Old Number Three

Well, this one didn't have any rust or paint. No need to leave color on it, except for the 3 on the side and the ford emblem. Over 70 years and the ford emblem is bright and shiny. I think that the headlight needs a bit of adjustment. I also think that the tires are a little low on the tread.

Canon 600D, ISO-100, f/5.0, 20mm, 1/160 sec.

If you rest, you rust.

For a truck that has been sitting out in the desert for a minimum of 58 years, this is pretty impressing. It's only surface rust, give this thing a paint job, and an engine and I bet it still runs. This was one of the cars rusting out behind Scotty's Castle. It was an old Ford so I had to take a picture.

Canon 600D, ISO-100, f8.0, 18mm, 1/160 sec.

Backseat Driving

The view from the back of a car in the junkyard behind Scotty's Castle. As you saw in the truck pictures when I first started this post, there was a collection of old rusted cars behind Scotty's Castle. I really hope that they never remove those rusted out cars. They are fun for people to enjoy who go off the beaten track. Of course there were signs every 30 feet or so telling us to stay on the road which of course we had to disobey on principle alone.

Canon 600D, ISO-100, f/5.7, 40mm, 1/100 sec

Igor, I think we should call an electrician.

So, from the nail picture, I have already explained my personal enjoyment of antique tools. So I will probably be corrected by a friend who was there since I wasn't paying much attention to this equipment, but I think that this was an old 1920's arc welder. The handle just reminded me of something that would be found in Frankenstein's lab. We were all bouncing around the workshop checking out the equipment. We were like kids in candy stores. My friends also share my like for vintage and antique technology. It usually sparks conversation and if we drink enough, they may get a rant from dear old J.D. about what life was like in the olden days when I used to walk to school barefoot in the snow uphill both ways. PS: I lived in los angeles as a kid. Not a lot of snow.

Canon 600D, ISO-800, f/5.6, 47mm, 1/60sec.

Nailed It!

Well, I don't know about you, but I love to explore antique workshops. I am fascinated by antique tools. I just love to see how we got from a rock and a stick to a Skilsaw. So over at Scotty's Castle in Death Valley, we checked out his garage (nothing very impressive) but there were a few tools in the back. And sitting under the table holding 500 lbs of vintage electrical equipment was this board with nails in it completely looked over for years. So I got a mouse's view of it. I look at this and my mind imagination runs wild as to how the cement or plaster got on the nails. These are a strange shaped nail, when were those used. Could they have been part of the antique cars, maybe part of a truck bed? Well, that is just some fun with DoF and Nails. Again, not an HDR image and coincidentally Liz's favorite.

Canon 600D, ISO 200, 44mm, f/5, 1/60 second
Desaturated to monochrome.

How Low Can You Go?

So I just posted a picture of the international truck that we found in the hills behind Scotty's Castle. I thought that I would post one of Diego and I messing around on abandoned tetanus delivery systems. This is Diego acting like a Low Rider in the truck. He got nice and low since the seat rusted out on the truck a few decades ago. So in case you were wondering about the exposure information below, this is an HDR image and the application I use gets an average, otherwise I would be posting 3 different lines of exposure information. If there is a more proper way to give this info on HDR images, please comment and let me know.

Canon 600D, ISO 100, 25mm, f/9.1, 1/166 second

I think your car is totaled

So on our trip to Death Valley, we visited a tourist trap called Scotty's Castle. There is a trail up to the gravesite of Scotty and the trail had signs every 20 feet telling us to stay on the road. Did we do that? I think not. Back behind the hill with the gravesite, there is a bit of a car graveyard. With the colors and the rust, I had to get some pictures. This one is of an old International pickup. It just spoke to me. It kept saying, "Photograph me you sexy beast." OK so I added the sexy beast part. But after what had to be 50 years of sitting out in a desert graveyard, this pickup has picked up some amazing colors. I hope that you enjoy.

Canon 600D, ISO 100, 20mm, f/8, 1/200 second