rusted metal

I love rust and age on old abandoned structures. The exposed wood weathers and eventually turns grey while metal, in this case pounded flat tin cans, shows­­­­­­­­­­ off it’s colorful patina that has been maturing for a hundred plus years.

When I travel I am always looking for images that will remind me where I’ve been. Images that can take me back to that experience but aren’t your typical postcard genre. This old piece of gold mining machinery from Bodie, a ghost town located in the Sierras near Mammoth, fit my criterion for playing with shape, form, line and color with it’s rich rusted patina.

I planned this image all day today. Working on different angles early in the day, and then waited for the sun to get to the right position in the sky so the shadow would be placed where I had envisioned it to be. I enjoy how the contrast of the white background brings out the rusted texture in the sundial. The sail of the little metal boat cutting diagonally through the circular face of the dial gives some visual tension that appeals to me. On the face of the dial is written “LUMEN ME RECIT” translated “The Light Guides Me…” A comforting thought for a photographer…….

I recently had a major hard drive failure and am in the midst of rebuilding my OS. So my game image for today was sourced from my library. It is an iPhone image I captured on a walk in Corvallis shortly after we moved to Oregon.