you can make up your own mind.

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Purchase a Limited Edition Print

Purchase a Limited Edition Print

Unfortunately, more than just the native tribes have exercised their graffiti muscles here. Or should I say “tagger” muscles? Either way it is sad that people feel free to deface history like they so often do.

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There were a ton more to shoot but the sun had dipped behind the hill making it very difficult to see the carvings. Add to that the fact that there was a large shed between me and the wall that Cathy insisted was loaded with rattlers. Here is a shot of the shed and for reasons beyond the rattlers, I was not about to go in there. I call this one “Kanab Chainsaw Massacre”

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We explored a little more on this very unique property. Quite honestly I was more afraid of the owner popping out from behind a rock with a shotgun! I wonder what is behind this door?

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Nope, it’s locked. One thing that wasn’t locked though was this cool old cattle chute and creamery dug out of the solid sand stone.

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Unfortunately the creamery walls cracked and the whole thing was a failure. It’s definitely cool the left the ruins here for others to experience. Here is a bottom up-shot from inside the cracked creamery.

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This is most certainly some old frontier construction.

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Purchase a Limited Edition Print

When we reach the end of the property there is another fence. Cathy warns us that we cannot go past this fence. Apparently there are more petraglyphs on the cliffs that the owner believes are a secret map to some hidden gold. You can’t make this up folks. Needless to say a couple of shots of the fence at least are in order.

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Purchase a Limited Edition Print

Cathy is all the way back to the jeep as I begin to head back across the field. Something catches my eye up a head. It’s an extremely large and active fire ant hole. If you are un-familiar with fire ants, they are one of the nastiest creatures in the Utah region. In fact, I would have to bet that the only thing a rattlesnake is afraid of besides being stepped on by a horse is fire ants. As long as you don’t disturb them, you are pretty safe. I got pretty close to snap this shot, as close as I ever want to be to these little monsters.

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I was so focused on keeping my feet out of the path of these guys that I failed to notice the rattlesnake rattle next to the hole. Hmmm, I wonder what happened to that snake?? Before I am unfortunate enough to find out I head back to the gate, stopping briefly to snap this shot of the old tractor shed and windmill.

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Cathy’s tour was amazing! We never would have found all this cool stuff on our own. She studied the sites I like to shoot and came up with the perfect combination of nature, decay, and history. I cannot wait to return to the Kanab area and stay at her great accommodations again! If you are interested in visiting, see the links at the end of this article. Time to head back down the road to the BnB.

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Cathy drops us off and quickly scurries off to another destination. A quick pitstop and we decide to head over to Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park to see if we can catch a sunset. As I head back to the car, I catch this guy crossing the patio at the BnB.

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On our drive out to the dunes we get in a momentary stare-down contest with Bob and his skiddish girlfriend Sally. We won!

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Free range cattle are pretty funny out here, they just mosey along, wherever and whenever they want. No darting or running out in front of you, or out of your way for that matter. It’s a quick drive to the dunes. Unfortunately, the sun is setting in the wrong direction. We still climb the dune to take some shots and boy am I glad I don’t have to climb sand dunes all day, tough work!

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Coral pink dunes is absolutely gorgeous. If there is one regret on the day it would be that we didn’t have enough time to explore this cool park.

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One of the natives to the dunes is the Pink Tiger Beetle and it has now been listed on the endangered species list. I was fortunate enough to get a photo of some pink tiger beetle tracks in the sand, even though I didn’t know it at the time.

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The sun is fading fast, time to call it a day, and amazing day! Thanks to a new friend who really “gets it” and cares about the folks that stay at her BnB. I cannot wait to return to “Little Hollywood”!

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If you would like more information about Kanab you can visit them online @ http://www.kanabchamber.com/

If you want a crazy great place to stay, then look up Cathy’s Brookside Bed and Breakfast @ https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/211073

Oh, and to seal the deal? Yeah, she put a little basket next to our door each morning with two giant fresh blueberry muffins in it! I leave you with one last shot. Star trails over the bed and breakfast that evening. Kanab is magic@

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~A.D.

If you are interested, check out this YouTube video I shot with my GoPro as Cathy led me through the entire slot canyon.

When approaching Bryce Canyon, Utah from the west you must travel through a patch of land called Dixie National Forest. And because the forest is neither a park or monument, hiking and entry are free. With its great beauty, well maintained trails, and bike paths, that’s pretty hard to believe. The canyon shares the same basic elements as Bryce Canyon with the main difference being that Bryce’s hiking starts on the canyon rim and at Dixie you start in the canyon itself. Being that I am a creek-walker from the Northeast, I prefer the latter. Stopping at Red Canyon in Dixie started as a simple rest stop and quick photo-op. A closer look at one of the hoodoos, spawned a full-fledged hike and then some. Here is the view from the first pull-off in Dixie/Red Canyon. (As always CLICK the photo to enlarge)

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The trails here are basic footpaths but can easily be spotted if you pay attention. Hiking here gives the unique opportunity to get up close and personal with hoodoos like you see from afar in Bryce.

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Among the sandstone are areas full of life and death.

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I hike up higher to get a better perspective of the valley. It is a long way up for this old dog. The altitude is 7400 feet here. I am not used to high altitude hiking with a 60lb camera pack on my back. The pace is slow but sure.

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The towering hoodoos drive me forward until I have to stop and take a drink. The ground flattens a bit, so I take a break to reflect back on my climb.

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After the short rest I climb a bit higher for an even better view.

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Like a kid in a candy store I see another shot I want to take almost straight up the ravine. Sometimes, I forget I am not spiderman. After about 4 slides back down the hill I make it to the spot. The challenge now was setting up my tripod and getting the shot on a 45° sandstone fallout. Who doesn’t like a challenge right?!?

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A climb even higher, (I am already up here right?), reveals another breathtaking view.

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I take another trail I find on my way back down to the original trail and it leads me closer to the red tower I saw in the distance earlier.

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Higher I climb, yet the canyon still looms above.

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Crisscrossing trails give me a myriad of choice on which direction to head. I think that is what I loved the most about Red Canyon, the freedom to choose my own path and explore. In a lot of parks it is almost like you are on a tram ride with one path, and one direction. Red Canyon is wide open for exploration.

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I reach an open area on the trail surrounded by canyon walls and giant dead trees scattered among the living.

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I make my way up to the twin hoodoos I spotted earlier. No real trails exist at this point as you are pretty much commanded by the terrain here as to where you can and cannot step.

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I pause to build and shoot a marker for those that will follow. A hoodoo in the hoodoos if you will.

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The morning light here is really spectacular. One more shot here at the top.

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Though there is still more to climb and see, Bryce, Kodachrome, and more awaits. Time to make my way back down. On the way I catch a glimpse of the only food source I have seen on this hike, and someone who seems to be enjoying (and defending it).

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Making my way around an angry chirping squirrel, I pause briefly to look back up at my accomplishment.

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After a refreshing hike down from the hoodoos, I hit the car and head up the road to Bryce. Since my trip out west in 2010, all I have been hearing from folks is that I have to visit Bryce Canyon. So this time, in 2012 it was on the list. I have to say, I was kind of disappointed. Mind you though, I do not like rim hiking, and I did only do the auto tour with pull-offs. Plus, this was just after a beautiful hike in Red Canyon and a day after just visiting Zion National Park. First stop on the auto tour.

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Bryce is beautiful, don’t get me wrong. I have a deep respect for ALL of our national parks, one of the reasons I invest in a national park pass every year. But, for me, after the third pull off, the views became all too familiar. At $25 a car for entry, this was a day I was glad I had purchased the pass. I really enjoy getting up close to the hoodoos rather than the bird’s eye view. But, when life gives you lemons (please no hate mail) you make lemonade! This is a 22 shot panorama at one of the larger stops, Farview Point at elevation 8819ft. This particular shot will print up to 12 feet wide without loss of detail!

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Next stop up the auto tour was my favorite, Natural Bridge. It has been filmed at least a gajillion times but it was still quite nice to capture it for myself. Natural arches are timeless subjects and always hold a certain fascination.

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I continue to drive passing a few stops along the way. As I mentioned, it all starts to look the same. Fighting the urge turn around and head out, I make two more stops. First at Black Birch Canyon. This featured a unique slot view of the canyon below. Nothing spectacular but I found it interesting none-the-less.

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Last stop on the auto tour and the end of the road is Rainbow Point. This stop gives quite a panoramic view of Bryce. Well worth the drive out if only for the fresh air and spiritual uplift.

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It was at this point my girlfriend and I were getting hungry so we decided to stop at the Bryce Canyon Lodge at Sunrise Point on the way out. I have eaten at many other park lodges and the food is by no means gourmet but is always good. Upon arriving at the lodge we are instantly whisked away to scene out of the movie The Shining. Inside the lodge is a nicely appointed yet extremely dated restaurant. The waiters, host, are all dressed in tuxes and clean white shirts, black pants, and shiny shoes attire. The host appeared to be 90-95 years old and was quite offended when we asked to see a menu before entering. I don’t know about you, but I travel on a budget and can’t afford too many $75 a plate meals per trip. Prices were moderate at a burger starting around 9.00. We got seated, and after about 20 minutes the waiter arrived. He too was in his late 60′s and apologetic.

