Alabama Hills, Mono Lake, Bodie Ghost Town - Desertscapes, Star Trails, and Long Exposure Photos, July 2012
Page 5 of 5 - Follow the birds!
Mining for gold was not easy. In addition to the harsh climate of the town, the nearly daily killings, and more, the actual work was quite dangerous. Here, after the stamp mill has pounded the mined rocks, workers used mercury - without respirators or gloves, of course - to attract the fine gold particles. Although these jobs paid well, the life expectancy was not long. |
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Bodie and one of its abandoned vehicles. |
 Rusty Ride. |
 A few of these looked good in black and white, and I typically chose which one would go here. But this one...I love both so much that I couldn't simply choose one. Bodie ghost town. |
 Part from a GM truck left to rot, leaning against the side of a building, showing that things can be quite beautiful and colorful in their decay. |
 Bodie gas station. |
I continued south after the meal, this time heading to the popular South Tufas instead of the Castle Tufas I had photographed earlier. As expected, there were many photographers there, although most of them left right after sunset. I continued shooting, getting this beautiful dusk shot. Title: Mono Lake Blues |
Title: Mono Lake Reflections This long exposure photograph brought out the beautiful colors of dusk even though it looked really dark. There's this very small window of time in which long exposures seem to bring out the warm colors of dusk even though our eyes cannot really see it any more. |
Title: Mobius Arch South Star Trails Another star trails photo, also stacked, a 50-minute total exposure. You can see the curvature of the Northern and Southern Hemisphere in this photo, which was taken while facing south.
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Title: Mobius Arch Polaris Star Trail A hot evening, especially when running around "light painting". But I also had a chance to lay on my back and watch the stars. I actually began dozing off when a car pulled up. You can see some of the light from the head lights on the arch. The swirling stars are magical, a result of the long exposure of the camera capturing the movement of the stars. Polaris, the North Star, is in the middle, and all the stars appear to rotate around it, this movement, of course, primarily a result of the rotation of the earth. |
Title: Storybook Tree Star Trails I love being able to see the curvature of the stars for both the north and south hemispheres simultaneously. |
As you can probably tell, this is facing north, with the North Star between the branches of the ancient bristlecone pine. Click on the Bird Buttons to navigate. |
Ken's photos of Nobel Peace Prize Winner Aung
San Suu Kyi, as well as photos of Peru, Burma, India, Morocco, China, Thailand,
Ghana, Ecuador, and elsewhere, have appeared in many books, magazines,
websites, and galleries. Visit the
Ken Lee Photography Website. Some of Ken's select photos may be
purchased through his
Imagekind Store. |
Alabama Hills, Mono Lake, and Bodie Ghost Town: Desertscapes, Star Trails, and Long Exposure Photos, July 2012
Page 5 of 5
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The Bodie school house. Originally a lodging house, this was later converted to a school house after the original school house was set ablaze by a small boy who had gotten in trouble and was sent home. He circled back and burnt it to the ground by setting nearby dry brush on fire.
After visiting Bodie, I got fish tacos at the Mobil Station in Lee Vining by Vista Drive. I had no idea that this was such a popular hang-out for people coming or going to Yosemite, but it was filled with people hanging out, drinking beer, and talking about their climbs. The fish tacos were good, and I had the ranger at Schulman Grove to thank for this other tip. She had said, "We have a joke here...all the best restaurants in the Owens Valley are in gas stations." And so it had been again, with the pleasant surprise of having mango salsa on one of the fish tacos.
A look back at some of the star trails that were taken on this trip.
Title: Patriarch Grove North Star Trails
