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Ghosts of Thanksgiving Present

Over the Thanksgiving weekend I headed out to the Flagstaff and Sedona areas of Arizona. Unfortunately, due to an unscheduled, violent meeting between my foot and a wall at my apartment, I made the trip with a painful fracture. Since I was limited, things were a little more boring than normal, but I still got a few photos to share.

The first stop on our trip was to Flintstone’s Bedrock City. As I wrote previously, this place is so bad it’s awesome. An employee told me that it’s been put up for sale, so who knows if it’ll be around much longer. Best get out if you ever want to see it. I shot a lot of pictures, but they’re kinda boring so I’ve included a small selection.

Flintstone's Bedrock City

Flintstone's Bedrock City

I think this picture of a giant dog on a dinosaur slide is probably the best photo I’ve ever taken.

Flintstone's Bedrock City Dinosaur Slide with a Dog

Me and my busted foot on the same slide. Being metal and relatively steep, it was one of the best slide related experiences I’ve had since I was a child.

Flintstone's Bedrock City Slide

We met this guy at Grand Canyon.

Elk at the Grand Canyon

With the help of a cane (and my brother and cousin helping me through some tough spots), I made a painful hike to the top of Cathedral Rock in Sedona. It was hard, but wow, what a place. I strongly recommend that you make this hike at least once in your life. (Hopefully you’ll have a more interesting sunset than I did.)

Cathedral Rock sunset

Grand Canyon sunset

Grand Canyon sunset

I love pictographs and petroglyphs. I really like the solitude of the desert, so whenever I encounter native desert art I get this great feeling of camaraderie with the people who made them. Both of us chose to visit this quiet place centuries apart, but likely for the same reasons of tranquility and beauty.

Indian Petroglyphs near Laughlin

Cathedral Rock sunset

I *think* this is Bell Rock, as seen from the top of Cathedral Rock.

Sedona sunset from Cathedral Rock

On our last day we went to a place called “Bearizona” in Williams, AZ, which lets you drive through various animal habitats in your car. While there are a number of cool animals to see, the wolves were by far the best. Here’s one of them trying to steal my cousin’s soul. I think this was an Arctic wolf maybe?

Arctic wolf at Bearizona

This pictograph site near Laughlin was one of the most prolific I’ve ever visited. Dozens of huge boulders looked just like this one, with scores of images carved on top of each other.  Note how high up this rock is: that’s my 6ish-foot-tall brother in the lower right. Also note that I was standing in a horrible thorn bush to get this picture for you. I’m pretty sure that means you owe me like $5 or something.

Indian pictographs at sunset near Laughlin, Nevada

As my last shot of the post, here’s a picture taken near Desert View Watchtower. Thanks for visiting!

Grand Canyon Sunset at Desert View Watchtower

birdyAre you viewing this as a single post? Feel free to check out the rest of my work here if you’re bored and have nothing better to do.

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Random Jazz: Insert Clever Title Here Edition

I’m too tired to come up with a clever title tonight or to write words good. So, pictures look you. Bye.

Rock of the gods

Of winds and chains

Shady city

Sunset

8U0B0124-1

Industrial moonrise

Digital flower

8U0B1811-1

Oregon waterfall

Beach bird sunset

Flag at sunset

birdyIf you’re viewing this as a single post, point your mouse here and then do a single click to see the rest of my stuff. If you’d rather click two or more times, you can check out my prints gallery over here. Thanks. :)

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Dating Naina

For the record, I’m not actually dating Naina (she’s waaaaay too hot for me). I am lucky though to count her as a friend and to have photographed her a number of times. A professional model and actress, she’s a delight to shoot. She is immensely creative and always has tons of great ideas.

