Zeeeeeeeeees!

I went out driving around this past weekend in hopes of finding something interesting to photograph and just wasnt really feeling in the mood to battle through blackberry bushes to get into an old abandoned house or get hollered at for standing on someones yard trying to get pictures of their old broken barn...so I found myself on the edges of Zee's Recycling out on the Guide - a place I think may very well be the ultimate Heaven and where I want to go when I die.

Wandering.....for all of eternity, through the mazes of mounds of rusty goodness - yes, if I could pick where Heaven was - this would definately be it for me. ;)

I couldn't get in of course - at least not without having someone call the police to rat me out...its right on the busiest road in the county and there were old watchful eyes peering out at me from the house across the street, just waiting to see if I was going to try to climb over the boxcar barricade or squeeze my tiny self between the two that would have possibly let me in with just a few small bruises on my ribcage ;) - probably with fingers poised and ready to dial 911 upon seeing me disappear into that wonderful land of "Yummy."

There are SO many different things to photograph just on the outside...I can only imagine all the joyous things Id find on the other side....but alas, I was doomed to wander the edges of Heaven and find myself denied by barbed wire, chain link fences and giant textured boxes - which were enough to fill my entire memory card with photos of close ups of the peeling paint, rusted edges and various odd cracks and dents that they were so proudly displaying.

These are some of my favorite shots - I just love all of the different colors and shapes...

And I couldnt help but laugh at this last one - when you cant find any paper...just write it on a boxcar door..."Red Sam - Going out today!"

I kept expecting to find a grocery list on the other side ;)

Anyway - thats my walk through Zee Heaven.
Someday, I'll make it to the other side....
My luck, Im going to Hell - where everything is shiney and new ;)

Fairhaven Find!

A few weeks ago, my husband and I took our daughter out for a walk down by Boulevard Park and walked up the path from Fairhaven to the Crysalis Spa area of the Boardwalk - where I have been wanting to get some pictures of this building for a very long time.


The front of the building at the street level is surrounded by...guess what?? - BLACKBERRY BUSHES of course! (because everything old and falling apart and rusty and fun to photograph is always always ALWAYS surrounded by the evil bush of doom...*shakes fist*) and there is no way at all to get inside this place - some old fellow came out of the office to holler at me when I went back later that week to try to peek inside through the giant green door...with a "Dont even think about it..." - and I actually asked if they would ever do a tour or let me do photo shoots inside if I paid the insurance and he laughed and told me a flat out "NO." - apparently its pretty dangerous in there...


So I wandered around the side of the building and found a little path that would take me back around...through the blackberry bushes (of course) - and I couldnt help but notice the post looked quite upset at me as I passed it.

But once I got through the thicket and around the corner, I found a great wall full of thoughts, rust and color. It made my scritched up leg all worth it. ;)



To the right of the painted door/wall - there was a nice little corner nook where It looks like people may be sheltering themselves from the weather from time to time. There was a path through the thicket and a mossy old board propped up to hide behind back there....

And it appears that whoever lives back there, is also a lover of Rust! I was so excited to find this pipe with "Love" scrawled across it - though my first initial reaction was "wow...I hope someone didnt get themselves smacked in the head with this thing ...all in the name of love" - ;)
There were tiny bits of bolts, metal fragments, and old nails and railroad spikes strewn all over the place alongside the building - Im guessing its probably not a great idea to eat any of the berries growing from that soil or drink any water that might run near there - looks to me like the soil was full of copper and rusty metals - but boy was it perty!

Ill have to go back in the summer and meet some of the homeless people living down there - I saw quite a few tents and makeshift homes in that area and while my friend Caiti and I were out shooting photos of this place, we met "Frog" - who when I asked him if he needed anything as we passed his tent propped up under an old boat frame - said "Nothing really - but a nice smile and conversation would be great."

Ill be back to chat with him soon - maybe he will let me take his photograph...

Industrial adventure

I went out to test out my new camera this weekend - in search of old houses and rusty things. I found a few houses but nothing that really struck me so I headed home and took the long way to avoid the mall and freeway traffic...and found myself over in the industrial area off of Bakerview Spur.

I found a lovely little corner full of rust and textures that made me go weak in the knees. (We've already established that Im a little odd that way...put a shiney diamond ring in front of me and tell me its all mine...and Ill go "oh...its shiney...thats nice" or put me in front of a broken down cement mixer or an abandoned house and tell me its all mine for the next hour and Ill squeal and jump up and down for 10 minutes before running around snapping pictures...)

There were so many different colors, shapes, lines, texures...."things" to photograph in just a 12'x30' area that I probably could have spent a good 2 hours there with my camera but my tummy was rumbling at me for food and so I snapped a few pictures and got ready to head for home - then realized I had missed a few things and popped in my second memory card to get a few more shots.

I think the fellows down the road at Les Schwab thought I was either A) nuts B) going to bust out a spray paint can and start tagging things or C) nuts...because they kept standing around in groups of 3-4 watching me weaving in and out of the equipment laying about. I dont think they figured out I had a camera until after about 10 minutes of watching me croutching down, bending over and making hand motions. ;) (I get all excited when I find things like this and forget that people can actually see me pointing and squeeling at things)

There is just something about old pipes in a large pile that Im drawn to every time I see them. Im not really sure what it is - but its like "Jen Nip" (catnip) - I cant resist it...I may possibly even purr at times without realizing it... ;) so dont be alarmed if you ever find yourself in my company and we pass a construction site and I start making weird noises....its not the hunky shirtless men with muscles - its all those wonderful pipes laying around in the work zone!

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm I love rust!

Texture heaven!

Anyone that truely knows me - knows that I love rusty, oozing, scratched up, peeling, flakey, chipped, scraped, multicolored "Stuff" and so last Saturday, I went around to some of my favorite parts of Bellingham where all the great textures live.

I found some good stuff down by the local Lighthouse Mission near the rail road tracks. Im always excited to find a little colony of scratches on an old box car or rusted up piece of machinery.

I cant ever decide which ones I like the best - the blue stands out so much against the rusty oranges but then the reds, yellows and oranges do too - I think I just love them all too much to pick. :) Kind of like having kids - you have a favorite part about each of them but you cant really ever have one single favorite. ;)

I really need to get back out there and do this more often. I forget how much I love taking pictures of different textures. Color + Texture makes me happy. :) Im pretty easy to please I guess!

For more photos from the day - visit my album