Hey all, I finally found my way outside again

[justiceischeap]

It was quite hot in the months of July and August and so I opted to stay indoors (plus I had some freelance web design stuff to do which didn't leave much time on the weekends for photography).

Some shots from this past weekend at an abandoned school:









Same trip yielded an abandoned shirt factory: (I could just feel the black mold taking root in my lungs at this one)

[Celebration]

1. love these

Can anyone go there and take photos? Or did you jump over fences, LOL?

You did a great job--love the chalk and basketball goal.

[justiceischeap]

6. I'd say the majority of my "exploring" is legal

I belong to a Meetup group that arranges for legal explorations. Sometimes there's a fee that the property owner charges and sometimes there isn't. Both locations last weekend were free except the commute but we try and carpool to cut costs.

Thanks, BTW, on the compliment.

[Solly Mack]

2. Excellent shots.

Truly. Love the "Seat-work" shot. (and the chalk, buttons, assembly chairs)

[justiceischeap]

7. Thanks Solly.

I have to choose 5 images from my urban explorations for a juried gallery show. I've been getting so many comments on the chalk that I may have to switch that out with one of my other photos.

[handmade34]

3. these are

a real treat to look at!

[brer cat]

4. I enjoyed these very much.

I am not a photographer, but I love this group. You are all so talented!

[NV Whino]

5. Great stuff

I always amazes me that things are left in those old buildings. A whole stash of buttons? Wow!

[justiceischeap]

8. The building with the buttons

was full of stuff but my tripod was locked up in someone's car so I couldn't get all the shots I wanted to (and I didn't feel like hiking out to get it).

I've been to a couple of health care facilities that still contain patient records (which is a huge no-no) and I've seen photos where there are still test tubes filled with goodness knows what. But yeah, it's amazing, disheartening and sometimes shocking what you can find in these places. It makes one ponder the history that much more.

[Blue_In_AK]

9. These are fantastic!

Great work.

[justiceischeap]

10. Thanks Blue! nt

[alfredo]

11. I really enjoy your dramatic lighting.

[justiceischeap]

12. That's a great compliment, Alfredo!

Thank you.

I know a lot of successful photography is about lighting and I don't feel as though I'm seeing it yet (unless it's really obvious).

[CrispyQ]

13. My three faves:

colored chalk
auditorium seats from above
golden buttons

Thanks for sharing!!

[BuddhaGirl]

14. Fantastic photos!

The chalk and the seat work are my favs...LOVE the colors on the seat work photo...do you mind sharing your camera settings/lens info?

Thank you for sharing these

[justiceischeap]

16. The settings for Seatwork are:

Camera Nikon D5100
Exposure 0.04 sec (1/25)
Aperture f/4.0
Focal Length 16 mm
ISO Speed 100
Exposure Bias -1/3 EV
Lens Nikkor 12-24mm f/4.0

I was on Program mode and the colors are more from fiddling around in Lightroom than what came out of the camera.

In Lightroom, I use the VSCO film plugins and apply the Polaroid 669-- (grain) preset when I import my photos then tweak the temperature and other basic settings (blacks, whites, shadows, highlights, contrast).

[BuddhaGirl]

17. Thank you for sharing your info :-)

I recently got VSCO and have been playing around with it, it's pretty amazing.

[justiceischeap]

18. I absolutely love the polaroid color palettes

I was initially looking for a Fuji film preset based on some photos I saw on Flickr (a guy shooting abandonments with medium format film) and instead decided the polaroid 669-- preset was for me.

[Curmudgeoness]

15. I was just thinking about you the other day.

I wondered where the abandoned buildings were.

Love these photos. You have chosen just incredible perspectives, as always.