He brings us menus and disappears. Some 10 mins later he arrives with water and asks us if we need more time to decide. Any more time to decide and I would have been dead from starvation. I ordered a burger, fries, chocolate shake, etc. About 35 minutes later, our food arrives. Burger was a frozen patty. Fries were cold, and no milk shake. Roughly 5 minutes into choking down this horrible burger, Jeeves shows back up and apologizes for the milk shake and says that he will have it shortly as he is making the ice cream himself!?! It should be noted, he was not joking about this. I asked! 20 minutes later he arrives, with “milkshake” in hand. He sets it down in front of me, says, “I hope you enjoy it as much as I did making it”. Creepy…I tip the glass to take a sip and realize that what he has brought me is chocolate milk with a scoop of ice cream in it. As I am leaving this “fine” establishment all I can think is, who makes them dress like this when the service and food is so bad!?! I understand National park budgets, etc. But, for the prices they were charging, the 20 plus people the seemed to have working there, and the presentation they put on, you expect a lot more for your time, AND your money. Bryce Lodge Restaurant, EPIC FAIL.

Well with that lovely meal in my belly it is time to head north, east and then south to another suggested park, Kodachrome Basin State Park. Along the scenic 24 mile route I come across this old frontier cabin and pause along the road to take a shot

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These old frontier cabins are everywhere out west. Many in much rougher condition than this one. But, it gets me thinking. These structures are simple at best, so why don’t people maintain them? These are at the very core of our history and should be preserved at all costs. Even if they are removed from private lands and moved to the national parks. Seems sad to me to just let them rot in a field somewhere.

Heading through Tropic and out Cottonwood Canyon road we make our way to Kodachrome. Kodachrome is unique with its white sandstone and red sandstone mixture. And yes, the park was named after the Kodak film of the same name. And the park does adhere to the song lyric as well. “Kodachrome, You give us those nice bright colors, You give us the greens of summers, Makes you think all the world’s a sunny day”

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A drive through the park reveals several camping sites. I took a bit of looking but I finally found a trail head on the way out. It was actually near the entrance.

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The trail is smooth and flat with no real direction. There are several off-shoots that allow you to explore at will. Small markers are dotted here and there that explain the local flora and geology. There a plenty of photo ops here but you have to look for them as they are not as obvious as most parks.

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All along this trail are one of my favorite things in the desert landscape. It is what I call desert driftwood. Old dead, twisted and gnarly trees!

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Everywhere you look in this small park there are tell tale signs that water does not show its face around here often. The dead wood stands like grave stone markers in a tree cemetery.

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At the end of the trail I find a single spire reaching into the desert sky. The suns position is perfect!

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Well that wraps up Kodachrome. Definitely another cool little park that warrants further exploration. Time to head back through Bryce to another little known trail. I stop along the road on the way out to grab another cool shot of that old frontier home we saw on the way in.

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The small park is actually on the northern outskirts of Bryce canyon wedged between Tropic Valley and the Dixie National Forest. The site is known as Mossy Cave Trail and if it weren’t for sheer curiosity, I might have missed this gem all together. The parking and hike are free here and very similar to Red Canyon in difficulty. 2 minutes into the hike and you are greeted with this amazing view.

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Right beyond this beautiful view is a small bridge crossing a small pristine creek marked by this stoic conifer.

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I cross the bridge and immediately feel the need to get my feet wet. I look around, no signs saying not to so down I climb. This creek is known as Tropic Ditch. It was a hand cut creek bed forged by early settlers to bring water down from the East Fork Sevier River to feed their crops and mills. A beautiful sight is crystal water flowing through the desert.

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Just up the way from the first bridge is a second before a steep climb up to an overlook. At this second bridge, with a little fancy footwork, I make my way to the creek bed and the jewel of this trail. This is Tropic Ditch Falls. Quite possibly the worst name ever given to such a beautiful place.

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I make the steep climb to discover that the upper trail is closed due to a washout. This is just the other side of the monsoon season so it is understandable. While admiring the view above the falls I notice a very cool rock formation across the small valley. What do YOU think it looks like?

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Well, at first I thought that it looked like that crazy super cartoon dog from the 1970′s, Underdog! Then I took a wider look at the whole picture.

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It was then I realized that it was a giant sleeping dragon. Even though there were no signs stating that was what it was, I am convinced in what I see. I make my way back down, across the bridge and up the hillside to get a closer look at the other side of this “dragon”.

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It is amazing how the light changes the rocks appearance from the other side. I struggle up the very steep sandstone fall out with my tripod and camera in tow. I get about as close as I dare.

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What a beautiful formation. I make my way back down about 75 feet to snap this photo of my girlfriend and I documenting the hike.

With the sun fading it is time to start heading back to home base in Kanab, Utah. As the sun dips the golden glow on the hoodoos and blue purple flora makes for a wonderful parting shot from Mossy Cave Trail.

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As we drive out through Red Canyon the light is just to amazing not to stop and take a few more shots. Who says I am addicted to this? I can stop anytime I want to!

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Purchase a Limited Edition Print

Purchase a Limited Edition Print

At the edge of leaving the Dixie National Forest and Red Canyon, it’s one last stop to take in the desert sunset. A perfect end, to a perfect day.

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Purchase a Limited Edition Print

Hope you enjoyed following along on this leg of my 2012 going west trip. Please consider buying a print for your home and/or office from my gallery found here:

Help keep the adventures going! Thanks!

~A.D.

Go to my facebook page for more information:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=545532975461130

In the meantime, I ask another photography friend of mine, Andy Williams to join me on the shoot. Consequently, I met Andy at the photowalk as well.   I generally try to get my friends to go along because it’s always more fun with more photographers!   So the meet-up date arrives and we agree to meet Barbara on campus.  Everything goes as planned, we meet Barbara at Minn’s Gardens and she proceeds to give the us the turbo tour on her lunch hour!  We briskly ran the campus as Barbara points out several points of interest to us.  Then, in a flash Barbara is off to some other Cornell adventure and we are left to our own devices.  (insert evil laugh and finger fanning here).

Andy and I quickly formulate a plan and head off to our first target, The Sage Chapel.  On the walk there it is easy to get side-tracked by all of the beautiful gardens and landscapes on the campus. Sculptures, waterfalls, flora, and fauna are ever present.

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This little waterfall is located just off Tower Road at the R. Uris Garden

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Finally we arrive at the Sage Chapel. Sage Chapel is the non-denominational chapel on the campus. The building was a gift to the university of Henry William Sage and his wife. Before entering the chapel, we explore a hidden area that Barbara showed us on the turbo tour.

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Outside the chapel is dotted with benches, sculptures and beautiful trees. I had my infrared camera with me so I took some shots with it while there.

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Immediately upon entering the chapel you notice the darkness and peaceful atmosphere. In the background an talented student is busily powering through a neo-classical piece on grand piano.

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Once your eyes adjust to the darkness you are whisked away to another, dare I say it, Harry Potter world.

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The altar area of the Sage is absolutely stunning and ornate.

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The chapel also serves as the final resting place of the university’s founders, Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, and their wives.

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All the while I am shooting as I stated earlier, a student was playing a piece on the piano. So when it came time to shoot the back of the chapel, its majestic pipes, and its wonderfully back-lit stained glass, I quietly set up and proceeded to shoot while she played. The shot is an HDR which is composed of several frames at long exposure. 2 frames to go and she finishes the piece and gets up to leave. I ask her if it was okay that she was in the shot and she said yes. As we are chatting out of frame the camera finishes the last two brackets. Upon processing the file I noticed that she appears ghostly in the shot and instead of cloning her out, (she can be seen in the lower right of the photo) I decide to leave her in the shot and enhance the light rays shining in. I thought it really brought the mood of shooting the chapel to life. Hope you do too. (As always click the photos to enlarge)

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We finish up our shots at Sage if that is even possible, there was still plenty to shoot but the clock was ticking on our day so off we headed to our next destination, the Uris Library. Here you can see the McGraw clock tower for which Tower Road is named. It sits at the very end of Tower Road and can be seen from the entire length of the street.

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Here is the entrance to this magnificent building

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Adorned with ornate turrets, sculpted tiles, ornate wrought iron, and detailed lighting, the outside is only a small part of what this library has to offer. From the Cornell.edu website: Built as Cornell’s first dedicated library building—the University Library—now known as Uris Library, opened on October 7, 1891—the twenty-third anniversary of the day that classes began at the university. Its completion fulfilled A.D. White’s dream to create what he called, “the noblest structure in the land.” Designed by Cornell’s first architecture student, William Henry Miller, whose portrait hangs on the northwall of the lobby, the building featured an innovative design that allowed for convenient access to materials, and was, in White’s words, “a marvel of good planning, in which fitness is wedded to beauty.” He also considered it “the best academic library built.”

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One particular part of the Uris library interested me and that was the the reading room inside the library named after a man with the same initials as mine, Andrew D. White. Keeping with the Harry Potter theme this library does not disappoint.

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Purchase a Limited Edition Print

Purchase a Limited Edition Print

You have to admit, you expect the paintings on the wall to animate or Dumbledore to come walking into the photo at any moment. Before too many of the students get upset at me, I head for the exit. Stopping put together this 15 shot super panorama of the sculpted archway over the library entrance and the chandelier hanging next to it.

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A shot of the wrought iron that covers the lower floors windows.

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While the other Andy finishes up inside, I cannot help but notice all of the flowers and the incredible insects that are hard at work here. I have time for a few shots before we head off. Check out the turf war in the first shot.

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Andy arrives and I grab a quick shot of this beautiful “Song of the Vowels” sculpture in the plaza garden. Cornell acquired the sculpture in 1962 and it has been a staple of the University ever since. It’s full history can be found at the links at the end of this article.

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Next stop for us is the Japanese inspired garden at the outdoor court of the Johnson Museum of Art.

