Posts Tagged ‘Abandoned House’

I’ve been wanting to make a run to West Virginia for quite a while. If you’re a regular on my blog you read in my last post that I headed that way a few weeks back but missed it by a few counties. Finally I decided to go for it on the last Saturday in January. Whenever I go out on one of my photo trips I try my best think about the cost of gas and plan the trip accordingly. This was not one of those well thought out trips! The first three hours were spent driving out route 32, which I had done just the weekend before.

Although I planned this trip to shoot six Mail Pouch barns I had located, as usual I found some other great shots along the way. I ran across the scene above on this old dirt road I probably shouldn’t have been on to begin with. After all I drove through a creek to get to it. I also ran across the Bob Evans Farm in Rio Grande, Ohio. When I saw the sign along Route 32 I thought about a Bob Evans menu I had seen of the Bob Evans logo painted on the side of an old barn so I figured I’d drive the few miles off the main path to check it out. Unfortunately I was let down. Either the barn I had seen on the menu was somewhere else or Photoshop trickery.

Even though I’m glad I finally made my West Virginia trip and had some good captures I have a feeling the “Mountain State” is still on my short list for the next trip. I think it will end up a weekender.

Here’s the entire gallery. Enjoy!

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I’ve been wanting to get into this Church along Freeman Avenue in downtown Cincinnati for a couple of years now. I actually went to shoot it about a year ago very early on a Saturday morning. I ended up not going in because as I approached the entrance I noticed fresh prints in the snow. As much as I enjoy shooting these old buildings, it’s not worth what may have been awaiting me in there. Of course it could have been my imagination I suppose. Still yet, I chickened out!

Having this place in the back of my mind ever since, I jumped at the chance to go shooting with another local “Abandoned” shooter. As a matter of fact this shooter happens to be a sort of a mentor of mine. I’ve appreciated his work for a while and always thought it would be great to shoot with him. After becoming FaceBook fans I would throw out the occasional comments on his shots and he asked about my stuff as well. All said and done we decided to meet up last Sunday and go shooting. I told him I had been wanting to shoot this Church for a while. Although he had shot it in the past we decided to meet up. I was excited about getting into this place. So much so that I “abandoned” my wife for part of the day… her birthday! Hopefully I made up for it later that day!

Once inside, I decided this place was worth the wait. I was surprised at the condition. Yes, it was beat up but I expected a lot more destruction. I actually only saw one bit of graffiti in the whole place. We were there about an hour, although I would like to have stayed longer. I’m not overly happy with what I came out with. I forgot to take my remote shutter release which is not a good thing in such low light and the fact that it was rather cold didn’t help the situation. I suppose I’ll just have to take another trip some time.

I want to thank my shooting friend for meeting up. I’d like to do it again sometime. I haven’t asked him about using his name so for now he’ll just have to remain a mystery.

Here’s the entire gallery. Enjoy!

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Back in June I did a “Photo Trip” up in the Preble County, Ohio area. If you missed that story you can check it out here.

I thought that I had covered Preble County pretty well until Betsy and I went camping with some of our friends a few weeks back. We camped at Natural Springs Resort outside of New Paris, Ohio and as usual I took a day and went for a “photo trip”. Again, I skipped church! We were camping with some friends from Betsy’s church, Saint Catherine’s and being the “good Catholics” they all are they packed up and went to mass on Sunday and I hit the road.

I only had one goal for this trip. The Geeting covered bridge west of Lewisburg, Ohio. But as luck would have it, my covered bridge shots would not be so easy to come by on that day. As I drove the 40 miles to the bridge the sky darkened as I drove into a storm. It had been quite a while since that part of Ohio had rain but the rainless streak was about to end. Mere moments before I got to the bridge the rain hit. I parked just off the side of the road and ran to the cover of the bridge with my gear to wait it out. After a half an hour of watching a downpour I decided to chance it and grab a few shots. As you’ll see in the gallery I didn’t do so well in capturing the bridge. So after a 40 mile drive and waiting out a rain storm I got nothing. I’ve posted some of the shots, but they’re not the best covered bridge shots I’ve ever done.

The drive back actually turned out to be the highlight of the day. I ran across a Mail Pouch barn that I didn’t expect. Always a good thing in my book! I also found an abandoned farmhouse, again, a good thing! But what turned out to be the find of the weekend was an Obama barn! I’ll try my best to leave out my political leanings but I can say that I found a sign that “counteracted” the Obama barn! Check out the gallery and you’ll find it!

Here’s the entire gallery. Enjoy!

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I try to take my “Photo Trips” on Saturdays as to not miss church, but this trip was a last minute decision after church on May 16th. It had been a while since I went shooting and was itching to get out, so I decided to head north towards Preble County Ohio to find a couple of covered bridges. The Brubaker covered bridge and the Roberts covered bridge.

As usual, I found much more to shoot along the way to my final “target”. For one, I ran across the partially abandoned Crystal Tissue Company’s factory just south of Middletown, Ohio. I seriously considered jumping the fence and shooting the inside, but Betsy has scared me into re-thinking trespassing with her threats of not coming to get me out of jail. I had to settle for shooting the water tower from outside the fence. Maybe I’ll go back one day!

