Reader's Comments - Index of - Free

Photographing Ruins
any use of telephoto lenses you may have had. A wide to short tele range goes without saying. I'd like to know if
you've ever had cause to use anything 200 or greater to compress images. Obviously these would come in handy for
isolating details, but I'm curious if you have any examples of landscape shots that you have compressed with a
telephoto.
-- James Clarke, January 11, 2003
First, great work Shaun. Lots of excellent new shots since I last went to your web site!
Since finding ruins is part of the trade, I won't give out to much, but one really basic step that I've learned is - ask the
locals! Most people know their neighborhoods. On a recent trip I was in Youngstown, Ohio photographing a steel
mill (the bankrupt CSC mill for you steel mill fans). When I got off the interstate I saw an industrial surplus store. I
picked the young alternative-looking lady at the counter to ask if there were any cool ruins in the area where I could
take pictures. She easily directed me to some buildings she knew that ended up being decent (a burned out cement
mill and some sort of small foundary). Note that I made some profiling-type assumptions about who and where to
ask- think about it a little and don't be afraid to ask several people- they can't close any doors.
-- Frank Abbato, May 17, 2003
Sunset over the ruins of the Ceusescu regime in Bucharest, Romania (in 2002).
I hope this known, at least to some readers. During the Ceausescu regime in Romania, large parts of the city were
"furnished" with new blocks of flats, corresponding to the view of the dictator on a better housing. In some cases,
place for them was made through demolishment of old and valuable urban substance, about which literature was
written.
http://www.photo.net/architectural/ruins/ (18 of 19)7/3/2005 2:17:50 AM