Interstate 5, Revisited

It’s been a couple of months since I’ve posted, as there has been lots going on personally, hindering me from shooting personal work.  This post I’m looking at images shot on the Interstate 5 series over the past few months, choosing what I think are a varied selection, both in theme and style.

This first image, taken at a seldom used exit, shows the expanse of the San Joaquin Valley.  I put the view camera low at around two feet off the ground to play with the perspective.  Note the truck on the interstate, dead center.

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The above image, taken about a half mile from I-5, shows the parched earth in this watering hole on a farm.  Evidence of the drought were everywhere in the Valley as the grasses were more gray than brown.

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Here is an overpass without an exit.  I frequently have to drive miles out of the way to find access to these overpasses.  The approach ramps are usually dirt, with evidence of farm equipment traffic.  Also, these overpasses gives me a chance to shoot undisturbed from the center of the interstate traffic.  I’ve been hassled by the CHP on overpasses with exits several times.  The sagebrush show how infrequently this is used.

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This early February view from within an almond orchard shows the winter sky.  A warm spell has caused early buds on the trees.  The interstate is beyond.

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I’ve had my eye on an abandoned farm to the west of I-5 for some time, but each time I exited off of highway 152 to get access (a 15 mile detour of farm and dirt roads), there were people there.  I also wanted to be there in the late afternoon, and I’m seldom in this area that time of day.  Finally, this winter it all came together, and I got in via a break in the fence to shoot for an hour.  The following two images are from that locale.

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In Tracy, about 60 miles east of San Francisco, there is a golf course that straddles I-580, the interstate spur that connects SF with I-5.  The above shot took about a half hour to shoot, as I wanted to shoot with a group of players in just the right place, with a truck on the interstate in the background.  This is the Number 4 hole.

This course straddles the interstate, with a tunnel for players and their golf carts to transit the freeway.  I went into the clubhouse of the Tracy Golf and Country Club, and asked around for access.  The marketing director was nice enough to offer me access to shoot for this project and gave me a golf cart to use.  The following is a shot I did near the 7th hole.  It looks easy–but it wasn’t!

I tried to shoot this with the carts coming through at random, but I could never coordinate to get a truck to come by.  This group was nice enough to drive their carts; park; stay still; and notify me when a truck was coming by (the approach from the left is blind because of dense trees).  At freeway speeds, they come by quickly.  Thanks to those guys for being patient with me.

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I saw this red palm tree(!) on an earlier trip and made a note to come back and shoot it.  It’s taken from the middle of a motel parking lot.  The incongruity with the palm trees on the right and corporate signage between them says “interstate” to me.  Red coconuts, anyone?

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This view, closer to home for me, is the intersection of I-5 and Highway 14 that splits off to the northern desert LA communities of Palmdale and Lancaster.  It’s taken from the “Old Road”, also known as the “Ridge Road” the 100 year old predecessor to I-5, up and over the Grapevine.  The two trucks in this shot are on I-5.  I was hoping a train would go through this tunnel, but had no idea of scheduling.  I waited about 10 minutes to get a couple of trucks correctly positioned in the shot, hoping for a train.  Typically, as I packed up, a Metroliner train came out of the tunnel.  Still, I’m happy with this shot as this view is rarely seen and shows the scope and scale of the highway system–unnerving here in earthquake country.

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This view of the California Aqueduct is north of Castaic.  It’s a twilight shot, as you can see the headlights up on I-5 in this one minute exposure.  The temperature was in the 30s and the winds were howling.  There is more to be done here for a future shoot.  I had a fellow photographer friend with me that day, David Green, who lives along the Ridge Road and we explored together the 100 year old abandoned road and how it relates to the modern I-5.