No Worse For The Wear

I love old things. Don't get me wrong, I love new things too. But I really really love old things. It's the same sort of pleasure I find in dilapidated barns, loosely strung barb-wire fences with the posts all akimbo, rusty weather vanes, old tractors, and well used gardening tools. I found this little lock holding a display case closed at Bodega Bay. For those of you who do not know where Bodega Bay is, it's in the Bay Area of Northern California. If you are planning a trip to San Fransisco, do yourself a favor and spend a day driving north over the bridge into Marin county. There you will find a treasure trove of little cities and pastoral vistas. I realize this is a far cry from the excitement of the typical San Fran pleasures but it is worth it. The drive between Petaluma and Bodega Bay is particularly wonderful with big trees, wide open pastures in shades of greeen, fluffy sheep and sleepy cows.

This lock is worn by wind, rain, and salt water but it still is doing exactly what it was intended for. It's kind of beautiful in it's dishabille with the flakey burnt-shades of rust, the blue that has faded into the lightest of sky blue, and the silver hinge that has withstood the elements a little better. What draws me back to this picture over and over is the texture in the rust. How amazing that oxygenating metal could produce such a beautiful but corrosive combination. I'm not sure if this lock has been opened in years, but I would like to imagine that if someone had a reason to open it, that it would spring open like a newly sprung lock. That may be a little optimistic, but perhaps.

This photo was taken on President's Day weekend in 2010 with my handy-dandy Canon DSLR and macro lens. Flash was used because it got quite overcast and cloudy. In Ligthroom, I deepened the contrasts and saturated the blue levels.

As always, if you like this print and would be interested in more information click here.