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For the next few shots I elected to go with the infrared camera again. I just love the lines and black and white for architecture. Here is a panorama of the entire building and garden.

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Andy and I decide to head inside so that we can gain access to the upper deck as to get some shots higher up on the campus. Even though we have to check our packs at the front desk, the museum grants us access and the skies grant us some great shots.

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We make our way back to our packs and head out to the last place I wanted to shoot for the day. Andy had shot here before and I was really psyched to shoot it today. And would you believe it, more Harry Potter!! This is the War Memorial at Cornell. A spectacular work of architectural art.

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Well that made my day! With time having slipped away, we head back to the car. As we turn to head back, just like everywhere else on campus, more “must take” photo ops present themselves. Here is an infrared shot of Lyon Hall’s Tower.

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As I head up the hill the dramatic sky and Morrill Hall Arts and Science building lends itself well to the infrared camera.

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Once at the top of the hill we emerge on the backside of the Uris Library. After waiting about 15 minutes for students and faculty to clear, I finally got the shot I wanted.

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As we cross over to get back on Tower Road I happen to glance back down the hill at a small stream running through a little sitting park. Later I found the park to be named “Wee Stinky Glen”. Funny name, gorgeous place.

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From there we pass Peter Plaza and this amazing chromed statue of Hercules! I couldn’t help but yell out, “This Is SPARTA!” when I saw it. I was simply awestruck by this sculpture.

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We finally make it back to Tower Road and to Minn’s Garden where Barbara first met us. This is a wonderful flower garden with benches for students and faculty to sit and read or have a bite to eat. There was a statue here called “Feeding The Birds” that Barbara took a photo of and said she liked it so I took an infrared shot of it in her honor.

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As I was finishing up the shot of the statue, a monarch flew by me and headed for the flowers. Of course I threw down my bag, grabbed my trusty Sigma 70-200mm APO lens and gave chase. Now that I think back, I must have looked like a lunatic chasing the butterfly around. Literally, I was running all over the place to film this thing. Hope you like this set, feature Mr. Monarch.

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Purchase a Limited Edition Print

Purchase a Limited Edition Print

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After I was done assaulting the butterfly, I managed to grab a few flora shots before heading to the parking lot.

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Purchase a Limited Edition Print

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Around the back of the garden was a small lot with some interesting items like this smoke tree.

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And of course an old decayed door with some ivy climbing the wall.

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With a short walk back to the car, I stop one last time to grab this abstract of Bradfield Hall.

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Andy and I have to call it a day. For both of us, it was way too short of a visit. A return visit in the very near future is a must. I would like to personally thank Barbara F. for the great invite and turbo tour to get us started. And thanks to Andy Williams for tagging along on this little adventure. Look for more photos from Cornell soon. In the meantime, check out the links below for more info on the University and Andy’s Facebook page with his photography.

~A.D.

Rewind the clock, 20, yes 20 years. My mom passed shortly after I was 28 years old, and like all people do when someone they care about in life passes, I took it pretty hard. To ease the pain a bit I liked to have a drink now and then (not a good choice by the way, hard knocks, blah, blah). And in doing so, once in a while I would throw a party and invite some friends over to ease their pain as well. Everyone has some pain to ease, even if they don’t know it. One such occasion I sauntered off to my local beverage mart and picked up a keg of beer and a tap to go along with it for the party. Now, back in the day, you had to leave a deposit, and that was usually a signed check for fifty or so dollars to cover the tap if you decided to thieve it. So, I gave the nice people my check, lugged the keg in the trunk, and with the tap in my back pocket proceeded to scurry back home and set up the party of all parties. Now I know you are thinking, one keg, the party of all parties? Really? I assure you, there would be more alcohol. In fact that party went on for about 2 weeks and that’s where the trouble set in. During that 2 weeks, I changed jobs, moved my bank accounts, left my girlfriend, and got told that I was never part of my family. With all of that spinning in my head I realized that I had not returned the borrowed beer tap yet. So I ran over to the beverage mart and returned the tap and thanked them for contributing to the better side of my last two weeks. That following Monday, at 6am I got a knock on my door. Normally I wouldn’t bother answering a knock that early but the knock seemed pretty determined, so yep, I answered the door….in my underwear. There stood two local police officers, amused at my attire. Confused, I asked them if there was anything I could do for them, pants-less and all. The officers kinda chuckled and asked if I was who I was, and of course I said yes. They explained that I was under arrest for fraud and had to go downtown. Now I was still in quite a fog, and all I could think to ask was, “is it okay if I put my pants on”? (My friend John would be proud) They said, “yes” and I got dressed. Upon me stepping out my door and onto my front porch I was cuffed and stuffed into the back of a patrol car. All I could think at this point was, great, I am going to be late the very first day at my new job. Funny how some screw-ups tend to doggy pile on all at once. The officers were pleasant enough and explained that this was standard procedure and everyone was treated the same. Sitting with cuffs on in the back of a cramped cop car is very uncomfortable FYI. That was only the start of it. Next I was taken down to the police station and had to go through being strip searched (should stayed in my underwear), getting fingerprinted, booked, and then had to sit in a small room with a suspected drug dealer, rapist, and a couple of burglars while waiting to see the judge and still confused as to why I was even there. Finally after about 40 minutes, which seemed like 4 days, I got to see the judge. He explained that the reason I was arrested was for bouncing a check at a local beverage mart. Well, it seems that even though I took the tap back, they decided to cash my deposit check anyway. A check that was at a bank that I no longer did business with. I explained to the judge that I had taken the tap back and all was good and that if he would just call the beverage mart, they could verify. He called for a recess and said that he would check it out. Back to my friends in the little room. 15 minutes or so went by and I was called back in. The judge said he made the call and that I was right and all was good. He ended his scolding of me with, “Next time Mr. Wheeler, Let’s make sure it’s the BEER we keep on ice, instead of you”. Now normally, that would have been funny but after they humility that I had been put through, it wasn’t. Today of course, as I look back, it is pretty funny. But the big point of this whole thing is that I learned a lesson that day. Never serve beer from a keg at your party! Oh, and that I NEVER want to go to jail or prison. Ever!

Turns out 20 years later, where do I end up? Back in the slammer. But, this prison is actually a tourist attraction. This summer, my long time friends Walter Arnold and Louis Quattrini, both very fine photographers in their own right, decided that it had been long enough, it was time to visit Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, PA. Look for links to their stories at the end of this article.

History

Designed by John Haviland and opened on October 25, 1829, Eastern State is considered to be the world’s first true penitentiary, despite the fact that the Walnut Street Jail, which opened in 1776, was called a “penitentiary” as early as 1790 . The word “penitentiary” derives from the word “penitence.” Eastern State’s revolutionary system of incarceration, dubbed the “Pennsylvania System” or Separate system, encouraged separate confinement (the warden was legally required to visit every inmate every day, and the overseers were mandated to see each inmate three times a day) as a form of rehabilitation.

In 1924, Pennsylvania Governor Gifford Pinchot allegedly sentenced Pep “The Cat-Murdering Dog” (an actual dog) to a life sentence at Eastern State. Pep allegedly murdered the governor’s wife’s cherished cat. Prison records reflect that Pep was assigned an inmate number (no. C2559), which is seen in his mug shot. However, the reason for Pep’s incarceration remains a subject of some debate. A newspaper article reported that the governor donated his own dog to the prison to increase inmate morale.

On April 3, 1945, a major prison escape was carried out by twelve inmates (including the infamous Willie Sutton) who over the course of a year managed to dig an undiscovered 97-foot (30 m) tunnel under the prison wall to freedom. During renovations in the 1930s an additional 30 incomplete inmate-dug tunnels were also discovered.

It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966.

The prison was closed and abandoned in 1971. Many prisoners and guards were transferred to Graterford Prison, located in Skippack Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The City of Philadelphia purchased the property with the intention of redeveloping it. The site had several proposals, including a mall, and a luxury apartment complex surrounded by the old prison walls.

During the abandoned era (from closing until the late 80s) a “forest” grew in the cell blocks and outside within the walls. The prison also became home to many stray cats.
In 1988, the Eastern State Penitentiary Task Force successfully petitioned Mayor Wilson Goode to halt redevelopment. In 1994, Eastern State opened to the public for historic tours. The pen’s entire history, and it is a big one can be found by clicking on the link at the end of this article.

The Adventure

Nothing too crazy here, drive to Philly, pay for your ticket and have at it. Although the prison is now a tourist attraction, they have gone to great lengths to preserve the abandonment side of the facility. You wont see new benches or doors inside. This place is pretty much the way it grew over the years. The tour is a set your own pace tour although there are guides that are very informative and helpful. For the three of us, we just wanted to be let loose and do our thing. So that is exactly what we did. The grounds are huge and there are some off-limits areas for paid group rentals only. But, certain times of the day, depending on the traffic, they really aren’t off limits. You enter through a large gate at the front of the prison on Fairmount Ave. Then through a check-in area to the right that actually goes underground then out into the prison grounds. (Click the photos for a larger view)

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The stone work here is amazing and believe it or not, mostly built by the prisoners themselves. The walls here are 30feet tall with lookout towers built like castle rooks at each corner.

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We make our way into the first arm of this “Wagon Wheel” designed prison. As you can see, they have not impeded much of natures reclamation of the building.

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From there, the three of us disperse into the enormous structure. The first cell block is a long hall lined with cells, most have had the doors removed so you can peer inside. Most of the cells are identical in structure, yet different in decay. You find yourself having to look into every cell and see what is what. Here is a peek into my exploration of the first cell block.

