On May 21, 2006, at 7:00 a.m., the 499-foot concrete hourglass-shaped cooling tower at Trojan Nuclear Power Plant near Rainier, Oregon, crashes to the ground.
For me, it was two things: an end of an era, and it changed the way I do photography.
The Trojan Nuclear Power Plant ,owned by Portland General Electric, was permanently closed in 1992. The site sat silent for nearly 17 years until the dismantling process started in 2005. Nothing drew a crowd more than the event on May 21, 2006—demolishing the cooling tower.
For me, however, my photographing experience was about to take a turn for the worst. Throughout the morning, I had been photographing the tower and the scene. I also set up an analog Hi-8 video camera as a backup.
Around 6:58 a.m. PDT, I took a test shot. The image turned out dark. The EXIF data wasn’t recording. The shutter wasn’t releasing. I changed out batteries and lenses. Nothing. I had one camera body at the time and it failed.
7:00 a.m. PDT, as I was reaching into my camera bag, I heard a shouts and cheering, I jump up, bumping into my video camera, and watched dust blow from the tower as it crumbles to the ground.
Then the loud boom.
It was this experience that convinced me to have two camera bodies ready, in case one fails.
For the one guy who yelled, “Do it again,” yes, please! I need a re-shoot!