Getting creative with the camera and lights in a derelict tool factory

I hesitated to post these images in the Urban Exploration community here on Hive and nearly posted to the Lightpainters United one instead. This evening as the light warmed up, we made another trip in to our favourite abandoned building, George Barnsleys & Sons in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.

I had no particular plan in mind, I just knew I had to get back in here again before it gets closed off once the owners realise there's a big hole in their wall! Sites like this are rare beasts and I'll take every opportunity to shoot it before it disappears forever!

I started out with the idea to shoot small details rather than big interior architecture style shots. On this occassion, I took an RGB LED panel and I had my head torch with me. This sparked a brain wave and the following are the results!

The Chair of Doom

I like a subject in the frame or focal point of interest where the viewer's eye is drawn. A chair is an obvious choice and here I used the RGB panel on a small tripod to light up the room on a 30 second exposure during which I quickly wafted the headtorch across the scene to subtly light up the darker areas.

The Stairs of Doom

I'd seen this composition before on a previous visit and knew I wanted to return in the dark with lights. This evening wasn't dark enough so I settled for a subtle mix of dark and sinister red!

Evil elf on a shelf

This was more of a quick experiment so see what we could get. I learned a few things making me realise what lights I need to bring back on another visit....

The Sketchiest Access

I hesitated to cross a sketchy looking gap to access this room. On previous visits, I've bottled it and avoided this one. Tonight I must have slightly more stupid than usual and risked walking over rotten timbers to get in. Cue me repositioning the chair for OCD composition!

A "new" old room

It pays to visit some places more than once. I've been to George Barnsleys about 5 times now and never did see this room until this evening. It looked like a machinery maintenance room with belts and spare parts.

Shift

I'm still having an affair with my Sony 20mm f1.8 FE lens and it's shallow depth of field. I will eventually grow tired of out of focus backgrounds but it may take a while....

This is probably a shorter post than I normally write lately but I'll take it as an excuse to revisit George Barnsleys again to get some more images! And in particular, next time I'll take more lights with me!

About me:
I usually specialise in shooting lightpainting images but occasionally dabble in urbex and artistic model photography. I'm always on the lookout for someone to collaborate with; please don't hesitate to get in touch if you'd like to create art.

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