Mining Photography ~ DeCroce Blog of Photography %

Land Reclamation & WildlifeAction Worker Portraits

Industrial Mining Photography

March 11, 2025

_{Aerial view of an open-pit coal mine reveals the geology of the high plains in western United States. Eons of earth’s history and the physical structure of earths crust are on display in this image of The Cordero Rojo Mine operated by The Navajo Transitional Mining Company in Wyoming.}

Mining photography is yet another extension of what I like best –– to tell a story in pictures. My path in professional photography was never a straight line. In fact, it meanders with strange twists and unexpected turns. For me, professional photography is a roller coaster ride filled with exhilarating heights that reward me with unparalleled satisfaction.

But I’ve had my share of pitfalls too. Oddly enough, the down times help me appreciate it even more. And struggles have made me a better photographer. Mining photography wasn’t something I set out to do. It came as an extension from industrial photography which in turn, came from an extension of executive portrait photography. And that came from my experience in photojournalism. So my goal, to make a living in photography, keeps me open to adventures of all sorts. To be perfectly honest though, I did turn down some gigs in forensic photography.

Mining photography dusk light depicts giant dragline in coal operation. — *_{New Mexico sunset over dragline operations at the Navajo Mine. Mining photography by Levi DeCroce}*

industrial night photography under stars shows mining operation — _{Industrial mining photography depicts heavy equipment in open-pit coal mine under night stars.}

Mining Photography For The Navajo Transitional Energy Company

Two summers ago, in 2023, I was contacted by Lauren Burgess, marketing guru at The Navajo Transitional Energy Company –– NTEC. She was searching for mining photography and was intrigued with my industrial photography portfolio. Lauren particularly liked my series of worker portraits and the realism of action shots on location. Before long, my son Levi and I were on our way to create new still and video imagery of their four coal mines –– Antelope and Cordero Rojo in Wyoming, Spring Creek in Montana and The Navajo Mine in New Mexico.

Mining photography sunset for NTEC. — _{Coal mining photography on the Navajo reservation depicts heavy mining equipment in the open pit under an intensely colorful Mew Mexico sunset.}

*_{We strived to document the sheer size of everything in modern coal mining.}*

This article reflects on the fun that we had on those mining photoshoots and showcases some of the photographs we made for the energy company. Because the abundance of industrial photography created for NTEC, the article is divided into several categories.

Broad shots of mining photography are displayed in this first part. These are night images, machinery pictures and grand overview photography of coal mining operations.

Industrial photography shows coal haul truck in front of silo — *_{Haul truck heads out after dumping coal in silo at The Antelope Creek Mine, Wyoming.}*

Action photography and worker portraits is the biggest section of this post, partly because there were just so many good ones.

Industrial female dozer driver in coal mine works in dusty contitions. — _{It’s not unusual to see female mining workers. This woman dozer driver was photographed at work in the Navajo Mine, New Mexico.}

In our exploration of mining photography, we were impressed with the tremendous efforts NTEC has taken in land reclamation. So our story would not be compete without showcasing beautiful imagery of wildlife and the restoring of earth’s natural environment after the mine is gone. Scroll down to see.

The four Corners Power Plant is adjacent to the Navajo Reservation and The Navajo Coal Mine. So we did industrial photoshoots of the plant in both daylight and night photography. Scroll down to read the last section of the article.

NTEC Awards

Mining photography used in advertisement by mining company

Mining photography wasn’t new to me. But when we got to our first shoot, the scale of a coal mining operation mind blowing. Everything is astoundingly HUGE. Before this series of mining photoshoots for NTEC, my knowledge of the coal industry was just peripheral awareness. Like many Americans, my understanding was that coal would soon to replaced by alternative and renewable energy. After all, coal mining is the bane of environmental activists and a primary push for worker safety and child labor laws of the early 20th century.

So mining photography for NTEC was an education in the physical existence of what energy production means in America. The average share of electricity generated from coal in the US has dropped from 52.8% in 1997 to 19.7% in 2022. But could that be due, in part to rising demand?

Night Mining Photography For Industrial Operation

Award winning photography for mining operation in Wyoming. — *_{Full horizontal mining photography of night stars image over open-pit coal mine}*

The late night mining photograph above was done on tripod at the Cordero Rojo mine. In reality, it’s not just one single frame composite of six unique photographs, (three of the night sky with milky way and three of the mine below). Even with modern editing tools, the image was a beast to compile and took days to finish.

Image in the NTEC advertisement comes from the larger horizontal photograph. The ad ran in national magazines illustrating NTEC’s awards in 2024 for land reclamation and for safety. Click to read more about NTEC.

