2014, Day 353 - Jumble

This is the now disused meeting room in the Old Town Hall in Colombo.  The building is quite beautiful but in rather poor condition even though it is supposed to be a museum.  Still, we were free to wander and it is a rather impressive example of Dutch colonial architecture.

Fuji X-T1, Fujinon 10-24/f4R OIS
10mm, f4, 1/125 sec @ 640 ISO

2014, Day 290 - Zig zag

By the time you come to this vantage point you've already ascended about twenty percent of the tower.  It is a long climb up some occasionally wobbly stairs to get to the top but the view of the surrounding valley is quite nice but the best part is the breeze because you're sure to be sweaty by the time you get to the rim of the tower.

Fuji X-T1, Fujinon 10-24/f4R OIS
10mm, f5.6, 1/340 sec @ 200 ISO

2014, Day 275 - Square hole

Below the reactor in one of the basements we found this side chamber.  Because it had water on the ground we decided it would be another good location to set fire to a fireproof room.  The wet concrete provided additional reflections that makes for a more interesting final image.

Fuji X-T1, Fujinon 10-24/f4R OIS
16.6mm, f5.6, 1 sec @ 800 ISO

2014, Day 270 - Peacock

Here is Chris showing off again.  I kid, he was kind enough to spin burning molten steel for our amusement and I greatly appreciate it.  This is in the reactor and I love how there are all kinds of crazy details and textures being illuminated by the steel wool.

Fuji X-T1, Fujinon 10-24/f4R OIS
16.6mm, f5.6, 5 sec @ 400 ISO

2014, Day 198 - Moonlight

Tonight I give you another view of the same cooling tower.  This one is more centered and show less distortion.  It's crazy how much the towers bow inward at the middle, so much so that the all blocks part of the circular opening at the top.  It is also strange to see the level ground in front of you and the wall that is, ostensibly, behind you.

Canon 1D X, Canon 16-35/f2.8L Mark II
16mm, f11, merged layers of 1/50, 1/25, 1/13, and 1/6 sec @ 320 ISO

2014, Day 197 - Eye

Back into the belly of the beast!  It is nearing two years since I visited Satsop, a nuclear power plant abandoned before it could be completed due to cost overruns.  The scale of the structures is hard to imagine if you have never been yourself, the towers are massive and being completely open they are cavernous.  The distortion of my wide angle lens lends an unusual perspective that I didn't like when I first looked at these images but that I appreciate more with the benefit of time.

Canon 1D X, Canon 16-35/f2.8L Mark II
16mm, f11, merged layers of 1/60, 1/30, 1/15, 1/8, and 1/4 sec @ 320 ISO

2013, Day 100 - Grit

This was taken down one of Battambang's back streets.  The colonial French architecture is still intact through much of the city and is quite impressive even if it is in a mild state of disrepair.  I know this wall looks artificially gritty but that is just a little contrast and color adjustment, it actually looked this intense.

Canon 1D X, Canon 24-70/f2.8L Mark II
39mm, f4, 1/100 sec @ 640 ISO

2012, Day 159 - Painted to the skies

It has been six years since Taylor Electric burned to a shell and it has sat derelict ever since.  This afternoon the clouds broke and the had glimpses of blue throughout the day.  As the sun was getting heavy in the sky I returned with Brian Matiash to our favorite location to mix reflections, graffiti, and clouds into a single image.  The sky was so spectacular in this image that I couldn't wait to run it through a little Photoshop magic to share with you.

Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 24-105/f4L IS
32mm, f5.6, merged layers of 1/400 and 1/25 sec @ 320 ISO

2012, Day 155 - It's your funeral

The more time that passes the greater the detail of the graffiti in one of my favorite urban exploration spots.  It grows every time I return more vibrant that before like a field in spring as the flowers begin to bloom except that this is born of neglect and human ingenuity.

Yesterday I went after two photo walks with Brian Matiash, Nicole Young, Karen Hutton, Jacob Lucas, Katelyn McCallum, Ryan Wilson, Brian Bonham, Ricardo Lagos, Lars Gustafson, and others I am sure I am forgetting.  Although we had been out shoot for hours this kind of location gives you a second wind.  As you explore (or become reacquainted) the possibilities unfold in front of you and being so spoiled for choice you almost have to stop and catch your breath before planning your plan of attack.  So we explored this burnt out warehouse for about an hour, pressuring each other into modeling, plotting photo bombs and just plain having a good time.  Sometimes it is good to be reminded not to take ourselves too seriously and just have fun!

Sony NEX-7, Sony 18-55/3.5-5.6 OSS
18mm, f5.6, 1/100 sec @ 400 ISO

2012, Day 60 - Never was

What I love about leap year is that it happens so infrequently that it is an occasion that should be marked.  It is a spare day, one where we should all be free to do what we want with extra time.  I think we have too many holidays but I think that extra day in a leap year should be a holiday.  All government controlled areas that require fees or permits should be open and everyone should be allowed to do as they wish, within the contraints of the law of course.

For today's photo we go back to the shell of a warehouse that I explored with Brian Matiash.  I chose this vantage point to capture the reflection of the sky and building in the water and I knew I wanted to incorporate some of the burnt timbers as well.  This is five shots run through Photomatix Pro, then tweaked in Photoshop, the messy HDR sky was replaced with that out of a single image, then exported to OnOne's Focal Point and Effects (I chose a low level vintage Brandon), then back in to Photoshop to spot-intensify a few colors and finally cropped for the web!  Easy-peasy!

Canon 1D Mark IV, Canon 17-40/f4L
17mm, f8, merged layers of 1/100, 1/50, 1/25, 1/13 and 1/6 sec @ 100 ISO

2012, Day 59 - Idle threats

On Sunday I got a call from my buddy Brian Matiash telling me he came upon a wonderland of urban decay and before disclosing the location he threatened me with bodily harm if I had knowledge of the place and didn't share.  Well, I did know about it, it is a burnt out warehouse ostensibly closed to the public but with no effective measures to keep people out, as evinced by the copious graffiti.

This shot was taken in a small concrete room and the subject appears to be some kind of furnace.  There was a lot of charred wood on the floor and the melted remains of objects unknown.  I had to use three images to soften the transition on light from top to bottom after which I tweaked the colors, applied a partially opaque duotoned layer, a quick run though OnOne's Focal Point, back into Photoshop for some toning and there you have it!

Canon 1D Mark IV, Canon 17-40/f4L
17mm, f11, merged layers of 0.8, 1.6, and 3.2 sec @ 200 ISO