Tag:light painting
Urban explorers, often called urbex, range across all demographics from all walks of life. From young to old, male or female, Urbex is attracted by the lure of decay.
A constant search
I always have one eye peeled for abandoned, dilapidated, decrepit structures when travelling to family events, holidays, or other appointments. From schools, orphanages, asylums, hospitals, factories and railway stations to tram yards, amusement parks or old houses, If I find one, I mark it down for future investigation.
Risks and Legalities
Can it be dangerous? Most certainly. However, is it illegal to enter a property? That depends. If it’s completely abandoned, if there are no Keep Out signs, if it’s not fenced off or marked as private property, if you aren’t armed with bolt cutters or don’t need to break in to enter, you will prob get a polite move along if approached. However, entering an active, working building is an entirely different kettle of fish and strongly discouraged. The term ‘infiltration’ is applied to these ventures and carries the genuine risk of civil prosecution.
“If it’s a long-abandoned house, and they’re able to enter without doing any damage, there’s no sign forbidding people from entering the property, and they have no intention of committing any crime while on the premises — they’re simply photographing or noting what they see — it may be that no offence is committed.”
ABC News
Abandoned Beauty
Completely abandoned buildings are the most common lure to an urbex. Sadly, it doesn’t take long for them to become graffiti or vandalism targets once abandoned. By far, the most significant majority of abandoned structures fall into this category. Some, those with greater security, fare a little better. Finding an abandoned but undamaged building is akin to finding the holy grail. Abandoned sites are popular with photographers, historians, and ghost hunters as there is a sad but infinite beauty in the decay. As you walk the empty spaces, you can feel the history—the hopes, fears and pain of those who lived or worked there before. The silent walls that once enveloped the sounds of children, families, machinery humming or nurses tending sick have stories to tell. If only those walls could talk.
Storm Drains
Another common form of urban exploration is storm drains. Entry into these is referred to as “draining”. Groups, such as Cave Clan in Australia have sprung up dedicated to this. However, exploring storm drains carries vastly different risks than above-ground structures as they can be subject to flash flooding and toxic air. In addition, there is a specific set of rules around draining – such as “when it rains, no drains”! This is because of the dangers associated with becoming trapped or drowned during periods of rain when the sewers flood.
Safety First
Above-ground abandoned buildings are often unstable. Entry always carries risk. There could be asbestos, dodgy flooring or dangerous roofs. Live wires are a less common risk, but stray voltage is still possible. There is always broken glass, often holes in walls and floors. Sometimes rats or hostile squatters. Motion detectors or guard dogs guard some locations. The rule to live by is never going alone. Be alert and cautious where you step.
Locations and Secrecy
A common creed among urban explorers is never to disclose a location. This is partly to protect the site, and partly if it becomes viral more security will be employed. Images of abandoned places that are common knowledge or abandoned locations that have become tourist attractions will usually have a location. But a new site, one just found or in prime condition, will rarely have a location listed.
Leave No Footprints
While urban exploration doesn’t have rules as such, common-sense guidelines to follow are:
- Never break into a site. Forcible entry could land you in serious trouble. There is usually a broken window, a missing door, sometimes even an entire wall down that allows access without you causing further damage.
- Do not vandalise. Urban exploration is to explore and document. Not spray paint, break windows, smash doors and make it worse for the next explorer.
- Don’t steal or take souvenirs. Again – serious criminal trouble.
- Don’t share information about the location. So many buildings are now gone as arsonists found the sites. Loftus Tramsheds, Sydney, St. Johns Boys Home, Goulburn are victims of this. Sharing a location opens it up to vandals, junkies, thieves and arsonists. Only share with fellow Urbex and close friends you can trust to keep the site private.
- Never explore alone. You need to have at least one other person with you. Then, if one of you gets seriously hurt, they can go for help.
- Accept some sites are impossible to enter. For example, I would have loved to explore Box Hill Brickworks. But, unfortunately, it’s been pulled down now, so that chance has gone. But because physical safety was off the charts, it also had high security.
