Oil refinery: photographs by bardsmaid

I'd often thought of stopping by this small oil refinery on the Oxnard plain to take a few pictures, so today I did. When I got home and began processing my photos, though, I found my interest drawn to small details, as you'll see below.

S o u t h e r n C a l i f o r n i a
P h o t o T o u r s

Oil Refinery

Shoot Date: 6-07-2005

Overview of the refinery

This apparently abstract pattern is comprised of a series of pipe sections that loop in and out of a large, rusty vertical plate. The lighter colored horizontal sections are the loops themselves; the darker U-shaped sections are the loops' shadows.

If you look at the picture above, this looped section can be seen on the structure just to the right of center.

I was fascinated by this rusty tower (above) with its precarious-looking spiral staircase, but though I'd taken a number of photos, none inspired me.

Then I started looking at small sections of one photograph and found what I was looking for in the crop at right above, where I was immediately drawn to the diagonal slashes of light and shadow below the stairs.

A blunt warning appears on the side of a retired tanker truck parked just outside the refinery gate. Clouds of steam pour constantly from this processing plant.

Rust streaks and shadows create intriguing
art out of the side of a holding tank, which
can be seen in its entirety at the right side
of the picture at the top of the page.

Water streams down from the center and steam clouds the upper reaches of a rusty tank, creating a surreal vista.

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