Stunning abandoned steel mill photography [PICS]

[SilentKnight]

Finally...after two years of attempting to get permission to do some photography in an old closed steel factory here in our local town - this morning I gained full, unrestricted access from the new owners.

I was frickin' psyched...to say the least. I loaded up the camera gear, tripods, power packs and laptop - and spent the day wandering around and photographing the sprawling 250-acre Atlas Steel plant and all its various buildings.

In all, I got close to 300 photos...a few blisters on my feet, and enough dirt and soot on my clothes to make it all worthwhile.

Still just goin' through all the shots at the moment. Here's a few edited favorites for now. More to follow shortly...

[madawgz]

wow that looks great!

[Fresh]

awesome photos man

[Shoehorn!]

Awesome pictures.

[Trixxxia]

SilentKnight, you can make the ugliest places look not only beautiful, but intriguing. Nice work!

[Manowar]

damn dude those are some awesome shots

[sweetums]

Fantastic photos....I love the way the light filters in on #1, but have to say that #4 is my favorite of the first set - beautiful composition there. Hope you had oodles of fun

[cranki]

[V_RocKs]

Sweetah...

[Libertine]

Dude, I just have to say, I LOVE your pics and the places you photograph

[pornguy]

those are great photos. I dont understand why a company would allow a building that size, to just stand there.

[seeric]

great pics man, i admire your appreciation for these weathered industrial locations. i love that industrial abandoned look.

[BOSS1]

When are u gonna shoot some content there?

[SilentKnight]

More shots from earlier today...

[SilentKnight]

Originally Posted by BOSS1

When are u gonna shoot some content there?

That depends on whether the new owners intend on re-opening a portion of the plant in the future. At this point everything is in limbo. Although they've already gutted and scrapped equipment in many of the buildings, there is talk of possibly opening the melting plant and getting it back in to operation.

At one time Atlas Metal was the largest employer in town, and its been a source of a LOT of bad feelings in the community ever since it closed a few years ago.

It'd make a damn fine location for content shooting, though...no doubt. I'd dearly love to some fetish shots in some of those buildings. But they're still very dangerous - lots of deep, open pits in the floor, unstable structures, possible chemical contamination, etc.

[Just_Dave]

cool looking pics

[SilentKnight]

Originally Posted by A1R3K

great pics man, i admire your appreciation for these weathered industrial locations. i love that industrial abandoned look.

Thanks A1R3K...always appreciate your praise and compliments as well. Glad you share an enjoyment of old abandoned places also.

Get away from the turntables for a bit and go check some places out with a camera.

[Stallion]

great pics

[bu((aneer]

I wonder how many people got killed due to work-related accidents.

[mrkris]

those are some awesome pics man

[IWantU_Jeff]

wow very cool pics there.

[VicJay]

Great pics dude

[Big Red Machine]

Is that Hotlanta

[seeric]

Originally Posted by SilentKnight

Thanks A1R3K...always appreciate your praise and compliments as well. Glad you share an enjoyment of old abandoned places also.

Get away from the turntables for a bit and go check some places out with a camera.

i intend to start doing a bunch of nature photog here in the tampa area. we have alot of old southern style buildings out in the swamps abandoned and many places where orchids grow too. i am an orchid fanatic, (even got some growing at home that i brought back from costa rica that dont grow here in the states). might be cool to start selling some for profit.

i am trying to find a decent starter camera that takes nice low light pics, or in nightclubs with no flash using ambient club lighting and stuff. i'd love to find one that does stop action in the club with no flash. not sure that exists.

[elitetec]

Great photos

[SilentKnight]

Originally Posted by A1R3K

i intend to start doing a bunch of nature photog here in the tampa area. we have alot of old southern style buildings out in the swamps abandoned and many places where orchids grow too. i am an orchid fanatic, (even got some growing at home that i brought back from costa rica that dont grow here in the states). might be cool to start selling some for profit.

i am trying to find a decent starter camera that takes nice low light pics, or in nightclubs with no flash using ambient club lighting and stuff. i'd love to find one that does stop action in the club with no flash. not sure that exists.

I've mentioned a few times that I shoot with the olympus e10 - its a few years old now, but I've seen them go for as low as $400 on ebay sometimes for a good used one (originally we paid $2,200 when they hit the market).

It has all the features you'd want, manual and full-auto modes - and can shoot in almost total darkness with long exposures. They're damn rugged and solidly built, too. I've shot over 100k shots with mine so far in about 3 years (scenic and adult combined)...so they stand up very well to a LOT of photography.

Hell, I'd buy another one again in a heartbeat, hehe.

[seeric]

Originally Posted by SilentKnight

I've mentioned a few times that I shoot with the olympus e10 - its a few years old now, but I've seen them go for as low as $400 on ebay sometimes for a good used one (originally we paid $2,200 when they hit the market).

It has all the features you'd want, manual and full-auto modes - and can shoot in almost total darkness with long exposures. They're damn rugged and solidly built, too. I've shot over 100k shots with mine so far in about 3 years (scenic and adult combined)...so they stand up very well to a LOT of photography.

Hell, I'd buy another one again in a heartbeat, hehe.

looking on ebay now. i'll buy it today.



if you like it and you shoot this good, i'll take your word for it.

[Pete-KT]

very nice bro as usual

[SilentKnight]

Originally Posted by pornguy

those are great photos. I dont understand why a company would allow a building that size, to just stand there.

Its many buildings - somewhere around 20-30 different ones on the 250-acre property.

Basically the steel mill went in to receivership a few years ago, closed down...and then a fight erupted between the owners and the city for unpaid property taxes and water bills. Meanwhile, they laid off thousands of workers (many of whom weren't paid in the end).

Its the same fate a lot of steel mills have suffered over the past few decades. Bethlehem Steel in NY and Pennsylvania went through the same mess. Stelco in Hamilton is always on the verge of bankrupcy these days.

The common denominator is - these places are always unionized. Union workers demand outrageous wages and benefits in their contracts. Meanwhile, company owners find more affordable places to outsource the work (other countries)...and eventually they finally say 'fuck it' and get tired of paying $70-90k salaries to greedy union workers - and close down operations in North America.

Everyone plays the blame game.

[EdgeXXX]

Amazing location and pics as usual, SK. That's one of the best locations yet

[SilentKnight]

Originally Posted by A1R3K

looking on ebay now. i'll buy it today.



if you like it and you shoot this good, i'll take your word for it.

Cool.

If you get one, invest in a good sturdy tripod (I use a Sherpa) and a 36" remote shutter cable release (for nighttime/lowlight photos). I use a tripod about 99% of the time, even though I'm very steady with handheld. Usin' a tripod adds that extra clarity and sharpness that makes a big difference much of the time.

Good luck.

[Martin]

Reminds me of my childhood days.. There was factories like this all over the place and we would break in and bust windows , play war games ect.. Good stuff

[seeric]

Originally Posted by SilentKnight

Cool.

If you get one, invest in a good sturdy tripod (I use a Sherpa) and a 36" remote shutter cable release (for nighttime/lowlight photos). I use a tripod about 99% of the time, even though I'm very steady with handheld. Usin' a tripod adds that extra clarity and sharpness that makes a big difference much of the time.

Good luck.

i found two of them

one thats sitting at 256 and the other at 305

[SilentKnight]

Originally Posted by EdgeXXX

Amazing location and pics as usual, SK. That's one of the best locations yet

Thanx Edge.

I've been callin' it my 'holy grail' for the past two years, lol. I pestered the plant manager at least a dozen times trying to gain access - but he'd always say, "Another week or two and we'll see how it goes."

After shootin' today I dropped by his office on my way out to thank him for the permission, and he says, "Thanks for being so patient." Heh.

He asked if I could give him a cdrom with copies of all the full-size shots, and I told'em it was the least I could do in exchange.

[tyler.]

woah , amazing ...

[SilentKnight]

Originally Posted by A1R3K

i found two of them

one thats sitting at 256 and the other at 305

Sweet!

Go for the one in best condition obviously (and best seller rating). Both are a helluva deal either way.

[Red Ezra]

we are we going to see some porn shots done at these cool locations? I'm interested to see what you do with them now that you've found them

[calibra]

Awesome pics! Thanx for sharing, it looks really amazing, good job

[Spunky]

Great looking pics as usual man

[SilentKnight]

Last batch (edited in higher res.)

[seeric]

Fascinating

[Devils_Child]

Great pics, so clear and sharp. The location is great. Never thought that an abandoned steel mill could look so cool

[abyss_al]

great pics!!

i've decided to come out there this summer... you've been teasing me with these great shots and locations... time for a road trip

[Why]

cool pics dude.

[G-Rotica]

Once again fantastic pics.

I always wanted to shoot this place outside of Phoenix, but never could get permission to go in.

http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Nor...photo77931.htm

[M-yo]

Very nice photos!!!

[OG LennyT]

I keep thinking of what it must have looked like when the industry was booming... cool pics!

[Downtime]

simply amazing shots!

[uno]

Originally Posted by SilentKnight

It'd make a damn fine location for content shooting, though...no doubt. I'd dearly love to some fetish shots in some of those buildings. But they're still very dangerous - lots of deep, open pits in the floor, unstable structures, possible chemical contamination, etc.

Wuss!

Great looking place. I bet there are a lot more locations like that around you than you might think.

[SilentKnight]

Originally Posted by uno

Wuss!

Great looking place. I bet there are a lot more locations like that around you than you might think.

In the past I was an admin over on uer.ca (urban exploration resource) and the single largest contributor of locations and photos to the site's database - and have photographed close to 100 such locations all over southern Ontario and upper NY state.

I don't know ALL of them, of course...but I know a great many.

Glad ya' liked the shots.