- More common sense, but if you are spotted, don’t run. You will, in all likelihood, only get asked to leave if you are only exploring or taking images. But running in an abandoned building is never a good idea. Safety above all
Document and Photograph!
Once abandoned, there is only a narrow window to photograph before the vandalism destroys the building. As the buildings deteriorate further, they either get demolished or security increases. So take lots of photos and share them on social media – without the location. Let others see places they won’t get to. If you are unlucky enough to be caught, taking photos also helps you avoid prosecution – you can show you were only taking images and not causing damage.
Detroit
For the lure of decay, Detroit is king. The city of Detroit has around ten abandoned neighbourhoods. I drool over images from Detroit as it has around 70,000 abandoned buildings plus 31,000 abandoned homes. It’s an urbex paradise. The city of Detroit actually declared bankruptcy with an $18 billion debt in the fallout of the global financial crisis. An excellent documentary on Detroit’s buildings can be seen below.
A few weeks ago, we headed off to Mortlake in the western district, for a weekend away. Its only 235kms from Melbourne on the Hamilton Highway. We headed off Friday morning, stopping in Geelong before continuing our journey, looking for dry stone walls that are plentiful in the area. This is because the site has around 80 or so extinct volcanos in the region, creating a considerable amount of paddock stones.
We drove to Pomboneit-Foxhow Road in Pomborneit North and found a quiet road wholly lined with stone walls which the western district is known for. There had been a lot of rain in the area the days before, and the ground was saturated. And so was I when I got back to the car. Bad idea to wander around in Ugg boots. I ended up changing into my waterproof hikers when I got back to the car. I know, I should have had them on to start with.
Arriving in Mortlake, we headed to our accommodation, settled in, and then went out for dinner at Macs Hotel. Small pub, but great food and good service. After dinner, we went back to the accom, grabbed our gear, added another ten layers (it was freezing) and set up at the old Mill for some light painting and to shoot the milky way.
The cold eventually drove us back indoors, and we were all in bed reasonably early. We planned to be up at 5 am to go for a sunrise shot at Dunkeld. If we thought it was cold that night, it was freeeeezing the next morning. The windscreen was iced over and took ages to clear. We were on our way but about 15 mins behind schedule with an hour drive in front of us. Pitch black roads and countryside, eyes on alert for suicidal kangaroos. We made it to Dunkeld just in the nick of time. Our goal was to shoot the morning light at the Dunkeld Arboretum with Mt Abrupt in the background. Sunrise was pretty ordinary, and we were all freezing with the ground frozen over. But no one left until they all had the shots they wanted 🙂
The rest of the weekend passed without anything noteworthy. Clouds rolled in that night, so no Astro. It was also too cold for light painting outside, so we did a little inside with LEDs before falling into warm beds for a good night’s sleep.
Once a year, hubby and I make our annual pilgrimage to King Valley Camp, visit friends, take photos, cruise the wineries, and have some ‘downtime’. And with no internet at the camp, downtime is total. So I found myself driving down the road each day and pulling up to the side of the road to catch up with emails and FB. Shocking, I know.
Rain, Rain, go away
The weather forecast for the weekend was rain, but we were lucky with no rain except late at night when we were all in bed. So we could do a bit of travelling around during the day.
On Friday, we drove up to Powers Lookout. Named after the bushranger who reputedly had a camp there in the 1860s, he used the high vantage point to watch for approaching troopers. We usually just stop at the upper lookout and take a few shots.
Powers Lookout
This time, feeling a bit stupid and adventurous, I decided to try the ‘other’ northern lookout. The steps seemed ok at the start, heading downhill via steps cut into the rock, but ok. Then they got steeper, massive, single steps where really two would have been better. The stone steps kept going down, then changed to steep metal stairs, shimmy through a gap, past a big rock in the middle of the path (glad I hadn’t had lunch yet), then UP metal stairs to the northern lookout. (I should have stopped and taken photos of the track, but I was saving my energy to keep the lungs and legs working)
The northern lookout gave a different and better view, so the walk was worth it. But OMG I paid for it the next day with very sore legs. So we shot off quite a few photos, then started the trek back, with lots of stops along the way to catch our breath, admire the view.