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Some of the places I visit are very cathedral-like, and ESP is no exception.

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Some cells are decked out more than others due to visitors moving objects over the years or items lost to weather damage or vandalism.

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Amazingly textured walls, windows and doorways are everywhere and a treat for the photographer ready to position and wait for the shot.

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After getting some shots from the first cell block I make my way to the hub. A tour guide here tells me about the cool rafter design and how it was not only built by the inmates but several of them signed the rafters before they were covered. She points out the places where they are signed and I try to capture the scene. If you click the photo and enlarge it, you can see the signatures and dates scrawled on the rafters in the upper left of the photo.

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Around the hub I get a chance to peer down some of the “closed” cell blocks. This one looks particularly creepy.

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I wonder back out another hallway and to another larger cell block.

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This block too is filled with confusingly configured cells. All different, all unique, all cold and somewhat disturbing.

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As I head back to the yard I stop for a couple of detail shots that catch my eye.

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Making my way into the yard I find old benches, cornerstone markers, some unique architecture and something strange.

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In the yard I come across an old greenhouse. While it is not uncommon for prisons to have these, I do discover something strange about this one.

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I didn’t notice this until I was processing these photos. In the upper left you can clearly see the outline of a crow, or raven in the back of the greenhouse.

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Slowly I make my way around the yard, keeping an eye out for my friends. I decide to give one of the corner crows nests a closer look.

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The first thing you notice is how narrow the steel door is to this tower. This door, heavily fortified was maybe 1.5ft wide by 5ft tall. One can only guess this was done on purpose in case of a prison riot. Keeping passages narrow and short keeps the amount of rioters bottle-necked. An old Spartan trick that still rings true today. Here is some up-close detail of the door and crows nest.

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Just in time, Walter and Lou show up in the yard. Walter informs me of a couple of hard to get to shots and I head off to attempt them. First stop is death row. There was no executions performed at Eastern State Penitentiary but death row inmates were housed there before being shipped out to meet their faith.

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This part of the prison must have been locked up tight over the abandoned years as most of the cells are well preserved as is the electric door control panel. Here is a close up look at the switches that kept the bad guys at bay.

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Two other spots he leads me to feature fenced off areas. Luckily, I am able to get my camera over the fence to get the shot. This is one of my favorite shots of the day.

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Next tough-to-reach shot is the “hall of broken doors” as we liked to call it. This seems to be a storage area for all of the removed doors for the prison. There is more here though, than meets the eye.

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All throughout the prison there artist installations featuring anything from videos, to settings, and stained glass appliques as seen in this large cell.

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This artwork is by artist Judith Schaechter and it features some fairly bizarre and potent imagery.

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A couple of other detail shots from this same area.

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Walter, Lou and I reconvene in the yard and are met up by one of the tour guides. She kindly invites us to follow her on a couple of private tours to normally restricted areas. What could be better right? So off we go to the first area which is probably the most nature reclaimed area of the prison. The decay here is much more advance than it is in other areas of the prison.

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For me, this is the best part of the whole prison. As you probably know, I am a huge fan of nature and decay combined. I think it portrays the true power of nature to overcome mans construction. It is around us everywhere, all of the time. Even better when it is in-your-face evident.

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Many odd remnants of the old prison are in this location. Here are some detail shots of the decay.

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Our guide informs us of another exclusive mini tour in 15 minutes and instructs us where to meet up. In the mean time, we hit another cell block to see what we can discover. I quickly find a cell with what appears to be a tree growing through it. Natural light plus decay and nature equals stunning photo opportunities.

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Each cell, though nearly identical to the last, offers a different texture and light. The same, only different. Add to this the artist installations and every cell becomes a unique gallery.

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Some rooms in the block where not cells at all. These where used for medical, check-in, and guard housing. They were larger and fit well with the wagon wheel design.

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Suddenly I hear a shout from a few cells away, “Andy, come check this out”. Walter points out what looks to be a cell with a cage in it. Later, upon further examination we discover that it is just a bunk bed turned on end and positioned in the center of the cell. Places like this are great for pushing the imagination envelope. Needless to say, I prefer to think of it as a cage.

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Not only are the cells abundant with details and photogenic materials, so too are the halls. Here are some quick detail shots before we have to meet up with our tour guide again.

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Time is running short for the final tour of the day but suddenly I run across something very cool. It’s the prison barber shop!

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Across from the barber shop I find another cool artist installation called “Next Year” by artist Lisa Bateman. Inmates at Eastern State were originally denied reading material in their cells, with the exception of the Bible. The bound front pages of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania New Year’s Day newspapers (or in some cases New Year’s Eve papers) provide a timeline of the prison from 1829 through 1971 and of the missing realities, hopes, and dreams unavailable to the incarcerated. Visitors to the site are invited to inhabit the cell while reading the 142 ‘new years’ illuminated in the edition Distractions, distractions. Talk about shooting under time constraints.

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Walter pokes his head in and tells me it’s time to meet up with the tour guide. Off to the yard we head through a narrow gated passageway to visit the basketball court and the old chapel building.

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The minute we enter the court area we are greeted by this ominous steel guard and his flashlight.

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Once we get by the guard, the chapel building lay before us. The guide explains that the building was erected in 1905 and has two levels. The first floor was primarily used for laundry, while the second floor was used for a variety of prison activities, including religious services, movies, concerts, and as a gymnasium. This shot is a super high resolution pano consisting of 23 stitched frames all shot hand held.

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Surrounding the chapel are several maintenance buildings and doors.

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Some rooms contain evidence of life before decay.

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While others are un-reachable or locked up tight.

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The view on the way back is quite spectacular. This is the central guard tower as seen from the narrow passage. This was a 6 frame panorama.

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We are about to wrap up our day and head out for some incredible Philly Pizza. One last stop to one of the most photographed areas of the prison besides Al Capone’s cell of course. This is cell block 7.

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This is one of the few if only places you can gain access to the 2nd floor of a cell block by way of a stairwell.

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While you are not allowed to see or access the upper cells here, evidence of prison labor is everywhere.

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A quick stop by the Hospital block then off to the yard for one last look around.

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The guys and I meet up in the yard for a quick peek at the kitchen building through quite a large and locked fence.

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That wraps a very short and sobering day at Eastern State Penitentiary. What an amazing place! If I lived in the area, I would be at this place as often as possible. The staff and management have done a great job to preserve this great piece of American history and others who own properties should take note and follow suit. I look forward to a return to ESP soon! I leave you with a video that I cut featuring my photos and music by Ry Cooder. If you wish to visit ESP, see the links below the video. Thanks for tagging along!

~A.D.

Visit ESP online and find out more information on planning your trip to the museum:

In 2011, I signed up for, attended, and won first place in my very first art show in a small town in the finger lakes region of upstate New York called Hammondsport. I met and discussed my art with many amazing people at that show and more than a few of them had some great suggestions for places to shoot in the area. Once place continued to reverberate time and time again and that was the old Pleasant Valley Winery just outside of town. Now I had driven by this many times and to my understanding it was completely or at least partly abandoned. But, the place was locked up tight and I am not one for weaseling my way in unless the door is already wide open. So one day that November while shooting the sights around the lakes I suggested a friend that I was shooting with that we go check the place out and at least shoot these big amazing wooden doors that I remember. So we take a drive up and to our amazement, the buildings are covered in grape vines and they are all in autumn colors! Being late November, I thought for sure that all the autumn colors were gone. Much to our surprise, that was not the case at all. Here is a shot of the old Taylor building, now owned by Mercury Aircraft.

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On the front of the building are these amazingly detailed old world oak doors.

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There was also this incredible landing detailed in wrought iron. The color was just spectacular here.

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That was the extent of the shoot for the day. After all, this was just a stop over visit on a much larger journey. Through my observations while there, I did notice that there was a light on in one of the upper story windows. Odd, for being abandoned, but it got me thinking.

Now before I continue, I need to fill you in with a little back story. (I said this was going to be short right??)

Back when I was a kid in school, (ed; here we go) we used to always do one or two big field trips a year. These were usually to big factories in the area or something similar. One year early in my school days we field tripped to a winery saw how wine was made and bottled. At the end of the tour, we were all led to a wine tasting area, and of course the adults got to taste the best wines the winery had to offer, and the kids got that special “Grape Juice” wine. The sights and smells of the winery were amazing. It wasn’t long after telling the story to my family that they started going on the tours every year and carting me along. One particular favorite that we visited many times was the Taylor, Great Western Winery in Hammondsport. The winery is better known now as the Pleasant Valley Winery. I think it is one of the biggest if not the biggest in the region. The entire place was built into the side of the hill and caves where dug out of the shale to keep the wine stored at a constant cool temperature. Giant vats, old Italian styling, just an amazing work of architectural art.

Over the winter of 2011-2012 curiosity got the best of me and I began to hunt down the history and owner of US Bonded Winery #1, The Pleasant Valley Wine Company. It didn’t take too much to searching find the company owners name and email contact. I shot out an email and made contact with a Mr. Doyle at the facility, explaining who I was and what I did and he kindly returned contact the next day. He invited myself and my trusty friend Lou from Mach III Photography to stop in and have a chat. With a date set, Lou and I packed our gear and headed out to the fingerlakes.

After about an hour of driving we arrive at the foot of beautiful Keuka Lake and the small town of Hammondsport. Just 5 minutes outside of this little hamlet lies our destination. We drive up the steep embanked drive and find a parking space out front. Only one other car dots the parking lot. We grab our gear and head in.

