View allAll Photos Tagged ProtoMachines
The gas pump graveyard . . . at my favorite junkyard. 48-seconds under full moon light: the ambient scene is underexposed by 2+ stops, and I used the Protomachine flashlight to key the subjects. 2 colors, 3 directions. Shot at last September's workshop.
Domo
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I illuminated this moss-covered vintage Chevrolet with warm white light from a handheld ProtoMachines LED2 light while the camera's shutter was open during this long exposure night photo. This was photographed while on a trip visiting my friend Lee in Atlanta and doing night photography with Tim while checking out locations for future night photography workshops. We photographed on a damp foggy December evening in Old Car City, filled with 4000 abandoned vintage vehicles in a forest dripping from rain earlier that evening.
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Join our night photography workshop here in October 2023: www.capecodworkshops.com/carcity
For photos, books and more: www.kenleephotography.com
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(Plate 8710) Pentax K-1/28-105mm f/3.5-5.6 lens. 150 seconds f/8 ISO 400. December 2022.
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#kenlee #nightphotography #lightpainting #YourShotPhotographer #mojave #mylensrental #nightportraits #astrophotography #universetoday #astrophoto #nightsky #nightscaper #starphotography #landscape_nightscape #igsouthwest #divine_deserts #splendid_earth #instagood #beautifuldestinations #urbex #urbanexploration #georgia #oldcarcity #cheverolet
Cannibalized 1974 Dodge Charger SE. Camera sitting on a hotel towel, on the ground. Shot at the Valley Junkyard while teaching my night photography workshop. Lime and red from the Protomachines flashlight. 73-second exposure.
La Caravana Nocturna
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This so makes me want to do some night camping underneath the starry skies. Friends, fun, stories, tacos and beer. I illuminated the vintage camper and rusty Ford vehicle with warm white light from a handheld ProtoMachines LED2 light during the long exposure. Light painting to illuminate subjects is a beautiful, addictive art, as you can walk around the scene, deciding what to bring to light and what to keep in shadow. Photographed before a night photography workshop that we taught in the Nevada desert.
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For photos, books, workshops and more: www.kenleephotography.com
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(Plate 9881) Pentax K-1/28-105mm f/3.5-5.6 lens. 2 minutes f/8 ISO 200. May 2023.
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#kenlee #nightphotography #lightpainting #YourShotPhotographer #mojave #mylensrental #nightportraits #astrophotography #universetoday #astrophoto #nightsky #nightscaper #starphotography #landscape_nightscape #igsouthwest #divine_deserts #splendid_earth #instagood #beautifuldestinations #urbex #urbanexploration #trailer #Ford #camping #vanlife
First generation Falcon. Protomachine flashlight. I had a cherry one of these when I was a teenager. Rolled it into a ditch on a dirt road within the first month I had it.
Post WWII British Riley RMA (RMB? I dunno), rotting away at the mosquito farm. Hosed by a sodium vapor lamp behind it, I had to put the camera very low to try and hide from its effects. I ended up with a glimpse of it backlighting that spider web, Bob Ross happy accident-style. 59-seconds of full moon with warm and cool white from the Protomachines flashlight. Have I said thanks for making that light lately George? Thanks!
Fake Road Runner stripe on a crashed ’72 Satellite, at that junkyard in the desert. I was totally being stalked by some crazy feral guy in this normally abandoned junkyard who must have been performing midnight auto supply. He never got closer than about 100 yards away and howled at me like a (Wile E.) coyote as I finally slipped out the fence in the middle of the night. 100-seconds of full moon, lit with blue and yellow from the Protomachines flashlight.
Last friday Riki and I were driving in circles in the Antelope Valley looking for something to shoot. Every preconceived idea we had on the list had flopped. We pulled into a gas station in Lancaster about 9 and Riki gets the brilliant idea to say to Joe the attendant "Hey, know where there are any abandoned places around here?" And with a straight face the guys says to us "Ever been to the Asylum in Palmdale?"