Chrismont Winery
From Powers Lookout, we headed to lunch and then Chrismont Winery. It’s a beautiful building that won a design award and offers magnificent sweeping views of the valley from the tasting room. I may have liberated a couple of bottles of their delicious Prosecco while I was there.
That evening we played with some light painting, new toys, trying out various ideas.
We did see some rain that night, but the following day was lovely and sunny again. We enjoyed a slow start to the day and then headed up the road to Lake William Hovell. Fabulous reflections and very quiet, we had the place to ourselves, apart from a few fishermen.
We had planned to do more light painting that evening, but the rains really came down not long after dinner, and we were futilely huddled under the awning waiting for them to pass, which they really didn’t. The Olympus held up well in the rain, but I found that the wi-fi to my iPhone doesn’t work too well when I have cold, wet fingers. So mental note to self, make sure I have my wired remote in my bag!
After Christmas, I admired a location shared on a FB page and asked privately where it was as I thought it would be a great light painting location. The reply, while polite, was a firm “an urban explorer never divulges a location. However, if you keep it a secret and include us we will tell you”. A meetup was arranged at a coffee shop to ‘suss’ each other out. We must have passed as they took us to the location, and a shoot was planned for the following week. Light Painting with Urban Explorers was on!
Getting there was easy enough though you had to accept wet feet to access the location.
Skipping ahead a week, we had observed the weather for the next week, and with no rain for the past few days, the night was on! It was a lovely warm night—no rain on the horizon, which was a good thing. I didn’t want to be floating downstream if it started raining!
We started off with coloured LEDs wands and orbs before moving to my favourite… steel wool!
Light Painting with Urban Explorers accomplished! Thank you to Bill and Deanne Holmer from Melbourne Light Painting and Mark and David for sharing their location.
We were still Rambling The Outback. After a very comfortable night’s sleep in the big king-sized beds at Mungo Lodge, I was up around 5.30 and out the door just after six. Along with Lisa and Amy, we jumped in with Roy and Julie and headed off to the Mungo Lookout for a sunrise. The location was average. It was recommended to us by John at reception as a good sunrise spot. It was for viewing the sunrise. But for, shooting a sunrise it left a lot to be desired. There is no foreground interest and miles and miles of endless flat plain to the sun on the horizon. In the future, when someone recommends a spot to me, I will ask, “are you a photographer” if the answer I no, I will disregard them!
Once the sun was up, we drove down to the Historic Shearing Shed just a few minutes down the road.
The woolshed
Paddy Melons
After about an hour, we headed back to mungo lodge for showers, breakfast and checkout. Breakfast was a delicious cooked buffet in the restaurant. Leaving Mungo, we came across Paddy Melons growing beside the road.
Paddy melon (Cucumis myriocarpus) and Afghan melon (Citrullus lanatus) is both prostrate annual melons germinating in spring and summer. Their growth is favoured by good moisture relations and bare or fallowed paddocks. Melons can stabilise areas prone to wind erosion and provide stock feed when food is scarce (although opinions vary greatly). Horse, sheep and cattle losses have been associated with eating the melon, but the smell of the plants generally makes them unpalatable. Dept of Agriculture
Dirt Roads
From Mungo, we were heading first to Balranald and then onto Swan Hill. Between Balranald and us lay 154kms of dirt road. According to google maps, it’s a 5-hour drive. Maybe they assume you are driving a horse and cart as we did it in just over 2 hours. Just out of Balranald, we finally got the bitumen back.
