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jinx13
  
location:
Peninsula, San Francisco Bay Area
Gender: Male
 |  | Fort Ord
< on 10/3/2010 8:53 PM >
|  | | | Drove down to Fort Ord with Posix4e. Had a pretty good time. Explored maybe 5% of what there is down there. It is huge.
Like all good god-fearing Americans we started the day with Starbucks. We parked in the nearby shopping center near the Best Buy and made our way in. Btw, there's a beefy hooligan tool on the corner on 8th and 1st should you need one.
The first stop was the church. As it was the first abandoned church I had ever been in I expected a house of god transformed into a temple for the dark lord, complete with 24 hour orgies in which I might partake -- I wasn't exactly right. Still pretty damned creepy but not more so than any other abandoned building I've been in.
There was a broken electric organ that was pretty neat and a hallway that bracket/blended pretty nicely but it wasn't anything too special.
The next place was the pool. Unfortunately there were other people in there doing some kind of modeling shoot? I have no idea. They had proper camera gear. However the situation made taking pictures a little awkward. A full half of the actual pool was too hard to take pictures of just because of how they were set up. I'm not too happy with any of the pictures I took there. There's just something so constraining about having strangers nearby.
After the pool were the endless rows of empty barracks. Virtually limitless two story buildings with peeling paint and asbestos. It's odd but I figured out how fun walking around in a respirator can be. It's like being Darth Vader minus all the awesome parts.
The barracks was actually pretty hard to walk around, not because of any physical barrier or boundaries, but because it's hard to know what you'll find inside. There are a lot of barracks, there is a lot of ground to cover, it would be impossible to look at everything in a single day and as I was only going to be there for that day I just picked buildings at random and hoped that I would find something worth taking inside. At one point I was just taking pictures of stairways because they're mildly interesting and I just had to take a picture of SOMETHING in there. Most of it, I'm guessing given the ludicrous amounts of loose bb's, is occasionally used as an airsoft or paintball range.
We passed by another church that identical to the other one in architecture but more trashed on the inside.
There was another, I'm guessing, auditorium building sort of thing that was a little more rewarding in terms of pictures.
After that I wanted to take a look at the abandoned dorms across the street but I couldn't find a subtle way out of the barracks area so we doubled back the way we came in to head back to the parking lot and drive around to see if we could find a closer way into the dorms. As we walked back I got a little different perspective on the barracks and found a few more interesting bits.
As we drove down to the dorm area I found a much better parking spot for the pool that is completely hidden from the road. It has been duly noted for the future and posterity.
The dorms themselves are near some CSU Monterey administration buildings so I'm guessing going there on the weekends is the best as there's no one there.
I parked in a student lot and walked right into the abandoned dorms. Posix4e took a nap in the car.
The dorms were a lot like the the barracks. After I had been in a dozen or so it was hard to justify actually walking into any more of them. Eventually I just pushed the door open a way and peeked inside with my flashlight and made a snap judgement on whether or not it was worth while to go in. More often than not, it wasn't. I wandered around three of the dorm complexes not finding too much to shoot relative to the amount of ground I covered. Like the barracks, I just started taking pictures of hallways because they're mildly interesting and I had to take a pictures of SOMETHING to justify having gone in at all.
Also, a word of warning. There is a lot of shit in this building. I don't mean shit in the colloquial sense, I mean feces. Not just bird shit, and there is a lot of bird shit, but proper human excrement. Just given how it looked and how much of it there was in one spot, I don't know what else could have made it that might live in or around the dorms. Bring a respirator.
There was, however, one particular bit of the dorms that was more distressing than anything else I saw that day or have ever seen in my brief history in UrbExing. That is the possibility of children living in the abandoned dorms. The degree of barricading, the amount of shit strewn down the stairs like emptying a chamber pot, the organizing of mattresses in the nearby rooms, and the number of drawings pasted to the wall lead me to conclude that some number of people were living on that floor. I hope I'm wrong. I hope that it's just some fucker from CSUMB who's decided to fuck with people or at worst I hope it's someone who thought the third story of an abandoned dorm complex was a great place to put their child's drawings but the thought of anyone, much more a child, living in that is enough to make a grown man cry. Which I did. I left a cliff bar and a bottle of water on a radiator that was re-purposed as a lamp stand and left. Maybe I'll come back one day and they'll still be there and I won't feel so bad about it anymore.
The main reason I went into the dorms was to check out a an old photo-processing room. Unfortunately it wasn't in the actual dorm buildings wherein I was searching so diligently, it was in a building nearby the dorm buildings. It wasn't as interesting as I thought it would be. Most of it was too dark to take pictures of.
All in all it was a good trip. A god damned long drive down, but a good trip all the same.
Lessons Learned:
1) Get pictures before hand. For something so big, get pictures of any point of interest before hand to better gauge how to divide your time. If I saw what the photo-processing building and dorms looked like before I went I probably would have spent much less time in them than I did and gone to the glass warehouse which I ultimately had to skip as the sun was going.