The concept for this set was lovers at home for the day, playing with the camera in some of their private, happy moments (thus the “dating” title). We shot around my new apartment and got some really great photos. Naina also terrified me by sitting precariously far over the edge of my balcony. Anything for the art I suppose. :)

Naina Michaud

Naina Michaud

Naina Michaud black and white

Naina Michaud

 

 

Naina Michaud

Naina Michaud pool portrait

Naina Michaud

Naina Michaud

Naina Michaud

Naina Michaud

Naina Michaud

Naina Michaud

 

Naina Michaud
Naina Michaud

Naina Michaud

Naina Michaud

Naina Michaud pool portrait

Naina Michaud

Naina Michaud

Naina Michaud

Thanks for being awesome Naina!

birdy Viewing this as a single post? Check out the rest of my website here, yo.

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European Б-Sides

Most of my pictures never get published. Usually this is because I’m unhappy with the photos. Other times, it’s because the photos are redundant to other shots I like better. All of the items below are unpublished photos from a trip I took to Kiev, Chernobyl, and Paris (also London, but I hate most of those photos). I’ve got loads more images from Europe, so I’m sure I’ll do another one of these in the future.

Chernobyl kindergarten

If a town near Chernobyl “died” as a result of the nuclear accident, it was typically razed and buried to prevent people from visiting it. When this happened, a sign with the town name was erected and a red slash placed on it, denoting that the town was no more.

Dead town near Chernobyl

Eiffel Tower lights

Chernobyl toy

Chernobyl window toys

This is what a destroyed grocery store looks like.

Chernobyl grocery store, supermarket

Graffiti by an unknown artist in Pripyat, Chernobyl’s most famous lost town.

Chernobyl graffiti

Chernobyl gym ferris wheel

Chernobyl kindergarten

Paris tomb

Prypyat gym

I’ve published a photo of this refrigerator before, but since I love the subject so much I decided to post a second image. One of the great mysteries of my life will forever be why this home appliance came to be hanging out on the corner of a Parisian intersection.

Lost fridge in Paris

Chernobyl Prypyat bumper cars

France tulips

Kiev cathedral

Pripyat’s most famous icon is the Ferris wheel in the town’s amusement park, which was scheduled to open just a few days after the meltdown occurred.

Chernobyl amusement park

To finish up, here are two shots of the Eiffel Tower: one at sunrise and one not long after a stormy sunset.

Eiffel Tower sunrise

Eiffel Tower storm

birdy If you’re viewing a single post, don’t forget to check out the rest of my website or my prints gallery.

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Beach = mc2 (Also, tacos from the future)

This past weekend I hosted my family at the beach house (thanks FTS!).  Since my family is awesome and full of crazy people, and since the beach is open until midnight there, we decided to take my shiny new direct-from-KickStarter Pixelstick for a spin.

PixelStick Rainbow Beach

PixelStick Three Arch Bay

PixelStick Silhouette

In case you were too lazy to read the website I linked to above, Pixelstick is a modern take on the classic photographic technique of light painting. Basically, you keep your camera’s shutter open for a while and it will capture a light source as though it were floating, electric paint.  Pixelstick has 200 LED bulbs in a strip about 6-feet tall, and as it moves it blinks different patterns. These blinking lights and gradients get turned into interesting patterns, like so:

PixelStick blue ribbon

And sometimes the LEDs blink out a row of chalupas, as seen here behind my cousin doing mountain pose (IIRC).

PixelStick yoga tacos

PixelStick fade

PixelStick cartoon stars

My cousin Lauren has the best stories of anyone in the world. I could listen to them all day. A number of them involve “burrito shops” or “burrito stores,” so I thought burritos would be fitting for her.

PixelStick Sumo Burrito

PixelStick Rainbow Beach

Pyramid thug life 4-evah!

PixelStick pyramid cats

Making simple images is trivial, and to be honest, kinda boring after a while. Once we started getting better with the device we worked on more interesting concepts. This one was made by lighting Kayla first with an all-red light and then running around her position with a red ribbon pattern.

