Post 21 - Truck Graveyard - Columbia, VA
10-minute read, including photo captions
This week’s adventure takes us through a time-warp to the ruins of Columbia. (Virginia). (Not South America). (In case you missed that in the title).
This is no Lunatic Asylum story - the word “graveyard” is used metaphorically - and somewhat affectionately - in this case. No ghosts creeping through empty hallways at midnight here - just a large overgrown field that is home to dozens of decrepit carcasses of timeworn trucks of all shapes, ages, and sizes.
Fierce, thorny thickets of battle-hardened brambles standing sentinel, guarding venerable chariots of yesteryear.
A sight for sore eyes, and a site that Abandonographers live for.
Neuroesthetic Nirvana!
Dilapidated decrepitude!
Rust and more rust! Rusted rust! Colors like you’ve never seen! Complex shapes of intertwining nature and abandoned steel.
But let’s face it - it was never a fair fight.
Like any casino, nature always wins. Doesn’t matter that it’s pitted against hardened steel and vulcanized rubber - given enough time, nature will triumph. If you get nothing else out of these pictures, that much will be blindingly obvious.
This was another Meetup event organized by Don Rosenberger, with whom I have traveled to several locations. [Please note that this location is private property and not open to the general public - be sure you go only with a group that has permission to be on the land]. My friend MG and I left the DC area before dawn, and drove for two and a half hours through heavy rain, wondering if we’d be able to shoot anything in this weather (or if anyone else from the Meetup group would even show up), but determined to forge on regardless. The rain had let up quite a bit by the time we got to Columbia, VA, but I still put the “raincoat” on my camera (I was shooting with the Nikon D5300 at the time, which is not effectively weather-sealed). By lunch time, the clouds had dissipated and the sun began to come out, so we got the best of both weather conditions that day.
I’m not sure of the full backstory on this place, but essentially, a farmer in Columbia had slowly started to collect broken-down trucks over time, and had lined them up in unused areas of his property for going on 50 years now (or thereabouts). There are all sorts of vehicles, ranging from old tractors to fire trucks to big rig tractor-trailers. A small group of photographers and I wandered the property for much of the day, but I hardly saw anyone else for most of the time, partly because of the size of the property, but also because I was so absorbed as to be blind to anything but abstract shapes, textures, and colors. Totally in the zone. Humans? What humans?
Although color is key to some of the images in this set, many of them were more appropriate to a Black & White treatment. B&W photos tend to highlight the shapes and textures of a composition, and often convey a more “classic” feel. As I’ve demonstrated in many of my previous posts, I’m attracted to the process of split-toning, especially for B&W images. Rather than “deconstruct” any of the photos in the set, or elaborate on split toning here, I’ll refer you to my discussion of that process in my last post on the Air Show at NAS PAX.
That having been said, I’ll just clarify that I used several different split-toning techniques and settings, so you’ll see a variety of tints and color temperatures (from warm to cool). Also, all these images (with one exception outlined below) were processed solely in Lightroom - in other words, no Photoshop filters or composite layers were use. All the colors are “natural” and “real”, although they have been enhanced in many cases by adding contrast, sharpness, and saturation.
The spider webs festooning this truck are a classic example of what shape most of the vehicles on this property were in. I used a warmer tone with some slight grain - as well as a reverse vignette to lighten the corners - to give this image the old-time, weather-worn feel that it seemed to ask for.
The selective soft focus treatment of my B&W X-Ray style for this old fire engine lends an ethereal feel to this shot
A portrait of an old Jeep with a beautifully textured radiator
Oh, the colors! The retina-rending colors!
Seriously - you couldn’t make this stuff up (except maybe in a foggy, fever-dream)! The range of hues - the subtle gradients!
An old tractor with steel wheels - just to give you a brief visual palliative before the next onslaught of color…..
The “artistic” shape of that seat is just fascinating!
Peeling paint and rusting rust - another visual color-fest
I love the colorful moss and lichens on the broken board, and the bent metal railing, on this flatbed truck
Many areas of peeling paint and rust were bright and multi-colored, but I like the muted purple-and-green patina on the hood of this Mack truck
Self-portrait in wet chrome
B&W is perfect for graphical lines and shapes like this - remove the distraction of color to focus on the geometry
If I’m not mistaken, this gorgeous old grille is from a Ford pickup of the late 1930’s
The massive, “toothy” front end of this old Ford V8 seems so heavy and ponderous by today’s stylistic standards
For some reason, the shape of the back window puts me in the mind of Bonnie and Clyde - is that just me, or was this an iconic shape from their era? I also really like the combination of blue sky, red-rusted roof, and pale, faded green (not to mention the leading line of the water-droplet-laden twig).
