I'm nephron and I'm brand new to the forum. I'm gonna keep intros short but I've been been active on and off in urbex for the past year but just recently have gotten back into it this past month. This is my first post in the Southeast forum. Yesterday, me and Turtl explored a hotel and metal shop, not too far from each other.
First, we explored a five story hotel. This hotel was abandoned in 2007 due to horrible service and no elevator (yeah, a five story hotel without an elevator?). Outside was actually quite nice, the glass still looked in decent condition, not many windows broken and a few boarded up. Graffiti, both inside and out, was minimal.
Inside, most everything was gone. All that remained was some furniture here and there, but what was actually pretty cool was the moss growing inside by some windows. We started at the fifth floor and worked our way down, not much to see though.
Our second location was the metal shop. This place was pretty cool. Sitting directly adjacent to a railroad, it had been abandoned for 20 years. Turtl had actually met the owner of the metal shop, an 85 year old man with dementia that believes the metal shop is still open. Many of the machines that were once used daily were still able to move. However, there was lots of debris, signs of people there, graffiti, etc. My favorite part of this explore was a giant gear sitting upon a support in the largest room.
Here's where our story gets interesting. Our explore in the metal shop was cut short when two cops arrived, guns drawn. We were forced to put our hands in the air and sit down on a bench of steel right by the officers. One of them stayed with Turtl and I, guns still drawn, while the other left to make sure there was no one else in the room.
Despite our run-in with the cops, nothing bad really happened. It was the best worst case scenario. They simply took our information and escorted us off the property. Hell, they were even nice enough to give us a ride back to our car. They didn't deny the fact that the metal shop was a great place to explore for photos.
Location: Atlanta, GA Gender: Male Total Likes: 194 likes
| |
Re: Machines and Cops < Reply # 1 on 9/14/2014 4:08 AM > | Reply with Quote
Great shots man. Getting stormed at gunpoint was quite the experience. Heres a few of mine, including a video I shot.
Backstory for the video: (I happen to know the owner and his family thorough a mutual friend)
This machine shop, built in the early 1920's, is owned by an elderly man suffering from dementia, who refuses to sell the property because he believes that his business is still open. This video is a reflection of that belief, as derelict machines spin back into life, and the shop becomes active once again. There is a focus on the passage of time, and "dialing back the clock."
Location: New York Gender: Male Total Likes: 103 likes
| | |
Re: Machines and Cops < Reply # 2 on 9/14/2014 6:28 AM > | Reply with Quote
Awesome pictures! I really love that video though. The focus on the gears and the whole way the timeline of that video relies on that clock. Cool stuff!
Location: Atlanta, GA Gender: Male Total Likes: 194 likes
| |
Re: Machines and Cops < Reply # 3 on 9/14/2014 2:18 PM > | Reply with Quote
Posted by btpp Awesome pictures! I really love that video though. The focus on the gears and the whole way the timeline of that video relies on that clock. Cool stuff!
Thanks man, I actually got the idea to shoot video from you, your work is incredible!
Re: Machines and Cops < Reply # 4 on 9/14/2014 4:08 PM > | Reply with Quote
Interesting story about the owner. Who called the cops? Was it him?
Turtl - great vid. I never thought to push a button on a machine. Didnt think the place had power. I notice someone had swept the floor trash into small piles - wondered who did that. Now I know.
Location: Atlanta, GA Gender: Male Total Likes: 194 likes
| |
Re: Machines and Cops < Reply # 5 on 9/14/2014 4:18 PM > | Reply with Quote
We think the neighbors called. Cops confirmed that the place has been getting scrapped a lot recently, so they had instructed the neighbors to keep their eyes open. That was our downfall :/ The cops were nice though, we chatted about the spot for a fair amount while I sat in the back of the cop car .
All of the "power" was supplied by nephron haha, thats why most of the shots aren't very wide/don't show the full machine; because nephron was spinning a gear or pulling something. The shot of the lathe spinning up is actually reversed, we spun it and let it slow down, then reversed the footage.