PixelStick Dress Dancer

This one was a 30-second exposure using a similar technique: for 15 seconds or so I ran around with a red ribbon image, and for the second 15 seconds I turned on a blue image.  I’m pretty excited about what I’ll be able to do in the future as I figure this thing out further. Anyone want to play with me?

Pixel Stick multiple files

I’ll wrap up with a very rare image of the Milky Way taken from Orange County. This stretch of coast line has very few houses and is far enough away from Laguna Beach and Dana point such that the sky is just dark enough for a Milky Way shot.  Not my best ever, but it was cool to see it here for the first time in my life over OC. In the foreground is whale rock.

Three Arch Bay, Laguna Beach, Milky Way

birdy Viewing a single post? Don’t forget to check out the rest of my website or my prints gallery.

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50mm Farewell

This is my friend Cheyenne, aka “Indiana.”

Cheyenne portrait

I recently took a few photos of her that I figured I’d share, since she’s a charming young lady and I think the photos turned out nice. Here are two more:

Teenager portrait

Cheyenne Conner portrait

A great loss for California, Cheyenne headed back home for a while to school. We had a going away party, after which I had a chance to snap a few candid shots using my favorite 50mm lens. 

Portrait of a smiling young lady

8U0B6745-1r

 

Our friend Jenelle (who’s also a lovely young lady) wasn’t very happy that Cheyenne was leaving:

Jenelle Ayres

Warrior wrist tattoo

I’ll close with my favorite of the bunch. The missing nail seals it for me.  :)

Cheyenne Conner portrait

Come back soon Indiana. You’ll be missed until you do!

(Don’t forget to check out the rest of my blog for more photos!)

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Finding My (Milky) Way Along 395

(Editor’s note: This post has more pictures than Germany has goals on Brazil (zing!), so you might want to get comfortable.)

On the last day of my trip we were exploring the abandoned “Locust City,” a former air force town off highway 395. We had just exited the former Hall of Justice when my brother and his girlfriend got quiet. After a moment, he said that he thought someone was watching us. From the second floor of the building we had just left we could hear what sounded like faint footsteps stepping carefully and deliberately through broken glass.

Since my last visit in November a number of buildings had been severely burned, which in my experience is often the result of refugee meth heads. It’s possible one or more was looking at us then.


Coincidentally, at the start of the trip I was also worried about meth addicts. My primary purpose for this outing was to photograph the Milky Way, which I had never really been able to do until the last few months. (Mostly because I’m dumb.) With a new car to drive and my newish camera in hand, a small group of us retraced my route up 395 to take pictures of our galactic neighborhood. Our first stop was the Trona Pinnacles, gigantic tufa formations near the dying and remote town of Trona, CA. Standing in the middle of nowhere at 1 in the morning, I was a little concerned about some of Trona’s less desirable residents lurking in the shadows.

As it turns out, the only thing we had to worry about was extremely high winds, which chased us out of the area earlier than we would have liked. The first two shots are from Trona.

By the way, please excuse the fact that the Milky Way looks different in each of my shots. I’m still getting the hang of doing post-processing on it. The yellow glow at the bottom of any photos is light pollution from a city.

Trona Pinnacles Milky Way

Trona Pinnacles Milky Way

On day two, as we headed north we swung by a livestock and cattle graveyard that I had previously visited near Lone Pine.  It’s actually more like a dumping ground. Last time I was there I found the body of a recently dead horse (warning: a bit graphic). Here’s what it looked like now:

Cattle and livestock graveyard near Lone Pine

Abandoned rocking chair, Bodie ghost town

A rare-ish self-portrait of yours truly in a 90ish-year-old mirror.

Jake Reinig self-portrait

This is a shot looking west from pothole rock at Tuolomne Meadows. Even though pothole rock isn’t particularly tall, it’s at something like 8,500 feet and I’m in terrible shape. This was a rough hike.

Tuolomne Meadows sunset

This is also Tuolomne Meadows, but just a little bit up the road.

