Bethlehem Steel Mill

schmoo

Took a day trip up to visit the historic and impressive steel mill in Lehigh Valley, PA. It has been closed down for about 10 years now but I have honestly never seen anything like it from up close! From the legendary history (and downfall) of America's steel industry, I certainly did not expect the town of Bethlehem to still be doing so well today, but it is a great little town with great food and microbrews. Overall it was a wonderful, wonderful weekend.

Also, I took this photoset as an opportunity to get my hands dirty with learning proper Color --> B/W conversion. This technique still is daunting to me because while I think that these have more "pop" than what I used to do, I still am not sure they look as nice as the ones in the tutorial.



From the cemetary on the opposite hill (that was more of a hike than it looked!)



Some details from various parts of the mill. I really wish I knew more about how things worked there so I could piece together what these gizmos did:









And the rail yard behind the blast furnaces:



(BTW I am pretty sure this didn't count as a Journey/travelog, so I am assuming it falls under "street photography!")

Art Scott

Very good stuff, some of my family (uncles and cousins) worked for and die for Bethleham Steel.

I would suggest that if you get to go again that you get closer to the chain link and try to shoot thru the holes and in the cemetary....lots of DOF...that was a great shot only to be made greater by the mill bing sharp as well .....

just my 'umble opinon.......

schmoo

Hi Art, and thanks! I am always so shocked at the sheer number of people who are connected to Beth Steel's history... though it shouldn't be surprising at all considering how enormous they were and how many people were employed by them.

I had a bit of trouble getting shots with my 30D through the links in that fence because they were so small. None of my lenses are that small, so the only one I got NOT on my little point-and-shoot Elph is this one, between the poles of a gate:



But you can still see the blurriness of the bars on both sides. I scratched up my hood pretty badly trying to shove the thing under the fence, but even with the 17-40 I couldn't get enough of the railway at the bottom.

I most certainly plan on going back sometime soon and trying to get some more innovative angles. Thanks for the input!

System

Lovely series. I really dig industrial relics.

Art Scott

schmooo wrote:

Hi Art, and thanks! I am always so shocked at the sheer number of people who are connected to Beth Steel's history... though it shouldn't be surprising at all considering how enormous they were and how many people were employed by them.

I had a bit of trouble getting shots with my 30D through the links in that fence because they were so small. None of my lenses are that small, so the only one I got NOT on my little point-and-shoot Elph is this one, between the poles of a gate:



But you can still see the blurriness of the bars on both sides. I scratched up my hood pretty badly trying to shove the thing under the fence, but even with the 17-40 I couldn't get enough of the railway at the bottom.

I most certainly plan on going back sometime soon and trying to get some more innovative angles. Thanks for the input!

Take a step ladder and a pick up....pick up is not to carry ladder but to give you an extra couple of feet...shoot over the fence

schmoo

Heh I would try getting higher than the fence except it's one of those anti-suicide ones that curl backwards at the top.

Awais Yaqub

Nice shots i loved that Cross photo . Great trip

DavidTO

schmooo wrote:

But you can still see the blurriness of the bars on both sides.

Why not turn a negative into a positive and add a vignette to the shot? It looks kind of old-timey, anyway.

Nice series.

Nordic

Great pics!
How I would love a day of shooting on such a location!

Jeff Fillmore

Very interesting collection- nice work.

schmoo

Thanks everyone! The vignette is a good idea... I don't do much of that because I fear giving the impression of one of those "Old Tyme" dress-up-like-a-bank-robber-and-saloon-girl tourist shots, but I can see how that could work for this subject matter.

And I do plan on going back hopefully in the next month or so to take a full day of sunlight to explore again.

One thing: a friend has pointed out to me that in some of the shots the color gradient in the sky bothered her. I took these photos mostly with a circular polarizer, but when I got home I decided to convert them into B/W. She says she would like to see the sky a plain white because the grey portions bother her... any other opinions on that? I sort of like how the sky isn't quite flat, but I see her point. I also see how perhaps toning in the sky is less desirable if there isn't, say, a ceilling of storm clouds or such.

The full gallery is here.

binghott

i think this is a great set.
both my sisters went to lehigh and i always thought the old steel industry stuff was incredible, but that was way before i was a photographer.
nice job on the b&w conversions.