Rudy Lopez Photography » Road Trip

Road Trip: Dec 28 – A day to remember

Rudy Lopez — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 04:23:22 +0000

I won’t spend any time detailing where, how, or when. To me, these are some of the best shots I have ever taken.

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Road Trip – Dec 20 shortest day of the year.

Rudy Lopez — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 18:09:59 +0000

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Sunday was a fantastic day for shooting. The weather was beautiful and I was anxious to get some good shots. I went shooting Friday, but it was one of those days where absolutely nothing was in sync. No new locations, boring sky, and very little motivation meant a long day of driving and nothing to show for it.

On Sunday, I stumbled across two places that I had visited early in the spring but had not been back to. The light was great and there was plenty of color, shadows, reflected light, and contrast to make things really interesting. It was one of the rare times where everything clicks and the time flies by. After an hour at the first location, I made my way north past Siebert, Colorado to the second location. This property is one of the most interesting , it is very close to the end of its existence as a standing structure. This house was once occupied, then it languished for years, and by this time next year, or maybe two, it will be gone. Rubble behind a stand of trees.

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Two things strike me when I am at a location like this. The lack of permanence of things, or more precisely, the illusion of permanence we assign to things. It only takes forgetting about something to destroy it. The other thing that strikes me is the power of nature. Throughout this spring and summer, I witnessed the power of nature in it’s most impressive form, scary ass storms. But the more subtle power, the more powerful power , if you will allow it, is the capacity the earth has to refresh itself. In 100 years, only people that know what they are looking for will know that this place existed. Very few things we build will be able to survive this ultimate fate.

The final location of the day was a fantastic abandoned farm on the outskirts of the little town of Arriba, Colorado. This tricky location is easily reached if you get off the highway at Arriba, but if you miss that exit, it is a round trip of 30 miles to return. I have missed it more times than I can count, and I rarely double back to a location. Must. Move. Forward. I was determined on this day to capture this farm at sunset, so I drove along the country roads until the time was right, listening to music, pondering things that need pondering. Mental maintenance, I guess. I arrived at the farm with about 15 minutes of sunlight remaining. The low sun poked through the pane-less windows, bathing the inside of the colorfully painted rooms with a very special kind of natural light. I spent the rest of the daylight in that zone where the camera is just an extension of the brain.

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The final 15 minutes of the shortest day of this year at a place like this. A fitting end to my time in Colorado. More daylight the next day, and a new season of adventure in a new place. I am very excited about the future and a brand new path. For me, this is what life is all about.

Here are the shots from this day:

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2009 Favorite images – selection number three

Rudy Lopez — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:14:29 +0000

Stucco Shack, Eastern Colorado

This is one a shot from one of my first trips to the plains, taken on Hwy 385 near Cheyenne Wells, Colorado. I had no idea how many abandoned places there actually were and this find seemed particularly lucky. Over the summer I would discover dozens of other places, some much more dramatic. But this location will always be one of my favorites simply because it was one of the first.

2009 Favorite Images – selection number two

Rudy Lopez — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 20:19:02 +0000

A long way around. Summer, 2009

Taken southeast of Limon, Colorado, at this location. This storm system eventually grew so large that I had to take a 150 mile detour to avoid getting nailed by it. I didn’t get back to Denver until 1am. The storm cells were powerful and fast, you can see a small funnel poking down near the horizon from the leading edge of this cell.

Seattle – 2009

Rudy Lopez — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 04:40:46 +0000

I had three great opportunities to shoot while in Seattle for an xmas party. The weather was cold and clear, with dramatic skies each night. This is the first batch of edits, I like them best.

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2009 Favorite images – selection number one

Rudy Lopez — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 06:14:51 +0000

The idea of me rating my own photos and then explaining why they are great seems a little silly. This is an exercise in shameless self indulgence, and I feel fine.

The list of top shots will probably be less about the photos than it is about the experience of getting them. This shot was taken during the heat of the summer. There were severe storms almost every day in eastern Colorado, and I found this scene after frantically fleeing a storm that blew up around me. After the chaos of the storm, this quiet moment was particularly poignant.