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The entrance is barren and sparse yet still very inviting. Upon entry we are instantly taken back. The entrance office is spectacular, like an old church. A temple to the wines and champagnes of the past and present. Vintage bottles dot the room along with old accounting books, truly time traveling realized.

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“Hello? Anyone here?” After a few moments a secretary pops her head around the corner and invites up a flight of stairs and leads us to a back office. I mean, if you want to call it an office.

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After a few anxious moments the man himself, Michael Doyle, makes his entrance. An older gentleman, nicely outfitted in a dress shirt greets us with a warm confident smile. “How are you boys today?”, he says. Mike pours us some fresh brewed coffee and proceeds to fill us in on the history of this old complex and his equally if not greater personal history with it. The complex’s history can be found at the link at the end of this article. We finish our coffee and Mike says, “Come on boys, I’ll give you the brief tour”. He takes us around the loop, of the complex just to get a layout. We stop briefly to talk with some of the production workers there and acquaint ourselves so they know who the strange dudes with the cameras are. While we are making small talk, Mike of course is tending to business dealing out complex ratios and formulas to his workers. We make our way back to his office where he pauses briefly and then cracks the door for us. He says with a smile, “Well there you go boys, now go get lost. I’ll let you out in 3 or 4 hours.” WOW, we can’t believe it, free run of the entire place. This was truly an amazing and generous man! I swear I felt like I was 12 years old again when he said that to us. Little did I know, this was not the only time I would feel that way today.

Now would be a good time to grab a coffee and settle in. (ed; So much for being a short post)

From there we head up a maze of stairways and finally make our way to the tour entrance of the main building. Nothing from the 1970′s has changed here. It is truly remarkable.

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All the old wink casks are here. Back in the day these would all be full of aging wine. Today, the process is different and these casks stand as a memorial to those days.

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We find an exit at the end of the hall and cross over from the main building to the wine manufacturing buildings. Even the external construction of these buildings are works of art.

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Just before we enter the wine storage entrance we notice this old bell on a post. Mike said this was the “Soup Bell” and was used to let the workers know when “Soup’s On” during the work day.

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Upon entering the Wine storage building we inundated with the pungent and time warping smell of fermenting grapes. Instantly I was rushed back to that field trip day. As I turned the corner I was greeted by these 44,000 gallon plus behemoths, like a giant man made redwood forest.

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These giant redwood tanks are built by the Arrow Tank Company Inc., in Buffalo, NY which is still in business today. Scattered among the decommissioned Redwoods are the less impressive, though equally huge metal tanks. There are stained glass appliques on the windows and the light is just right, transforming these giants into a cathedral like scene. The whole experience for me is quite surreal.

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Purchase a Limited Edition Print

High overhead between all of the metal tanks are walkways for maintenance. I climb up to take a look.

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Upon climbing down I discover the control center, a massive stainless steel control panel full of dials, lights, and gauges that looks more like a nuclear control device than a winery pump station.

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The more I look at this thing the more I think “I’m in the Batcave!”

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Currently the unit is idle and I don’t believe they are using it for current production. Massive hoses and pumping fixtures are everywhere. As I recall from my youth, this was a very noisy room.

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Around the corner are even more of the giant redwood vats, we continue to explore.

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Some of these old vats are amazingly detailed. Here are some of the maintenance ports that are located on each of the vats.

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We make our way to the buildings middle level and discover an old freight elevator and one of the wine caves that Mike is refurbishing.

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After some further exploring we make our way back to the main entryway where there is a small display of vintage wine making equipment and a cool Billy Dee Williams poster! I am a sucker for a 70′s Lando Calrissian poster.

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Here we also find a stairway down and decide to take a look. We find more and more rooms with barrels stacked floor to ceiling.

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Even more exploring finds us in some pretty cool tunnels under the main building and more wine cask storage caves. This place is HUGE.

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At the end of the hall are the rooms I remember the best. As I enter the first tasting room those memories come rushing back once again! For me, it is unbelievable how this place is so frozen in time, fantastic!

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Another vintage “Lake Country” poster.

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Just down the hall from this tasting room is a larger room. This is the room that I remember the most. Literally, nothing looks as though it has moved an inch in this room in almost 40 years, so cool!

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This place just reminds me of something out of medieval times. The architecture and details to construction are immaculate and Mike is working hard to keep the structure in perfect shape. All around the room are caches of memorabilia from wine competitions of the past and vintage years.

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From there we make our way down a huge dining hall that looks to be straight out of Lord of the Rings! This just keeps getting better and better!

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Just around another maze of tunnels is a cafe style tasting area.

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We find it irresistible to set up some shot in here!

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Just up the hall and a flight of stairs from the cafe are the old tour display areas. Another wine cave the Mike is refurbishing.

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A champagne room lined with bottles. 99 thousand bottles of champagne on the wall.

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The room is complete with a “Riddling Rack”?

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More vintage wine and champagne machines are scattered in the room adjacent to the wall of bottles.

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This particular machine grabs my interest and is called a “Dosage Machine”

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Purchase a Limited Edition Print

Well it has been over 5 hours of shooting and the shadows are getting long outside, time to pack it in. We head outside and I have one of those “Oh Crap” moments, just as the door with automatic locks clicks behind me. I had left my jacket, wallet, all back in Mikes office, and now, we are locked out. We manage to find and open door but not to an area we are familiar with. This place, for those not used to the layout is a maze of stairs, tunnels, caves, and passageways. Mike and his workers should be commended just for knowing the layout. This new area that we find ourselves in is completely different from the rest. It is the old executive offices at the winery. This is where the big business was done. We start in the elaborately decorated reception/waiting room where redwood bark and a large copper wine barrel sculpture adorns the walls.

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Through the open door once again, we are thrown into the 70′s. Old phones, furniture, art deco clocks, mammoth IBM computers, and dial-up modems still in place and ready to serve.

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A view out one of the main boardrooms windows reveals the lower bottling facility and the beautiful Urbana Valley below.

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Mike says that he plans on converting this floor into luxury apartments in the future where he will also re-purpose the redwood from several of the old barrels and vats to make flooring and furniture for them. How amazing would it be to live in a place like this? And evidence that he has already started is all around the facility. I can only imagine people will be lining up to rent these apartments from him in the near future.

Finally through some portal magic or stroke of luck, we end up back at Mike’s office and much to our amazement at 6:30pm, Mike is still at his desk, working away. When we tell him our story and that we are surprised to see he is still there at this hour, he just chuckles and says his hours are usually 8am to whenever.. usually 10 or 11, PM he laughs. We thank Mike for his amazing generosity and head out to the truck. The fall colors were peaking here on the grape vines so we ended our epic shoot with some exterior shots of the this lovely historic building.

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Purchase a Limited Edition Print

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Purchase a Limited Edition Print

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Purchase a Limited Edition Print

Purchase a Limited Edition Print

Purchase a Limited Edition Print

Purchase a Limited Edition Print

Purchase a Limited Edition Print

Purchase a Limited Edition Print

Purchase a Limited Edition Print

Purchase a Limited Edition Print

Purchase a Limited Edition Print

Purchase a Limited Edition Print

All-in-all it was a fantastic day at the winery, truly made me feel like a kid again. Mike was awesome, his facility is amazing. I strongly urge you to contact him about your next function or event. His winery can offer a vintage touch and flavor not to be found elsewhere. You just cannot beat the unique combination of great people, business, and architecture to make a unique experience. Thanks Mike! Hope to see you and your crew again soon!

If you would like to know more about the winery and what it can offer you, check out this link:

Along with this shoot, I have shot at several other wineries around the finger lakes. Here are some shots from those shoots. If you are interested in having your winery or establishment photographed, please contact me through this page!

~A.D.

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In a recent road trip stop-over I got to spend a night, and a morning in Gettysburg, and I am really glad I did. My shooting partner on this trip was Louis Quattrini from Mach III Photography. Make sure you check out the links at the end of this entry to see his great shots from this shoot. So, we got into Gettysburg late and decided, since the park did not close until 10pm, that we would do some sightseeing.

Now if you know the history of Gettysburg, you know that this place, in the dark, could be a very creepy place. I found it to be the complete opposite. I felt very comfortable and at peace on the grounds. In fact the only that scared me was the chestnuts falling out of the trees when I was setting up for my first shot of this cannon at one of the many memorials in the park. I swear there were some very mischievous squirrels running about. Despite the pelting, I still managed to get the shot. This shot was a combination of several long exposures and strobe painting.

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After driving through the park and seeing a few park officers ready to give us the boot, we drove back through town towards the hotel we were staying at. Along the way we stopped at the Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary Church. Though not quite as historical as the rest of the national military park, this 1942 built church was all lit up and looked really cool with the night sky behind it. Here are a couple of long exposure shots.

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We head back to hotel for some sleep and then a 5am start to give us plenty of time to catch the sunrise over the park, and maybe some of that awesome Gettysburg fog as well. First stop in the park is the ominous Pennsylvania Monument. This domed behemoth is a architectural masterpiece and full accessible, meaning we could actually go inside the monument and up to the dome. The sun wasn’t up yet so we had some time to do some long exposure light painting again. In this shot, I put my camera in bulb mode and locked open the shutter. Then I went to each place that I wanted lit up and flashed it once or twice with my strobe. I am pretty happy with the results.

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Some of the large monuments like the Pennsylvania are accessible. So we ventured in the complete darkness to the long spiral staircase that took us to the top of the dome. This shot combines HDR techniques with long exposure to capture the outside detail where it was so dark. From inside the monument dome.

