Abandoned

pink cell


Welcome to Hellingly
East Sussex County Asylum.


Open Door Policy
St.John's Asylum, Lincolnshire


Severalls: Split Corridor


Severalls: Bed
Severalls Asylum, Colchester.


if only
Whittingham Hospital, Goosnargh nr Preston


I love detail shots, particularly playing with dof. I love shots taken in pitch black on long exposures and playing with light painting. Corridor porn used to be 'big' in urbex circles too

Minimum kit for exploring
Very stout boots and old tough clothing and latex gloves. One can often be found crawling about in service tunnels and up ladders caked in pigeon shit.
Camera rucksack
Nikon D100 dslr
Nikkor 35mm f1.4 - didn't take this one often as it's not AF
Nikon 28-200 f2.8
Sigma 28mm f2.0 -
Small sturdy Slik tripod
1 2xC cell Cree bulb torch
1 2xAA Maglite mini
PP3 mask - Asbestos is an issue in old buildings. As a person with lung disease I had to be especially careful and wore a respirator on more than one occasion.
Toilet paper...for the obvious
Travel medical kit - used on many occasions.

Food/liquid is important on a full day trip too and space needs to be made in the camera bag for it. We used to see the younger urbexers out with nothing to eat or drink but the Usual Suspects - Muse, Scary Mary, Magoo & Dr.Doo, were all older and we looked after ourselves a little better.

As to HDR. The photographers and urbexers I admire don't use such techniques. Despite being a digital photographer myself, the work of those I admire is always on film. I loved what Ex.Mrs.D used to do on medium format film when urbexing. The were the best urbex pics I've ever seen...yes I was and am biased but she is a very talented woman. The pictures I admire tend not to need to be 'boosted' to achieve their aim. I do understand why others like the HDR technique, I'm just not one of them.

I wish I could show you the Palimpsest series of pictures she did for her degree show. They were truly awesome.

[cinnamongrrl]

I am SO loving this new thread! I have long had a passion for abandoned houses... and there's an old state school and sanitarium nearby that I have long wished to explore. There's even an abandoned rail way (which they want to make into a hiking/biking rail trail!)
In Vermont there are MANY abandoned towns in the woods...with buildings and even cemeteries .
I will DEFINITELY have to learn how to post pics to share with y'all

Thanks for the thread femmeInteruptted!

[Ginger]

Daktari,

A couple of those photos were like sets for a horror film. You know the ones that take place in an abandoned hospital? Or an abandoned wing no one knew about, in a living hospital? The school was pretty scary too...

Scout

Oh, and interesting that you have to worry about asbestos. I guess they used lead paint in all those institutional buildings, too.

Originally Posted by IslandScout

Daktari,

A couple of those photos were like sets for a horror film. You know the ones that take place in an abandoned hospital? Or an abandoned wing no one knew about, in a living hospital? The school was pretty scary too...

Scout

Oh, and interesting that you have to worry about asbestos. I guess they used lead paint in all those institutional buildings, too.

The shot of the Welcome to Hellingly graff. was used in a music video we're told. The whole of Hellingly (The East Sussex Asylum) was a graff. installation. These weren't just random taggers but serious graff artists. It's an amazing place. I'll post some more pics later if I'm allowed.

Asylums and hospitals are (were - ill health has meant that I've haven't explored for a couple of years sadly) my passion. Most are in seriously bad condition. The main halls are usually the centrepiece and quite often were rather grand; some even had cinemas.

Asbestos, lead paint and all sorts of nasties are in these places. Safety gear is essential for those who value their health or have health issues.

To be honest I had to stop the most exciting parts of urbexing because I stopped being able to run far and fast enough due to lung disease.
Ingressing such places is actually a civil offense and if caught by security or the like it is possible to be prosecuted. More seriously, if caught exploring 'abandoned' military venues then prosecution under the Terrorist Act can then come into play. One needs to be able to run fast to evade security sometimes.

One side of urbexing that doesn't grab me at all is the guys who like to climb. They climb not only buildings but cranes, towers and anything that takes them high.

[Turtle]

Hey Daktari,

I did not take these. I pulled them off of Google Chrome. I do love taking these kinds of pics though. I really must figure out how to be able to post them here on the Planet.

Thanks.

Oh, military sites - there are lots of pics online from the Brooklyn Navyard (which also had a hospital) and other abandoned bases and forts.

A warehouse in Red Hook, Queens

[femmeInterrupted]

[femmeInterrupted]

abandoned maison heinen in luxembourg photo by roman solowiej





Awesome spiral staircase in an abandoned castle in Luxembourg