Untouched mine.

One day this Summer past, I was hiking up in the high country near Aspen. The area is famous for it's long defunct silver mines and prospects. I was about treeline (11,700 feet) when I stopped to remove my fogged up sunglasses. I looked up and noticed a strange dark area high up in a rockband some 2 miles away . I started hiking down the trail and noticed that it dissapeared so I walked back to the spot and made a mark on my topo map and set out for it. The scramble up the last 200 feet was a bowling alley of loose scree at best. When I entered what I figured was a mine opening, I was kind of spooked. There were simply no signs of any recent entry for ages. I was stunned with my mouth wide open when my headlamp struck the handle of an old pick ax. After showing the image to many local mine experts and historians, they were floored! Judging by the examination of a large print, it has not been touched since the prospectors left some 123 years ago.

 

A print now hangs in the office of the ghost town of Ashcroft and helps the staff tell the story of the miners.

 

I am still the only one who knows of it's remote location. I have not been back since.

 

db

Dood photo, spooky story!

I know I've been spending too much time in cities looking at contemporary art when my first reaction is to think this looks like a great room installation rather than a real cave or mine, probably because of the mix of warm and cool light. Nice unreal-looking shot.

Daniel this is an amazing photograph. I love it. I really like how the warm shift of the light painting looks. Imagine if you could shoot this again with a skeleton in the bottom left corner, that would be awesome.

Good story. Very good, yet difficult exposure

daniel,

u used the light very well and i thank u for sharing with us both the story of how u discovered the place and the technique used for the pic. As a matter of fact, if u hadn't told us i would have asked how did u got the warm dominance on the left.

actually i had seen light painting tecnique applied only on nude photos and in b/w, until now, i must admit that in colour photography it adds even more - if used properly. it is a fact that light and how to manage it is everything in photography.

I really would like to go deeper in this technique, i hope u will drop us some howtos or suggest us some point to start with.

 

regards

 

Dan

The colors brought forward in your headlamp work very well with colors in the mine. The method of how you took the shot is a credit to your technical/creative abilities. In my opinion this is a great shot because your photographic skills and general ingenuity where combined together to make the shot happen. I do have one other question I would like to ask about it but I don't want to ask it in this forum. Great shot!

That's a great shot. The light painting shows just enough foreground detail and I really enjoy the light gradients on the wall to the right.

 

Not marked on a topo map or anything? Lucky find, and you're quite right not to share. I've made some finds in the past that may not be unique, but are definitely far from the crowds, and I'm taking them to my grave, dammit.

Better to find an old hand axe, then the hand of the last one to wield it. I'm impressed by the level of detail in such a challenging lighting condition.

Wow...too cool!

+ + +

Going into old mine workings can easily get you killed. Don't do this.

 

There are often vertical to near vertical drops with no warnings. Things called stopes, raises and shafts can drop hundreds to thousands of feet vertically. Ground suppport in these old things is nonexistent. Blasted voids can be right under your feet with only a thin layer above.

 

I am a Professional Geologist who has spent a lot of time working underground. I know of what I speak. Don't go into old mine workings.