Tuolomne Meadows Milky Way

The next day we did some river rafting in the Yosemite Valley. This is easily one of the most enjoyable (and breathtaking) things you can do in California. Because the water level was so low it took extra long to get to the end, which meant more time for fun and games. Here, my brother rolls out of the boat in order to hit his head on a submerged rock.

Yosemite rafting

And here he is jumping off a bridge.

Yosemite bridge jumping

I jumped off of it too, but this photo of a brave 12-year-old is more interesting than me.

Yosemite bridge jumping

This is upper Yosemite Falls as seen from the banks of the river. The massive California drought has reduced it to a relative trickle, but it’s still amazing to see in person.  Fun Fact: Yosemite Falls is the fifth tallest in the world.

Upper Yosemite Falls

A bird stands guard on a tufa formation at Mono Lake.  Although much smaller, these are the same type of structure as those found at Trona.

Mono Lake tufa

Mono Lake tufa

We went to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest one day. The oldest living non-clonal organisms on earth, these trees are incredible (one is over 5,000 years old!). I know it sounds stupid, but standing next to them feels really special, as though you’re in the presence of a sentient, ancient friend. It feels as though they’re happy to have you there. Like I said, it’s weird…. Anyways, you absolutely must go there sometime in your life. I think we’re going to go back soon do so some star photography.

The older a tree gets, the more gnarled it becomes.

Ancient Bristle Cone Pine Forest

The tops of the trees reminded me of pleading hands, as if they were asking the sky to save them.

Ancient Bristle Cone Pine Forest tentacles

We return to Locust City for the next group of photos. I’ve been to enough abandoned places to know that they’re rarely totally abandoned. Drug users and destitute people often use them as temporary ports, waiting out whatever storm currently claws at them. This picture makes me sad: the mattress is relatively new and the sheet was in pretty good shape. Some child was sleeping on this not too long ago. I hope they’re somewhere safer now.

Abandoned Peanuts mattress

Abandoned town

Mattresses in old air force town

Walking on the second floor of these buildings is an adventure. Lots of holes abound.

Abandoned miliary town

This former kitchen is now open to the elements. I’d guess that the roof will collapse within the year.

Collapsing kitchen

Abandoned basketball court and baseball field

As I mentioned earlier, I think someone was watching us at one point. This blanket and sign had fallen through a collapsed portion of the ceiling above us. Coincidentally, this was the building in which the person may have been. I wondered if the sentry was a current position, protecting people who made the location their home.

2nd floor sentry

Shattered classroom window

Dark rooms everywhere.

Creepy hallway in abandoned military city

Pentagram in burned out house

This is another picture that makes me sad. This room had clothing, books, and other belongings in it. Some of the items were setup in such a way that I think someone was living here for a while before it caught fire.

Burned out house in abandoned town

Apparently, I had accidentally wandered into Panem.

Fight for the mockingjay

This photo was taken about 250 miles away from Locust City, and is in a much more dangerous location. Fun.

Fallout shelter tunnel

This is my brother in a mask at the Alabama Hills, near Lone Pine. Sweet dreams. :)

Alabama Hills Milky Way

And here’s my tent, preparing to roast me to death overnight.

Alabama Hills Milky Way

Finally, here’s one more picture from Trona, with my brother acting as model.

Milky Way at Trona Pinnacles

In the end, we never did figure out whether someone was watching us at the abandoned city.  Someday I know I’ll run into one of the ghosts of these forgotten places, but I’m happy that they’ve let me visit without any trouble so far. Maybe next time….

By the way, if you like photography and think you might like to visit some of these places, check out my friend Keith Skelton’s photo workshops. He does a trip to a number of the same locations every so often and is a great teacher.

(Want to see more pictures? I’ve got a prints gallery with some of my less terrible work, plus there’s more on the rest of my website.)

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Random Jazz: Oceans and Mountains and Moons (Oh Wine!) Edition

First off, I’m clever, right? Someone pleeeeeease tell me I’m clever. Wait, I realize that you haven’t seen my pictures yet, so you’re not entirely aware of my cleverness. Well, let me tell you, my friend: read on and prepare to be amazed at how clever my title is.