Following his sketchy directions and combing google earth for it, we parked nearby at about 11:00 and hiked in. Every square inch of the place was tagged, giving all the walls a kind of white noise effect. I tried to downplay it with my lighting, turning it into a texture. Except for the reaper. Being a friday night at a place popular with the locals, there was a lot of traffic: several cars parked for a while, a white Silverado 4-wheeled it's way up the mountain on a trail to the Northeast at about 1:00, and we split about 2:30 when a pack of wasted teenagers wandered up on foot.
No, I don't think it actually was an Asylum, it's just too small, and the cinderblock architecture, large windows, fireplace, and location on an old, long bypassed dirt road lead me to think it was more likely part of some kind of recreational site from the early 20th Century. Either way, a fun way to spend an evening. More to come . . .
4-minute exposure under 3/4 moon, lit with Protomachines flashlight.
Just before daybreak with a derelict Fiat 850 Sports Coupe, left behind at the former Wendover, Nevada AFB in May 2012. Still there? I dunno. 37 seconds with Protomachines 1 LED flashlight.
Variation on a 1958 Chevy school bus, at Nelson Nevada. Lit by the full moon and Protomachines flashlight.
It's Edsel week! John at Big M salvaged a couple of very complete fifty-eights last year and I did a series of set ups with them before and after my accident. Perceived as expensive, excessive and weirdly organic when it was new, it was a total flop and for 50 years the word "Edsel" became a synonym for any misguided business failure. The last twenty years have been kinder to it and now it might even more beloved than other, much more attractive cars from that era.
The Edsel Lunge
2:13 in deep shade, lit with the Protomachines flashlight.
Tin Ear
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I love how this looks like an enormous large-headed robot walking toward me! Night photo of the starry skies enveloping one of the Big Ears of the Owens Valley Radio Observatory, run by Caltech since 1958, located in beautiful Owens Valley CA. This looks like a decommissioned radio telescope. It was not operating and has peeling paint. I feel like in the last several years, every time I photograph the Milky Way in Owens Valley during the summer, there are numerous fires. I lit the radio telescope with a ProtoMachines LED2 light painting device during the exposure. Special thanks to Caltech.
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IG, FB, Flickr, website: kenleephotography; Twitter: kenleephotos
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(Plate 8509) Nikon D750/Irix 15mm f/2.4 lens. Earth: 3 minutes f/2.4 ISO 400. Sky: 20 photos "stacked"; each image 15 seconds f/2.4 ISO 4000. July 2021.
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#kenlee #nightphotography #lightpainting #YourShotPhotographer #milkyway #owensvalley #ovro #radiotelescopes
Here's more of that broken-backed '61 New Yorker at Big M Auto Salvage, space age flight deck overrun with nesting creatures: raccoons, beavers, or infested by some other invasive alien species, picked up on its last galactic expedition? 88 seconds in total darkness and purple, green and white from the Protomachines flashlight. Page 14 of the "Junkyard Nights" book.
Wow, first night out taking pictures in a year! Yes, I slithered my way out to Big M last week, between the storms for a cold, muddy and productive night among the dinosaurs. These are late '50s Mercury parts with the rising moon and purple/white/red Protomachines flashlight.
Another view of the abandoned roadside complex at Halloran Springs, California. It was a very smoky night, from the Blue Cut Fire, August 2016. 3-minutes under the full moon and cool white-set Protomachines flashlight on the signs and structure.
Moonrise on the back 40 at Aviation Warehouse. Red, white and purple Protomachines flashlight during a 58-second exposure.
Cockpit of an aircraft in a Tuscon boneyard.
I lit this image with 2 colors from 2 different angles using a Protomachines LED2 light.
Thanks for such an awesome workshop TakenPictures & Joe R. Reed!
