Hotel Ashcroft
An abandoned hotel sits a few miles from Aspen, Colorado in the ghost town of Ashcroft
Shot with an infrared filter with a 24-105mm f-4 lens at 24mm, f-5....
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An abandoned hotel sits a few miles from Aspen, Colorado in the ghost town of Ashcroft
Shot with an infrared filter with a 24-105mm f-4 lens at 24mm, f-5.6, ISO 100 for 8 minutes.
Read less
Shot with an infrared filter with a 24-105mm f-4 lens at 24mm, f-5.6, ISO 100 for 8 minutes.
Read less
Feb, 2015Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This image was taken about 11 miles south of Aspen, Colorado in the ghost town of Ashcroft. In the late 1800's, Ashcroft was a bustling silver mining town with a population higher than Aspen's at the time. Hotels, bars, stores and"gentlemen's clubs" lined the main street. But, the US went off of the silver standard and adopted the gold standard and many towns like Ashcroft withered up and died. Then, in the 1940's during WWII, men for the Army's 10th Mountain Division trained here in the mountains honing their skiing skills that they would bring with them to the Italian Alps. They fell in love with the place, but, settled in Aspen after the war. Eventually, in the mid-70's a move to preserve these old structures came about and many of the old building such as this one; the Hotel Ashcroft, were preserved.Time
I drove up the road to the ghost town in the late afternoon as I had been watching the gathering clouds and shifting light. Typical mountain weather is clear mornings and then rain showers in the afternoon as the warming air rises up the valleys were it will condense.Lighting
I wanted this image of the abandoned hotel to look both mysterious and ominous against the darkened clouds and the gathering storm. I knew in order to get that look in the skies I would need a long exposure to allow the clouds to move about and "paint" the skies. In order to get the long exposure I wanted, I used a black and white infrared film filter that allowed for an 8 minute exposure at ISO 100, f/5.6.Equipment
I used a Canon 1D body with a Canon 24-105mm lens all mounted on a Manfrotto tripod along with an infrared filter. I used a shutter release cable to trip the shutter and the camera's built in timer for the 8 minute exposure. There was a short hike into the ghost town, so I transported everything via a Canon backpack.Inspiration
I have photographed this ghost town in all seasons, summer into fall, winter, then springtime, but I never really captured the darker side of the ghost town. So, seeing the clouds building and having an image in my mind having shot other very long exposure shots, I wanted to show the mood of the abandoned buildings hiding high up in the Rocky Mountains.Editing
The image was brought out of camera via Adobe Bridge 6 where it was slightly adjusted using Contrast, Clarity, Curves and Lens profiles. It was then brought into Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 for final adjustments.In my camera bag
The bag that always goes with me has my Canon 1D full frame body almost always mounted with the Canon 24-105mm, f/4L lens with a polarizing filter. In the bag is the Canon 16-35mm, f/2.8L, 70-200, f/2.8L, Canon 85mm, f/1.2L, and a Rokinon 12mm f/2.8 manual prime. 2 Speedlites with various modifiers and gels, Pocket Wizards, neutral density filters, graduated neutral density filters, extra batteries, chargers, memory cards, 1 extra camera body just in case and if I'm shooting a wedding or event, 2 extra camera bodies. A compact Manfrotto tripod, Canon monopod for sporting events or to hold an off-camera light and modifier. When I'm not really planning on taking any photos, but I am going on a hike in our beautiful wilderness, I will bring the little Canon M mirrorless with it's 18-55mm kit lens.Feedback
To capture something similar, wait for late afternoon light and weather. This was located at over 9,000' above sea level, so there is a lot less particulate matter in the air and you will get the clarity of light you will need. However, in this narrow valley that runs north and south, the sun takes a while to come over the peaks and light the scene, and, it goes over the peaks early in the afternoon as well casting everything into shadows. Get an ap for your phone that will tell you sunrise and sunset at the very least. Star Walk and The Golden Hour are two good apps for predicting when a good time to shoot will be. Bring the best quality lens you have and a very sturdy tripod for the long exposure. Don't use the in-camera long exposure noise reduction as they usually aren't very good. Adobe Bridge and Photoshop have very good noise reduction features as well as Nik Color Efex. The infrared filter will turn everything green into white giving your scene an almost winter like look. Mount the camera on the tripod and pre-focus without the IR filter, then mount the filter and trip the shutter using a shutter cable and have the camera set to Bulb.
