The Tower

Emilio

High Desert State Prison, Indian Springs NV

Contrary to what you might be thinking right now, I am not on the inside looking out! As usual, my wife got into the act by suggesting I take a few shots of the prison off I-95 at Cold Creek Road because “that’s where OJ is!” Anyone outside the United States or younger than myself might have to Google the infamous case to fully understand what she was referring to. I was afraid that any body in the tower might think I was planning someone’s escape as I searched for the best spot from which to capture (capture?) the shot. Still, I ventured out of the car and up against the fence. The place was totally deserted- maybe because the temperature was hovering around 100 degrees even with those glorious clouds present. Anyway, to make a long story short (too late?) I found out when researching ideas for this narrative, that OJ Simpson is not incarcerated here but some 470 miles north at Lovelock Correctional Center in Northern Nevada.

Sweetheart, we are not driving there!

Please visit Photos By Emilio when you get a chance

Kelso

Black And White Photography, Emilio, Photography

Please click on the image for a high res version.

One of the many ruins that dot the Mojave National Preserve. Situated close to the edge of a huge sandy area named the Devil’s Playground – dunes and salt flats that stretch over 40 miles and merge with several dry lake beds around Baker, CA. Kelso is a small settlement that looks as if it has been largely unchanged for many years. The town is built around a large Spanish-style building; formerly a railway depot. It now contains the Mojave National Preserve visitor center. Kelso once had a population of 2,000, and was at one time both an important railway stop, providing water for steam trains on the Los Angeles – Salt Lake City route, and a center for iron ore mining, but is now nearly empty.

Please visit Photos By Emilio for more of my work in color as well as black and white.

The Real Paris

Black And White Photography, Emilio, Photography

Please click on image to view a high res version

Yes, folks, It’s the real Eiffel Tower. At the very real Paris Hotel and Casino in beautiful Las Vegas NV. Lower left, you can see the real fountains of The Bellagio Hotel.

Please come visit me at Photos By Emilio for some real color!

Amargosa Opera House

Black And White Photography, Emilio, Photography

Just on the outskirts of Death Valley is the Amargosa Opera House, still in use today after being renovated and revamped in 1968 by Marta Becket, who has performed there since. Read her amazing story here and here.

Though we have eaten at The Amargosa Diner, and visited the adjacent motel, we never have stayed for a performance.

Photos By Emilio

La Rive Droite

Black And White Photography, Emilio, Photography

The Left Bank has become a rather expensive tourist trap nowadays so we are eating and drinking the afternoon away in a darkly lit bistro on La Rive Droite, The Right Bank. The cassoulet contains mutton, pork skin, and white beans. We are pouring a table wine from a country estate in St. Emilion when a short little man, with a rat-like visage similar in look to Roman Polanski sidles up to our table. He knows we are foreign by the way we are dressed and, probably, by the loudness of our party. We are, unashamedly, ugly Americans! Loud, rude, obnoxious. I am prone to blaming it on the wine consumed at such an early hour. Not quite 3 in the afternoon. He wants to show us Le Sacre Couer Basilica, Les Palais de Tuileries. He is offering his services as our own private tour guide when we explain we have not yet even seen La Tour Eiffel, l’Arc de Triomphe. He is aghast. Offers to show us both at the same time. A little known spot not too far from our present location very few know about. Only the cognoscenti are aware of this secret spot. He scurries out, confident he has piqued our interest and will follow. He has and we do.

And there they are. Both the Eiffel Tower and the Arch of Triumph. On opposite sides of the Seine. Captured in one photo on one magical Tuesday afternoon.

Please visit Photos By Emilio for more of my work, mostly in color.

And my apologies to anyone duped by such an outlandish tale as this photo was taken just outside the Paris Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas NV just last week.

But I had fun writing it! 🙂

Signal When Turning

Black And White Photography, Emilio, Photography

Henderson NV

On a back road leading to our house, not 5 miles distant, we found this replica of an old Signal gas station! While we took photos, we could hear a pool party going on beyond the brick wall of the back yard adjacent to us as the smell of barbecue wafted our way.

After you fill up, why not cruise on by Photos By Emilio for refreshments?

And thank you to the multi-talented Jaytee59 for my new gravatar. I love it!

So Much To Love

Black And White Photography, Emilio, Photography

Elgin NV

“Grief is a Freight Train,
Oh what’s a little pain
When you’ve got so much to Love.”

Freight Train – Lyrics by Sara Jackson Holman – | MetroLyrics

This deserted boxcar was discovered on a side rail of tracks just outside the ghost town of Elgin NV.

Please visit Photos By Emilio for a little something in color, too!

Joe’s Choice

Black And White Photography, Emilio, Photography

As most of you (or maybe only some of you) know by now, Joe of The Visual Chronicle is the mastermind behind Monochromia! When he saw the post I did last week on my blog, he commented: I think it looks great and has come a long way from that blah Jpeg file. The last step would be to convert it to black and white and post it on Monochromia 🙂 And remember “you could trust your car to the man who wears the star”

So here it is, my blah Jpeg file color corrected in Lightroom to glorious black and white. I think I prefer the color version this time but please let me know what you think! (That’s a not so sneaky way of getting those of you who have not yet visited our individual sites to go visit mine for a start, then go visit everyone else’s.)

Rule Of Thirds

Black And White Photography, Emilio, Photography

Nelson NV

Brent Mail is a professional photographer from Australia who recently interviewed Cole Thompson, a fine art photographer from the United States. It is a great interview. Please go take a peek! Among many of the things he said that resonated with me concerns the Rule Of Thirds:

“I have my own “Rule of Thirds”. (I don’t like Rules of Photography so I make up my own).

My Rule of Thirds says a great image is comprised of one-third vision, one-third the shot, and one-third processing.

The vision is what drives the other two-thirds.

It drives the shot because when I know what I want the final image to look like, that directs how I capture the image.

Likewise with the processing, which is where I do the majority of the creative work on the image, the vision drives it.”

Get used to his name. Cole Thompson. I expect to be quoting more of his interview from time to time!

Photos By Emilio