I keep imagining what it would have been like 50 years ago driving along Route 66 and seeing this beacon of light on the horizon after spending hours in the barren darkness.
(13 second exposure + LED8 light)
Eye See You
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Would you like to drive a rare vintage car? With three headlights? Then you would love a 1948 Tucker. If you can find one. I had never seen one before. And little wonder since only 51, including the prototype, were ever made, according to Road & Track Magazine! The third “Cyclops” headlight really made it for me. This was designed by Preston Tucker to swivel to light the way around corners. I used a handheld ProtoMachines LED2 light painting device to illuminate the car while the tripod-mounted camera shutter was open for this long exposure photo. This photo appeared in my second book, "Abandoned Planes Trains and Automobiles".
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(Plate 9276) Nikon D610/Rokinon 12mm f/2.8 lens. 2.5 minutes f/8 ISO 200, early January 2018.
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Photos, books and more: www.kenleephotography.com
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#kenlee #nightphotography #lightpainting #YourShotPhotographer #mojave #mylensrental #nightportraits #astrophotography #universetoday #astrophoto #nightsky #nightscaper #starphotography #landscape_nightscape #igsouthwest #divine_deserts #splendid_earth #instagood #beautifuldestinations #roamtheplanet #astrophotography #mojave #goldencactus #tucker #historiccar #vintagecar
One of about 150 Chrysler Imperials at my favorite junkyard, from last winter. Fisheye-lens from about a foot away. Night, 55-second exposure, under by 2+ stops, to keep the scene dark and let the lighting pop. Blue from straight down, indirect red, bounced off the ground, warm white snooted into the lights. Protomachine flashlight.
The junction of Highway 6 and 95 is the only thing on tonight. 50 miles from the nearest (inhabited) town.
Full moon, composite of 120-second (for the TV and ground subjects) and 500-second (for the sky) exposures, Protomachine flashlight set to red. Thanks for the use of the low-rise tripod Riki.
Cracking few hours spent in a cold and frosty Dungeness with Phill Fisher, and Seb a.k.a panq last night,shooting the rather desolate but beautiful wrecks on the beach. Was fun, but everything frosted up way to quickly, will be back when its slighly warmer, Seb was good to meet you buddy and always a pleasure Phill, lets organise something again soon lads.
Both shots had tweaking in lightroom and photoshop and a heavy crop for this one.
Movie prop conglomeration of Fairchild and Sikorsky cockpit parts, in storage at Aviation Warehouse on a cold, wet night. Night, 136-seconds. Lit with white and purple from the Protomachines flashlight, all other light is local ambient. A little perspective correction required in Photoshop.
When I shot this, I didn't care for the shadow of the chainlink fence pasted all over the front of this battered Lincoln, but I've grown to like its textural qualities. Full moon for 112 seconds with lots of local ambient light, red, blue and green from the Protomachines flashlight.
2min exposure under full moon, 7x 2min exposures stacked for star trails. light painting with protomachines LED flashlight. nikon D7000 + nikkor 10-24mm.
'57 Chevy on the trailer at Big M. Another amazing find, coming or going somewhere. Not registered since 2006. Night, 72-seconds of full moon, with blue, red, green and white from the Protomachines flashlight.
March 2019, the last time I was lost in the Mojave. 6:44 of cloudy full moon and Protomachines flashlight.
Snoopy, the junk B-58, lost in the high desert. Night, 162-second exposure. Purple, red and green light from the Protomachines flashlight.
A Wing and a Flare
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I hope you love moon halos as much as I do! Especially if they're hovering over a weathered Lockheed Harpoon! Although my Clear Outside app called for almost 100% cloud coverage, it indicated solely high clouds. And I knew high clouds often look beautiful when smeared in a long exposure image. I met friends Ivan, Tami, and Tyler at an old decommissioned WWII airfield. I ended up staying until 4:30 am, much of it catching up with Tyler before driving back and listening to metal and Lakers podcasts. I illuminated the scene with a handheld Protomachines LED2 during the exposure. The wing looks extra looooooong due to the distortion from my fisheye lens! Fun!