(Postscriptum: I’m also humble.)

Anyways, let’s stop with the jibber-jabber and look at my mildly interesting photographs.

First up, here’s a few photos from my wonderful friend Brittany’s wine and cheese party. It was fun. I fell down at one point.

Wine and cheese party

Wine and cheese party

Wine party

Next up: I dig the moon. Sometimes I stand still and look at it and am amazed that there’s a gigantic ball of rock circling us (like during the blood moon eclipse). Then I go inside and play on my iPad and waste the precious time I have left on earth.

Blood moon 2014

Blood moon 2014

I have the accidental habit of going down to “the cemetery” at Corona Del Mar anytime someone I know passes away. The accidental part of it is that I usually don’t realize I’m doing it until I’ve arrived. My friend Christina was having a rough day and came with me. Apparently, the rocks wanted two visitors.

Here she is smiling.
Christina at CDM

Christina at Corona Del Mar

Tombstone rock at Corona Del Mar

Possibly the best photo I’ve ever taken of myself:
Framed self-portrait at Corona Del Mar

Finally, here’s four pictures I took near sunset at Mt. Baldy. I missed the actual sunset because I was trying to talk to some German girls inside. (Spoiler alert: I did talk to them. They were nice.)

Mt. Baldy Cloud Sunset

Mt. Baldy Cloud Sunset

Mt. Baldy Cloud Sunset

Mt. Baldy Mountain Sunset

That’s it for this one. Want more Jake Reinig? Check out the rest of my website, or see some of my favorite stuff in the prints gallery.

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Random Jazz: Guy of Thrones Edition

I’ll admit, my title is terrible. Like, probably the worst title I’ve ever come up with. However, sometimes it’s hard work to be an international man of mystery and part-time saint and also have to come up with blog titles. The reason I did pick that is because I’m starting off my post with portraits I took of my friend David Peterson, who’s probably the most famous person I know (in an understated kinda way).

Here he is:

David J. Peterson, Game of Thrones and Defiance

The reason he’s famous is because he’s the inventor and “curator” (I guess?) of the Dothraki language spoken on the Game of Thrones TV show. He also does the language work for SyFy’s Defiance, writes books, speaks at conventions and seminars (including Comic-Con), invents languages, and once upon a time had a pretty decent three-point shot. You should watch those TV shows or buy any of his books so that he can continue to be famous and maybe someday introduce me to a beautiful young starlet.

Plus, I mean, isn’t he just a dream boat?

David J. Peterson, Game of Thrones and Defiance

Now that things are sufficiently awkward, let’s move onto more random stuff. Here’s a photo from the time I went to Mars.

Toadstool Hoodoos

This is Amanda, a lovely young lady from our planet who I might be taking more photos of soon.

Amanda, headshot, future model

Let’s get even more random now. I was bored and decided to take pictures of numerically significant groups of items at the beach. Bet you didn’t think you’d be seeing this today, did you? Well, here you go:

Corona Del Mar

Corona Del Mar seaweed

Corona Del Mar

I decided that this is the metaphorical equivalent of what it feels like to be in your house when an earthquake hits:

Seaweek inside a brick

Bam! Random red panda! P.s. these are probably the best animals in existence.

Red Panda

Since I really need to use the restroom, I’m going to shut up and leave you with a few pictures of other random things. Oh, actually, one last thing: if you haven’t already noticed, I relaunched my prints gallery, featuring work by myself and other artists, including my talented brother Nate Reinig. Take a look if you have 23 seconds. If you’re my friend on Facebook, hit me up and I’ll give you a limited-time discount code if you’re interested in anything.

Otherwise, thanks for stopping by!

Bird silhouette

Bird silhouette

Meerkat

Totem pole, Monument Valley

Sky buckets and the moon

Want more photos? Head to the home page and scroll on down.

