Crystal Mill

These images are of the Crystal Mill (really a power plant) located near Crystal City, Colorado.  This has been photographed so often that it’s perilously close to being a photo cliche.  (Some claim that this is the most photographed object in Colorado; given the relative difficulty of driving to the Mill, I’m dubious).  Still, it is quite photogenic.  I was too early for fall color when I made these images, but was fortunate to have very warm afternoon light.  There was a forest fire in a neighboring county, and the smoke added a unique color to the light. (Click on the images for a larger version).

This is slightly different than the “standard” composition for this image.  A little less dramatic, but I like how the water leads the eye into the photo.

Variations on a Theme

The Crystal Club
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The Crystal Club

I captured this image of the Crystal Club in Crystal City, Colorado, earlier this summer. Crystal City is a effectively a ghost town (the “residents” occupy a handful of cabins during the summer).  Though the road to Crystal City is a bit rough (read: do not attempt to visit in your two-wheel drive) it’s worth the drive. The scenery is spectacular, and the townspeople friendly.  (My favorite detail: if you purchases a soda in from the general store, you must walk across the street and retrieve it from the creek).  One word of advice if you visit Crystal: a few doors down from the now-abandoned Crystal club is the Crystal bookstore. Since the bookstore is one of only two businesses in the town, you’ll doubtless go in.  Resist the urge to buy “Crystal . . . What Really Happened” from the store.  Though the idea of buying a book about the history of Crystal, from a Crystal Resident, in Crystal, might sound appealing, save your money.  I like badly-written history books more than most, but the quality of the writing is astonishingly bad and the content mostly dull  minutia.  (The blurb on the linked website will give you an idea of the quality of the prose.)  Pass.

Probably because of the many different, saturated colors and the broad range of tones, this image lends itself to a variety of different interpretations.  Here are  are some of the variations that I tried before settling on the image above.  Click on a thumbnail for a larger version: