California,  History,  Monochrome Madness,  Photographic techniques,  Ruins,  Travel galleries

Gallery: recreating the past in Bodie

January 16, 2025 / 26 Comments

Let’s go living in the past

Ian Anderson (song by Jethro Tull)

I’m not a fan of living in the past. Nostalgia can be a dangerous exercise and too often people look back with rose-tinted glasses at a past that never really existed. But I do enjoy looking through sepia-tinted glasses from time to time!

In my previous post about Bodie I mentioned that I planned to experiment with some sepia edits as I felt they would work well in this setting. I’ve now done so, and these are my favourites of those I produced, sharing for this week’s theme-free Monochrome Madness. Some are versions of images shared in that earlier post but a few are different shots that I didn’t include last time.

I used Nik Silver Efex Pro for all these edits. I chose the pre-set called ‘Old Vintage’ which tones the image in a fairly strong sepia and adds grain. I then tweaked most of them with a slight pale vignette and in some instances also increased the contrast. I also removed a couple of hints of modernity such as a sign urging visitors not to climb on the old truck and a pair of distant tourists. My aim was to recapture the sense of a bygone era that I felt while exploring here.

Buildings on Green Street

Buildings on Green Street

The Donnelly and Seiler Houses

The Dolan House

Outside the Swazey Hotel

An old truck

The Standard Mill

Old mining equipment

Window display, Boone Store and Warehouse

In the Wheaton and Hollis Hotel

Inside the Miller House

Inside the Miller House

I visited Bodie in October 2024

26 Comments

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