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3,000 Miles to Ghostland, Part II

I think that most visitors probably don’t care about my commentary (like in part I), so I’m going to keep the chattiness to a low roar. The photos below come from various places in Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico, including Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon, Monument Valley, Shiprock, Zion Canyon, and more. If you would like more info, post in the comments or better yet, let’s go have a beer (or wine, as the situation warrants).

Horseshoe Bend sunset

A rainy sunset, somewhere in Utah

A hoodoo in Mystery Canyon near Kanab, Utah

Watchman sunset, Zion National Park, taken from Canyon Junction Bridge

I love pictograms/pictographs and petroglyphs, and seek them out whenever possible. Navajo and Hopi lands seem to be full of them, with many dating as far back as 3,000 years.

Petroglyphs inside Monument Valley

It’s interesting to think that these hand prints might be from someone who died 1,000 years ago.
Hand print petroglyphs in Monument Valley

Here’s one thought to be Kokopelli, a Native American god that combines Johnny Appleseed, the pregnancy stork, St. Patrick, and Loki all into one, much cooler figure.

Petroglyph of Kokopelli

Sand Island bluff, a short drive north of Monument Valley, has a large panel about 100 feet in length just covered with thousands of petroglyphs. It’s pretty neat and only takes about 20 minutes of your time to see it all.
Sand Island petroglyphs

Some are more modern and occasionally humorous (if you find petroglyphs, please don’t do this):
Sand Island petroglyph graffiti

Note the icon high up on the wall. It’s maybe 25 feet off the ground, so it’s kind of a mystery how it got up there. What’s not a mystery is that some idiots have tried to hit it with firearms, thus the bullet damage in the surrounding rock. Dear random morons: I hate you.
Petroglyphs at Sand Island, including bullet damage to one

Below are a few shots of the hike to Angels Landing in Zion Canyon (here’s an overly dramatic video that shows the view and some of the dropoffs). The hike is very strenuous and the final approach to the landing is basically a cliff ledge. It’s not for the faint of heart. (Sorry about the photos; to save on weight I didn’t bring my big cameras with me).

The final steep, narrow spine to get to the top of Angels Landing.

The final steep, narrow spine to get to the top of Angels Landing.

Part of the trail.

Part of the trail. Note the tiny white car on the road near the top-right of the photo.

Taking a break at the top of the Landing.

Taking a break at the top of the Landing.

The view from the top. Worth the effort and anxiety.

The view from the top. Worth the effort and anxiety.

The whole reason I planned this trip initially was to photograph Shiprock, a huge, 1,500-foot-tall monadnock in northern New Mexico. The day I went to visit, that part of the state was absolutely nailed by torrential rains. The closest I could get was about 7 miles out, as the roads became impassable. I had to slog through deep mud and deal with non-stop rain to approach these horses. Thankfully, they stayed still long enough for me to get a portrait.
Horses in the rain near Shiprock, NM

The Watchman in a boring sunset. Zion National Park.

The Watchman during a boring sunset. Zion National Park.

Two views of the Monument Valley “mittens”:

Dusk at the Mittens, Monument Valley

Dusk at the Mittens, Monument Valley

Dawn at the Mittens, Monument Valley

Dawn at the Mittens, Monument Valley

Here’s a few shots from the unspeakably beautiful Upper Antelope Canyon. Go here before you die.

Sunbeam, Upper Antelope Canyon

Upper Antelope Canyon

Upper Antelope Canyon

Upper Antelope Canyon

Sunbeams, Upper Antelope Canyon

"The Heart," Upper Antelope Canyon

“The Heart,” Upper Antelope Canyon

"Sandfall" in Upper Antelope Canyon

“Sandfall” in Upper Antelope Canyon

And to close, sunrise at the “totem pole” in Monument Valley. Thanks for visiting, and let me know if you’re interested in prints or want to give me a high five.

Sunrise at the Monument Valley "totem pole"

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