Travel Companions: When You Get It Right

In the past three years, I took my first trip to the East Coast (and returned six more times), took my first trip to the Southern US, Portland and made two trips to Death Valley all in the name of photography. I have traveled with friends I've known for years and sometimes jumped in the car to drive hundreds of miles to hang out with dozens of people I've never met before. I can honestly say, I have been incredibly lucky to find such awesome travel companions. 

On the most recent trip to Death Valley, I travelled for the first time with Brian Matiash, Brian Bonham, Ricardo Lagos and Matt Kloskowski (whom I met when we arrived.) Over the last year, I have developed friendships with them online and in person, so I knew this trip would be a blast. The reason it worked so well had to do with us having a similar sense of humor and not taking anything too seriously. I find that to be a very important aspect of the relationships I create. If we don't laugh together, it just won't work.

Life is far too short to spend time not hanging out with the people who make you laugh so hard your stomach hurts. 

Photo: "Time For A Cleaning"

Dental Clinic on the upper floor of the former U.S. Marine Hospital. The hospital campus was originally constructed in the late 1800's on the Mississippi River in Tennessee, but this building was replaced in the 1930's and remained in operation until 1965. 

Photo: "Mesquite Waves"

On this particular morning, we made the trek out to the dunes, despite the lack of clouds. For some reason, though I shot here during my last trip in 2010, I forgot how long the hike to the untouched dunes actually took. (Most are covered in footprints.) After walking for around 30 minutes, I decided to stop and take a shot here I blue hour was over. Shortly after I finished the final shot, the sun was up and lighting the dunes with an amber glow. 

Photo: "Nature Always Survives"

A plant breaks through the rubble in a patient room at the South Carolina Lunatic Asylum, leaning towards the light seeping in from the collapsed ceiling.

Photo: "Paint By Numbers Sunset"

This was the sunset from Yerba Buena Island last night. It was definitely the most amazing sunset I've photographed. 

Tech:

60 seconds, f/11, ISO 200

Big Stopper + 3 stop soft grad

Photo: "Downtown City Lights"

San Francisco shot from Treasure Island.

December 2012

On this particular night, a few days before the beacon on the Trans America Building turns off for the season, the bay was fairly calm and the city lights were reflecting beautifully in the water. 

Technical:

To capture this shot, I used a 70-200mm lens at f/22 (to capture the starburst on the beacon) and opened the shutter for 60 seconds.

Photo: "Tunnel Vision"

Tunnels, South Carolina Lunatic Asylum.

The Babcock Building was constructed in four stages between 1857 and 1885.

Photo: Babcock Corridor

In 1828, the South Carolina Lunatic Asylum admitted its first patient, but the Babcock Building (shown here) wasn't constructed until almost thirty years later. It was built in the Italian Renaissance Revival style and completed in 1885. At the time, it was only the third asylum constructed in the United States, but it was not the first evidence of treatment for the mentally ill in the state.  

In the late 1600's, the Lord Proprietors of the Carolinas agreed that the mentally ill should be cared for by the local government. At that time, many had been jailed, abused, or chained down. Seventy years later, an asylum was established in Charleston by the Fellowship, but it took another fifty years for the state government to fund the construction of the asylum.  

Photo: "Another Day in Solitude"

One this particular day, we had shot a cloudless sunrise at Zabriskie Point and feared we'd have the same cloudless skies for sunset out at The Racetrack, but we decided to go anyway. Thankfully, the evening turned out better than expected. 

By sunset, we were the only people on the playa and though it was chilly, there was virtually no wind. A few small clouds moved in over the mountains as the sun went down and lit up in hues of pink and lavender. Taking our chances definitely paid off. 

Photo: "Operating Room"

Second floor operating room in the hospital building at the 1930's era U.S. Marine Hospital in Tennessee.

Photo: "The Cracks Begin To Show"

Big Sur, California. Jan 2012. 

Photo: "Place of Peace"

I grew up in Southern California and until I turned 21 and moved to San Francisco, I never lived more than a mile from the beach, where I spent many nights and weekends. Sometimes I was with friends, sometimes I'd go for a swim on a hot night, sometimes I read a book, and sometimes I'd sit and watching the waves, reflecting about something going on in my life.

The beach has always been my place of peace.

Photo: "Sunset, Sutro Baths 12/29"

Since my last exploring trip to the South in October, I haven't shot many abandoned locations, which means that I'm running low on new urban decay images to post. Interestingly enough, I have a dozen or so landscape images fighting for time on G+.

Photo: "Nurses Station 338"

Rear, upper floor nurses station of the U.S. Marine Hospital in Tennessee, constructed in the 1930's.

Photo: "U.S. Marine Hospital Exterior"

The Marine hospital in Tennessee was constructed in the late 1800's, but the original building was torn down and replaced by a newer building, shown here, in 1937.