Swan Hill
We stopped off in Balranald for coffee and comfort stop and were then on our again. Finally, driving on lovely bitumen, we arrived in Swan Hill around midday. I popped into the motel and made sure all was ready for the arrival of those travelling behind us. Then headed over to the Pioneer Settlement and organised the tickets for the evening light show, settlement entry, and Pyap Paddlesteamer ride. We wandered around the settlement for a while, bumped into a few of the group who had arrived, took a paddle steamer ride and then headed back to the hotel to relax for an hour before dinner.
Dinner was at Spoons Restaurant beside the settlement. Sitting outside on the deck, the sky started to turn a glorious orange-red. Everyone started looking and then dashed off for a couple of shots with phones—fantastic sunset, and most of us there without cameras.
After a delicious dinner, we headed over to the settlement for the Heartbeat of the Murray Laser Show. Excellent show using water, laser, and sound, it recently won a prestigious multimedia award. With the closing of the show, we went back to our motel for the night; it was the end of a fabulous week We Got to know some people better and met others for the first time by the close of the week; we had all become closer, had a million memories, and about as many photographs 🙂 The following day it was packed up and headed home and back to ‘real life’. Thank you to all who took this journey with me.
Day 3 of our outback adventure
Our plans for today were Silverton and the Daydream Mine. While I slept through the sunrise, some of the group went out hunting down a good sunrise spot. Elsewhere, two of the group went out tracking down the Indian Pacific as it stopped in town. The morning skies were sunny, blue with a light breeze, but the afternoon forecast the cloud. So it was a free morning for all. Some went to Bells Milkbar, and some checked out the Palace Hotel. Others roamed the galleries. We met up for lunch with part of the crew, and then everyone met at Bells Milkbar to head out to Silverton.
Daydream Mine
The historic Daydream Mine lay between us and our destination, just out from Silverton and 20kms from Broken Hill. Established in the 1880s the mine, and the town surrounding it were once home to around 500 workers, wives, and children. It closed a few years later when the ore ran out—the NSW government heritage listed the site in 1999. Today, above ground, only the foundations of the old town and part of the smelter remain. The road in was around 10km of uphill and down dale, winding dirt roads and through two gates.
Below Ground
After the above-ground tour, we had to gear up with hard hats and lights for the underground section. Three levels underground, down narrow steps (and I do use the term loosely) cut into the rock underground. The entrance tunnel was just a tad bigger than our bodies. If I hadn’t been in the lead behind the guide, I would have turned back with everyone else behind me. But I couldn’t get past them!
It did get taller in parts (small parts) where we could stand upright. But most of the time, the tunnels were about 4ft high. It was built for short people!
Silverton
Back up top, we got our heart rate down and air intake back to normal. Then we headed 6kms down the road to the Silverton Pub. we plopped ourselves in the beer garden, downed a couple of quick drinks, and declined to move. Until tomorrow.
Mundi Mundi Plains
While the others who could all walk (because they hadn’t done the mine either through farsightedness or cowardice) headed off for the Mundi Mundi Plains lookout and the sunset. We stayed put. We were drinking and groaning. Until Bill announced, the sunset was starting to look good. Photographic OCD got us up moving. Just as far as next door where we had a clear view. an off some shots and limped, hobbled back to the pub
Lightpainting
After dinner at the pub the entire group relocated to across the road for some more light painting…no steel wool as Bill was reluctant to start a fire and burn the town down…. but we had fun with LEDs
At the end of the night we took a careful drive back into BH, dodging a few roo’s, rabbits and goats making it safely to our motel. The next morning was to be an early start as we had to be on the road by 7.30am and heading to Mungo……
Coming Up Next Day: Mungo NP and Great Walls of China
Tuesday morning, as pre-arranged the night before, everyone was up in the dark, out the door by 6 am and heading down to the Mildura Wharf for sunrise.
Sunrise On The River
The river was still and quiet, save for the morning bird calls and the odd early morning jogger going past. We were set up on a lovely wooden walkway that gave a good view down (up?) the river to the bridge over the Murray. But, even at that hour, there was a constant stream of traffic across the bridge.
By 6.45 am, the sun was coming up, more joggers and walkers were going past, and traffic was picking up… the river and the houseboats all remained quiet, though.
Back On The Road
Once the sun was up, we headed back to the motel for breakfast and showers, then booked out and headed to Broken Hill, 296kms up the Silver City Highway. The road is well-maintained bitumen but long, with the occasional bend to keep you on your toes. Between Mildura and Broken Hill, reception drops off quickly once out of Mildura, and you don’t get it back till about 20kms out of BH. There is only one little general store between Mildura and BH and three unattended rest stops. Apart from that, it’s just you and the goats..lots and lots of wild goats beside the road and the emus.
Broken Hill
We made it to BH by around 1 pm – where the group met up again at the Demo Club. The club began life as the Barrier Democratic Social Club, a working man’s club similar to the RSLs, but it has evolved into a curious cross between a pub and an RSL. There are no half-full wine glasses here.. every glass was a millimetre from the top and half the price of the victorian pubs. We booked into our rooms at the motel from the demo club, unpacked, and took a brief rest before heading off again. This time we were off to the Line Of The Load, a miner’s memorial overlooking BH. It has the name and cause of death of every miner who has worked the mine in BH… and there was a lot. No such thing as OH & S a hundred years ago.
Sculptures In the Desert
From the memorial, we headed just outside Broken Hill to Sculptures in the Desert – 12 sandstone sculptures on a hilltop. With Bill and Deanne Holmer from Melbourne Light Painting, we would shoot the sunset and then do a little bit of light painting before the ranger kicked us out at 7 pm to lock the gates.
Right on clockwork, the Ranger turned up at 7 pm and dispersed the party…then it was back to BH for dinner at Mario’s Palace Hotel…made famous from the movie Priscilla Queen Of The Desert.
Long Exposure Photography or slow shutter photography uses long shutter speeds to capture stationary, static objects while blurring out the moving elements.
What is Long Exposure Photography?
It is most commonly used for night photography, stars, and moving water. It is also used for fireworks and light painting. A bonus in high-traffic areas is if the exposure is long enough, pedestrians will completely disappear.
Long exposure photography is easiest in low light situations such as at night. But with ND filters, it can also be done successfully, even in bright sunshine. ND Filters (Neutral Density) are precisely that. They are neutral and should add no colour at all to your image. Instead, they reduce the light entering the lens. ND filters come in different strengths from .06ND and up, with the .06 giving you a two-stop reduction and the ND 3 (also referred to as an ND1000) a ten-stop reduction.
Essential
A tripod is essential for all long-exposure photography. This is because you are using speeds beyond what can be handheld with stability. Turn the image stabilisation off on the lens while it’s on a tripod and use either a remote switch to trigger the shutter or the timer function. It’s also a good idea to set a 2-second delay on the shutter. The slightest movement of depressing the shutter can blur the image. The same goes for bridges etc. Someone starts walking across if you are on a bridge trying to get a shot. Wait till they are gone.
Light Painting
Light painting is best accomplished in bulb mode. Set your ISO to 100 to limit the noise, and make sure noise reduction is turned off on the camera. If you are interested in Light Painting, I highly recommend the events run by Melbourne Light Painting.
Moving Water
One of my favourite long-exposure subjects is water. Waterfalls, streams, rivers, ocean tides, and waves are where the ND Filters come into their own to give you the milky fairy floss water or mist. For early mornings or late afternoons, an ND2 or ND4 is sufficient. However, for bright sunshine, you’ll need to get out of the ND3. You can also stack the filters, but be aware if your filter gives off a slight colour cast, stacking them will magnify the result. I started with the round screw-in filters. However, I moved to the square ones as I wanted to add graduated filters to my pack. Variable filters are something you want to avoid at all costs. They leak light and give you terrible results.
Settings
To do an extended water exposure, set your camera to Aperture Priority, ISO 100, and the F stop you prefer and take the shot. Note the shutter speed, and using an ND calculator app, calculate the shutter speed for the long exposure. Next, move to manual mode, and use the same F stop, Focal length, and ISO. For example, if using an ND ten stop, it will be so dark you need to focus on your subject before the filter is added. Once the filter is on, then switch the lens to MF. Once you have done your settings, add the filter and take the shot.
Note: if the water is moving fast, such as in the falls above, a shorter shutter will give you blurred water. If it’s slower-moving or just a trickle, a longer shutter is required, as the speed of the water affects the blur.
Night Lights
If you haven’t tried long exposure before, get out and give it a go… its a lot of fun!
I spent the weekend at Apollo Bay & Otway Ranges in late February with the MPE family of addicted photographers. We started our weekend with Hopetoun Falls. Then a picnic lunch at the Redwood Forest and afternoon tea in town at Cafe 153 before dinner at the Brewhouse. That night we did some light painting at the Breakwater with Deanne and Bill Holmer from Melbourne LightPainting.
Midway along the Great Ocean Road is the seaside town of Apollo Bay. With the lush green slopes of the Otway Ranges at her back and the blue seas of Cape Otway at her feet, Apollo Bay is a great staging point to visit the valleys, rainforests, rivers and streams, waterfalls and light station.
Sunday was an early start for a 6 am sunrise that never eventuated. Cafe 153 for breakfast, then off to the light station. It was a quick 36-hour visit, but my exhaustion when I got home was a testament to how much we crammed into it 🙂
Hopetoun Falls
Getting here is easy. If you come through Colac or the Great Ocean Road, head to Binns Road, and it’s well signposted. Once at the carpark, you have a one-way in and one-way out downhill walk.
Hopetoun Falls has a good flow for just about all year. Even though it was February, we still found a good flow coming over the top and into the Aire River below. The walk from the carpark to the first lookout is an effortless downhill walk of about 20 metres. The one-kilometre return trip of 200 plus steps to the bottom lookout (and 200 back UP) is a test of endurance for my old legs. It’s definitely worth the walk down, though. You can’t see a lot from the top lookout, and the walk through the ferns along the boardwalk to the base of the falls is impressive.
Redwood Forest
Just a few minutes away from Hopetoun Falls in the Otway Ranges is the Redwood Forest. I hadn’t been here before, didn’t even know it was there until recently, but what a fabulous find it is. Heading towards Apollo Bay from the carpark to the forest is on your right-hand side, just before a little single-lane bridge. There are picnic tables and chairs and a long drop toilet on the other side of the road. We stopped and had our picnic here before spending an hour wandering through the forest.
Running along the back of the forest is the beautiful fern-lined Aire River. The forest itself has a fantastic atmosphere.. you feel the quiet and serenity as soon as you step off the path into the trees. While I didn’t see them, others found some fabulous pagan? Stuff down back, twisted vines and things hanging from trees. The mind boggles as to what goes on in there.
Sundown
We hoped to get a sunset at the Apollo Bay Boat Harbour before light painting started. But it fizzled out on us. However, I did manage to get a pinkish sky using a 0.9 ND Grad.
Light Painting
We held our light painting session down at the Breakwater Led lights, steel wool spinning pixel sticks fabulous night.
Sunday Morning – Sunrise Failure
Sunday morning, despite getting up in the dark and heading down to the breakwater full of enthusiasm, it fizzled out on us again.
Cape Otway Lightstation
It sometimes gets sunny at the light station, but I seem to bring clouds. I have been there a few times, and getting a photo of the lighthouse in full sunshine against a blue sky is very hit-and-miss. It was a patchy cloud, then a full cloud for a quick, brief bit of sun and back to clouds when we headed there.
We came across two french girls guarding an injured Koala and reported it to the conservation centre for pickup (rang the next day, and the koala is doing fine). So down to the lighthouse for some shots and a walk around before heading back to the car for the 3-hour drive home. Fabulous weekend and we are already planning the next one.