California Photo Scout

Bodie Car: The most photographed piece of junk

Welcome to the biggest theme park in the west, ahem I mean the best-preserved ghost town in the west.

Despite its touristic fame, Bodie still holds an attraction to photographers. We wander the streets while imagining life one hundred years ago. We use our cameras to capture textures, colors and shapes illuminating the decay of a once famous prospecting town.

The fascinating town of Bodie is one of my favorite places for photography, despite its nerve robbing crowds and strict rules and hours, non-permitting to sunset photo shoots.

Bodie is synonymous for many of the towns that sprang up in the Sierra Nevada during the gold rush time. Residents have left the city even faster than they built it when the gold ran out, possibly in pursuit of new riches elsewhere. They left behind a wealth of artifacts, inspiring countless photographers, dreamers and adventurers.

How to get there

Highway 270 leads to Bodie from Highway 395 south of Bridgeport and north of Lee Vining. Three miles of the 13-mile road are unpaved. The road is passable by passenger cars.

GPS position

• N38° 12.712’ W119° 00.808’

How to photograph Bodie State Historic Park

Gas Station

I noticed that many people were visiting Bodie with their cameras firmly attached to their tripods, constantly struggling to set up. In the bright daylight, the tripods would only serve to inhibit their creativity. Even with a polarizing filter attached, I could stop my lens all the way down for depth of field without the need of a tripod. Assuming you shoot with a SLR, you do not need a tripod 9 out of 10 times during bright daylight. Do not let it weigh you down.

Carry a tripod if you wish, but find your composition without it. Only attach your camera once you know which shot you like. Finding meaningful compositions often involves moving around a lot, until you find the most pleasing angle and focal length. Imagine doing these contortions with a tripod mounted camera.

Do not let the gear-heads intimidate or discourage you! Bodie attracts a very large number of good photographers, but also showoffs, swarming around the better-known artifacts.

Methodist Church

Bodie is possibly the best-preserved ghost town in the west. People just got up and left, leaving their houses and their living spaces to the dust. Photographing through the windows of the buildings is a lot of fun, but also tricky. Press your camera lens firmly against the glass, to block out any light entering from the side, reflecting off the glass. If you need to tilt your lens, cover the opening between the lens and the glass with your left hand while holding the camera with your right.

Decide how much depth of field you need for the shot (I often use the A-DEP setting). Then determine an ISO setting that lets you shoot handheld. Sometimes you need to compromise and sacrifice some depth for better noise. Since you press the camera against the glass, you can often get away with slower shutter speeds that would otherwise result in motion blur.

Kitchen

Bodie has a large variety of shooting subjects, able to satisfy any photography style. Instead of giving shooting tips, I encourage you to explore your own creativity. Keep moving and keep looking through your viewfinder. Keep your shutter clicking and let the editor at home (you) sort out the details.

Garden

Walk around the city at your leisure and observe the objects. Can you use any of them to enhance the intent of the picture (spooky, old, worn) or maybe create some conflict or contrast (an idyllic colorful and alive looking patch of flowers against a ghostly building)?

Stamp Mill

Do not just hold the camera somewhere and click the shutter. Instead, ask yourself why a certain scene has spiked your interest. What caught your attention? How would you show this in a picture?

Use focal length, control of depth of field and your point of view (on your knees if you have to) to enhance what you saw and craft it into a work of art.

Keep the different uses of your photographs in mind. Leave room for text and shoot horizontal and vertical frames. You do not have to show these shots, but you should build a library of them in case somebody asks for something special.

Best Time of the Day and Best Season

On my last visit during Labor Day, Bodie was swarming with people. Long lines formed at the tollbooth, parking was scarce and photographers stepped on each other’s toes. Holiday weekends are the worst time to see Bodie. In winter, the road may not be passable due to snow. Check their official website (below) for current conditions.

Time required

You can spend only a couple of hours or an entire day in Bodie. For most of us, an afternoon is just right. I took my pictures in less than two hours and escaped the crowds by driving to Chemung Mine.

Equipment

• You can find use for all your lenses here
• Tripods aren’t really necessary, most people around here use them to look professional
• Water (high altitude and dry weather dehydrate the body without you noticing)
• Camera and lens cleaning kit (this is one dusty place)
• Slingshot backpack (put your camera away whenever you can to protect it from dust)
• Compressed air can (again, dust)
• Picnic basket (no food service here)

Fees

In September 2009, the park charged a $5 fee per person, which is quite unusual, as state parks normally charge a per car fee. Fees often change.

Get the $2 brochure at the entrance station, which explains the history in detail and lets me save valuable screen real estate. It contains a detailed map of the city and several pages of history as well as a guided tour.

Difficulty Getting There

Only 3 miles of the road to Bodie is unpaved and passable with passenger cars. If you rented a car, you will likely violate your rental car contract, which usually prohibits driving off-pavement. Some clauses state that you cannot drive on “un-maintained” roads, in which case you should be fine. I have heard horror stories of large charges from budget providers like “Fox Rent a Car”, who allegedly used the low jack device to track cars and hit travelers with overages for violating the contract.

I have never encountered such practice with the big providers. Always study your rental car contract and see if they mention tracking devices.

Difficulty Photographing

crowds

I made the mistake to drive here during the Labor Day weekend. The number of tourists swarming through the city like locusts took me by surprise. This meant I had to focus on intimate compositions like the picket fence in front of the house (see above) or wait for a long time for an opening in the crowds. Usually I do not mind including people in my photographs to add interest, but a ghost town trampled to dust by people is just wrong.

Close Locations

• Chemung Mine and Masonic Town
• Aurora Ghost Town (Nevada)
• Mono Lake
• Mammoth Lakes
• Devils Postpile National Monument and Rainbow Falls
• Mammoth Consolidated Mine
• Tioga Pass
• Mono Craters
• June Lake Scenic Loop
• Convict Lake
• Bridgeport
• Crowley Lake
• Carson Pass, Carson Creek and Monitor Pass

Useful Resources

• Bodie Travel Article
• Bodie State Park Site
• Bodie . COM

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