The Ghost Town of Drawbridge California pt. 2

dadwtwins

Finally, I made the almost three mile walk on train tracks to Draw Bridge California. The first time I ventured to this sinking ghost town I underestimated the length of walk considerably and ended up arriving just before sundown. This time I went with two new photo geeks as myself, Zweiblumen & Schmoo, and the ever lovely April which seems able to put up with my antics long enough for a photo outing without hitting me over the head with a rock.

I had really hoped the clouds would prevail as they did all week but by the time we arrived to Draw Bridge, the clouds all but burned off. I only brought my IR camera since we were going to hit the town mid day which is the best time for IR and the worst time for color.

Here are a few shots of the journey out to the famous sinking ghost town that happens to be right smack in the middle of one of the most populous areas of our country.

The great schmoo taking the low angle train shot.
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Since it was easter, the train only ran every half hour or so.
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One of the wild creatures we ran onto during our journey. I did not take any pictures of them but there were many dead birds as well as tons plastic balls of different shape all through out our walk. Sort of a weird mixture, wouldn't you say?
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The fine example of chivalry by Zweiblumen helping all of us cross one of the many narrow ravines that cut through the sloughs in this area.
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After the long walk to Draw Bridge, Schmoo and April take a little sit down and water break. The temp became quite warm as the day progressed.
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When we arrived to drawbridge we were greeted with buildings that have sunk many feet and tiled with tons of graffiti.
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It's poetic that these homes that are full of memories are slowly being swallowed by the earth that provided the materials to build these structures.
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Inside the dilapidated buildings were the marks of past visitors of this forgotten town that once was a bustling getaway for the people that weren't the most ethical type if you understand my drift.
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Thank you for joining me to my little journey to Drawbridge. Maybe this will inspire some of you to go out and explore your area for those little hidden spots that are forgotten by so many but need to be revisited to bring their memories back to the present.

Please comment if you have any comments or you just want to say hi.

Awais Yaqub

Wow great series Daniel clapgreat conversion and compositions

Chrissiebeez_NL

Great little journey!

I just LOVE the processing on these shots! thanks for taking me with you

tisun

Great series! I like how you captured other photogs in action -- through window frames.

schmoo

Hi!

IR really, really, really was the way to go I see. You're a smart man: travel light AND get fantastic shots.

You also took some great portraits of all of us! I like the combination of landscape and people, Dan's take.

Cygnus Studios

Great series. I have heard many wonderful things about this place.

dadwtwins

Thank you all. I enjoyed myself and the company very much that day. I am not much of a social person when it comes to photography but having a few great friends with me this time was awesome.

I have received some emails asking about my post processing formula for these shots and the other IR shots I have done.

The camera is just a Nikon D80 IR body, parts from LifePixel but I did the actual filter swap myself.

I set the WB to custom and use my lawn(fairly dark green) as the reference point. I put the camera into B&W mode and shoot away.

I only use the IR body for B&W and never for the dreamy like pastel colors you see in so many IR shots. A tweak here and there in PS and i am done.

grimace

Great looking series. The B&W treatment really makes these shots work!!

a110p0

What a great adventure. Terrific photos too.

Alvin

cunarder534

Great shots with good conversions.

pathfinder

Great series of IRs.

I loved the shot of Schmoo and April on the RR tracks, and Schmoo's "signature" portrait in the window.

It is interesting to see a ghost town in the midst of such dense population.

VisualXpressions

Very nice...

dadwtwins

thank you thank you thank you