Industrial photography shows silos in blue lights at coal mine Wyoming — _{Aerial night mining photography of Antelope Mine in Wyoming show silos lit in blue light. Coal is transferred from the mines in haul trucks to the conveyors where it’s sent to fill the giant silos. Once there, the coal is dropped into coal trains en route to power plants.}

Mine Workers –– Action and Portrait Mining Photography

Good mining photography relies not just on stellar lighting, story-telling views and impressive machinery shots but also people photography. It’s the workers that make a mine work and complete our photoshoot. To toot my own horn, that’s one of the things we do best.

NTEC wanted me to include a large assortment of worker shots at each of the five different coal mines. These are the salty earth people. And portraying proletarian artisans with dignity was as rewarding to us as it was fruitful for our client.

The unique personality of each mine clarified our focus to tell a story.

Mining Photography featuring women miners of the Navajo Mine in Mew Mexico — _{Mining Photography featuring a few of the many women miners of the Navajo Mine in Mew Mexico.}

Mining photographer created action shot of mechanic in repair shop.

Industrial photography shows coal worker inside open pit mine.

Mining photography in coal pit shows worker in action.

American Industrial Worker portrait is part of a series by edward DeCroce. — *_{Mine mechanic Justin Jenkins works on heavy machinery in this prized worker portrait made at The Spring creek Mine in Montana.}*

Mining worker portraits on site in black and white show fine-art photography — *_{In black and white, worker portraits are dramatic.}*
_{Industrial photography clients usually prefer worker shots to be smiling colorful jovial shots. And we enjoy creating a variety of those images too. But for this purpose, on my blog, I like thoughtful portraits. The patriot portrait was made at The Antelope Mine in Wyoming while the female Navajo worker was photographed at The Spring Creek Mine in Montana.}

Loading Coal Train

*_{Coal train enters Antelope Mine silo, Wyoming.}*

Reclamation And Wildlife In Mining Photography

_{In desert environment, this wide reclamation image at The Navajo Mine in New Mexico shows aggressive efforts for reclaiming natural habitat after mining. On right, are the piles of fertilized top-soil ready to be spread. Center image to left shows progressive reclamation on green irrigated land.}

*_{Image of The Spring Creek Coal Mine in Montana demonstrates land reclamation in the midst of ongoing mining operations.}*

Mining photography depicts industrial operation to reclaim old mine. — *_{Mining reclamation photography shows piles of topsoil on Navajo land in New Mexico. Graders, loaders and dozers work to spread fertilize and finally irrigate what was once an open pit coal mine.}*

Rendering Nature New After Mining

_{Herd of elk is photographed in reclamed land at The Antelope Mine in Wyoming.}

The entirety of human existence is a short blink yet we think ourselves to be pretty important. And inside the epoch of industrialism, we are. After all, it’s us who mine, dam and drill for the resources to give us the lives we crave.

So a boundless thanks is due to the conservationists and the environmentalists who urged land reclamation after mining. Soon, The EPA will probably be abolished. And as laws become more and more meaningless, the opulent few take what they seemingly need so desperately. But while that happens, gratitude should be shown to the scientists who figured out how to clean and restore.

Here’s an in-depth story on land reclamation after mining in Nature Conservancy by Matthew L. Miller.

Industrial Power Plant Photography

*_{Aerial photography shows The Navajo Four Corners Power Plant in New Mexico in dawn light.}*

Since the 1960s, The Four Corners Power Plant has come a long way. According to Wikipedia, “astronauts of the Mercury program reported that they could see two human-constructed things from space: one was the Great Wall of China and the other was the “plume streaming from Four Corners Power Plant.” There’s no denying that even today, each coal mining valley we photographed was hazy at times. It’s simply the nature of coal mining. But hope is on the horizon for a cleaner coal industry, or at least it was in 2024.

Industrial photography for coal mining company depicts worker in coal dust an train unloading. — *_{Worker walks out from coal dust cloud after releasing coal from train cars into power plant.}*

Before this year, there was hope that carbon capture would reduce emissions by 90%. “Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a process by which carbon dioxide (CO₂) from industrial installations is separated before it is released into the atmosphere, then transported to a long-term storage location.” Before 2025, when critical thought was still respected, scientists proposed ways to reduce carbon emissions. Here’s an interesting article on WPI.Org proposing six ways to mitigate carbon dioxide.

*_{Lake reflects lights on power plant in night photography.}*

American industrial mining photographer shoots image of amazing unusual desert — *_{“Desert Cloud” doesn’t have anything to do with mining photography. As Levi and I were waiting for dusk light on the power plant I spotted it in the opposite direction}.* *_{But it makes a fine closing image for this story.}*

Thanks for reading. We do have availability for future photoshoots of all sorts, mining photography or otherwise. And we’re definitely available next February (or any February) for a three week photoshoot in Fiji or Hawaii.

Cheers,

Edward and Levi

Mining Photography