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From outside the dome we could see the sun was coming quick so we hurried back downstairs. I did pause quickly to snap this very Batman-esque shot of the Moon and Jupiter through the arch. Another single long exposure.

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Quickly, Lou and I scurry across the lawn to a very cool soldier on his mount monument we saw on the way in. For me, this was the classic Gettysburg, low fog creeping in, sunrise in the background, photographers heaven. I literally had to force myself to shoot instead of just stand there in awe.

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We head back to the truck to drive on up to Round Top and are greeted with this amazing and iconic scene.

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From there we drive into the Devils Den/Little Round Top area and spot a really cool castle monument up on the hill and decide to check it out. It is a very short hike up to the monument and what do you know? This monument is a also explore-able. I pause to take a shot of the outside.

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This is the 12th and 44th New York Infantry 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, 5th Corps monument. 106 men died here. Inside I find another spiral staircase that takes me to the top of the castle for a cool view of the valley below including Devils Den off to the left.

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As I descend from the castle wall the view out the doorway captivates me. I am always a sucker for these types of shots. This will really give the 3 exposure 32bit HDR a run for it’s money. A lot of dynamic range in this shot and I think it worked out well. Looking towards Devils Den.

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In a quick search back up the hill for my shooting partner, I run into this fine fellow. This is the General Warren Statue. General Warren is said to have stood on this boulder on July 2 to observe the surrounding battle lines. The memorial uses the rock as its base. I took this shot 4 times before the sun started to expose the fall foliage on the far hill. Patience pays off everytime.

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Here is a parody camera phone shot of Lou doing his best Warren impression. Pretty good Lou!

Here is another view from the top of Little Round Top. I really liked the fog rolling on Devils Den and the neat cracks on this boulder.

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I was suffering from a pretty bad sinus headache this morning so I decided to head back to the truck. I was blessed with some amazing sun breaking through the autumn leaves.

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Purchase a Limited Edition Print

Purchase a Limited Edition Print

Lou finally returns from the mountain and we head out to our next stop. No ghosts where seen or filmed on this day, but there certainly was the strong sense of presence out there. One thing is for sure, a return Gettysburg, Pennsylvania for a more thorough shoot is definitely in my near future.

Make sure you check out my buddy Lou’s shots over at:

~A.D.

I would like to extend a HUGE unending thank you to my fans and followers, and to Ron Howard and Canon for this wonderful opportunity. Thank you!!

Shot on a Sony a77v camera using a Sigma 10-20mm DG HSM 4-5.6 lens @ 10mm f/8.0 ISO100 20sec exposure.

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More information on the project.

Project Imaginat10n Campaign
 

Canon has announced Project Imaginat10n, the first photography-inspired film festival in history where consumer photographs will inspire Hollywood films directed by five celebrities.

Eva Longoria, Jamie Foxx, Biz Stone, Georgina Chapman and James Murphy have signed on board for this endeavor and Ron Howard will be mentoring them along the way.

Each of the talent will bring something new to the table – from fashion designer, Georgina Chapman, to James Murphy, the former frontman of LCD Soundsystem.

The concept behind ‘Project Imaginat10n’ showcases the power still images can have on narrative storytelling, but more importantly, it demonstrates there are no limits with creativity and sources of inspiration can come from anyone or anything.

Last Year’s Project

Last year, Canon approached Ron Howard with an experimental and challenging project – the first ever user generated photo contest to inspire a Hollywood short film.

Canon represents excellence in the field of imaging technology and Ron Howard was thrilled to have the chance to experiment with their newest cameras.

The project was ultimately about tapping into something deeper, the imagination of the consumers.

The project set out to prove that photography could inspire anything, even Ron Howard’s film production.

The campaign engaged the masses who entered photos at a record shattering pace.Eight photos were selected and influenced an award-winning short film, “when you find me,” directed by Ron Howard’s talented daughter, Bryce Dallas Howard.

What to Expect This Time Around

A new exploration of the creative exercise, “Project Imaginat10n,” kicked off on August 14, 2012, at imagination.usa.canon.com

The contest entry period ran from Tuesday, August 14 – Monday, September 24, 2012.

The “Project Imaginat10n” contest featured ten storytelling themes in which consumers submitted their photos: Setting, Time, Character, Mood, Backstory, Relationship, Goal, Obstacle, The Unknown, and Discovery.

Consumers had the chance to submit photos to be narrowed down by Canon, Ron Howard and community voting.

The entries were narrowed down to 91 winners and the five directors selected ten photos, one per theme, to inspire their films.

The “10” in “Imaginat10n,” not only represents ten storytelling elements, but ten films that will ultimately be produced, five of which will be directed by our influencer directors to be showcased at a special Canon “Project Imaginat10n” Film Festival in 2013.

The other five film directors will be announced at a later date.

This year’s project is setting out to prove that we’re all creative, aligning with a diverse group of creative leaders from different fields including TV, film, fashion, music, technology and business who will each use photography to inspire the screenplay of the short film they direct.

These first few shots were done right in my backyard. These shots are un-edited and only color and sharpness adjusted out of the camera. (As always, click the image to enlarge, the button to see purchase options)

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Sometimes amazing things happen in my garden, and this time I had my camera in hand. I have a large butterfly bush in the garden and it attracts all sorts of butterflies and moths. This Monarch just happened to visit as I was shooting the black-eyed susans.

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Recently, I took a trip out west and brought the looking glass with me. This first shot is from a roadside stop. These plains sunflowers are all over the west along the road. The sun was setting and I was due for a long needed pit stop. So I grabbed the orb and ran out to the field to take this shot.

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First major stop on the road trip was Indiana Dunes on lake Michigan. I got there just in time to catch the sun setting.

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The next stop for me was in Colorado. This is a place called Rifle Falls. There are some pretty amazing falls here but also these really awesome caves. I thought that it was a perfectly mystical stage for the oculus.

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A quick stop to a small town in the Rockie Mountains called, “No Name” for these shots. This shoot nearly became a major disaster. While setting up the shot, the sun came out from behind the clouds and nearly set Colorado on fire. Luckily I was paying attention and covered the ball and had water with me to dowse the embers. The looking glass is extremely powerful in direct light and can start just about anything burning in jus 3-4 seconds. Now I realize what the “Orb is Combustible” meant on the box it arrived in. Thought that was a strange thing to print on a glass ball.

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The ball would be retired for the next couple of days on the trip. I think I feared bringing it out as I thought things might start exploding in the Utah sun. It made a triumphant return during a private slot canyon tour. Here are those shots.

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The orb forces you to be creative and this is one of those times. Not sure if the shot works or not, but it is different.

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Next stop was Toad Stool Canyon. This is a secluded canyon that requires a 1.5 mile hike in. It was well worth it! Even though I only did one crystal ball shot here, I took many other shots during my exploration. Look for those in another blog entry soon.

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In a similar canyon roughly 500 miles away and across a long desert road, the next stop was Goblin Valley. Here there are vast amounts of hoodoos and spires that made great subject matter for the looking glass.

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The last stop was back at Indiana Dunes on the way back home to New York. This time it was for the sunrise.

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That pretty much wraps up the looking glass gallery, for now. It’s fun, creative, forces you to think, it’s naked, raw, and undeniably beautiful. Stay tuned for many more shots featuring the looking glass.

~A.D.

Drive out to Vegas, hang a left. About 30 miles south on i95, hang another left and head out into the desert. Somewhere along that lonely highway between the Highland Range and Arizona border, you will come across paradise. It may not look like paradise at first, but trust me, if you are a photographer or adventurer, it most certainly is. The minute I stepped out of your vehicle, the heat hits me like a Roger Clemens brick, the distant caw of the ever watchful crow screeches through the air and sinks deep into my bones, this, THIS is the place.

This place was not built as a tourist stop, as a movie set or a souvenir shop. But at any given time it could be all of them. This is an authentic old Gold mining settlement that has turned into the 8th wonder of the world. This is the Techatticup (Tea-Chatty-Cup) Millsite at the Eldorado Canyon Mine, NV. Fallout:New Vegas video game players will know this area well and I am here to tell you that this ISN’T a fictitious place in a video game. This place is as real, or as surreal as it gets. Maybe you saw the movie “3000 Miles to Graceland” with Kurt Russell and Kevin Costner? The scene where Kevin Costner’s character blows up the gas station with the plane in it was filmed here. Here are a couple stills from the film.

Add to that, countless movie scenes, album and book covers, and model shoots.

Like I said, this place is not a movie set, because of it’s amazing and eclectic look and feel, musicians, stars, and directors are always coming here to shoot. Just goes to show, the best shots are not made up, they are real. It is just another magical thing that happens at the mine. The Werly family re-built and own the millsite here and there are a few folks who still live and work in the buildings scattered about. Other than that, this is a true old west “ghost town”. The sheer amount of vintage “goodies” that are gathered here is un-imaginable though. Everywhere you look it is something new or should I say, “something old”.

Here is a bit of “history” from their website:

Man per man and mile per mile Eldorado Canyon has a wider range of historical events than anywhere in the Wild West. Old west history don’t get no better than this…

– The Ives Expedition, 1858.

I had read a little about this place online and seen some photos but not many. One of the most prominent items here is the “exploded” plane from the Graceland movie. Bobbie Werly who works at the mine told me that after the movie was shot, the director simply said, “Hey, you want the plane?”. Silly question, of course they wanted the plane. So, upon my arrival, before heading into any of the buildings, I ran off to shoot the plane. (Click on any image to enlarge, or the button below to purchase a limited edition print)

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Yep, that’s a plane crashed into the side of the hill right there.

