Abandoned

Big Blue Bus Burrowing Bottomward

I can drive; I just can't park. Mojave Desert, United States. Long exposure night photo.

I Followed The Lights To the Mojave Barn

Near the top of a rise is an immense barn, rising up out of the Mojave Desert amidst the Joshua Trees and the pines, where the stars shine more brightly. And sometimes, if you are a night photographer and you ask really nicely, you could enter the barn and shoot light out from every crack. I was such a night photographer.

Bright-Eyed And Ready

Looks like an airplane with flying goggles, ready for the cosmos and what that may bring. Night photo, back end of a wrecked and abandoned aircraft, still formidable in its decay, with the Milky Way on the left. Brandishing a flashlight capable of producing different colors, I illuminated the scene while the tripod-mounted camera shutter was open for this long exposure photo. High clouds moved in as I was photographing. The airplane occasionally creaked, startling me from an otherwise peaceful evening.

Filling Up at Techatticup

Night photo in the Mojave Desert with an old schoolbus needing a Texaco break.

Moon Over Nazca

As a kid, I loved Indiana Jones movies, and so I was excited to photograph the Aeropuerto de Nazca fuel truck used in one of those movies, now rusting away in a decommissioned WWII airfield, photographed on a cold February evening. I believe this is a 1937 Ford truck. This is a long exposure night photo which shows the movement of the stars over long periods of time. I illuminated the truck with a ProtoMachines LED2 handheld flashlight from camera right while the tripod-mounted camera's shutter was open. This will likely be featured in my next night photography book, which I'm working on now. Until then, my new book "Abandoned Southern California: the Slowing of Time" is out!

Red Blood Cells

The creepiest place I have ever photographed. Moundsville penitentiary has imposing Gothic stone architecture adorned with turrets, and like a castle, has an extremely violent history, with almost a thousand deaths within these stone walls. Shown here is Cell Block J & K. ' Photos were created with only a handheld flashlight in total or near total darkness. The former West Virginia State Penitentiary, a National Historic Places Registered facility, operated by the Moundsville Economic Development Council in Moundsville, West Virginia, was built in 1866, just three years after West Virginia seceded from Virginia, and closed in 1995.

The Unfinished Symphony

Night photo, abandoned mental hospital. What performances were once played in this auditorium piano? The most urbex experience I've had, my friends Tim and Mike and our local "tour guide" John walked over a 1/4 mile on a humid summer Pennsylvania night through dark wet tunnels, part of a 2-mile network of underground tunnels, eventually surfacing in a long-abandoned asylum and hospital half-choked in a thick damp jungle of overgrown trees and vines. ~~~~~ Much of the buildings were in an advanced state of decay, the result of water damage, rot, theft, vandalism, law enforcement target practice, age, and nature reasserting its dominance. When we shined lights in the interior, it looked almost as if it were snowing, as the buildings were in a state of advanced decay, crumbling, crawling with cockroaches, with fluttering bats everywhere. We wore breathing masks for much of the time we photographed inside.

We Really Move Our Tail For You

Abandoned airplanes in the Southwest desert. Brandishing a flashlight capable of producing different colors, I illuminated the foreground while the tripod-mounted camera shutter was open for this long exposure photo. The streaks in the night sky are star trails created by the movement of the stars during the long exposure photo, accompanied by some beautiful high clouds this cold moonlit winter evening.

Shadow Theater

Exploring the interior of an old barn at night, I saw how the shadows played on the bureau, and knew instantly how I wanted my photo to come out. I carefully went about illuminating selected areas of the interior of the barn, including the TV and some old discarded lamps with a handheld ProtoMachines LED2 light painting device. The glow from outside is from an ancient neon sign, while the shadows from the bureau are from a nearly full desert moon on a beautiful cool Mojave evening. This calm was momentarily shattered when I was trying to walk in the dark while carrying my camera equipment. I stumbled over one of the enormous large-beam barn floorboards that had bent up slightly, almost causing me to face plant. I somehow caught myself without ramming into anything or falling, but it was a frightening moment. This is always one of the hazards of exploring ghost towns in the dark.

