GHOST HUNTERS

There is something nostalgic about the empty mid century motels along the highways in the west. They remind of us a time when baby boomers were toted from one end of the US to the other in search of epic family fun in huge fast cars by the WWII generation of parents who could afford things their parents never could. They brought their families out to see Mt. Rushmore, the Grand Canyon, maybe Disneyland. And, along the way the west provided ultra-modern looking facilities with air conditioning and swimming pools for the family gangs.  With the advent of easier air travel and dual working couples, such road trips were a luxury afforded only by a generation who actually took 2-week vacations during the year. The leftover buildings are a reminder of the "Jetsons" era or all the modern conveniences, sadly drying out in the blazing sun. Here are some abandoned such motor courts and motels.  These photos below are from Picacho, AZ along the I-10. This little strip of motels, church,...

Urban exploration is the exploring of buildings and structures made for man, but long since abandoned. Some call it "UrbEx" for short. Finding abandoned sites is not all that difficult, but heeding no trespassing signs and avoiding interaction with people of questionable industry (illegal aliens migrating and staying in temporary shelter, those who are in the drug trade, or perhaps on the run) , is only part of the difficulty. As well, one has to consider safety in broken down and asbestos-laden environments.  Basic safety rules 1.  Keep your tetanus immunization up to date. 2.   Bring a first aid kit in your car. 3.  Carry a charged cell phone. 4.  Warn the critters and possible occupants you are coming by tossing some rocks at the side of the building to warn them, bringing them out instead of being cornered inside. I also carry a taser and pepper spray - j ust in case. 5.  It's best to have a lookout who can look outward as you are busy photographing so ...

Wintertime cemetery photography - a great project some chilly quiet weekend.  Changing the photos to black and white is a fantastic way to pick up the bloodless landscape and show the stark reality of bare trees, dead grass, withered flowers, fluffy untouched snow.  Some suggestions:   Consider standing up high if you can and taking a photo of one single set of tracks through the snow.  Place dead flowers atop a grave and photograph, in Photoshop, lasso the flowers and black and white the rest of the picture so the dead flowers are the only color.  Make a snow angel atop a row of headstones and shoot.  Consider making a life-sized snow ghost beside or behind a headstone.  Utilize any fallen dead limbs stacked up or laid artistically against a headstone.  When you are done, as always, remove all your photographic elements so that the cemetery can be left in beautiful peace as it was when you arrived. I always bring a plastic garbage bag and cl...

Julie Ferguson and I took a few days to trek around the desert on a spontaneous road trip event.  We began with a healthy dose of Spirit Halloween store shopping. It seems this year they still have the zombies, clowns and pirates we expect, but have added some great creepy dolls, Day of the Dead themes and superhero costumes. The line of AtmosFear FX holographic videos has expanded with a great price $39.99. They had a lot of cool and somewhat realistic animal masks (us above). We then headed out at sunset to a desert cemetery called Maricopa Cemetery in the Southwest part of the Greater Phoenix area. It was a striking sunset. It was nearly perfect, except for the fact that recent rains made the ground unstable and Julie's feet collapsed into a grave -  We couldn't help by drive down a lone cornfield and stop outside an abandoned ranch with crumbling roof-less buildings to capture the sunset in the distance through the buildings. When we zoomed in, however, we saw something r...