I also ran across a couple of very cool abandoned farm house. One of which at the time it was abandoned was occupied by a retired U.S. Air Force officer. It was rather eerie walking into one of the upper bedrooms and seeing his uniform hanging on the closet door. I also found a box with his discharge papers and his military records in it. Sad to think of it, but all my uniforms and paperwork are in my attic. I’m hopeful that no one finds it when shooting photographs of an abandoned house in Fort Thomas in the future!

I also ran across a previously “undiscovered” Mail Pouch barn, although it’s more of a garage, and new, but all the same a Mail Pouch sign. And the last shot of the day was a rather sarcastic political statement of a local pizza parlor’s owner.

Here’s the entire gallery from my Preble County trip. Enjoy!

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I’ve always had a passion for old beer advertising and brewing items. I guess it’s from my mom being an antique dealer for so many years and taking us along on our own family versions of “American Pickers”. I remember getting up very early one Saturday every month packing up and going to the Burlington, Kentucky antique show. It was way back then that I started my addition to old beer signs. Although my collection of brewery goodies is long gone, my fascination with Cincinnati’s brewing history still remains.

With it’s wave of German immigrants in the 1880s Cincinnati quickly became the brewing capital of world. The Hudepohl Brewing Company was established in 1885 by one such immigrant, Ludwig Hudepohl II. By the time prohibition hit, Hudepohl was one of the top 5 breweries in the city. Here’s a timeline of Cincinnati brewing history.

This Hudepohl facility was built in 1946 and operated until 1987 when the production was relocated to the Schoenling Brewing Company’s plant on Central Parkway in Cincinnati. In 2007 demolition of the building began but has since been halted for what reason I’m not sure.

I actually started this past Saturday morning with a trip to an abandoned military facility in Indiana in mind but decided I didn’t really feel up to  driving 2 hours with the possibility of not gaining access so decided instead to run over the the Hudepohl plant. I’m glad I did! This turned out to be one of my best abandoned explorations to date. I even met a couple of new friends that were there shooting, and it’s always nice to have someone with you in an old structure like this.

Here’s the entire gallery. Enjoy!

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Camping season has begun! Betsy and I went to Big Bone State Park this past weekend and took a short trip to Rabbit Hash on Saturday. If you know anything about Rabbit Hash you know it really isn’t much more than an old general store on the Ohio River, yet it attracts thousands of visitors every year. On any given Saturday during the summer months you may see a couple hundred people in the sleepy little town.

Since I have already taken the “typical” Rabbit Hash shot (the exterior of the general store) I wanted to shoot some of the details of the town that are uniquely Rabbit Hash. Take a look at this gallery and hopefully it will inspire you to take your own trip to Rabbit Hash. But if you do, be prepared to “slow down”. Because in Rabbit Hash, you can’t help but slow down and relax!

Here’s the whole gallery. Enjoy!

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After a long weekend doing things I “had” to do, cutting grass, getting the camper ready for the summer, and cleaning the garage, I decided Sunday after dinner it was time to do something I “wanted” to do, shoot some photos!

A friend of mine who shall remain nameless as he would be upset that he suggested I break the law by trespassing, and he’s a “man of the cloth” to boot, told me about an abandoned factory on the Loveland Bike Trail. After some Google work I found out the factory is the remains of the Peters Cartridge Company. Here’s some information on the company: Peters Cartridge Company.

So I drive up to Loveland and get out only to find two guys standing there shooting some cellphone photos. They seemed into it so I asked if they wanted to “explore” with me. They were up for it, although the one guy seemed a bit paranoid about the many warning signs! After being “greeted” by a very nice guard dog, no kidding, we found a way in. We explored the first two floors seemingly keeping an eye on each other for safety’s sake when somewhere between the second and third floors I realized they were gone! I think the one guy talked the other into leaving! So I was on my own, although I did have my trusty (not), iPhone should something bad happen.

Waiting till after dinner turned out to be a not so good decision as the light was very harsh, although some of the shots are better with the harsh light. In general I would have preferred more even lighting so there may be a return trip in my future.

This turned out to be the “mother of all explorations” for me. I’ve seen more interesting abandoned places in the way of colors and textures, but this wins the “really huge abandoned building” award. At times I felt like I was in a submarine, yet I was quite a few floors above the ground. If you look at the tower you’ll see a set of windows right below the “P”. That’s how far I made it before I decided I was pushing my luck!

I hope you enjoy these shots as much as I enjoyed shooting them, and stay tuned for a return visit with better lighting conditions, and next time I’ll go to the basement!

Here’s the entire gallery. Enjoy!

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Yes, another abandoned house! It’s been a while since I’ve posted a new gallery and I haven’t shot much lately so I thought I’d dig into the archives. I shot this house in May of 2007, when it became exposed from it’s long hideout on a hillside in Newport, Kentucky. As far back as I can remember this house was abandoned. I remember wondering why it was abandoned when it always appeared to be in good shape. It was at the bottom of Grand Avenue across from Blockbuster video, and when I shot these photos it had been exposed due to construction of the new Krogers in Newport. The hill that this house sat on has since been totally leveled, making way for the Kroger and a soon to be Target. The same development that took this house that had been empty for years also took dozens of occupied houses at the same time, one of which some relatives of mine lived in. I shot their house right before it was destroyed. Maybe I’ll dig those out soon and share.

Here’s the entire gallery. Enjoy!

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