Out West: The Ghost Town

This country is littered with ghost towns. They're everywhere. Wether it's due to economic collapse, environmental issues, underground mine fires that can't be stopped, or just population shifts; for one reason or another entire towns are forgotten, left to rot and slowly succumb to the will of nature.

This ghost town fell victim to the interstate system. When the new freeway was put in it bypassed the old town, making what once was a main artery through the west into a seldom used road. After time the residents moved away from the dying town, and left the buildings and abandoned cars as a monument to the city's long forgotten significance. 

A chair sits among tumble weeds.

It's difficult to see but the hand painted sign on this tiny building reads 'Post Office'.

Photos taken with a Canon Mark III, with a Canon 20mm f/2.8 lens.

Out West: Day One

After boarding a plane in Cleveland and landing in Denver, Kaylah and I picked up our rental car and started driving into the night. This was a trip that I had wanted to go on for as long as I can remember. Inspired by Ansel Adams, and motivated by the Salton Sea; the American Southwest has always been a bit of a dream of mine. The beauty of the mountains, the desolation of the desert, the vast openness of land largely unspoiled by man; to me it's like stepping into a world that only exists in books and movies. 

We drove through most of the night, stopping at a rest stop for only a couple hours to catch just a little bit of sleep, though calling it sleep is being generous. About forty-five minutes before dawn I cracked open a Redbull and started driving again. Our first stop was only a few miles away, a ghost town just inside of Utah.

Sunrise on the outskirts of the ghost town (ghost town photos will be posted in a few days).

Prairie dogs are everywhere, and they're kind of adorable.

Kaylah finding a nice vantage point for a photo.

The Black Dragon

Our rental car covered in dead bugs.

The Grand Canyon

This was only the first half of the first day. More photos from this day and from the Salton Sea in future posts.

Photos taken with a Canon Mark III, Canon 60D, with a Canon 20mm f/2.8, Rokinon 8mm Fisheye, and a Canon 135mm f/2.0

Hiking at Whipps Ledges

One of my favorite places in Northeast Ohio has been and will always be Whipps Ledges. I started coming here when I was in high school. My friends and I would spend hours climbing around on the rocks and trying to squeeze through little openings. I took Kaylah here for the first time a couple weeks ago and we went back a second time a week later. I have a feeling I'll be spending a lot of time here this summer.

Photos taken with a Canon Mark III, with a Canon 20mm f/2.8 lens.

The Portrait Project

Something that I had been wanting to do for the last year or so has been to compile a massive collection of black and white portraits using harsh lighting and a very shallow depth of field. I set up a studio in my living room and started shooting portraits of my friends. After about a week I opened up the invitation to anyone willing to come over and let me take their portrait. The response was incredible and I ended up meeting quite a few really great people. This is just a small selection of photos from the project, which I consider 'on going' despite the fact that I haven't taken any new portraits recently. 

Photos taken with a Canon Mark III, with a Canon 135mm f/2.0