Abandonment Issues vol. 001

When I first started taking photos I would just take snapshots of my friends as we hangout. Later I began documenting graffiti, which led to abandoned buildings and other aspects of urban decay since graffiti and neglect usually share the same neighborhoods. Once I started exploring and documenting the abandoned buildings I started to really pay attention to how I framed my shots and instead of simply snapping a picture I started trying to create photos. Exploring these forgotten places is what really got me started in photography. Trying to capture all of the details that held the feelings and emotions that you experience as you walk through these once vibrant places is what drove me to become a better photographer. 

These days I don't shoot abandoned buildings as much as I used to. I still love to explore them but my photographic interests have moved on a little. That's not to say that you won't see loads of abandonment and urban exploration on my blog, because you will. When I say I don't shoot it as much as I used to I mean I only go out once a week instead of four or five times.

I apologize for the gratuitous HDR here. Normally I wouldn't shoot like that because even though there are quite a few amazing photographers out there that are creating breath taking photos through HDR, there are far too many others that are misusing it and making some pretty hideous images. Sometimes though, in order to capture something in difficult and uneven lighting (abandoned buildings can have the best, and the worst light), you have to use whatever techniques are available. 

Photos taken with a Canon Mark III, with a Canon 35mm f/1.4 and Canon 20mm f/2.8

Film Friday - 2

Can't believe I've actually shot enough film to make a second Film Friday post. It came down to wire but I picked up my processed film from Dodd this morning and here are the results:

Taking advantage of a foggy day on the lake.

I shot this same image with my Mark III as well. It's always interesting to me to see how the results vary between film and digital. Overall it's a pretty similar image. The only major difference is in the color which I had tweaked in Lightroom on the digital image. The film photo is much cooler and softer, and the vignetting is a little more pronounced.

Abandoned car outside of an abandoned building. With city life comes blight, and although Cleveland seems to be moving away from the blight and decay, it's still not too hard to find, and I'm ok with that. Urban decay gives the city character and reminds us that not all of us are trendy hipsters eating on rooftop patios living the perfect city life. Plenty of our neighbors live a very different kind of city life.

Photos taken with Canon TL QL, 50mm f/1.8, 28mm f/2.5, using expired Kodak Gold Max 800 film

The Mansfield Reformatory

Normally when I explore abandoned buildings they're actually abandoned, but who can pass up paying a few dollars for a self guided tour of an enormous old prison? Not only is the architecture unlike just about anything else, but the greatest movie ever made was filmed right here; The Shawshank Redemption. I would have loved to have gotten some nice exterior photos but it was pouring while we were here.

The layers of paint peel always gets me. It's like looking back in time. Each different color represents a different period in the buildings history. 

The Mansfield Reformatory boasts the world's largest free-standing cell block. You can't image how truly impressive that is until you're standing in front of it. 

If you live anywhere near Mansfield, Ohio make sure you check this place out. They offer several different guided tours as well as self-guided tours, and if you're into ghost hunting or just staying the night in creepy places, for $100 you can spend the night looking for ghosts and eating pizza.

Photos taken with a Canon Mark III, with a Canon 35mm f/1.4 and Canon 20mm f/2.8

From Up On High

Part of the philosophy behind the name 'Climbing the Fence' is the idea of going places that others won't go in order to get photos that others can't get. For me this includes rooftops, bridges, and other vantage points that may or may not be considered 'off limits'. 

Shooting at night like this presents a few different challenges. Not only do you have to sneak around climbing fences, ladders, fire escapes, and whatever else you can find; but you also have to shoot in extremely low light. I usually carry a tripod with me, but I also usually forget the tripod plate which my friend Brandon loves to make fun of me for. Most of the time I end up using ledges and railings as make shift tripods for long exposures or I just shoot at incredibly high ISO with the aperture wide open. 

The steel mills at night are without a doubt one of the most amazing sights in the city. If you haven't driven though the mills at night, do it! They never stop, never slow down; it's just a bustling city of pipes, trains, trucks, and factories. 

One of the most incredible sights is the trains that carry molten steel from the blast furnaces to other parts of the mills for shaping and molding. The train cars are huge medieval looking cauldrons of glowing, steaming liquid steel.

Regardless of where you live, the world is your playground. It might take a little imagination, and at times a willingness to bend the rules a bit, and at other times nerves of steel (pun intended) but adventures can be found anywhere.

Photos taken with a Canon Mark III, Canon 60D, with a Canon 20mm f/2.8, Rokinon 8mm Fisheye, and edited in Adobe Lightroom 5