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Photos, books, and workshops: www.kenleephotography.com
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(7576) Nikon D750/Rokinon 12mm f/2.8 fisheye lens. 91 seconds f/8 ISO 250. December 2020.
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#kenlee #kenleephotography #lightpainting #longexposure #nightphotography #slowshutter #amazing_longexpo #longexphunter #longexpoelite #longexposure_shots #supreme_nightshots #ig_astrophotography #super_photolongexpo #nightscaper #MyRRS #ReallyRightStuff #feisol #Nikon #westbysouthwest #travelzoo #desert #abandoned #urbex #urbanexploration #airplane #lockheed
Downslope from the prison cafeteria, the hill subsides. The retaining wall and Joshua lean deeply, the effect enhanced by the fisheye lens from a foot off the ground. Yellows and greens from the Protomachines flashlight combined with the full moon, during a 135 second exposure.
Moon Over Nazca (1761)
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As a kid, I loved Indiana Jones movies, and so I was excited to photograph the Aeropuerto de Nazca fuel truck used in one of those movies, now rusting away in a decommissioned WWII airfield, photographed on a cold February evening. I believe this is a 1937 Ford truck. This is a long exposure night photo which shows the movement of the stars over long periods of time. I illuminated the truck with a ProtoMachines LED2 handheld flashlight from camera right while the tripod-mounted camera's shutter was open. This will likely be featured in my next night photography book, which I'm working on now. Until then, my new book "Abandoned Southern California: the Slowing of Time" is out!
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IG, Facebook, 500px, Flickr: kenleephotography
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Pentax K-1 and 15-30mm f/2.8 lens. 1 hour total "stacked". Each "stacked" photo was 5 minutes f/8 ISO 200. February 2020.
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#kenlee #kenleephotography #lightpainting #longexposure #nightphotography #slowshutter #amazing_longexpo #longexphunter #longexpoelite #longexposure_shots #supreme_nightshots #ig_astrophotography #super_photolongexpo #nightscaper #MyRRS #ReallyRightStuff #feisol #westbysouthwest #travelzoo #mojavedesert #abandoned #urbex #urbanexploration #MyFujiFilmLegacy #YourShotPhotographer #nikon #indianajones #nazca
Dino Supreme (0894)
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Night time at Bedrock City, a place right out of history that I have loved from childhood. I've been fortunate enough to do night photography there several times. However, this time was bittersweet. When I was there, I thought it might be the last time I would ever see it since it was going to be torn down to build a raptor park. Since then, however, I've heard some recent news that the new owners have decided to keep the buildings, so I am quite happy to hear that. I lit the prehistoric service station from several different angles with a handheld ProtoMachines LED2 light painting device during the exposure. The clouds often blotted out the full moon but added mystery and drama to the images. Here, the moon is peaking over the top of the gas station. This was photographed during a 10-day 2559-mile night photography road trip with Mike Cooper, Tim Little, and George Loo. This photo may appear in a third book of night photography that I am working on now.
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IG, Facebook, 500px, Flickr, website: kenleephotography
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Nikon D610/Rokinon 12mm f/2.8 fisheye lens. 2 minutes f/8 ISO 640. July 2019.
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#kenlee #kenleephotography #lightpainting #longexposure #nightphotography #slowshutter #amazing_longexpo #longexphunter #longexpoelite #longexposure_shots #supreme_nightshots #ig_astrophotography #super_photolongexpo #nightscaper #MyRRS #ReallyRightStuff #feisol #Nikon #westbysouthwest #travelzoo #mojavedesert #abandoned #urbex #urbanexploration #bedrockcity #MyFujiFilmLegacy #YourShotPhotographer
Two of the cabins at one of the most iconic motels along route 66. Restoration of the cafe, gas station, & motel have been ongoing (slowly) and probably will never be finished.