2) Drive around the POI. There's almost always a decent place to park that's nearby and inconspicuous. I probably could have saved a lot of walking time if I drove by the pool house instead of parking a good while away and walking in from the shopping center.
3) Going with another person really changes things, at least for me. If I'm alone I'll spend 15 minutes in one spot to make sure I have the best picture I can walk away with. Even though there's no pressure from the other person there's always that subconscious urge to hurry up with the picture taking. It's good in its own way, but for me it's not the best situation to take pictures.
Plans for the future:
I don't think I'll be going back to this place for a while. Not because it's not awesome. It is pretty fucking awesome. I don't even really mind the repetitiveness of of the buildings or rooms, the subtle differences at least make it interesting if not totally photo-worthy. There is so much space to roam around and so much to see. It is amazing. There are parts that I want to go back to check out and I will when the time comes.
I don't think I'll be going back because it is really fucking far away and the route is pretty desolate. It's a good two hour drive and that's just too far. I'd have to have a really good reason to go back again in the next month or two.
Gravity, it's not just a good idea, it's the law. |
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bonnie&clyde
    
location:
510 & 415
Cleverly disguised as responsible adults
| | Re: Fort Ord
<Reply # 1 on 10/4/2010 1:56 AM >
|  | | | You missed the jail and Impossible City. Those alone are reasons to go back. Clyde
The question is not when are we gonna stop, It's who's gonna stop us?
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jinx13
location:
Peninsula, San Francisco Bay Area
Gender: Male
| | Re: Fort Ord
<Reply # 2 on 10/4/2010 2:35 AM >
| | | | 
Ok, I know where the jail is. Where generally is Impossible City? Near the jail? Near the pool?
I guess I'll have to make time to go down again.
[last edit 10/4/2010 2:37 AM by jinx13 - edited 2 times]
Gravity, it's not just a good idea, it's the law. |
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The_Trooper
location:
San Diego, CA
Gender: Male
| | Re: Fort Ord
<Reply # 3 on 10/4/2010 2:52 AM >
| | | | I liked your story, should be nice having all that kind of cool shit in SF, here in SD aint much but slim pickins.
Though shots were tad grainy, what camera where you using? Try bumping down the ISO
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Calvin Kaneda
 
location:
West Coast Ninja/East Coast Pirate.
Gender: Male
| | Re: Fort Ord
<Reply # 4 on 10/4/2010 5:07 AM >
| | | | Yes, go back for the Jail and IC. You'll love them. If you go during the week it should be real easy to get into the jail. Like walk up and ask to go in and walk around easy.
When you travel to and explore IC, you'll need to be a bit more ninja, unless things have changed since I've been out there.
"By the prick of my thumb something wicked this way comes..."
"Under the cover of night, I travel across rooftops while you dream of adventure."
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jinx13
location:
Peninsula, San Francisco Bay Area
Gender: Male
| | Re: Fort Ord
<Reply # 5 on 10/4/2010 5:27 AM >
| | | | Posted by The_Trooper
I liked your story, should be nice having all that kind of cool shit in SF, here in SD aint much but slim pickins.
Though shots were tad grainy, what camera where you using? Try bumping down the ISO
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I went to USCD for my undergrad. I guess I'm glad I got out before I picked up this hobby.
As for the shots, I tried going with auto-iso for the first time because I thought it would speed up my picture taking. I won't do that again.
I'm still not all that great at judging what ISO to use but I'm definitely going back to my old method. I'm going out to Richmond again to practice my ISO judging. It's not that much a detour from driving to Berkeley.
I don't suppose you have some tip for me ;)
Gravity, it's not just a good idea, it's the law. |
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Fusspot
location:
Bay Area, CA
Gender: Female
Because... REASONS!
| | Re: Fort Ord
<Reply # 6 on 10/4/2010 6:28 AM >
| | | | I have to say, I try to be pretty cautious about parking in a less-than-conspicuous spot, but where Ord is concerned, I'll park right in front. There are so many things going on there at any given time, I don't think it's even looked at as remotely suspicious.
For the pool area, I park in the lot for the roller hockey building and walk in. And while I thought about it, I didn't go as far as Bonnie & Clyde by driving my car through the gaping hole in the fence near the glass warehouse, but I do park right in the lot nearby. And if you go back for the stockades, which you really should do, go during the week and it's really easy access. The guys in the yard are super cool.
Fort Ord is really one of the only places where I go exploring and really don't feel much anxiety about whether or not I'm going to get hassled. So yes, park closer and get more photo/explore time in! 
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decrepitude
location:
Norcal
Gender: Male
| | Re: Fort Ord
<Reply # 7 on 10/4/2010 4:31 PM >
| | | | Looks like ya had a good time. Exploring this place gets easier after a few times since you figure out most of the row buildings and barracks are all pretty much the same and avoid them. Make sure to get to the glass warehouse and adjacent shop area next time...more variety and some old machinery as well. Here's a pic of this intimidating structure.
