Last week we took a fun trip with my photo club to the Winslow/Holbrook area to view explore this part of Arizona’s Route 66. This iPhone shot was taken from the backseat at Two Guns, a 1920-40’s era ghost town with ruins of a gas station, a “zoo” and many old structures.
Now Presenting Old Will, an 80 something year old resident of Bodie- back in the heyday of this old west mining town.
The photo comes from my trip to Bodie last October, and I created Will himself with the help of AI! This has been a fun departure for me! I think I was putting on my genealogy hat as I created (in my mind) a backstory for this old guy, including farming in Michigan, a sojourn in Colorado mining for gold, and then his later years spent in Bodie with the family of his son, Luke, who was living in Bodie.
Above is Old Will, sitting on his front porch- and below is his son, Luke, striding purposefully through Bodie.
I have created some other members of the family- less successfully, I think. For me, Old Will is the star of the show. I have abandoned the project for now, and am currently creating clip art with AI for the newsletter I do for my photo club.
All photos are my own. Each image contains a character I created with Microsoft Bing Image Creator.
I have always had a strong interest in “old things”, even as a child. When I discovered that we actually had a real attic FULL of old things, just like in the mysteries I loved to read, it was one of the most memorable events of my childhood! That fascination continues to this day and is very strongly tied to my obsession with family history.
A few years ago, I discovered that my grandmother’s second cousin, William Chamberlain Embury, designed and manufactured railroad lanterns. Born in Canada in 1873, he moved to New York, and began the Embury Lantern Company. The Embury Lantern Company became one of the most successful lantern manufacturers, second only to Dietz. William turned the company over to his sons in 1936, and Dietz ended up buying the company in the 1950’s.
The photo above was taken in Bodie- I could not resist taking a photo of railroad lanterns! No, they are not Embury lanterns. The ones on the left may be a Dietz- not sure about the one on the right. I own a lantern like the ones he manufactured, but it is a Dietz, not an Embury. When I visit an antique store, I look for Embury lanterns, but I haven’t seen one yet.
A fun image I created for my photo group this week . . .
This image brings back great memories of our group’s trip to Lone Pine, California. We had to cancel last semester’s trip to southern Arizona a few months ago due to Covid (of course), but I’m looking forward to the day when we can start taking trips together again. As a self-taught photographer, I found this group of talented photographers so intimidating at first- the skill level, the knowledge, the gear, and the creativity. I’m still awed by the the images produced by my fellow members, but have made good friends and consider our meetings (now on Zoom) to be the highlight of my week. AND things are going my way- one assignment this semester is Shallow Depth of Field and another is Photoimpressionism!
Spotted at Bodie
I have so many Bodie photos still to edit from our photo group’s trip last fall. I submitted the image below for this week’s virtual class.
We took a day trip from Lone Pine to the famous ghost town, Bodie, which is now a state park. Bodie is interesting and fun for everyone, but is especially beloved by photographers. I was intrigued by the angles and shapes of the buildings contrasting with the almost cloudless skies that day- and had to force myself to take photos of some of the wonderful vintage items on display (those are usually my favorites). This is one shot of the shapes and angles of Bodie, but I edited it three ways for fun.
Tiny houses are certainly a big deal now- but who knew they were a big deal in the 1870’s? I don’t know the story behind this little building in Castle Dome, but it certainly caught my eye!
melinda anderson photography 