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The first thing that struck me about the Harding-Jones Paper Mill was the age of the building. Most of the buildings I had explored up to that point were mainly from the 20th century; this was presented as one from the Civil War era. Of course, now know that this is not true; while the company was founded in 1865, the mill that stood was from 1871. But still, getting the chance to explore something from the mid-19th century was a real treat. Plus, it is one that is easy to explore and, despite structural concerns, an easy mark with a lot of history tiedRead More →

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The local explorer scene called it George’s Funhouse; I’m not sure why or who George is or was, but one thing is for sure, the American Enka company in Lowland, TN, was a lot of fun. While INAAP was a much larger space to explore, it had nothing on the Lowland plant in terms of the amount left and the variety of items left. Lowland offered up everything in a smaller but much more densely packed location, as someone who loved the ample empty space, along with some exciting things to see and read. The American Enka Company traces itself back to the Netherlands andRead More →

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When you hear the term subway, you tend to think about long stretches of tunnels that run trains mostly underground. But that is only sometimes the case; if you look at the TTC’s subway system, a great deal runs above ground but below grade. And that’s the key; you can also call roads that run under train tracks ‘subways’, but what does this all have to do with Rochester? Context being everything, the Rochester Subway, or simply “The Subway”, was a rapid transit system that mainly ran below grade. It was one of many rapid transit systems that grew in the United States through theRead More →

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I have far surpassed one hundred and fifty camera reviews and one hundred film reviews, my other two reviews being lenses and developers have only made it to the big fifty this year. If you read my previous post on lens reviews these are my least favourite. And while I rather enjoy creating film and camera reviews the most, developer reviews come in as the third favourite. The reason being is that I have the most amount of freedom connected to their creation. And while I’m working on a full post on how I write developer reviews, this post is about looking back at theRead More →

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You may have a couple of questions when looking at this review. First, haven’t I already reviewed Kodak Tri-X? To answer that, yes, it was one of the earliest films I reviewed, but this isn’t 400TX. This is Tri-X Pan or 320TXP/TXP, a more classic version of the modern classic emulsion. The second is, how can it be a classic review if the emulsion is still being made? Again, the sheet format of 320TXP is still in production, but the roll film was discontinued in 2010. But I quickly learned that I shot this film a lot more in sheet format than roll film format,Read More →

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If you had to pick the epicentre of abandoned buildings in the American Rust Belt, many cities can claim that title. The 1970s were not kind to North American industry, and cities like Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit and many more still feel the sting of that troubled decade. Then there is Gary, Indiana; you can throw a rock in many parts of Gary and break the window of an abandoned building. And despite the stories I had heard about the city being a murder capital with rampant crime and watching not only your car but your wallet. I never once felt uncomfortable in Gary, unlike Detroit,Read More →

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I was more familiar with Robert Preston in his final role as Centauri in The Last Starfighter but my mom and my wife will always sing the line “Gary, Indiana” from the movie “The Music Man” and while it might have tripped along softly on the tongue this way. The city of Gary today is a far cry from what it once was in the early 20th Century. This boom steel town has seen its highs and is now in its lows. I would have loved to include every building I explored in Gary in my “Between Darkness & Light” Series, the simple fact isRead More →

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Regarding locations, the former Indiana Army Ammunition Plant is by far the largest location I ever explored and only a tiny percentage of the total area. This massive factory is terribly repeatable, as it was designed to be an enormous plant for the production of smokeless powder during the Second World War. Based on what I’ve read and seen, I spent almost all the time at the Indiana Ordnance Works No. 1 and a bit of the Hoiser Ordnance Works. Either way, this was a single location I spent five hours at, but I still feel that I only saw a little but at theRead More →

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Urban explorers always have a grail location or a favourite type of location. For many in the northeast of the United States, these locations are related to the treatment of mental illness. Now, I use the term ‘treatment’ loosely because of the long and rather cruel methods used in the past. While many were seen as humane compared to earlier treatments, in our modern context, they are rather terrible. Here in Ontario, we don’t have many abandoned mental hospitals. Most have been torn down and replaced with modern facilities or reverted back to their historical form. I had never explored many mental hospitals, and allRead More →

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While not many people would notice it, but when watching a film, and you come across this amazing sequence in black & white, the rich tones across the board, and just a classic cinematic look and wonder, how can I make my still images look that good! Well if you are watching a film shot on traditional film stock the answer is rather easy, Eastman Double-X 5222. Chances are you’ve seen a film shot on this stock, such as the opening sequence of Casino Royale or Shindler’s List. I first came across Double-X a few years back when I purchased some rolls through the FilmRead More →