The Texas Night Sky Part Two2 min read time

Happening upon a long dark road in Terlingua, Texas down a twisted dusty bypass, a strange, unusual confluence of place and time, shift into a single event. When an abandoned phone booth and a fire hydrant ignite at once, with an eerie glow of supernatural origin, lasting only moments, maybe seconds, before they flicker back into the darkness, or possibly another time continuum.

“You’re traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind; a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That’s the signpost up ahead – your next stop, the Twilight Zone!” – Rod Serling

Villa de la Mina, Terlingua.

Making our way to Villa de la Mina, in Terlingua, we discovered an abandoned luxury resort, which was until recently the home of caretaker: Brad Pittman. Brad has moved on to assisted living, but in his time, he was a legend; both in town and as a press photographer.

During the 1950’s the Villa de la Mina was a thriving luxury resort with all the modern day conveniences including electricity and hot running water. It’s been speculated that the above machine is an ancient furnace that once ran at the pleasure of the guests of this now lost and forgotten resort, deep into the desert. On that night, we arrived early to scout and set up. The wind was gusting strong and the temperatures dropping, making our pursuits a little more challenging. Never the less, I escaped with one favorite image from that location.

Airstream Heaven

Can you imagine the conversation that took place as the folks who owned this once luxurious mobile home must have had? “Well this is a nice place to set up camp, what do you think?” As they dropped the jacks and leveled her out. Except they never left. Who knows what happened to the owners of this aluminum wonderland, but the shell and what’s left of the interior remain to serve as proof that once there was a happy couple who took pleasure sitting outside and star gazing. Just as we did that night…

That’s about the end of my tales of Terlingua, Texas for 2016, I spent four days enjoying the darkness and the secrets revealed to me in the night. If you are interested in where I go, what I do and how I do it, sign up and get a quick message when I post something new….

My Gear:

I shot this trip with my Sony Equipment: the A7r2 camera and two lenses: the Sony/Zeiss FE 16-35 and the Sigma 15mm Diagonal Fisheye Lens with a Sony adapter. And of course, my awesome Peak Design Everyday Messenger Bag. This trip in particular, I enjoyed using my Rocket Air Duster due to the exceptionally dusty environment. Some of the above images were shot at ISO 10,000 or above but look great due to the amazing Sony gear AND the incredible Creative Kit Noiseless Plug-In.