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So cool to see something so prominent in a movie up close and personal. Naturally, I continued up the dirt road checking out all the goodies. As I followed the small dirt road I came upon a large oddly shaped building.

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And to the right of that building, housed by a small shack, I could see it. This was the entrance to the Eldorado Gold Mine!!

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It was kinda creepy, but I walked up and peeked in the gate and got this wonderful blast of 60°F cold air right in the face! I could have stood there all day and cooled off. But no, so much more to see and shoot, no time to waste. Behind me was a mass of old machinery, stove parts, mining equipment, wagon wheels, it just goes on and on. And there is no rhyme or reason to any of it which just heightens the surreal-ness of the whole experience. Here is just a taste of what I mean. Next to the old mine is what looks like the parts to an old stove.

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Here is one of countless wheels stacked up around the mine.

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The textures of all this old stuff against the desert background adds up to sensory overload. I think I could have shot here for a year and not captured half of it.

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To the left of this oddly shaped building was a very cool old shed.

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If you notice, around the base of the shed there are rocks piled up. These buildings have no basements and are built about 6 inches off the ground. Literally a deck with a room on top. The problem out here is Rattlesnakes. And during the hot day they like to get under things like floors and porches to stay cool. The rocks are packed tightly together and because it is easy for them to get trapped, the snakes will not pass. So at least you know, that is one place they are not. As for everywhere else, well the boys told me to scuff my feet on the gravel and sand when I walked so that it would disturb them and they would rattle. Otherwise, you could actually step on them before they would make a sound and then it is too late. One of the snakes out there is the Green Mohave and it is the most poisonous of all of the rattlers. The guys told me, if you get bit by one of those way out here, the best I can do is call your next of kin and tell them you are dead. That’ll keep your eyes open and you on your toes while exploring!

Every turn down this old road brings a new surprise. Here is what looks to be a sifting pan.

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Here is a press of some sorts and an old barrel tumbler in the background. This stuff is awesome!

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Here is a look inside the tumbler.

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Before heading around the bend and back to where the plane crash is, I found this gem. One of my favorite shots of the day.

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Along the way back up the road to the plane and the general store I pass all sorts of crazy contraptions. Your guess is as good as mine on some of this stuff, but one thing is for sure, it’s all really cool and really photogenic.

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Check this winch out. Made in Philly! And it has a lizard as a guard dog. Can you spot him?

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Here is the rest of the crazy stuff I saw on the short walk back to the general store.

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As I started to cross the highway and head into the general store, I noticed this sign.

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Oops!! To be honest, I may have seen this on the way in, but there are tons of signs like this all over the place and I really thought nothing of it. I headed into the store to find out what the story behind this cool place actually is. Of course, I can’t even get across the highway without taking more shots.

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It occurs to me at this moment that it was going to be a long hot day in the sun. Every single inch of this little “town” is packed with memorabilia. As a curious photographer, it is really difficult to walk 10feet with out stopping to take a shot. Here is a perfect example of me trying to make my way in the front door.

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Finally, I make it the door. Wow, if you think the outside is cool….you should see the inside! And that is where the story goes sour. I was so overheated by the time I made it indoors, all I wanted was water and to sit in the shade for a bit. I did talk with the guys there among the antlers, skulls, alien fetuses in a jar, rattlesnake skins, parking meters, various pieces of art and photos of all of the stars that have either starred in movies there, shot music videos, OVERLOAD! And if I took pictures of all of it, you wouldn’t want to visit, so I left out the amazing interior of the general store. Okay, maybe one shot of the alien fetus in a jar..(don’t say I didn’t warn you).

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See, I told you this place is awesome. Just an FYI, the picture is blurry on purpose. I mean, ALL alien photos are supposed to be blurry right? In conversation with the guys I learn that most of the areas I was in are off limits unless you are on the Mine tour or on a paid photo shoot. So being totally respectful of the huge collection of great stuff there the fact that it is a family owned and operated business, I offer a “donation” to continue shooting for the rest of the afternoon. They graciously accept and I head back out for some more “unrestricted” access to the site. Ready for more “Hot in the shade” photography? Alien fetus behind me, I head out into the heat, this time to capture some of the stellar vehicles parked just about everywhere on the site.

Probably one of the top show pieces of the site is this ’52 Chevy 3000 Pickup truck. I really dig the color contrast with the desert surroundings.

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Around the back of the truck on a dirt path in front of the General Store is the old water tower.

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That shot really gives you an idea of how much stuff is here, it’s everywhere! This next shot shows what is left of the the 3000 Miles to Graceland shoot.

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Once I reach the tower I can see there is an old Ford Water truck attached to it. You can almost hear the wind creaking the old metal shoot and the crows call in the distance here.

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‘Round back of the water tower there is this really cool orange Dodge pickup. For this shot I decided to to something a little different. I moved myself back out to the road and switched from my trusty Sigma 10-20mm lens to my Sigma 70-200mm APO. I then zoomed in to 200mm and shot the entire scene, section by section. Then when I got back to the studio, I assembled all of the HDR shots in Photomatix and then those shots into a panorama in Photoshop. The results is a super depth of field, super resolution shot. This makes for a print that can be scaled up to huge sizes without loss of resolution, or for me, just a really cool shot.

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I also captured many of the vintage signs in this format as well. If you are looking for a cool print of an old sign, these are your ticket. These a high resolution shots that can be blown up to to cover and entire wall.

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Heading west on the property I find an old garage building with more neat signs inside.

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Adjacent to the garage is strangely wired shed and vintage Chrysler Traveler.

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Here is an exterior shot of the large garage as seen from the road.

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Permanently at rest out front is this killer International TV Service Truck.

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Just over from the International truck is one of many Coca-Cola proudly screwed to the side of an old tin shed with a nifty Sinclair Gas Pump along side.

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Along the foothills of the compound are probably the most unique naturally occurring item known as the “Teddy Bear” cholla. The plant has a soft appearance due to its solid mass of very formidable spines that completely cover the stems. From a distance, the stems appear soft and fuzzy, giving it the name “teddy bear”. The spines are barbed, so if you get to close, you will end up covered in them and they are extremely difficult to remove. I kept my distance for these shots. Some of my best of the day.

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You really never know what you will find wandering around the the compound.

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I wish I had more time here, I would love to shoot this place at night. It must look amazing in the dark under the stars. Well that about covers one side of the road, time to head over to the other side. Most of which is off limits, but there is still plenty to see. Like this old Chevy truck and another vintage gas pump, this one from Germantown Junction, New Lisbon Wisconson.

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Some of the vehicles scattered about are not of the typical Ford/Chevy/Dodge ilk. Take this rare International Harvester Metro Van for instance.

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More rarities, a 1950 Dodge water truck and a 1951 Ford “Snarling” Short Bus.

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Another bizarre vehicle is this old mule/donkey winch truck. It was used to raise and lower donkey’s and mules down into the mine where they would work.

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Next to the bus was this old 1949 1 Ton Ford F & G Farm truck. This old dog looked like it was still in use here.

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It was then I stumbled upon my dream car, and home!!

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Man, I would love to have this thing and just travel the west and photograph!! Of course I would needs some wheels on that trailer but, minor inconvenience. A few more items on this side of the road such as this old yellow Gardner radiator that peaked my interest.

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A quick stop by one more building (can you tell I am addicted to this place?), then across the road to the final stop of the shoot.

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Just as I start to cross the road, this big guy catches my eye under a bush near the road. Now during this entire trip I have seen 30-40 lizards when hiking and they are usually skittering away as I walk through. This guy, stood his ground and even puffed up several times. Even the lizards are cool out here!

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As soon as I cross the road I am greeted by an International tow truck (Mater) and a 1953 Chevy, both equally as cool as the other.

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Finally I make it to the last building to check out. Please keep in mind, there is MUCH more to see here. I had to hit what I could as I was limited for time. Out front were some pretty cool antiques including this old bike.

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As I peer inside I see another entire universe of craziness. Here, take a peek for yourself.

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A perfect way to end off this adventure is upstairs in the loft…..

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With all of this unbeleieveable stuff to photograph and all that I shot that day, there is still much more to see and do here. For one, there is an entire gold mine tour, and they rent kayaks (and will lash them to your vehicle for you) for kayak tours (guided and self) through the canyons on nearby Lake Mohave. Tony, Bobbie, and the guys at the Eldorado Canyon Mine Tours are just great people and I highly suggest you make this a MUST stop while in Southern Nevada. I drove 4 hours, one way, out of my way, and this was a major highlight of my trip out west. I cannot wait to go back and explore even more. Speaking of which, I urge you to buy a print and help support more adventures like these. It doesn’t have to be the largest print (although that would be nice), anything will help the cause. Hope you enjoyed the story, tour, and shots. Feel free to share this blog with your family and friends and encourage them to purchase a print as well. Thank you!

~A.D.

 
A few years back, the warplane museum and air show moved from Geneseo, NY to my home town, Elmira, NY. I was ecstatic about this and immediately asked for a membership for Christmas. I had always been a fan of seeing and hearing the old birds and this was going to bring them straight to my backyard. That next Christmas I got just that. I was psyched about it, but was so busy that sadly, I never got to go. In 2008 I got my first DSLR camera and was eager to shoot and show off my skills (or lack of them at the time). I had a brilliant idea to contact the Warplane museum and offer a free shoot in exchange for allowing me entry and to poke around. I sent several emails and left several voice messages but never got a return call. I was a bit disheartened by the whole experience but, that’s just the way it goes sometimes.

