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Cheetah-proof flashbulbs, custom wide-angle lenses, and cameras that take two photos at once: It’s all in a day’s work for Kenji Yamaguchi, a master photographic engineer at National Geographic. For 32 years, his custom contraptions have helped photographers capture iconic images on assignments all over the world.
Last year, photographer Seph Lawless published a project called “Black Friday” showing abandoned malls across the US — widely-published photos that documented the victims of the recession and the online shopping revolution.
Lawless recently revisited one of the malls and found that it had become filled with snow. The broken roofs and skylights had turned the indoor mall into a winter wonderland.
The fact that the elements had invaded this once-popular indoor space made the experience surreal. “It was eerily quiet and beautiful as if the world had ended,” Lawless tells us.
“The snow began to fall through the broken skylights and as I looked up snow flakes gently fell upon my face. It was then I realized I was inside a gigantic make believe snow globe,” he says. “I prefer absurdity over reason, because it’s more honest.”
You can find more of Lawless’ work on his website, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. His “Black Friday” project has also been published as a book.
Image credits: Photographs by Seph Lawless and used with permission
When photographer Jim Stimson and I started our Winter in the Eastern Sierra photography workshop at Mountain Light Gallery we knew the drought conditions would provide a challenge for us to come up with “wintery” scenes for our clients.
A major storm was rolling in and much of California was under flash flood watches. We were under a high wind advisory with rain and snow to follow. A power transmitter was blown down in the strong erratic winds and soon a wildfire was raging out of control.
It didn’t take long to burn thousands of acres and nearly forty homes at Paradise and Swall Meadows. Enormous lenticular clouds spun overhead and seemed to be teasing the fire, luring it out to a dance. And dance it did!
A friend of mine who is on the local fire crew reported that they were burned over and all personnel had to run for their lives. Late in the evening I had a little time to break away to take some pictures of the fire, and just couldn’t believe what I saw.
The scene was right out of hell, with fire burning every direction up and down Sherwin Grade. Flame lengths easily exceeded a hundred feet and ran up the slopes of Wheeler Crest faster than a speeding car. Rather than describe it in detail I’ll just share some photos and a few minutes of video so you can see for yourself.
In these unedited clips you’ll get a sense of the weather and wild fire behavior as it blew wildly up the canyons with tremendous speed and flame length. (The audio isn’t good, so you’ll want to turn down your volume.)
The next morning I woke up as if from a bad dream and was surprised to hear rain on the window. The storm had arrived, but much, much too late. A blanket of snow coated the crest squelching the fire. Our group drove out to the Owens River and photographed a hauntingly beautiful sunrise complete with God beams and rainbows.
If not for the pungent smell of wet sage mixed with thick smoke I may never have believed the nightmare.
A relief fund has been set up to help victims of the fire who lost everything, including their homes. If you would like to help please visit the GoFundMe page and make a donation.
About the author: Jerry Dodrill is an adventurer and award-winning photographer who has traveled to remote corners while questing for wild experiences. He has exhibited his work in a number of renowned galleries, including the Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite. He is also active in teaching photography as a workshop facilitator with Mountain Light and Visionary Wild. Visit his website here. You can also find more of his work through his online portfolio. This article originally appeared here.