Road Trip: December 5 – Laramie and Brush

Rudy Lopez — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 21:09:55 +0000

I am glad we will be spending the coldest part of the Colorado winter in Seattle. Saturday was very cold, very windy, and very brown. We deposited Eva at the grandparents house, and headed north. After a brief lunch stop in Ft. Collins, we continued north on HWY 287 towards Wyoming. Aside from a few good shots in Laramie, Wyoming, and a very lucky find in Brush, Colorado, I did not have a good day shooting. Jen had a great day shooting, and would have had an even been better if I stopped at the places she wanted to. But we were both fine just cruising and talking.

In Laramie, we eventually found a few old cars sitting around a bright blue building. We headed east from Laramie, hoping that the amount of snow would diminish as we moved away from the mountains. Thankfully it did, but the wind was much stronger. But that could have been our fault since we drove to a wind farm. The huge turbines whooshed over our heads, it was a very cool experience. After a drive through the Pawnee Grasslands, past a dozen or so nuclear missile silos, and a helluva good laugh, we ended up in Brush, Colorado.

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The sun was already down when we drove past the abandoned school, but there was still enough light to get decent shots. I jumped out of the car and took advantage of the 10 minutes of usable light remaining. It turns out that we were lucky to find the old school when we did. If we had discovered it when the sun was still up, it would have been impossible to get the shots I wanted, even with a broad HDR. I want to shoot the inside of this building, I bet the corridors, classrooms, cafeteria are amazing.

Shots from the day:

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On the road, Dec 5

Rudy Lopez — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 15:25:11 +0000

8:42:08 AM: All packed up and ready to go!

9:28:58 AM: On our way! http://yfrog.com/3nhqzkj

10:54:28 AM: At the Ever Open cafe in ft Collins planning our afternoon. http://yfrog.com/1e498qj

12:51:53 PM: Here I am: http://maps.google.com/?q=41.303425%2C-105.595824

Road Trip: Nov 29 – Highway 59

Rudy Lopez — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:31:33 +0000

Highway 59

There were days this summer where a 12 hour day of driving would yield zero great locations. Yesterday was a different story. The section of Hwy 59 between US 36 and HWY 34 in eastern Colorado was rich with photographic opportunities. The first location was one of the best I have ever seen, a large crumbling home separated from the road by large trees. It was colorful and cluttered. There were textures and contrasts everywhere, and lots of old, funky objects were strewn about. It is as dangerous as it was fascinating, barbed wire is hiding in the grass, and large sinkholes are just waiting to gobble up a careless person. I spent 30 minutes shooting and trying not to fall in the holes.

The next location was only a few miles north on HWY 59, a small house in a dense stand of trees. This location is of the type that needs a dramatic sky to get a good wide shot. The cloudless sky meant no pop from far away. The true beauty was discovered when I moved close in. The cows that roam this ranch clearly use this house for shelter (or maybe parties, Gary Larson comes to mind). Anyway, the floor of the home was covered in manure, making the human touches of the room strangely out of place. The coat hooks were at child height, and the colorful walls give the sense of cheeriness that simply felt creepy in the late afternoon light. I would like to visit this location again during the storm season.

There is a third location that I arrived at a little bit too late to get any good shots. The shots I did get from there will be part of a later post on creating HDR photos. The opportunities for me to get out on the Colorado plains before the move to Seattle will be few, but I hope to make the most of them. Jen and I are planning to hit the road on Saturday, to cover the area north of Ft. Collins to Cheyenne, Wyoming.

All photos captured as HDR, five shots over two stops. Processed by PhotomatixPro. Nikon D300, 12-18mm and 18-70mm lenses.

The completed shots:

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In Focus: “Santa Fe Blue Door” by Rudy Lopez

Rudy Lopez — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 15:51:58 +0000

Santa Fe Doors, originally uploaded by RudyLopez.

Ask anyone that has been to Santa Fe, and they will tell you it is wonderful. Ask them to define what is ‘wonderful’ about it, and they cannot. It is that intangible feeling that makes Santa Fe a special place.