Night, near full moon, heavy cloud cover, 120 second exposure, protomatchines set to blue & lime green.
Click on the image, because it's best BIG on BLACK!!!
Fibonacci this boys and girls. Sorry, I didn’t mean to get all golden mean on you.
This spot can be seen in the background of yesterday’s post. Lit with that crazy-ass Protomachine light again, during a relatively short (72 second) exposure.
Reprocessed and replaced, January 2025.
I seem to be developing a thing for these 'mid-70s AMC Matadors. They're so hard to find now, whenever I see one I just gotta shoot it. Night, 79-seconds of full moon, hand-lit with love, 4 colors of light laid from 6 angles, direct, bounced and snooted, using the Protomachines flashlight.
Another abandoned home in the middle of a hot and humid August night, lost somewhere deep on the lettered Avenues of the Antelope Valley.
Full moon, red and turquoise-set Protomachine flashlight. I really liked what the blue-green light was doing to the lemon yellow paint on the house. The inside, where I did the red light was fairly complete (note the clothes still hanging in the closet in the right window), but totally trashed. The floor was covered with an inch thick layer of papers and personal documents of some other guy named Troy, dating from the '50s to the '80s. Eerie. The stench of mold and organic decay was very strong, especially in the kitchen. A nasty place.
Reprocessed and replaced, January 2025.
Watched the movie for the first time in 30 years last night, it's developed a nice patina itself. It reminded me, I've been sitting on this '58 Plymouth, shot at Big M last December. 2:20 of cloudy full moon and 3 colors of Protomachines LED flashlight from a buncha directions.
While most mines of the time relied on steam or oil for motive power, the Mizpah mine was among the first to go all electric. The hoist and air compressor were powered by 3-phase electric motors the size of a couch.
(2 minute exposure + RADIUM LED light)
Inside the front section of a Vickers Viscount passenger plane. This aircraft was constructed in 1958 and was part of the Arkia Israel Airlines fleet.
(Night. Full moon. Lit with LED panels and the Protomachines LED 2 flashlight.)
(h/t to eyetwist for the aircraft info)
A night on Arrakis, or is that just the Mojave River dunes, consuming the edge of town? Just 5 minutes from the road and it certainly feels like another planet. 127 seconds under a full moon with heavy clouds and red and white from the Protomachines flashlight. Get in close and find the beetle tracks, the big bugs were skittering all over the place.
1950 DeSoto hood ornament. His face is plastic, now faded and crazed with age and the Central Valley heat. You'd be crazed too if you had spiderwebs all over your face. Night, 33-seconds of moonlight and Protomachines flashlight.
Castle built by the WPA in the 1930s to commemorate the location that the Spanish explorer Coronado is said to have reached in the 1540s. Gazing across the open prairie he then allegedly gave up his search for the seven cities of gold to return to Mexico.
Night, zero moonlight. 30 second exposure, protomachines set to white & pink.
Click on the image because its BEST BIG ON BLACK!!!
Yeah, it felt like a scene right outta the Grand Theft Auto game while I was shooting it. It's a Majestic, parked by the Pay 'n Spray in Bone County, just waiting to be hopped into and driven away. Actually, it's a Buick Regal, at Eagle Field, near Fresno and it isn't going anywhere. Night, 83-seconds of full moon, lit with the Protomachines flashlight.
Paul moved the “Cobb” movie prop ’59 Imperial out from it’s nearly inaccessible perch on the west fence. Now you can comfortably shoot it from any angle, so I set up and relaxed with her for 40 minutes while the stars inexorably marched across the sky. Purple and red Protomachine flashlight too. I love the casters under this thing. So surreal.
288-seconds under the full moon with a pretty cherry 1970ish trailer, stashed over by the two palms at the place with all the mosquitoes. Red, purple and green from the Protomachines flashlight too.