Photo of the Week 2010-01-11

Tews - The Base - Winter 2010

I had an opportunity to join some photographers from the Hamilton area on a hike to the base of Tews Falls this past Sunday. I have wanted to hike to the base and shoot this falls from below for some time. It's reported to be a 30 min hike in, winter weather made it a tad longer.
An overcast day would be optimum for capturing this falls, but there was blue sky with little cloud overhead for our cold trek to the base. At 41m high this falls is 10m shorter than Niagara Falls and the flow is not much more than a trickle in comparison, but it presents a picturesque scene in any season.
This is on my list of locations to return to at different times of the year. Now that I have been shown the way in, I'm committed to going back to capture more of the beauty the area has to offer.

... more abandonment from Massey

I had promised more images from my shoot at the abandoned Massey Ferguson factory in Brantford, ON. Here they are ...

going in


it's coming from down there ...


silenced


dormant


industrial grime


I find exploring abandoned places very interesting. They sit silent, yet they speak of the past and the activity that once took place within. Some of the story, I try to tell through my images. I hope you enjoy.

Photo of the Week 2010-01-04

the Crypt ... what the hell is down there?
I was recently fortunate enough to be granted access to a large abandoned industrial facility along with some fellow photographers. Access was provided legitimately by a person responsible for the facility and it's management, so there were no clandestine operations here ;-)
I came away from over 6 hours of shooting in bitter cold and wind, with so many images that have potential. This type of location offers up unique, gritty, moody subject matter from the little details to sweeping scenes. This image is straight out of the camera with no post-processing. Many of the other images scream for some PP to enhance the gritty feel of the location. This one spoke of darkness and mystery with no PP required.

Stay tuned for more, or if you can't wait there are more posted on my flickr photostream linked above.

Welcome to 2010

Happy New Year Everyone.

It has become something of a tradition, if you can call the past two years in a row a tradition, to capture “first light” of the New Year in an image. It began with a challenge from an acquaintance, Alan Norsworthy, that I had just met through photography, more specifically flickr. Alan had suggested that I join the local flickr group and threw out a challenge to the group to capture “first light” of 2008. With the New Year fast approaching no one had taken up the challenge. I decided to answer the call.

I had been mostly been a “lone wolf” when it came to doing my photography. The act of joining the flickr community and activities like Alan’s “first light” challenge have helped me advance my photography in terms of technique, photographic vision, creativity and technical knowledge well beyond anything I would have accomplished as a “lone wolf”. In addition, Alan has become a good friend and we enjoy many photo outings together and with other friends that I have met through my reacquaintance with photography.

Here is my response to Alan’s 2010 First Light Challenge.

First light 2010, taken at sunrise, 7:58 AM in Galt, ON

Camp 30

It’s fascinating to learn the story behind some of the locations I shoot on my photo outings. I read some discussion online about Camp 30, a WWII POW camp near Bowmanville ON that was used to confine high ranking German officers. After seeing some images and hearing about this place from a friend, it made my must see list.

Recently I found myself nearby this location and decided to check it out. I don’t normally visit abandoned locations alone but this one had a lot of potential for shooting out on the grounds without going inside the buildings. Once there, I had an odd feeling walking around this site of several acres adjacent to a subdivision. It was so close to the urban buzz yet so isolated. All shots with the exception of the gymnasium were shot through broken windows or open doors.

you first ...




















after the fire














camp library


game over


Here is a link to the story of Camp 30, enjoy ...
DJE