Abandoned

pjb923 · July 23, 2007

What started out as a trip to the Lenoir Preserve in hopes of finding some flowers, butterflies and hopefully a dragonfly or 2, turned into something completely different. After getting tired of the butterflies, we decided to see if we could make our way down a trail and get closer to the Hudson River. We stumbled onto a very well traveled walking path running parallel to the river and after following it for a few minutes spotted the back of an old abandoned house. As soon as I saw it I knew I needed to get in. All of the visible windows were covered in bars and there was no way around to the front. We continued in the direction we were going and eventually found a small driveway leading up to the front of the house. What we couldn't see from the walking path was a 2nd house a little bit higher up the hill.
When we finally reached the house we could see how big it really was. It was massive, with 5 garages on the main floor and one more leading to the basement around the side.

D200, Sigma 10-20mm @20mm, F4.0 1/60th, ISO 220

D200, Sigma 17-70mm @38mm, F3.8 1/60th, ISO 900

This next shot was taken in the basement, which was piled high with old file cabinets, furniture, etc.
As you can see I was pushing my camera to it's limit.
I'm fortunate that this shot came out as clear as it did at 1/10th of a second hand held.

D200, Sigma 17-70mm @17mm, F2.8 1/10th, ISO 1600

In the 2nd house, on the way to the upstairs I snapped this picture.
I didn't think it was anything special at the time, but there is something
about it that keeps making me come back to look at it.

D200, Sigma 17-70mm @17mm, F2.8 1/10th, ISO 1600

Finally, this is probably my favorite shot of the day.
In one of the last rooms in a far corner of the first house I found this chair sitting in front of a window.
The room was almost empty, but the chair was perfectly positioned like someone had been recently sitting in it.

D200, Sigma 17-70mm @17mm, F2.8 1/20th, ISO 1600

Recently I have been hoping to find someplace like this to photograph so this was a really great surprise and a whole lot more fun than shooting butterflies and flowers. If I could only run into places like this more often. The rest of the images can be seen here.

Thanks for looking!

Angelo · July 23, 2007

Nice job Paul

you might find this interesting: http://www.flickr.com/groups/abandoned/

schmoo · July 23, 2007

Nice job Paul! As much as people in this genre complain about "lone chair shots" I like them, and I really like yours. Especially your other one here. There is something very theatrical about the lighting that finds its way into a forgotten building.

This was all handheld? Wow! That takes serious talent

emmalou · July 23, 2007

Very cool shots........I do like that chair.......

pjb923 · July 23, 2007

Thanks for all the comments.

I really enjoyed my first abandonment shoot. Not having a tripod was a little bit limiting, but staying towards the wide end of my lens (17mm) and shooting wide open really saved me. There were plenty of blurry shots in the group, but I was happy with the amount of keepers.

I didn't realize that the lone chair was such an overdone subject in this genre of shooting. I guess they just make naturally good subjects.

I'm glad to hear the positive responses to mine.

ShutterMuse · July 23, 2007

I think the chair is my favorite. Great set!

Skippy · July 23, 2007

pjb923 wrote:

What started out as a trip to the Lenoir Preserve in hopes of finding some flowers, butterflies and hopefully a dragonfly or 2, turned into something completely different. After getting tired of the butterflies, we decided to see if we could make our way down a trail and get closer to the Hudson River. We stumbled onto a very well traveled walking path running parallel to the river and after following it for a few minutes spotted the back of an old abandoned house. As soon as I saw it I knew I needed to get in. All of the visible windows were covered in bars and there was no way around to the front. We continued in the direction we were going and eventually found a small driveway leading up to the front of the house. What we couldn't see from the walking path was a 2nd house a little bit higher up the hill.
When we finally reached the house we could see how big it really was. It was massive, with 5 garages on the main floor and one more leading to the basement around the side.

D200, Sigma 10-20mm @20mm, F4.0 1/60th, ISO 220

D200, Sigma 17-70mm @38mm, F3.8 1/60th, ISO 900

This next shot was taken in the basement, which was piled high with old file cabinets, furniture, etc.
As you can see I was pushing my camera to it's limit.
I'm fortunate that this shot came out as clear as it did at 1/10th of a second hand held.

D200, Sigma 17-70mm @17mm, F2.8 1/10th, ISO 1600

In the 2nd house, on the way to the upstairs I snapped this picture.
I didn't think it was anything special at the time, but there is something
about it that keeps making me come back to look at it.

D200, Sigma 17-70mm @17mm, F2.8 1/10th, ISO 1600

Finally, this is probably my favorite shot of the day.
In one of the last rooms in a far corner of the first house I found this chair sitting in front of a window.
The room was almost empty, but the chair was perfectly positioned like someone had been recently sitting in it.

D200, Sigma 17-70mm @17mm, F2.8 1/20th, ISO 1600

Recently I have been hoping to find someplace like this to photograph so this was a really great surprise and a whole lot more fun than shooting butterflies and flowers. If I could only run into places like this more often. The rest of the images can be seen here.

Thanks for looking!

It's sad to see places like that go to absolute ruin isn't it .
Why people insist on vandalising places is beyond me

It's interesting to explore these old houses, I've been in a few in the states, as my friend sells realEstate for a living.

Makes you wonder what happened that this huge house with so many garages and rooms was just left .... wonder what the story is with it.

Thanks for sharing, interesting post

.. Skippy
.

Awais Yaqub · July 23, 2007

These are fantastic ! loved that chair shot

pjb923 · July 24, 2007

It really is crazy to think about what happened to this place and others like it. I'm sure it was an absolutely beautiful house in its prime, and would be worth millions today if it was maintained.

k2c1959 · July 24, 2007

[quote=Skippy
Makes you wonder what happened that this huge house with so many garages and rooms was just left .... wonder what the story is with it.
Thanks for sharing, interesting post

.. Skippy

i totally agree with skippy, beautiful shots, i would love to know the story behind this house myself.

awesome home.

Abandoned

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