Sheehan said the idea built while he was travelling around the country as a professional photographer over the past few years, until finally he decided to do it last year.
He spent much of the year on a road trip to gather photos, from places as diverse as White Island and Antarctica, and included a few in the book which were one-offs from previous projects.
Favourite moments included photographing a fallen tree on Farewell Spit in gale-force winds, and stepping back in time at Shackleton's Hut near Antarctica's Scott Base.
Sheehan said it wasn't just any crumbling old thing he wanted to capture.
"They're old things that have something special about them, that make them a good photo and are visually interesting but that also have something about their narrative."
He found a couple of good examples in Wairarapa, including the locally famous abandoned house in Gladstone.
Sheehan said he didn't know if the urban myth was true or not, but it was interesting.
According to his sources, more than 30 years ago a man moved the house on to Ahiaruhe Rd to live in with his wife. His wife hated it, the relationship fell apart and the man walked out the front door never to come back - the door's still open.
Another favourite of the book, said Sheehan, is of Anzac Bridge near Eketahuna.
"It's a very simple image," he said, "a nice piece of basic concrete engineering sitting in the countryside."
Ghosts in the Landscape opens tomorrow at HedSpace, at Hedley's Books on Queen St, and runs until November 3.
