so i attempted my first big exploration. the Pennhurst mental hospital. idk what the real title is. just google pennhurst in spring city, PA. it was soo entirely creepy that i couldnt even go inside any of the buildings. keep in mind this is miles in to the woods off of any main road in pitch black darkness. completely creeepy. ok heres 3 good shots i got before my fellow explorers pussed out.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v113/weaselnoze/urbanx/penhurst-1-2.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v113/weaselnoze/urbanx/penhurst-1-1.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v113/weaselnoze/urbanx/penhurst-1-3.jpg)
NEW PICS 1/25/06
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v113/weaselnoze/urbanx/penhurst-2-2.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v113/weaselnoze/urbanx/penhurst-2-1.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v113/weaselnoze/urbanx/penhurst-2-3.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v113/weaselnoze/urbanx/penhurst-2-4.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v113/weaselnoze/urbanx/penhurst-2-5.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v113/weaselnoze/urbanx/penhurst-2-6.jpg)
Man those are sweet pics
Freaky. I'd offer to go along inside if I lived near. I'm interested in weird shaZam! like that.
Weaz,
I especially like the second pic. what did you do to get that creepy green fog ground effect?
There's lots of old abandoned steelmills and such that still exist around pgh. If you're ever down this way i could hook us up with an architect friend of mine who has photographed and sketched some of them.
jake
oh shaZam! jake! i didnt realize u were from pitts! i was down last weekend. like just the other day! first time in pittsburgh for me. oh believe me man i was scopin out places already. there is a lot of cool shaZam! in that city. im totaly mesmorized by pittsburgh. my girlfriend now lives in wexford (goes to school in downtown pitts). i'll prob be up the weekend of the 4th. we need stuff to do in the city so if u have any suggestions let me know!
dunno, what are you looking to do?
i can point you to different museums and such.
or recommend bars and places in different areas.
let me know.
you can post it here or just pm or email me.
jake
Nice pics.
Turbomachinery and boilers always get my heart beating a little faster. It's like seeing a nice lady, only my blood pressure goes higher and my knees get weaker. :icon_mrgreen:
American industrial architecture between 1880 and 1960, especially powerplants, is some of the most beautiful. The cavernous masonry turbine and boiler halls covered in plate glass, obscured only by bridge crane tracks. Boilers 5 or more stories tall, looking like buildings in their own right. Masses of pre-OSHA staircases running every which-way. Catwalks at all angles imaginable. Precision machinery in the multi-thousand ton range. Yep, now that's beauty. Control rooms filled with hundreds (sometimes thousands) of analog gauges, all brass, each one a boat anchor in it's own right. It's a rat maze, only for humans. :thumb:
If you're interested in that kind of stuff, try an operating conventonal or gas turbine powerplant. Go to the gate some afternoon and tell the guard you're interested in getting a tour. Some plants have speakers at the gate. Even better. You bypass the rent-a-cop at the gate and get straight to the guy in charge.
Ask to speak with the plant manager, or whoever is in charge. Be honest, and tell the guy you'd like to get a tour, learn, and maybe take a few photos for your personal use. Most of them are understanding, after all, they're gearheads too. They wouldn't be #1 in charge of a 3,000 MW powerplant if all they were good at was playing Pac Man.
If he's in a good mood, he may hand you a hard hat and glasses. He may also say no, or he may say come back at X time tomorrow. At many plants these days, computers do most of the operating. The operators get bored, and are willing to entertain guests to pass the day. In a telecontrol plant, take sure to get a look at the computing power. It makes even a moderately-sized ISP look like kid stuff. :laugh: If it's still mechanically regulated, the tour will no doubt include the governor and pilot valves. How it was done before the the miracle of the computer.
While you're there, respect their time. Generally speaking, you're "technically" not supposed to be inside the gate. So don't expect them to wait around for 5 minutes while you set up a photo.
You can get tours of a lot of neat places if you just ask. It also doesn't hurt if you have a basic understanding of where you're going. In the case of a conventional powerplant, know what a boiler is, how a condenser works, why anthracite coal is preferred, basic stuff like that. It'll give you questions to ask. All it takes is a few hours research on the net. :thumb:
Suprisingly, I've been offered jobs in places just because I showed an interest in what they were doing and had a basic knowlege of the processes at work. 8)
Oh, yeah, not that this needs saying, but DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING! :icon_mrgreen:
NEW PICS 1/25/06
can someone host a LARGE photo for me? photobucket wants to resize but i need detail.. shoot me a PM if ya dont mind ;)
You seem to be very talented with a camera
I wish i could go see some places like that
I need to go start looking for places like that round here would love to find some old cool buildings like that
http://www.prism.gatech.edu/~gtg445y/chris1.jpg
this is a satellite photo i dug up on the net. this shows how HUGE this complex is..
I really like the ghost flashlight trail in "penhurst-2-3." Spooky!!!
There is a place in St. Nazianz Wi. that i visited one day. Now refered to JFK Prep. Unfortunatly I didnt have a camera the one time i went. I did manage to find a site that somebody put up with there adventure there.
http://www.infiltraterz.com/jfk1.html
when i was there none of the rooms were fixed up yet and the place was creepy as hell, even during the day. The guy got a few things wrong though. There was a girl that hung herself in the gym. that was one of the creepiest parts. the picture on the site has the gym fixed up pretty nice. I may have to take another trip there once the weather warms up.
weaselnoze, very nice. What's going on with the light in the 6th picture?
well at f8 i needed a 25s exposure to get those results. my friend was walking slowly as the shutter was open. i didnt really care about him being in the shot because i was so freaked out i just wanted to get what i could and get out. no time to tell him to step aside.
Quote from: weaselnoze on January 26, 2006, 08:39:53 PM
well at f8 i needed a 25s exposure to get those results. my friend was walking slowly as the shutter was open. i didnt really care about him being in the shot because i was so freaked out i just wanted to get what i could and get out. no time to tell him to step aside.
You should get your friend an old straight jacket and white pants. Then go into one of those crappy rooms and set up a tri-pod. Then do a double exposure. One with out him in the picture and then the second with him sitting here freakin' out in the corner. Of course, if you have a digital camera, then a double exposure really wouldn't work, huh?