Accidentally on Purpose

Yesterday the kids and I headed to Shasta Dam for a full-on tour of that amazing facility. Â As this was a family outing, and since I’ve kind of grown tired of carrying a lot of camera gear, I was armed with only my littleÂ Fuji X100. Interestingly, one of the guides remarked something along the lines of, “oh, that’s one of those old film cameras. That was pretty cool! Â On our way back topside, I spotted this point of view out of the corner of my eye. Â Sadly, there was no time to stop, compose and shoot (we were behind schedule on the tour, it seems), so I raised the camera up as quickly as I could (while still walking) and accidentally snapped this one on purpose! Â Sure, it’s blurry (did not even have time to focus), but I got the shot and I really like it! Â Ain’t that what counts?

Further on up the Road

I was out a bit earlier today shooting in the town of Shasta, population 750-ish, and came home with an okay set of Â brackets to work with, but I was not entirely happy with it so I went back out just as the sun was dropping behind the hills and came back with this one instead. Â It felt kind of “wild-Westy” so I listened to Johnny Cash singing ‘Further on up the Road’ several times while post-processing. Â Seemed an appropriate enough song.

The last Stage

The historic town of Shasta, today a “Ghost Town” and a California Historic Park, was established in 1848 soon after early California pioneer Pierson B. Reading discovered gold in Clear Creek. Â First named Reading Springs, after its founder, the town wasÂ renamed Shasta in 1850. Â It prospered as a transportation hub for mule trains and stagecoaches serving the mining towns of northern California. Â Once prosperous, “Old Shasta” now boasts a cozy 720 soul population, and an infrastructure that includes the ruins of the gold mining town, a church, a post office,Â an elementary school, a store and the oldest Masonic lodge in California.

Bridge over Turntable Bay

I know, I know. You all want me to post some more of my Urban Explore photography. Â Well, worry not. Â I have more brackets left to develop from my many shoots in former East Germany than you can imagine. Â All in good time, though, ’cause at the moment I’m keeping myself busy exploring the great outdoors in Northern California. Â Here is a shot taken shortly after sunrise. Â And I’m probably glad I waited until the sun illuminated the dark woods at the edge of the bay, ’cause I swear I saw some fresh bear droppings as I was headed back to the car from shooting this. Â Have to admit, bears were not on my mind at all, but then neither were the rattle snakes they say are plentiful around another area I shot yesterday in Redding. Â Guess I better watch my step!

The flying Ford Anglia

The other day I was exploring some of the historic parts for Redding, California, looking for some cool architecture to shoot. Â Scouted a good location I shot later that same day (the old Cascade theater I posted a couple of days back), and talked to some interesting people (like Glen, the fellow I photographed and to whom I introduced you all last week). Â I also found this cool old Ford Anglia, which I shot from three different points-of-view. Â This angle is my favorite, because it really shows off the cool tail end of the car. Â I used my 24mm tilt-shift lens to keep the eye focused on the back end. Â For you Harry Potter fans out there, this car look familiar to you; it’s the same make and model thatÂ Fred,George, andÂ Ron Weasley flew in to with to rescueÂ Harry when he was locked up in his room under the stairs at the Dursley house.