Abandoned Coal Mine / Processing Facility

Posted on April 23, 2012 by bahgheera

I’m currently in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, a very scenic place. There is lots to look at here – the countryside is very beautiful, the mountains are gorgeous, and there are plenty of parks with hiking trails, waterfalls, beautiful forests, etc.

So one thing I didn’t expect to find here was an abandoned coal mine. It’s probably the biggest abandoned building I’ve ever been inside, not to mention the most dangerous. A couple of buddies from work went there with me – in a couple of shots, you can see Doug setting up for shots of his own. I used my brand new Sunpak tripod. The thing is awesome – it was just under fifty bucks at Best Buy, it has a pistol grip head that has a complete range of movement in a sphere, and it has retractable spikes on the feet for use in outdoor environments. I love the thing.

So back to the creepy old mine (sounds like an episode of Scooby-Doo eh?), we stumbled and burrowed our way around for the better part of three hours. There was lots to see – old equipment, boilers, electrical boxes, some sort of generator / turbine assembly, and a set of four absolutely huge furnaces. Lots of light play was going on, many opportunities for framing shots through windows, and in general it was an incredible all around experience.

If you ever find yourself in Wilkes-Barre, head south from town on highway 309 and wind your way through the village to see this incredible piece of history.

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Human Contrast – Jim Bryant Photography

Posted on February 20, 2011 by bahgheera

Jim Bryant, a photojournalist and master of photography, shares a blog article called Human Contrast. His images are fantastic, and one in the series stood out to me. It is a street scene, two young boys holding tennis rackets between their legs, face to face, discussing whatever it is that little boys talk about. To their right, and farther away in the picture, are two men, discussing the things men discuss, drawing a perfect parallel with the two boys. An amazing shot to be sure, and one that makes me think.

As these two men are, so will these two boys be.
As these two boys are, once were these two men.

Jim Bryant Photography – Human Contrast

9

Posted on February 9, 2011 by bahgheera

Here is one of my own images. I like minimalist images, especially if there is an unknown element to them. What is the number nine signifying here? Why was it printed so large? Who was intended to see this? Who put it there? All kinds of questions can be asked about this image.

Panoramas

Posted on September 9, 2010 by bahgheera

I discovered by accident last night that the Droid X does panoramas. Of course it does! Here is one I took this morning of the riverfront area of Wilmington, NC.

Full size version, click here. Be warned, it’s huge.

First experience with the Droid X

Posted on September 3, 2010 by bahgheera

I got a Droid X this week. The thing is simply amazing. I’ve had a blackberry for the last two years, and the performance with it was sub optimal, in my opinion. I spent more time looking at the spinning hourglass on that blackberry than I did anything else. At any rate, the Droid X does. The camera is phenomenal – 8 megapixels – and the camcorder shoots in 720p! Ridiculous! Not to mention I can actually access web sites (such as this one) on it, no problem.

So I found an app called Retro Camera that simulates a handful of old cameras – namely a pinhole camera, Orange Box, Polaroid, and the Bärbl. It’s an awesome toy to play around with, so I walked around the downtown area today and took some shots with it. I even visited what’s left of the Newell-Davis warehouse, up north on the river by the Isabel Stellings Holmes bridge. That warehouse has a fair bit of history behind it, but it’s days are numbered.The only complaint I have with this app so far is that it adds a frame – I could do without that. I’d just like the effect without the frame. But it still does a great job.

Here is a gallery of the shots I took today. Enjoy!

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Urban Decay

Posted on August 21, 2010 by bahgheera

urban-decay-002

I’ve been haunting the alleys and sidewalks of downtown Wilmington with my camera for years now. Here are a handful of things you might see if you look hard enough while you’re there.

[Show as slideshow]