Fast forward to 2012. The war plane museum building has purchased by Sikorsky Aircraft for Black Hawk Helicopter production and the museum birds have ended up out in the cold. While they are “working” on a new site for the museum, progress is well, slow. A friend sent me an email, as friends often do, about the “Wings of Freedom” (WOF) display being featured at a local air strip in Penn Yan, NY. My schedule has been super tight as of late but I was bound and determined to make time to see these planes. The WOF crew hops from airfield to airfield with 3 historic planes from the WWII era. The B-17 Flying Fortress “Nine-O-Nine”, The B-24 Liberator “Witchcraft”, and the P-51C Mustang “Betty Jane” are all featured in this fully interactive display. You can climb all over these amazing aircraft both inside and out. And not only can you see them, but you can also purchase a flight aboard these wonderful planes as well. For more information about catching up with the WOF tour, see my link at the end of the article.

So the big day had arrived and just as nature would have it, the weather looked horrible. I was going to call the day a bust but decided to drive up to the Penn Yan airfield just to see what I could see. Upon my arrival the skies turned from dark grey to a pleasant party cloudy blue. It was early in the afternoon and there were plenty of spectators already at the displays. Getting shots would be difficult. As I always do, I looked around a bit and then introduce myself to a couple of the staff at the event. More on this in a bit. They set up the area with a roped off perimeter. You can walk around this perimeter and take photos and explore the planes from a distance. If you want full access to the inside of the planes, you pay a small fee and you are allowed a full days admittance. So initially I walked around the perimeter and too a few photos, but my love for these old birds and my wanting to see them up close and personal pushed me to the ticket booth in a hurry. In talking with the gentleman who granted me access that day, I learned that the next stop on the tour was, yes you guessed it, Elmira! This worked out great as I had a full free day and would be able to really dig in to these planes and get some shots. With a full day on tap, I walked around, took a few shots, planned my attack for the next day and headed home for the day. That following morning I was up before sunrise and prepared to spend the whole day in WWII plane heaven! I arrived at the gates at 8:30am as instructed by one of the tour crewmen and met with a friend who was coming along for the fun. There were two other gentlemen there as well who where planning to ride along on a paid flight aboard the B-24. So there we were, all four of us at the gates, with the sun cutting through the fog and absolutely no one else around. Just about an hour later, my friend and I are about to call it off, a white van pulls up and score, it’s the crew. Come to find out there must have been some communications error about the time. Just a few minutes passed and they had the gates open and we were allowed in. We explained our arrival time to the gentleman at the front gate and that I had been in Penn Yan the day before and offered to waive the admission fee for the day. I thought that was amazingly generous but, I also know how expensive it is to maintain these planes and keep this show on the road so I paid the fee anyway. Let the fun begin!!

Normally, at this point in the story I would display the photos in a walking tour or show and explain them in the order that I took them. In this case though, I would like to address each plane separately as each holds its own meaning to me.

First up, The B-24J Liberator known as “Witchcraft”. (as always, click the photos to enlarge)

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This was the least known of the 3 aircraft for me. I recognized the profile of the plane but knew little of it’s history. Still, a fascinating piece of machinery from that era. Here are the hardcore specs:

I would learn after the shoot through continued research that this was the only fully restored and flying Consolidated B-24J Liberator. The B-24 fought in the skies of Europe and the Pacific performing strategic bombing during WWII. This particular plane was abandoned by the RAF in a bomber graveyard in Khanpur India. In 1948 the Indian Air Force restored 36 B-24′s including 44-44052 and utilized them until 1968. Once again, the Liberator would be abandoned. On September 10, 1989, after more than five years of hard work and 97,000+ hours of labor, the B-24 flew for the first time after restoration. (full history on this aircraft can be found at the links provided at the end of this article)

While not a staple favorite of mine, I still fully respect this aircraft and the men who flew and rebuilt her. Here is a walk-around of the exterior of the B-24J.

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This plane has kind of an ugly duckling quality to it. You can tell she was built with all business in mind. I finish my walk-around with a few close-up artistic shots.

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Probably the coolest part of this hands-on experience is being able to climb up inside these behemoths. As big as they are, it is amazing how tight it is inside. First the forward position and cockpit.

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This was a restricted area so I apologize for no cockpit close-ups. Next would be the bomb bay. This area was just wide enough for me to squeeze my 6ft 185lb frame through. I can’t imagine being up 20,000 ft and working in this area…crazy!

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You had better be a good, no scratch that, great shot to be stationed in this section of the plane.

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Another restricted area is the tailgunner position.

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It is a short tour through the B-24J but a real eye-opener as to the bravery of the men who flew her. Next up, the B-17 Flying Fortress. Of all the bombers, this is my favorite. And, I think the favorite of most airplane enthusiasts if not everyone. For me, this was a chance to get up close and personal with a plane I had built models of as a kid, enjoyed in movies as a teenager, flew flight simulations of as an adult, and generally admired my whole life.

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Here are the hardcore specs on this amazing plane:
 

The Flying Fortress was developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). It’s introduction came in 1938 as Boeing’s entry against Douglass and Martin just flat outperformed the others entries. The B-17 dropped more bombs than any other US Aircraft in WWII. Out of the 1.5 Million Tons dropped on Germany and its occupied territories, B-17s were responsible for 640,000 tons of that total. The B-17 was a tough old bird and is well known for limping home with engines missing, wings and fuselage riddle with bullet holes and even missing tail sections. The B-17 has been featured in countless movies such as Memphis Belle, Heavy Metal, Tora,Tora,Tora! and more. It is probably the most undeniably recognizable plane ever built.

In April 1952, this particular B-17G #44-83575, was subjected to the effects of 3 nuclear explosions. After allowing for a 13 year “cool down” the plane was sold as part of an 800ton scrap pile. Aircraft Specialties Company began the restoration process of replacing damaged skins, stripping, repairing cleaning the 4 Wright Cyclone engines. The plane was dubbed the “Yucca Lady” and for 20 years without a major problem or incident she served as a fire bomber dropping water and borate on forest fires. In 1986 she was retired and sold to the Collings Foundation. The aircraft was restored back to her wartime configuration and represented one of the finest B-17 restorations with several awards to prove it. After suffering an airshow crash in 1987 she was once again rebuilt and has flown over 1200 tour stops since. (full history on this aircraft can be found at the links provided at the end of this article)

Here is a walk-around of this tougher than tough B-17G Flying Fortress known as “Nine-O-Nine” name in honor of the 91st Bomb Group 323rd Squadron plane which completed 140 missions without a single abort or loss of crewman!

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One of the first things you notice is how spot on clean they keep this plane. So clean in fact, I can see myself!

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Some cool engine and wheel details.

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These next few shots complete my walk-around and then I head inside for the geek experience of a lifetime.

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To enter the interior of the B-17 you must traverse a drop down step ladder. This takes you to a small area with a gunners turret to the right and the bombardiers station to the left, with the cockpit stationed just above. First order of business is the cockpit. Unlike the B-24, I have a clear shot at this baby. Even with my 10mm Sigma, it takes 9 frames to get the whole area in.

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Just behind me is the topside gunner’s turret. I tried standing on this thing…man they must have had some small men for some of these positions. I could not fit in there at all.

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Another 180 and below the cockpit brings you to one of my favorite parts of the plane. “The best seat in the house” as long as someone isn’t shooting at you. The Bombardiers station. Take note of the wire controlled .50 cal guns and the the Nordin bomb sight located in front of the bombardiers chair. Those sights were built here in my hometown of Elmira, NY.

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A very tight climb and squeeze through the topside gunner’s turret puts you in the bomb bay. Here there is room for up to sixteen 500lb bombs and not much else. The usual load for these bombers was ten. Here are some close-ups of the payload.

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Just beyond the bomb bay is the most wide open area of the plane, the radio shack.

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This part of the plane is located with all sorts of electronics for communications, radar, tracking, and decoding. A WWII computer room if you will.

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The electronic equipment in here is really cool!

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Leaving the radio room a tricky side step is needed to get around the Sperry Ball belly gunners turret. This was one of the least desirable spots to be stationed on the plane and there were several reasons why. The ball is so small that gunners could not wear a parachute while operating it though several gunners did wear belly chutes. Though the ball was armored, it hung below the plane and was an easy target for fighters approaching from below. And last but not least, in the unfortunate scenario that the B-17 would have to land with damaged landing gear the gunner, if trapped in the turret would most likely not survive.

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Grab the .50 cal and take a shot!

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The B-17 really brought home the bravery aspect of being a pilot or crew member in WWII flying in one of these planes. There is no armor in the fuselage of these planes and for good reason. If they were armored they of course would be too slow to be useful. When enemy fighters would descend on these planes, these men literally had no place to hide. It was kill or be killed and they knew that every morning of every waking day in the corps. For anyone to survive WWII in one these planes is testament to the skills of our armed forces both then and now.

Saving the best for last, my favorite plane from ANY era, the P-51 Mustang. I was totally surprised to see this bird on the field when I arrived. When I had originally heard about this tour I was under the impression that there were only 2 planes on display. So, to see that there was the bonus of a third and then to have that be my favorite plane of all time, triple word score!!

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I first fell in love with the P-51 after attending a local airshow in 1996. It wasn’t so much the look of the Mustang, even though I think it is sexy as hell, but the sound. 12 cylinders of pure Packard/Rolls Royce muscle!

 
Here are the hardcore specs on the illustrious P-51C Mustang: