Found Film

If there's one thing I love it's finding old photos, but sometimes I come across entire disposable cameras already exposed at thrift stores or garage sales. It would be a shame to let those photos go undeveloped, so whenever I can I buy those cameras and develop the film. Here are some recent results from three disposable cameras bought at Garage Sale Bonanza in Ashtabula. 

Because a disposable camera isn't complete without a middle finger shot.

I have a love for light leaks and ruined photos. 

Composition is everything.

Christmas.

If you happen to recognize any of these people let them know that I have some photos for them.

Kelly's Island

Over the weekend Brandon and I went to Kelly's Island on Lake Erie to shoot a wedding. While we were there we tried our best to take advantage of being on a beautiful island. The problem is just about every inch of this island is private property and almost every where you go there are 'No Trespassing' and 'Keep Out' signs. We did our best to be law abiding citizens while on the island, but we weren't about to go home without shooting something worthwhile.

The morning after the wedding we got up incredibly early to catch the sunrise over the lake. Unfortunately it was pretty cloudy. 

The next place we went was the Glacial Grooves. These are amazing structures, but like everything else, they're fenced off. I understand that allowing people to stomp around all over them would compromise the grooves themselves. So in order to preserve them they put up a fence which really detracts from the natural beauty of it.

Spotted a nice roadside monument while driving through the woods.

This old excavator might not mean anything to most of you but the name on the back of it should ring a bell to all of the Cleveland area urban explorers. A nice piece of history sitting right there.

There are a couple abandoned structures on Kelly's Island, both are being reclaimed by the surrounding woods.

Another one of the island's most prominent features aside from the Glacial Grooves, is the flooded quarry now known as Horseshoe Lake. This is a 'road to nowhere' that used to lead through the quarry.

The water is so blue and inviting, the problem is if you jumped in you'd probably never make it back out. The lake is surrounded by cliffs. Which is why the barbed wire fence surrounding it makes sense. 

The ferry ride back home.

Photos taken with a Canon Mark III, and Canon 60D; using a Canon 20mm f/2.8, Canon 135mm f/2.0, and a Rokinon 8mm Fisheye lens.

Polaroids

Over the last ten years or so I've amassed a large collection of Polaroid cameras and an even larger collection of photos taken with those cameras. Not all of the photos are good, in fact most of them are pretty bad, but who doesn't love the instant gratification that comes with shooting Polaroids? I decided to scan and post a few of them since most of them are just sitting in piles next to my couch and rarely get looked at.

This is one of my favorites. The colors are so unusual. It was one of the last photos that I took using actual Polaroid brand 600 film. It had been expired for about two years.

This is actually a fairly recent shot using Fuji 100c.

Clouds, trains, and factories; so Cleveland.

These guys were sitting at the end of an exit ramp bumming money while traveling across the country for a death metal festival. I can't remember where they said they were from, somewhere in Europe. I gave them five dollars in exchange for letting me take their photo.

A beautiful wall in Columbus, Ohio.

The view from Terminal Tower's observation deck.

Photo of Jason taken with an SX-70 while shooting graffiti a couple years ago.

A foggy day in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

Another foggy day, this one shot with an SX-70 at Edgewater Park.

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

Downtown Akron, Ohio.

The demolition of the Cleveland Cold Storage building to make way for the new innerbelt bridge. The view from the roof of this abandoned building was one of the best in the city.

An abandoned passenger train car in Baltimore, Maryland.

I'll post more from my collection of Polaroid photos over time.

Photos taken with several different 600 type cameras, SX-70, and Super Shooter; using Polaroid 600, Fuji 100c, Fuji 3000b, and several different Impossible Project films.

A Full Day of Exploring: Part II

We didn't have very high hopes for this building. None of us had been here before. We had just driven past it a few times and decided to check it out. Even though it was basically one big room, we were still blown away with how much better it was than we'd imagined. 

Kaylah standing in what will in a few more years be an indoor forest.

This theater was home to a church before being completely abandoned.

The next location was without a doubt the most interesting and rewarding. I will not give any details about this place because it's already in danger of being completely destroyed. It doesn't need any help from scrappers, vandals, and hoards of explorers. I will say this though, it's a mansion turned medical facility and it's unlike anything else in Cleveland.

Next we made a stop at Westinghouse a.k.a. The Oreo Building. I've probably been here over fifty times. I've even shot wedding photos here. Unfortunately it looks as though it's being torn down.

This was an old railway power house. I didn't take very many photos here because for the most part it's just one giant room.

After checking out a couple more buildings we headed to the roof of an old favorite to catch an amazing sunset.

After the sun went down we went to one last building to do a little bit of night photography from the roof.

Photos taken with a Canon Mark III, and Canon 60D; using a Canon 20mm f/2.8, Canon 135mm f/2.0, and a Rokinon 8mm Fisheye lens.