Location: Orlando Gender: Male Total Likes: 183 likes
| | |
Re: Machines and Cops < Reply # 7 on 9/14/2014 8:49 PM > | Reply with Quote
The machine shop video was great Turtl! Its really haunting to see an abandoned place come to life like that. I'm not sure about the decision to include a shot where we could see the feet and legs of a person, because it kind of takes away from the eeriness of the shop coming to life by itself.
Just curious, what camera/lens do you use? Btpp and I use a Canon t2i and t3i with the kit lens (sometimes the f/1.8 50mm here and there) but I'm a little disappointed with how "soft" our videos come out. I love the sharpness and the bokeh in your video though.
Location: Georgia Gender: Male Total Likes: 10 likes
| |
Re: Machines and Cops < Reply # 9 on 9/14/2014 9:58 PM > | Reply with Quote
Posted by fiftyone_eggs
Nice work! Loved that video and nice shots too!
Very nice photos from the OP here as well. A solid set!
Thanks! The metal shop is up there on my list of favorites. What made the run-in with the cops worth it is the video in my opinion. I agree, Turtl did an outstanding job putting it together!
Location: Atlanta, GA Gender: Male Total Likes: 194 likes
| |
Re: Machines and Cops < Reply # 10 on 9/14/2014 10:42 PM > | Reply with Quote
Posted by relik What did you use to shoot with?
Just curious, what camera/lens do you use?
Thanks y'all. I shot it all on my D7000 with a 50mm 1.8 and an 11-16 2.8 for the wide stuff. I shot most of it around f/2.0 / f2.2. It's fun to shoot wide open but it will always be soft.
Location: Atlanta, GA Gender: Male Total Likes: 194 likes
| |
Re: Machines and Cops < Reply # 13 on 9/15/2014 12:24 AM > | Reply with Quote
Actually, those neighbors are sick of it. They've petitioned the city three times to have it bought up and demolished. The family of the owner has been harassed several times about the issue. The cops were responding to a call. They informed us of that, and it can be confirmed by the fact that they responded over their radios to their dispatch with an "all-clear"
Location: Atlanta, Georgia Gender: Male Total Likes: 454 likes
| |
Re: Machines and Cops < Reply # 14 on 9/15/2014 12:30 AM > | Reply with Quote
Posted by turtl Actually, those neighbors are sick of it. They've petitioned the city three times to have it bought up and demolished. The family of the owner has been harassed several times about the issue. The cops were responding to a call. They informed us of that, and it can be confirmed by the fact that they responded over their radios to their dispatch with an "all-clear"
Thats weird. The two neighbors I met over the years were cool about it. Maybe they moved out. Maybe there is a lot of visitors during the week scrapping parts. It looked kinda cleaned out
Location: Atlanta, GA Gender: Male Total Likes: 194 likes
| |
Re: Machines and Cops < Reply # 17 on 9/15/2014 12:34 AM > | Reply with Quote
Lelandro noticed that as well. A bunch of stuff has changed since I last went. Lots of metal still left in there, in sure it's getting scrapped pretty often. It's defiantly seen some action lately.
Location: Atlanta, GA Gender: Male Total Likes: 194 likes
| |
Re: Machines and Cops < Reply # 18 on 9/15/2014 12:37 AM > | Reply with Quote
Surprisingly there isn't many good spots down that way.
I agree. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of abandoned stuff down that way, but its all completely wrecked. I think the only reason the metal shop is still there is a lot of that equipment simply cant be moved, its too damn big.
Location: Atlanta, Georgia Gender: Male Total Likes: 454 likes
| |
Re: Machines and Cops < Reply # 19 on 9/15/2014 12:39 AM > | Reply with Quote
The window sign in the house part is gone now. Had to be the family who took that. Maybe they are working on the clean up. Take that back. I never saw a construction dumpster or any kind of dumpster there.