Rural Decay and Photography

The first day’s drive towards home was long and I had taken considerable time in the morning, stopping to shoot images in route between Hotchkiss and Gunnison.  I could not spare much more time for in route photo stops, but I knew there were a number of abandoned structures along the remaining route that I might want to stop to photograph, if conditions were suitable.

Abandoned Church

I’ve driven past this abandoned country church many times.  I always wanted to photograph it, but usually it was mid-day, with harsh light and clear sky, when I was passing by.  It was maybe mid-afternoon when I spotted it today, the light was not great, but at least there were big, fluffy clouds to add interest in the sky.  I decided today was maybe the best conditions that I would ever have to photograph here.

Abandoned Church, Monochrome

There is another small town in New Mexico with numerous abandoned structures, where I have stopped a couple of times to photograph, usually under harsh mid-day light.  Today it was late day, just before sunset, when I was in that neighborhood, so I had to stop to see what I could do with more favorable light.

Abandoned School 1
Abandoned School 2
Weathered Door of Abandoned School
Sunset School

I think these are the best photos of these abandoned schools that I have gotten to date.  It was just a matter of fortunate timing to be here as the sun was setting.

A few miles down the road, we noted a full, golden moon on the horizon.  If I had only hung around that small town, I might have had opportunities to get photos of those old abandoned structures with the golden moon in the shots.  We still had a few miles to our night’s lodging and in our haste to get there, I had again blown a good photographic opportunity, one that I will probably never have again.

Until next time,

Ken