My daughter and I are both photographers and, as such, I think we may look at things a bit differently than most, dare I say it, "normal" people. We see something with an idea of how a printed image might look, or how a certain type of processing might benefit an image of a scene laid out before us.
I've driven out to Las Vegas a number of times, and each time I took note of what appeared to be a closed waterpark on the southbound side of Interstate 15. On the drive out to Vegas, we decided that we would stop there on our way back to San Diego.
The Rock-A-Hoola Waterpark was actually in operation until 2004. An accident involving an employee, and a $4.4 million dollar judgement against the park, helped expedite the park's closing. I think it would've closed eventually, anyway. People long ago stopped visiting Newberry Springs and nearby Lake Delores for vacation and leisure. Nowadays, anyone who happens to find themselves out here is, in all likelihood, either driving to or driving from Las Vegas.
So, stop we did, and I'm glad we did.
The place is absolutely surreal. It's amazing to me that the entire park is accessible to the public. I'd always thought something like this would be fenced and posted with "NO TRESPASSING" signs. But there's none of that. Pull into the parking lot, lock up the car, and enjoy your day. A lawsuit helped close the place down in 2004. Now, eight years later, it seems to me that the place is just a lawsuit waiting to happen.
During the entire time I walked around the park, I just couldn't help but get this feeling that there were people living there. It looked like something out of a science fiction movie. It wouldn't have surprised me to learn of people living in attics or basements of the dilapidated buildings. There aren't, I'm sure, but I really wouldn't be surprised to learn anything to the contrary. In fact, the only other people we encountered were a man and woman who, like us, stopped to check it out and take some pictures.
At one time, years ago. It was a popular playground. Now, the park has fallen victim to both time and vandalism.
I've been trying to steer away from shooting high dynamic range (HDR) stuff but, in all honesty, I couldn't bring myself to not do it here. The place begs for it. Nothing about Rock-A-Hoola looks normal.
Things are a little different these days:
 |
 |
 |
 |
                |
 |
| You know... Just in case you were wondering... |
No comments:
Post a Comment