On September 8th I attended the 50th anniversary of the Randolph Community College Photography Department in Asheboro, North Carolina. We enjoyed several great seminars, tours of the recently update facilities, vendors and most of all, reconnecting with classmates from the class of 82!
Afterwards, I took a trip downtown with friends for a round of malt beverages. On the way, I passed this abandoned factory and decided to stop by on my way out of town. Despite lengthy research online, I was only able to determine the facility had once been a chair manufacturing plant.
Part of the abandoned plant had been demolished. Perhaps to make room for new construction, or more likely because what remained was unsafe. I cautiously made my way into another section were the roof was falling in. Though I haven’t done a lot of interior urban exploring or “urbex”, I certainly got a sense of the suspense and fear induced adrenaline rush sometimes described by urbex bloggers.
I ended up working off and on over a week’s period preparing the images for this post. As you can see, different styling approaches were used. In most cases I experimented with different looks, but was pleased with the final technique chosen for each composition.
The black & white images followed my typical monochrome workflow, which includes a Agfa APX 100 b&w film emulation using Alien Skin’s Exposure X3 for a slight contrast boost and addition of realistic old school grain.
For the sepia compositions, I started with some Lightroom dehaze processing on the sky, and then used Aurora HDR software to extend the tonal range and apply sepia toning with orange highlight and shadow toning. Finally Photoshop was used to mask the sky for some additional curves processing to further punch up clouds and sky contrast.
HDR processing was also used to punch up the texture and color contrast in the color photo below. Here, the trick was to not over do it. Now, in several of my architectural shots of Toronto late last year, I heavily pushed the HDR processing, almost to the point of abstraction. For abandoned compositions though, I’ve found a more subtle amount of processing works well to reveal and feature weathered and patina surfaces.
Back to Randolph Community College, when I attended as a Commercial Photography student, it was Randolph Tech. I did start my career as a commercial photographer, shooting mostly home furnishing in the furniture capital of the world – High Point, NC. I eventually drifted into multi-media, IT and project management. Now, I enjoy photography as more of a hobby. But hey, that’s a story for another day.
Thank you for taking time to visit my blog! I would certainly be interested in hearing your feedback on any or all of these compositions. For the best viewing experience, be sure to click on an image to view a high resolution version from my portfolio site.
Cheers!
C. S.
I particularly like ‘the falling interior’. Very atmospheric.
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Hi Vicki, thank you. Yea, that was some cool light! 😊
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A very nice collection here, and I’m sure it took some work. Looking at it as a collective work I like the way you mixed the different finishes. And thanks for the ‘behind the scenes’ details.
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Thanks Ted, glad to share!
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Your processing contributes to the eerie atmosphere here in all these images. They certainly stand firm as a series. If I were to select a single one, I guess my pick would be the Excavator Window.
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Greetings, I appreciate your thoughtful feedback. Yea, I shot a series of excavater compositions trying to get the best framing. I suspect the excavator was used for the demolition seen on site. Wish I knew why.
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See what a few beers can do? 🍻
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Indeed! But too many, and you have beer goggles 😚
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There is that.
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WOW … what a great set of images! This looks like such a fun place to shoot. I would have loved it! My favorites are Abandoned Chair Factory – Window … love the way the window leads you in … and Abandoned Chair Factory – Falling Interior … for the light and natural vignetting.
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Thanks Denise, those are two favs as well! I treading carefully, on the lookout for nails and other hazards.
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I liked the images and composition! The different post processing was also good. I liked both the B&W and the sepia. The red one was just a nice spot of brightness!
Nancy
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Thank you for taking time to share your feedback! It was rewarding to find so many interesting scenes.
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Gorgeous!
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Hi Laura, thank you! Appreciate you stopping by for a visit.
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Great series. I particularly love how a seemingly limited and flat area – as in ‘Shop Wall Composition’ – can offer so much interest and texture.
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Thanks Karine, it was indeed a practical cloudy, flat day. I did give the composition a little contrast boost, but got most of the tonality range from adjustments to blue, yellow and orange luminosity settings in Lightroom.
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Awesome photos and overall awesome post!
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Thanks Johnny! I am definitely inspired by abandoned spaces and what they can teach us about impermanence and neglect.
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A very fine set of images. Thank you.
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Really cool photos. Love the shop wall composition!
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Thanks Mitchell, that really cool rust!
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Hey, cool photos of that abandoned factory. I like the one with the door in the foreground.
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Thanks! Yea that one is my fav. I used a Tamron 15-30mm lens to get the perspective. Cheers!
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Ah, interesting focal length, I have Canon 10-22mm and sometimes miss some length about 30mm or 35mm …
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Great sequence. Very effective atmosphere created in monochrome.
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These are amazing!
https://bikerbooksandyarn.wordpress.com/2019/03/10/camera-clicks-2019-february/
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Your pics. of the building are nice. I like the HDR shots. The shot that you took under the arm of the Bulldozer that little shot is great! Also the door on the ground , the perspective was Awesome!! The pictures make you think of what was. Like who worked there and what they did etc.
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Great feedback! Yes, I love the framing of the bulldozer. I shot the window with a super wide Tamron 15mm – 30mm.
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Very interesting….and the photography is excellent! I really like your choices for each image. Thanks for going into some detail about your history and the processing.
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You’re welcome! This shot definitely represents a range of techniques, scenes and processing – all covering the same theme/location. Thank you for taking time to visit my blog 🙂
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Oh, it’s my pleasure!!
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Hauntingly Gorgeous!
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Yes! Thank you, I like to reference “the beauty found in decay”, when shooting abandonment. Cheers!
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wonderful pictures! Gr Stef
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Absolutely magnificent photography. All are amazing
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