The Re-Edit

In the early days of my exploration journey i was inspired by the grungy nasty HDR images that i was seeing on the exploration forums and Flickr so it was obvious that i was going to travel down this path with my photography………..and I loved it. To be honest i still do but in the last 12 months I have kind of toned down the heavy processing for a more realistic image.

Below are 2 identical images  processed 18mnths apart. I would love to hear your comments and views, which do you guys prefer.

SEPTEMBER 2011 / March 2013

Cheers

Critical Out!!

My New Shop

My New Shop

Just set up an ETSY shop, why don’t you go take a look. It’s still in it’s infancy so more shots and sizes will be added real soon. Would love any feedback you have to offer

Bristol Street Art

I have been wanting to visit Bristol and check out some of the amazing street art that covers the city for a while now. I finally made the effort of the 3.5hr drive which has been the only thing that has held me back. It was awesome to see some of the pieces in the flesh that I have admired from the web!

Walking In Potters Footsteps

Gloucester’s historic cathedral cloisters were
transformed into the corridors of Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the films of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

A Different Perspective

It always good to return to a location and totally see it from a new perspective. Totally missed this view on my first visit as I went for the more commonly seen shots of this location.

The Best Seat In The House

Fierce winds and white knuckles! I was holding on for dear life.

Cheers

Critical Out!!

The Little Things

When exploring abandoned chateau’s / villa’s it’s the little things that are left behind that tell the story. They give you a little snippet into the life that was once lived within the four walls. I am never really comfortable exploring such locations, I get a sense that the owners will walk through the door at any given minute as if they had just nipped out for bread and milk.

Such possessions don’t usually last very long in these abandoned dwellings as they are subjected to looters and vandals who care more about profit and destruction rather that the documentation of such beauty.

 

 

Thanks For Looking!

Critical Out!

The Launchpad

Neglected the blog a little bit in recent weeks,  kids and a UE trip to Belgium was partly the cause. Anyway excuses outta the way, Belgium was an epic place and a managed to shoot too may pictures ( can you ever shoot too many? ) so expect regular posts from this trip and I’ll start here.

Cooling Tower I.M

A cooling tower from an abandoned power plant. Steam comes in and condenses to form hot water which is the pumped to the top of the tower and sprayed out. It falls down the middle and along the walls and into the hole. While the water moves downwards it heats up the air in the tower, which then rises, drawing in more cool air at the bottom to replace it. At the bottom the water is cool enough to go back to the power plant. Sometimes the water becomes super saturated and so it looks like fog/smoke rising out of the top.

This is the second cooling tower I have been inside and you never get over the enormity of these buildings until it is witnessed in the flesh.

 

 

Critical Out!

On Top Of The World

Slight change of direction from a usual Saturday afternoon, which would normally find me at “Casa Mass” listening or watching the football. “Come climb this mountain with me it will be fun” he said. Well it’s safe to say our ideas of fun are somewhat on totally different levels.

There are numerous ways to reach the top of Snowdon but by far the most challenging and quite scary for the mountaineering noob ( like myself ) is via “Crib Goch”.

On the right is the path down, that was the easy bit, it was the knife edge walk along the top and the climb to get up there!! Not for the faint hearted.

I must admit though I am glad I took up this mini challenge as the views were simply breathtaking and the feeling of accomplishment even greater.

The above shot needs to be seen big so click the link below or full effect….oh VIEW LARGE!!

CLICK HERE

Big shout to Mr Morris ( below ) for organizing the trip, I owe you one!!

It was my first and mountain and will be my last for a while but it was worth every footstep!!

Critical Out!!

 

The Cliché

If you browse through any explorers photo-stream you will undoubtedly come across the lonely chair. The majority of explores have them in one shape or another. An old Asylum will somewhere have a broken down, decaying wheelchair. Hospitals will have some sort of operating chair, a dentist chair perhaps. Whatever shape or form they come in you can guarantee an explorer has photographed it, and I am no different.

As the title says, it’s a cliché but at the same time a classic. All these chairs are some indication of occupancy. The wheelchair would have had someone in it being pushed, the dentist chair would ( if it was me ) have a screaming patient squirming in it.

…and last but by no means least one of my all time fav “Urbex” shots

As long as there is a forlorn chair cast aside in the depths of these dilapidated buildings , there is a shot waiting to go on my photostream.

This post is dedicated to my urbex buddy “Shando”, enjoy dude!!

Critical Out!