Living the kick-ass, sourdough, Nevada mine-caretaker lifestyle, Irish’s place is the ultimate hippy mancave. What Irish does here is Nobody’s Business and intimidating super-dogs, Duke (and Bob, not pictured, off chasing rabbits) keep the riff raff out. This 25-second exposure was shot at dusk and lit with a AA Maglite. Dontcha just wanna sit in that […]

Dayton Mill Garages
The Dayton Mill property has about ten, 75-year-old, tin buildings. They’re mostly empty, but some hold a few incongruous odds and ends. If anyone is looking for a double oven, I’m sure you can get a good deal . . . The heavy clouds this night meant working in near total darkness. The face of […]

Frigidaire Lava
This must have been Irish’s old fridge, just dragged out back and left there, behind some of the abandoned tin buildings near his shack. I was careful to compose it retaining straight verticals and horizontals (and then tweaked until perfect, in post), as well as placing the top of the fridge to break the line made […]

Purple Portal
The mysteries held inside the Dayton Mill . . . The sky was compiled with four 5-minute exposures, stacked for star trails. There’s purple and yellow gelled strobe work done from outside, camera right and red-gelled strobe pointed out, from inside.

Dayton Mine Ski Boat
Why do you find abandoned boats out in the middle of the desert? There isn’t a lake for 100 miles. This is about 20 minutes worth of star trails done in 5 minute chunks and stacked in Photoshop. The interior was lit with a turquoise and red-gelled strobe. This building is infested with rats, there […]

Jeepsters
The caretaker that lives at the Dayton Mill has a thing for Jeepsters. Aside from his silver daily driver, there are two more, partially disassembled in his garage, and several incomplete bodies stashed around the property. I’ve always been a fan of these wacky machines too. And the song. The Universe Reclining in Your Hair […]

More Dayton Mill Structures
Two more views of western Nevada’s Dayton Mill. The heavy clouds that night made exposing for the sky and the ground in one shot virtually impossible. I shot both of these images late at night, facing west, into the setting moon, allowing it to highlight the clouds. Combined with the bounced sodium vapor lights of nearby […]

Dayton Consolidated Mine
The view of the sprawling mill complex from the gun-toting, big dog-loving, caretaker’s porch. No wonder he was able to roust us before we could even take a step inside the fence! Shut down since 1939, most of the equipment has already been removed from the rickety structures. Shot on a cloudy full moon night, […]

The Golden Hills of Silver
The lights of Reno bounce off the fast-moving clouds above this derelict dump truck, perched on a cliff overlooking the cyanide tanks of a closed western Nevada mining complex. Night (about 2AM), combined 4 minute exposures (masking out the light source on the left side of the frame). Full moon, green-gelled strobe and LED and […]
Western Nevada Silver Mine
Shut down for almost 75 years, this early 20th century western Nevada silver mine complex will soon be razed, and the mine, re-opened. According to the kick ass, cool-guy caretaker, there’s still $10 Billion worth of ore in this hill just waiting to be extracted using modern technology. This triptych was shot from the same […]