1.
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The_Trooper
location:
San Diego, CA
Gender: Male
| | Re: Fort Ord
<Reply # 8 on 10/4/2010 5:39 PM >
| | | | Posted by jinx13
I went to USCD for my undergrad. I guess I'm glad I got out before I picked up this hobby.
As for the shots, I tried going with auto-iso for the first time because I thought it would speed up my picture taking. I won't do that again.
I'm still not all that great at judging what ISO to use but I'm definitely going back to my old method. I'm going out to Richmond again to practice my ISO judging. It's not that much a detour from driving to Berkeley.
I don't suppose you have some tip for me ;)
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Yeah, I'd just drop the ISO for outdoor shots/shots with a lot of lighting. And never ever use auto settings.
for outside shots use the lowest ISO setting, then if you have to in low light positions you can bump the iso, or have a longer exposure to get more light in.
I pretty much suck balls so thats about as far as I know, wish I could get better at it...
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bonnie&clyde
location:
510 & 415
Cleverly disguised as responsible adults
| | Re: Fort Ord
<Reply # 9 on 10/4/2010 5:58 PM >
| | | | Posted by Fusspot
And while I thought about it, I didn't go as far as Bonnie & Clyde by driving my car through the gaping hole in the fence near the glass warehouse, but I do park right in the lot nearby.
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Who us? Park right on site?
The question is not when are we gonna stop, It's who's gonna stop us?
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decrepitude
location:
Norcal
Gender: Male
| | Re: Fort Ord
<Reply # 10 on 10/4/2010 6:22 PM >
| | | |
LOL, you guys are hilarious. We've gotta go exploring soon.
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Fusspot
location:
Bay Area, CA
Gender: Female
Because... REASONS!
| | Re: Fort Ord
<Reply # 11 on 10/4/2010 6:44 PM >
| | | |
No! Never!  You two are awesome.
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decrepitude
location:
Norcal
Gender: Male
| | Re: Fort Ord
<Reply # 13 on 10/5/2010 12:53 AM >
| | | |
Really nice pics,definitely my favorite place to explore. Were you using gels, light painting or a combination of the two? Since I love low-light photo shoots I hafta do a good long night mission here one of these days.
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CaptainTonus
location:
San Diego, CA.
Gender: Male
| | Re: Fort Ord
<Reply # 14 on 10/11/2010 8:42 PM >
| | | | Great job covering this place. I got the chance to visit it last summer and I fell in love with it. I was only in town for a weekend, and had a very limited amount of time for exploring, but I did the best I could. It's a massive place. If I did it again, I'd devote an entire weekend just to exploring it, haha.
The thing that shocked me the most is how the people going to that school seem to completely ignore the fact that there is all this awesomeness surrounding them. I've never seen a brand-new library that I'm sure cost millions sitting next to some defunct barracks. Totally bizarre.
[last edit 10/11/2010 8:42 PM by CaptainTonus - edited 1 times]
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LostAmerica
location:
The West
| |  | Re: Fort Ord
<Reply # 15 on 10/11/2010 10:55 PM >
| | | | Posted by decrepitude
Really nice pics,definitely my favorite place to explore. Were you using gels, light painting or a combination of the two? Since I love low-light photo shoots I hafta do a good long night mission here one of these days.
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Thanks, yeah, it's all time-exposure-based night work with both gelled and ungelled light painting. You should explore the rest of my website.
www.lostamerica.com |
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petticat
location:
Milwaukee, WI
Gender: Female
| | Re: Fort Ord
<Reply # 16 on 10/11/2010 10:59 PM >
| | | | The church has been cleared out a lot since I went there July 25...
Looks like all the pews are gone...
We're all just trapped between the stippled earth and the stubbled sky. |
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CaptainTonus
location:
San Diego, CA.
Gender: Male
| | Re: Fort Ord
<Reply # 17 on 10/12/2010 5:25 PM >
| | | | Here's my pic of one of the chapels. This was taken back in June of 2009.
Not trying to bogart the thread, but if anyone wants to check out my pics from there, they can be seen here:
http://home.tiora....hp?path=Fort%20Ord
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mxxxpxxxxx
| | Re: Fort Ord
<Reply # 18 on 10/12/2010 8:23 PM >
| | | | Anybody from Berk-Oakland want to explore Fort Ord with me this week or next? Preferably somebody who's been there at least once, and knows where the cool stuff is (church, hospital). I'll do the driving.
I do photography.
[last edit 10/12/2010 8:27 PM by mxxxpxxxxx - edited 1 times]
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petticat
location:
Milwaukee, WI
Gender: Female
| | Re: Fort Ord
<Reply # 19 on 10/12/2010 9:54 PM >
| | | | That's really strange. The pews weren't there in '09, and I wonder why they bothered to put more in...either it was a really fast opening and closing of the church again...i really don't know. that's strange. Really weird.
We're all just trapped between the stippled earth and the stubbled sky. |
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