How to Photograph Ghost Towns

Mary and I have been to over two dozen ghost towns in five western states. Like any town at the turn of the century, they are all a bit alike and all a bit different. What they do have in common is they almost all grew up around a mine. We have four classifications of ghost towns: 1) Ruins and Rubble, 2) Abandoned and In-tact, 3) Well-Staged, 4) and Occupied Historic Town.

Before I get to the punch list, here are illustrative examples of our four categories:

Ruins and Rubble – Rhyolite CA, Salton Sea Beach CA, Saltdale CA, Alta Lakes and Animas Forks CO

Abandoned and In-tact – Ruby Mine AZ, Sutter’s Mill CA, Yankee Girl Mine CO

Well Staged – Bodie CA, Nelson NV, Gold King AZ, Castle Dome AZ , Vulture City AZ,

Historic Old Towns (with some current population) – Chloride NM, Oatman AZ, Chloride AZ, Cisco CO, Lowell AZ

Alta Lakes, Animas Forks, and Yankee Girl Mine in Colorado

Cisco, CO

Bodie, CA

Nelson, NV

Chloride, NM, Pioneer Store

Dripping Springs, NM

Rhyolite, CA

Fairplay, CO

Sutter Mill, CA

Silver City in Bodfish, CA

Saltdale in the Mojave Desert, CA

Castle Dome, AZ

Gold King Mine, AZ

Lowell, AZ

Vulture City, AZ

Ruby, AZ

Here is my go to checklist:

• Wide shot of the town/main street
• Wide angle on buildings
• Exterior and interior shots (may need a tripod)
• Find all the key buildings: Jail, Firehouse, Saloon, School, Post Office, General Store, Church, Hotel, Bank, Garage, Workshop, Blacksmith, Brothel
• Features on buildings like windows, doors, door handles, ornaments
• Other things to look for: signs, old cars and their tags and badges, curtains, bottles, tools, furniture, toys, musical instruments, groceries and other supplies
• Other techniques: window reflections, latticing, bring a model, shoot in black and white and not just color

I ask myself, what makes this particular ghost town unique? They are all the same and they are all different. What might be the most recognizable feature of this town?

We always do research before we go to any of these locations. We have found some places closed or on private property. Most have fees. Some need reservations. We have never had a hassle with tripods, but we have seen other rules tighten up in places that have been vandalized and even had items stolen from then…not cool.

We have quite a few blog posts about each of these locations if you are going and want more information or want to see more images of a specific ghost town. Just do a search on our site.

To see more of and buy our photographs, please go to www.pamphotography.com and check out more of our photos on FLICKR.