Gold Miner’s Cabin #1 – Gold Eye Mine | Caryn Esplin

In memory of Lehre Harold Erdman – #1 Goldminer – 63 years on this site.

Even though this old stone cabin is not as fancy as cabin #2 (below), it seemed more intriguing. This is partly due to the personal items inside, such as a typewriter, miner’s helmets, and old boots. But I think the most interesting part is the gravestone erected right outside the front door, which stands guard over anyone who would venture inside. The grave marker is a nice polished granite stone with an engraved image of the old miner, complete with his mining helmet on. The caption at the bottom says ” #1 Goldminer – 63 years on this site.” There is a sign inside the cabin asking all visitors to kindly leave the belongings where they are. Here he now lies, Lehre Erdman, after living and working this Gold Eye Gold Mine for most of this life. I just couldn’t keep myself from trying to imagine life in this Arizona desert gold mine. When I came back at night, it was inside this cabin where I felt… what I can only describe as… a ghost watching over me. I hope to come back again and see all these things still in place.

Process:

I used a tripod to take three exposures of each shot. Then I merged them together in Photomatix to get this HDR (High Dynamic Range) effect. The sky was dark and was raining off and on. This is perfect weather and clouds for HDR photography, not to mention the natural color saturation that comes with any rainstorm. Oh how I love to shoot just after a storm. Some of my best shots have come after rain, hail and snow storms.