We've Got Gas

A night photo fisheye view of an ancient gas pump and rusty car on a beautiful cool Mojave evening, backlit by a handheld ProtoMachines LED2 light painting device during this long exposure. I love playing with shadows.

Ivanpah Express

The front of a 1934 Chevrolet truck, owned by John Riley Bembry, who used this to drive to his claims in the Ivanpah Mountains. I photographed this amazing machine on a cool, cloudy desert night. I am grateful to Mojave Desert Heritage and Cultural Association for granting me special permission to photograph at night on their property.

Speed Queen

An abandoned laundromat in the Mojave Desert with a sky that looks to be well into its "spin cycle". This is a real night photo taken near a full moon. I illuminated the inside and outside of the building with a handheld flashlight while the camera shutter was open.

Pillars of Petrol

I was photographing this at night when someone from one of the RVs approached me, asking what I was doing. Although obviously standing next to a camera on a tripod, I answered politely that I was photographing. He then said many people do this, that he and all the people in the RV have guns, and that they were watching the place and cleaning it up because someone might purchase this and turn it into a glamping spot. He also said I could photograph, so I did so, using a higher ISO so I could get the proper exposure quicker and then get out of there. This is the interior of an abandoned garage in Two Guns, Arizona. I lit the structure from several different angles with a handheld ProtoMachines light painting device during the exposure. This was photographed during a 10-day 2559-mile night photography road trip a day before meeting up with Mike Cooper, Tim Little, and George Loo.

Tearing Us Apart

The full moon greets some various navy plane parts at a decommissioned WWII airfield in Central California. At about 1:15 am, I thought I'd create a couple of quick photographs before heading out. I was there for 90 minutes more. So much for quick getaways. Fantastic creative evening, though. Light from full moon and handheld ProtoMachines LED2 flashlight during the exposure.

Eat Eat Eat

Night photo of an abandoned roadside diner with chicken and face graffiti, Halloran Springs, CA. Illuminated by a handheld flashlight and a full moon during an evening long exposure.

Trip The Rhyolite Fantastic

Rhyolite under the starry Milky Way. Rhyolite is one of the best known ghost towns in the West, founded in 1904, and at one point having a population of 10,000. This evening, I was excitedly testing a new lens, an Irix 15mm f/2.4, which seems quite good so far. I illuminated the former Cook Bank building with a hand-held LED flashlight during the 15 second exposure.

Saluting The Night Sky

The Car Forest is an art installation outside Goldfield, Nevada. I drove up from Beatty to photograph here on a gorgeous evening, surrounded by braying and sometimes galloping burros. Many of these cars were repainted since my last visit, some for the better, and some by idiots.

This Blood Red Room

Photographing the abandoned and apparently haunted penitentiary at night was creepy, interesting, exciting, and sometimes challenging. The penitentiary has imposing Gothic stone architecture adorned with turrets and like a castle, and has an extremely violent history, with almost a thousand deaths within these stone walls. Photos were created with only a handheld flashlight in total or near total darkness. Tim Little and Mike Cooper also photographed here the same evening. The former West Virginia State Penitentiary, a National Historic Places Registered facility, operated by the Moundsville Economic Development Council in Moundsville, West Virginia, was built in 1866, just three years after West Virginia seceded from Virginia, and closed in 1995.

The Glow of the Wildrose

High up in the mountains above the parched sands of Death Valley are the Wildrose Charcoal Kilns, built in 1877. In these arid 8000 ft./2430m mountains, The ten charcoal kilns were built by the Modock Consolidated Mining Company. They were built to provide fuel for two lead/silver smelters––about 25 miles away. These 25-foot tall kilns were used only for a couple of years. And almost 150 years later, one can still smell the burnt charcoal. Long exposure night photo.

Something Special In The Air

Abandoned airplane in this long exposure night photo showing the movement of the stars. These aircraft of yesteryear never fail to leave me in awe.

Rolling In the Deep

One of several vehicles mysteriously buried in the sand in Joshua Tree National Park, a place that holds many strange secrets.

Shadow Flight

Midnight shadow flight, as the shadows move across the dark night. I love the long shadows the moon casts at night, sometimes forming eerie shapes. And who knows what mysteries the abandoned crutches could reveal. This is a long exposure photo which shows the movement of the stars over long periods of time.