Taking pictures is, for me, a good way to handle depression, anxiety and in some way focus my ocd.
Last week I felt like I had to do something, so I scheduled some free time before sunset (between 5PM and 7PM), got my gear ready and hopped in the car. I knew where to go and what I wanted to do, and I hoped I could get it all with the golden-orange light of the sun just above the horizon.
Unfortunately (or fortunately) when I arrived the whole top of the mountain was covered by a thick cloud. I could barely see where I parked my car, but I noticed it was moving fast and was hoping it would dissipate enough to grab a few shots.
It was indeed moving fast, but not in the direction I was hoping, so I walked downhill to try and find a better spot out of it. The light was fading, so I decided to stop and take a picture before it was too late now that I wasn't in the cloud. I wanted to put myself in it as well as I thought to myself I could use a new banner image for my social media.
While I was there I spotted a trail that started below the rocks I was on, as well as trees. I followed it and found an even better composition. The light was pretty much gone, colors were turning cold and dark as it was moving into civil twilight.
Back home I wanted to give it the warm colors I desired when I went out. It is different from what I saw, but I wanted a pleasing picture and not an accurate one. I warmed up the white balance, worked a bit on contrast as I tend to shoot and develop with neutral profiles, and used light orange on the highlights and light teal on the shadows. I used for all my pictures the D7000 with the Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM.
Since a friend's birthday was coming up and she recently moved into a new apartment, I printed this photo on 70x30cm canvas. When I visited her place she had a couple of empty walls and she always loved my pictures so I decided to make a more personal gift.
I know the quality of this photo isn't much, but my old phone really struggles under certain conditions.
I’m fascinated by the buildings and contents and by the process of decay. The buildings are often in a parlous state, time and earthquake damage taking its toll. I never enter such places when alone, always ensuring there is help at hand should something untoward occur. I’ve encountered vermin, dead and alive, cats and dogs, dead and alive, goats, dead and alive, scorpions, dead and alive, humans, dead and alive…Ok, that last one was an exaggeration.
I’m not a reportage photographer as such but that said I am aware that if I don’t make these images then the subjects will probably go unrecorded.
I've been to so many abandoned places as well, I have quite a few series of pictures. Here are a few examples.
This one was back in 2014, in the abandoned village of Apice Vecchio. It was abandoned after a earthquake and only recently some people are going back. Most of it has been kept intact by a few people, it's like a soft of huge and open museum. Some houses are extremely interesting but not very photogenic. This was taken with the D7000 and the Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 DX.
This is a Saint-Gobain glass factory, closed many decades ago. Most of the area has been converted to commercial and apartments, but this warehouse still stands. I shot it on the Olympus OM-1n with a Zuiko 28mm f/3.5 on Ilford HP5 pulled 1 stop.
This is the furnace area of the same factory, this is where all the glass was fused. Most of it has crumbled and the whole area is closed off. It's a bit tricky to get inside, but it always help to be with a friend and be very careful where you step. I shot it on my crappy phone.