American Ruins (Buildings and cars)
 

I have some pictures from the last few months of abandoned buildings that are gradually falling apart

A couple barns on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virgina
http://www.pbase.com/dwootton/image/...3/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/dwootton/image/...4/original.jpg

An old house in a rural area about 20 minutes from home
http://www.pbase.com/dwootton/image/...5/original.jpg

An old barn about 10 miles from home
http://www.pbase.com/dwootton/image/...6/original.jpg

What's left of the top station of a cog railroad at Mt Beacon, near Beacon NY
http://www.pbase.com/dwootton/image/...8/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/dwootton/image/...9/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/dwootton/image/...0/original.jpg

An old rusted out car on a hiking trail behind the cog railway station. This is a mile or two out in the woods at the top of a mountain. I have no idea how it got there since the trails are rough. Somebody went to a lot of troble to get this car here.
http://www.pbase.com/dwootton/image/...1/original.jpg

An abandoned radio transmitter tower on Mt Beacon
http://www.pbase.com/dwootton/image/...2/original.jpg

Great buildings, especially the old Cog station and the car! That's awesome.

Were all of these taken at midday, or on a cloudy day? The light in all the photos seems flat. The subject matter is great, but I think if captured in the early morning or late evening hours it would just stand out and have a great impact.

Thanks.

These are all mid-day. The cog railway station and the car were taken on a bright cloudy day. I tweak contrast a bit to compensate for flat images before posting them but I don't like going too far with the adjustments.

I like the barns, do you have more in your area?

I live in semi-rural area so barns are fairly common.

There must have been a barn here once upon a time
http://www.pbase.com/dwootton/image/...5/original.jpg

A couple more that are looking a little worn
http://www.pbase.com/dwootton/image/...8/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/dwootton/image/...1/original.jpg

Looking at the pictures even now. Makes you wonder how it looked in it's hayday.
-----Added 3/11/2008 at 05 : 45 : 15-----
Gorgeous pictures. Good Framing.

Beautiful landscapes dogzilla. I especially liked the shot of the car and the abandoned rail station.

I just wish you'd have gotten closer to your subjects. Are most of these fenced off properties? If so, ever done any fence hoppin'?

;)

I guess I could have gotten closer on the first two. I checked the exif info and it looks like I was using my 28-70MM zoom lens. I'm not sure why I didn't use my 70-200mm zoom. I might have been too lazy to swap lenses or I might have wanted to capture some of the landscape too.

If it looks like private property, I'll respect the property line, especially if it's posted no trespassing. If it looks like public land I'll cross fences unless I see something posted. If I need to get a tight shot, I'll use my 70-200mm if I can't get close, and I have a 2x extender I will use if I need to.

Even respecting property lines, I've been hassled by cops a couple times and by company security once. People don't like DSLRs with big lenses.

The funniest time was when my brother and I were taking pictures near a chicken farm, staying on the side of the road . The owners called the state police because they thought we were casing the chicken farm so we could steal some chickens. Sure. When we are standing in plain sight in mid-day with big zoom lenses. When we explained what we were doing to the cops they let us keep on taking pictures.

The scariest, for my wife, was when I took pictures of some fall foliage using my 70-200mm lens, shooting over a small factory. Plant security apparently didn't like that so a couple guys came out and cruised by, checking out me and my car. I didn't think anything of it and cruised around for the day. It turns out they ran my license plate and called my wife to find me and ask me what I was doing. When I didn't show up for the rest of the day, my wife panicked and thought company security had me in a torture chamber or that they had killed me.

Thanks for the great photos.

The painted white door in the third photo looks so out of place, it'd make for some interesting shots.

I have a few pictures like these. I should get around to uploading them. There's something very compelling about crumbling buildings.

Does anyone have a picture of the Lincoln Motel in Newark?

cool observation. that really is a compelling detail