Part of the Homestead act, the Wonder Valley Tract east of 29 Palms, California was opened to settlers in the 1940’s. If you improved the lot with a structure, the land was yours for $10 an acre. Thousands rushed to claim their plots and the region mushroomed with one room shacks. By the ’70s hundreds […]
Islands in the Sand
I just couldn’t get enough of this spot. Lit with the Protomachines light.
Arc Light
Busted up Arco sign at Old Dale, on Highway 62 between 29 Palms and Parker, Arizona. The gas station and cafe are closed, but they were still flying the stars and bars for the 4th of July week. An hour after sunset, it was still over 100° F, so I had to keep my exposures […]
The Heart of the Valley
Map nerds rejoice! While the interior of the Tagus Ranch restaurant/night club/gift shop complex is gutted and wrecked, this giant road map of California painted on the wall in the dining room is still there. Check out those pre-Interstate route numbers, this dates back to before the ’50s at least. About 15 seconds, lit with […]
The Purple Kiss
“The Purple Kiss” World famous Tagus Ranch, alongside Highway 99, north of Tulare, California, a huge complex housing a restaurant, cocktail lounge, dinner theater and gift shop. The ranch also housed a POW camp during WWII, detaining German and Italian soldiers. It’s been abandoned for over 20 years. Protomachines light mixed to purple and green, […]
J’s Coffee Shop
Shot about 10 minutes after the image in the previous post, I turned around to catch the stylishly scripty side of the sign and the rising full moon, tucking it behind the pole, to avoid flare. J’s is long gone, the only thing left is this sign. 25-second exposure, desaturated, cool-toned Protomachines flashlight from 2 […]
Now on Kindle!
I’ve reformatted my book Light Painted Night Photography: The Lost America Technique for sale at amazon.com, for their Kindle Fire platform. It’s available NOW! Please tell all your Kindle-user / photographer friends to come on over and pick up a copy. It’s still a steal at only 10 bucks! Heartfelt thanks to all of you […]
Italian Dawn
Late ’60s / early ’70s Fiat 850, parked beside a WWII-era hangar at the former Wendover AFB on the UT/NV state line. This car was in the same exact spot 10 years ago when I passed thru here. I was working fast here because the sun was starting to come up–it’s only a 41 second […]
