Amy Heiden

An explorer in search of adventure and lost, forgotten history. www.amyheiden.com

[amyheiden]

Sunrise from the board last week.

[amyheiden]

The sound of my breath as my toes trace the sand staring at stars with my eyes closed listening to the rain with my heart kissing the ocean with my body time and time again. No is not a word I hear it spins around the solar system of my mind until I fight to win You turn and glance as I enter the room because no is not a word I hear keep going keep swimming keep running keep soaring stop is not a word I hear the heart beats longer faster and stronger because I won’t stop until I stare at stars with my eyes closed listen to the rain with my heart kiss the ocean with my body time and time again.

[amyheiden]

Overlooking the Vermillion Lakes in Banff, Alberta. 

[amyheiden]

It’s been a while since I have posted here, almost 10 months to be exact. 

I had given up Tumblr, Snapchat and occasionally Facebook to make more room in my life for other more productive things than social media, but I’m willing to give this a shot again because I like the platform. 

Since January, I have done some traveling. I took an incredible 10 day road-trip around Iceland, visited Yosemite National Park, Tahoe National Forest and Oregon. Most recently, I spent a wonderful 7 days on the 4x4 trails of the San Juan Mountains of Colorado, where this image was taken (thanks Tony Eckersley). 

[amyheiden]

“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.”

- John Muir

[amyheiden]

I wanted to see Moraine Lake for years because I always believed photographers adjusted the saturation of the water.

When I hiked up the hill and took a look for myself, I was pleasantly surprised to see this color was definitely natural.

I could have sat there for hours watching the clouds move across the peaks, but my Dad and his lady friend were waiting below and it would be a very very long and chilly walk back to camp.

[amyheiden]

Taken on the river behind our campsite during a trip through the Canadian Rockies with my Dad in July 2015.

[amyheiden]

I haven't photographed a car junkyard since 2015. They really are fantastic places to be in the middle of the night, beneath a full moon.

I definitely would love to be back shooting in one sometime in 2017. (I guess that's my first new year's resolution.)

[amyheiden]

The early morning sun breaks through the window of this Alabama asylum and lands on the crumbling wall of a day room in a patient wing.

[amyheiden]

We spent our last day in Alaska, during a trip last July, in the forest of Sitka.

I enjoyed hiking alongside the creek and discovering species of plants I had never seen.

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Inside a wing of the former Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital, in New Jersey.

This hospital remained in operation for just over a century, but sadly it was demolished in 2015.

[amyheiden]

Last night's sunset was beautiful.

The waves were large and thrashing about the shoreline, retreating and leaving behind excessive sea foam on the sand.

It was a constant game of cat and mouse, dodging the sneaker waves as each set rolled in moments apart.

It was a perfect evening.

[amyheiden]

I wish architecture was still designed with the same attention to detail and ornamentation as it was back in the early 1900's.

[amyheiden]

A beautiful misty morning hike in Sitka National Historic Park, from my trip to Southeast Alaska last July.

I am heading out for a hike today. I'd rather #OptOutside instead of shop on Black Friday.

[amyheiden]

I have always loved the landscapes of Utah; around every bend in the road, the rock and sand changes. This area of the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument is no different.

We arrived here late in the evening, the 4x4 road to get to this spot took longer than we anticipated, just as the sun was setting. We grabbed our gear and ran out to be surrounded by this fascinating landscape.

We were the only people for miles and it was perfect.

[amyheiden]

When this Alabama State Hospital was constructed in the late 1800's, there was no electricity and air conditioning. These doors, leading into patient rooms, contained slats to ventilate the room. At some point, likely in the early 1920's, the door slats were covered on the inside.

[amyheiden]

Inside a 1959 Cadillac Coupe DeVille, my dream car, at a junkyard in Southern California.

(Stats: 60 seconds. f/9. ISO 200)