Mining Equipment, Bodie. Bodie, California. May 27, 2006. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Color photograph of details of abandoned mining equipment in the ghost town of Bodie, California.

Tags:   bodie ghost town california mine mining equipment wheel cable bolt steel detail close up state park desert town history historic stock usa travel structure g dan mitchell induro

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Mining Equipment, Bodie. Bodie, California. May 27, 2006. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Black and white photograph of details of abandoned mining equipment in the ghost town of Bodie, California.

Tags:   bodie ghost town california mine mining equipment wheel cable bolt steel detail close up state park desert town history historic stock black and white usa travel structure g dan mitchell induro

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Rhyolite School Windows, Amargosa Range. Near Beatty, Nevada. April 2, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved. (larger)

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Color photograph of the Amargosa Range as seen through the windows of the abandoned school in the ghost town of Rhyolite, Nevada.

Reworking of a photograph I made in April of 2008 while visiting Death Valley National Park, California. The building is the ruins of an old - and once quite impressive - school building in this abandoned mining town. The view through the windows looks out on the Amargosa Range, which runs along the eastern boundary of Death Valley NP. (Earlier version in black and white posted here.)

Tags:   rhyolite school abandoned ghost town windows wall amargosa range mountains desert nevada usa death valley national park black and white ruins historic scenic travel landscape stock g dan mitchell induro

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Schoolhouse Windows and Sky. Rhyolite, Nevada. April 2, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved.

(larger)

Schoolhouse windows and sky - Rhyolite, Nevada.

Back in April 2008 my brother and I spent several days photographing in and around Death Valley National Park. (I try to visit DV every April, and I'm hoping to be there again this year.) On this morning we got up early and drove to the historic ghost town of Rhyolite before dawn and spent a few hours photographing the old ruins, starting with pre-dawn light and continuing well into the morning. (When we finished we headed over to nearby Beatty, Nevada to get breakfast and gas, the latter at a much lower price than back in DV.) The old school house is one of the buildings that has withstood the ravages of the desert better than others. Despite losing windows, roof, and much else the building still stands - among the destroyed ruins of many other buildings. This photograph, made very close to actual dawn, looks through the interior of the building by lining up windows on a couple walls, with the nearby hills and high morning clouds seen beyond.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Tags:   ghost town abandoned school rhyolite mine mining nevada death valley national park structure wall window sky cloud blue light morning crack stucco wood weathered pattern hill mountain ridge shadow travel historic history scenic architecture frame sill stock induro

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Dawn Light, Rhyolite. Rhyolite, Nevada. April 1, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved.

Dawn sun strikes the ruins of the bank building in the ghost town of Rhyolite, Nevada, with the mountains of California's Death Valley National Park beyond.

(larger)

(More of my Death Valley photographs)

This was my second visit to the ghost town of Rhyolite, Nevada - just outside the Death Valley National Park boundary and a few miles from the small town of Beatty. Rhyolite is the result of a very brief gold-fed boom and bust cycle in the first years of the 1900s, when it went from being one of the largest towns in Nevada (not much of a challenge... ;-) to being completely deserted in a matter of a few years after the ore more or less ran out. Some structures remain, including this iconic bank building that is probably the most recognized (and most photographed) feature of the town.

On my previous visit, almost exactly one year ago, I arrived before dawn, as I did again this year. Repeating last year's experience, once again there were high clouds in the sky, and I was concerned about whether or not the light would be good. Last year it never got better than OK, though there were still some interesting photographs to be made. I went ahead and set up, this time standing back from the building and using a long lens to capture an image of the front wall of the bank with the Amargosa range in the distance and beyond that the snow-covered summit of 11,000"+ Telescope Peak in the Panamint Range. At sunrise the light came through below the high clouds, and a brief moment of absolutely stunning light illuminated Rhyolite and the Amargosa Range. Yes, the light really was this color - I actually have reduced the saturation a bit in post.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Tags:   rhyolite nevada ghost town abandoned bank school ruins structure building old historic desert mountains amargosa telescope peak panamint range dawn light sunrise sage brush valley cloud sky dark death valley national park scenic travel stock window wall column brick SearchTheBest induro

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