Two Guns
000 And 2117
The Gas Station • Two Guns, AZ • Day Three
Day three of the Route 66 Photography Adventure took us from Flagstaff, AZ to Tucumcari, NM –– a distance of almost 500 miles, and an estimated driving time of about seven hours. Even if we had no photography targets on the list that day, it would have been a full day, but we had over a half dozen potential stops. Some of them were iconic Route 66 stops like The Corner in Winslow, AZ, the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, AZ, and the Blue Swallow Motel in our destination town, Tucumcari. Others were some rapidly fading Route 66 relics, like today’s post, Two Guns, Arizona.
Two Guns’ early history included the 1878 mass murder of members of the Apache tribe by their Navajo enemies. The Apache had hidden in a cave to avoid detection. Upon discovery, the Navajo lit sagebrush fires at the exit of the cave and shot any Apache who tried to flee. 42 tribe members died of asphyxiation. The murders looted the remains of any valuables.
The Gas Station • I loved the angles
The cave became known as the “Death Cave,” and it became a cornerstone of what eventually became the Route 66 Two Guns tourist attraction which also included a gas station, store, restaurant, and a zoo. All were augmented or replaced in the 1960. A more modern gas station was built, and a motel and campground with swimming pool were added.
We never made it to the Death Cave. Given how much of Two Guns was left, we assumed there was not much to photograph there. Plus, we had a lot of ground to cover that day. We got our fill of the gas station and the swimming pool and other remaining structures, all brilliantly adorned in “street art” (formerly known as graffiti), then hit the road.
Two Guns, AZ • Water Tank(?)
2x1 crop and 17mm focal length (2117)
You may have noticed that many of the images I’ve published from the trip so far are twice as wide as they are tall. As early as day one I found myself processing images in this 2x1 crop. It wasn’t deliberate at first. That format seemed to fit the image as I cropped out empty foreground or sky that added no interest to the image. By day three, I started to detect a pattern
Another pattern I noticed: I was shooting predominantly with my 17mm (34mm full frame equivalent) prime lens. This was more intentional. While I brought lens coverage from ultra-wide (8mm) to telephoto (100mm), I liked the compact and agile setup of my new OM-3 body from OM System (Formerly Olympus) and 17mm, f1.8 prime lens.
With these patterns identified, I thought it might be a cool challenge to document the trip with consistent presentation in format and focal length.
That said, I did not limit myself to either. I let my subject dictate the final crop, and there were times where I needed or wanted to go wider or longer than my 17mm prime. There were also times where I cropped in on the final image, so some 17mm shots are actually tighter, but I won’t dismiss those in the final count.
Reviewing my images so far, I’m pretty confident that I got at least one image at each location that fits my 2117 criteria. I do hope it comes together as envisioned.
The Swimming Pool at Two Guns (at10mm, not 17mm)
000 About This Series
From April 12 through April 20, 2025, I was on a Route 66 Photography Adventure (The Trip) with three good friends and like minded photographers. This series is recap of The Trip in stories and images.
All of the images were shot on that historic road or within a couple of miles of it. Neither the images nor stories are necessarily presented in chronological order.
Enjoying the series? Drop a comment.