The colors of a traffic light - red, yellow, and green!
A soggy morning with water droplets hanging over the chipped and blistering paint of this Ford front-end
Life will find its footing - even in the narrowest niche….
Ummm….surely this kind of activity was still illegal back in the day? Not to mention, somewhat frowned upon within the Salvation Army community. So I’m a little surprised they would so blatantly advertise the purpose of this trailer….
OH? It doesn’t mean that? A reference to its height, you say? You think? I see. Hmmm….you may have a point, I suppose….
BOOF! Take THAT, truck! Nature 1, Truck 0.
You think it’ll start if we try jumping it? Here, wait, I’ll push and you pop the clutch…..
I AM IRON MAN - flying through the sky in my rusty tin can….
Woody vines wrestling the steel cables of an old tow truck - Nature 2, Truck 0
Love the dark, muted maroon of this old grill….but it also looks great in my B&W X-Ray style! Which do you prefer?
I wonder what came first, the tree or the truck? Was the tree already growing when the truck was parked on top of it (and started curving up and around the fender after the fact)? Or did the tree start up after the truck got there, saying, “I don’t care if a truck is on top of me, I’m’a just grow AROUND the damn thing!” I mean - seriously - how does this even WORK? Nature 3, Truck 0.
Now, that’s what I call a high fiber diet! Nature 4, Truck 0.
Beautiful old B&W Ford - with whiskers
Another good candidate for my B&W X-Ray style - that truck feels like it’s tryna just float outta them bushes….
All dressed up and nowhere to go….
Staring down the rabbit hole….
I can’t quite put my finger on it, but there’s something so classic and satisfying about a scene like this….what is WRONG with me? Why do I find this kind of thing to be unspeakably gorgeous? Neuroesthetic euphoria, or neurotic angst?
Spark plug in color….and B&W….both impart different personalities of the same vision
Simple shapes - complex colors - the Zen of Geometry and Hue
Once again, two different personalities of the same face - but somehow the B&W face felt more balanced with the inclusion of the cable in the bottom of the frame, while in the color shot, that cable felt distracting and out of place. Interesting how the two media applications affect the final composition.
Another example of exquisite decrepitude
Love the eggplant color - and shape - of the headlamp next to the green paint and rusted bumper, flecked with crenelated lichen-blooms
That blue in the light is actually a reflection of my jacket, which I didn’t even notice until I got this shot into post. At first I tried to remove or at least mitigate that color, but after looking at it for a while, I decided I liked it the way it was.
I almost rejected this photo initially, but then I tried the B&W X-Ray style on it, and BOOM! It just jumped out at me, and now I love this shot. My first editing iteration had the lines running perfectly horizontally across the frame, but I think the slight tilt is what finally won me over. This image just seems to have some sort of ineffable mystique about it.
Another Bonnie and Clyde-ish shape? Or maybe it’s the “simulated bullet holes” that evoke the image of their getaway car?
Mack trucks really came up with the best trademark “mascot” - if I had a bulldog, I’d call him Mack. And Mack looks good with or without color….doesn’t he?
It doesn’t work for everything, but when it does work, that B&W X-Ray style has such a major impact! That “solarized” look just makes things jump out of the frame! Kind of a science fiction look, don’t you think? Kinda reminds me of the final scene in “Repo Man” (Alex Cox, 1984).
Vines: this is MY Jeep, and I’m not letting go….
Jeep: I’ve got those vines wrapped around my finger….
As the clouds cleared, and the sun rose, we started getting starker shadows - and some great lighting effects, like this mirror reflecting onto a door
So many different and distinct color palettes - the surreal supply was almost endless!
When we regrouped in the parking lot toward the end of the afternoon, there was a shiny, late-model truck delivering parts to the garage. The headlights were so modern and cool, I figured it would be ok to photograph at least one thing that day that wasn’t falling apart.
As we were heading home, the late-afternoon sun was glinting off the reflective roof of this barn and silo complex, so we pulled over to get some quick shots
On the other side of the road from the new barn was this old barn, looking like the next stiff breeze would blow it over. I knew this would have to be in B&W, and when I made the conversion, I really hated the power lines, which were even more evident. This was the only image I imported into Photoshop for some final work - I just couldn’t effectively remove the power lines in Lightroom. Don’t you agree that the final version looks better in sepia-toned B&W, without the power lines?
There are more photos not shown in this post in the Gallery - don’t forget to check that out. Enjoy!
As always, thanks for reading my blog posts! Next week I’ll introduce you to the world of ICM….
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