I'm not getting as much time as I'd like to post to Hive. Having a break over Christmas hopefully will give me more time and inclination to post!
Today was Christmas Day; I didn't fancy sitting at home watching shite TV and eating shite food that'll make me fatter than I already am. This morning, the light outside looked OK so I made an effort and travelled to the Realstone Ltd works. I knew it as Bolehill Quarry but I always thought Bolehill Quarry was at least 10 miles away. It turns out there are two Bolehill Quarries and I'd been looking in the wrong place!
I understand the quarry went out of business in 2017 and is for sale. There has been some attempts to secure the buildings but it was easy enough to get in. There were certain parts of the complex I wouldn't want to gain access to either, such is the state of the place!
As I entered the complex of buildings, I decided to shoot entirely in JPG format instead of my usual RAW process. So apologies in advance to those that hate selective colour images! Some photographers I know hate selective colour with a vengeance but it turns out my Sony A7iii has a specific mode for that!
Here's a selection of what I got, no editing, sharpening, levels adjustments or cropping have been done to the following:
The Green
In the Sony A7iii settings there's an option to allow one colour tone to stand out, in this case green tones.
The Grey Chair
Selecting the green only in the settings:
A future lightpainting image
In these abandoned buildings, I'm often looking for points of view or subjects for future re-visits in the dark. With this one, there is going to be a silhouette in the far doorway and the dirty plastic curtains are going to be lit!
Saturate
In the JPG settings on the Sony A7iii, it's possible to boost saturation. I've been a big fan of Kodachrome 64 film in my youth and I've been looking at simulating the 'look' for a while. I think I may have overdone it!
Behind Bars
The trouble with shooting JPG is that I'm used to shooting in RAW format on the Sony A7iii and the massive dynamic range you get. In the JPG's from the Sony, the dynamic range is noticeably lower. In this shot I would have boosted the darker parts to bring out some details but here under-exposed also works.
Always in search of a leading line
I've been reading up on composition lately in order to improve what I shoot. I stood in front of this scene today for ages looking at every element. I don't know if I succeeded with the leading line but the colours are certainly popping with the JPG settings.
A hint of yellow
I spotted this narrow doorway which made a great frame. I turned the selective colour mode to yellow and got this subtle effect which I quite liked.
A hint of green
With the green selective colour settings, I was surprised not to find the green more prominent.
A hint of red
The red setting left a nice tone but the mono parts of the frame turned out nicely too.
Monochrome and the no go offices
When urban exploring, I have a filter. A personal filter in my head that says, no way am I going in there! This was one such building. The offices were trashed but also full of white powdery detritus from the fallen plaster. I've done enough asbestos health and safety courses at work to know that this place was a no go!
I stayed outside.....
Not everything works shooting in JPG
This is a dark corner of an old workshop in the quarry. The dark areas were really dark and I knew that shooting in JPG wouldn't work. If I pushed the exposure in the darker places, the bench would have been a noisy mess. I decided to shoot in RAW, exposed for the light outside and pushed the darker bits in post process.
About me:
I usually specialise in shooting lightpainting images but occasionally dabble in urbex and artistic model photography. I'm always on the lookout for someone to collaborate with; please don't hesitate to get in touch if you'd like to create art.
Social Media
https://www.facebook.com/fastchrisuk
https://www.flickr.com/photos/fastchris/
