A few years ago, I got access at night to the northern California “ghost town” of Bodie which is part of the CA State Park system. My photo friends, Lance Keimig and Scott Martin invited me again last month for an evening of photography. There was just 5 of us and we had access until 2 am. This year it was very balmy that night, as it had been 102 degrees in nearby Lee Vining. Bodie is at 8500 feet, so temperatures around 100 are unusual.
I also shot some time-lapse sequences with two other cameras, but will share the still images in this blog post. The buildings look deserted, but many are indeed home to the park service employees who live there full time. The glow of a lamp shows that someone is home…
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As it became darker, a few lamps became to come on. In this shot, with the warm glow of the lamp through the curtains, it feels like the 19th century, when many of these structures were built.
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Being in Bodie at night, you see things you don’t see during the day. This old barn is now the offices for the park managerial team. They were working late that night. The near-full moon, hidden behind the barn, is lighting up the clouds.
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On this evening, Russel Brown from Adobe was with us. He wanted to light up the old church. There is no power in this building, so he brought several portable lamps called “Ice Lights” that gave an interesting glow spilling out of the building. This time we were lucky as we had access to the interior of many of the buildings, including the church, that are usually locked up tight.
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As you can see, the light spilling out church from Russel’s lighting made for some mysterious imagery. That’s the barn/office that’s lit from within.
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We decided to have a bit of fun, and we put Russel’s assistant, Aaron in the window. He appears to be the ghost of the church trying to get out! Several of the park rangers came out to watch us set up lights and make exposures, as they’ve never seen the church lit up before.
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This shot of the undertakers establishment had one of the few exterior lights (the one in the distance is the light on the park entrance kiosk). I did several exposures, this one being 2 minutes–enough to get the cloud movement I was looking for. It was fascinating watching a large bat (about 8-10 inches across) darting back and forth feeding on the moths attracted to one of the few lights for miles around. This was the action highlight in town!
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I’ve been going to Bodie off and on since the 70s, but I’ve only been there at night three times. This time, getting access to the interior of several of the buildings was the highlight for me. The dust inside this building, the school house, was quite thick as very few people go inside. It’s the patina that the park service is looking for. We were told to touch nothing.
This is a 95% moonlit shot, with just a little bit of fill light from a small flashlight on the hat and end of the stack of papers that would have otherwise been black. I don’t do much painting-with-light anymore, and have become rusty in my skills. I was in this building for about 20 minutes to make this final 6 minute exposure, and the dust was starting to get to me. There were small animal droppings and spiderwebs everywhere. These buildings are home to small critters which like to get away from the predators outside in this harsh environment. The ranger guide Dani told me that last winter it got down to -29F and the day I was there it topped 100F. Eight feet of snow is not unusual in the winter, either. The 19th century residents and workers of this town were of much hardier stock than we 21st century descendants.
Beautiful! I’d like to see the time-lapse series when they are available.
Norm
As always you’ve opened up a special place for my quiet consideration and aesthetic appreciation!!! thanks what a lovely series to share
thanks
i look forward to your posts – you have the devotion, expertise and passion to do your beautiful and unusual work. you are a photographic treasure.
WOW, Go Tom!!!!!
Enlightening, as always (pardon the pun!). Always appreciate your posts.
Thanks Tom for sharing your blog. I especially love seeing the school room on the inside. I have noticed over the years how a few things change like a blind slipping further down inside a window. I’m envious of you who have earned the privilege to get inside.
Tom, you did it again!!! Beautiful. Most people never get to see anything like this.
Arzell Hale
Thanks for sharing Tom …gorgeous photos as usual… I am looking very much forward to my sept trip there…
Great to see that you made the most of it, Tom. Great to see you too.
Great stuff, Tom. I think it would be cool to set up some motion triggers and catch a bat snagging a moth in mid air. Go bat or go home!
Dan
PS prefer trying to do that at +100 than -29.
Nice. You capture a place nicely as usual. I remember going there once. Did you read the part about the note from a little girl moving from a mining town in Nevada to Bodie? Started with, “Good by God, we’re moving to Bodie”. It had a bit of a reputation in it’s day. Also first town in USA with public service of electricity. I enjoy your posts. Excellent photography of course but also terrific subjects.
Impeccably conceived, composed, and executed: the Paiva signature. These are lovely, Tom.
Tom,
I too have fond memories of Bodie at night (that is where we met many years ago at one of Lance and Tim’s early night workshops — the one celebrating Steve Harper). These images are particularly beautiful as you have been able to incorporate interior lighting (boy, am I jealous 🙂 ) with moonlight.
Nice work, loved being there with Lance and Scott several years ago.
Another very enjoyable post, Tom! Thanks for sharing!
Tom, wonderful Bodie shots. I’ll be up there in a few weeks. I’m really looking forward to shooting there again.
Hi Tom,
I really appreciate your sharing of Bodie’s night shots, because I have been there through the years, never had the chance to photograph there at night like you did. You brought life back to old Bodie.
Thanks
John Chan
Very good work, love looking at your work be bless.
Beautiful! The interior shot is amazing!
Fabulous as usual, Tom!!