Looking for location for Automotive shoot near DC

[supraman215]

Any DC based automotive photographers know any good locations. thinking industrial looking, possibly abandoned. Should be close to Fairfax county.

Sorry for posting in the beginner forum not really sure this is the appropriate place.

Jeff

 

[snowbear]

I can think of a couple, east of the Potomac, but you're likely to get car- and camera-jacked.
There might be something around Landmark or Springfield - I haven't been over there in quite a while.

Closer to (your) home would be Wilmington, DE.

 

[supraman215]

I'm going to be near a town called Vienna VA. I don't want to go to any crack spots or high crime areas. So that would be important. I would even consider a legit, cool looking office building that was occupied, it would be on a weekend anyway so no one would be there.

Jeff

 

[Nevermore1]

Landmark shopping center may work. I think only the main dept stores are still open. You won't find much in the Vienna area. Things usually don't stay empty for long in this area. Most office building parking lots in the area have security to keep people out on the weekend.

 

[supraman215]

Yeah security I'm not as worried about, since they won't try to rob me. If I can get a solid 15-30 mins before they come rolling by that would suffice even if they tell me to leave. Thinking of a parking garage roof of a commuter parking lot. Should be empty on the weekend, though no cool looking buildings around, suppose I could add them in post.

 

[JoeW]

Okay, I've got a bunch of comments.

1. Vienna, VA (and the surrounding area) is extremely safe. You're talking all upper-middle class neighborhoods with expensive houses. In fact, you're more likely to have a police officer/unit stop your shoot to ask what you're doing than you are likely to see any potential threat.

2. Landmark is a shopping mall with a big parking deck. I wouldn't go there b/c I believe mall security patrols the lots and garage and it's all private territory so they could stop you from shooting.

3. Here are a couple of locations to check out:
--Industrial Road in Springfield (inside the Beltway and north of I-95/395, near Backlick Road). It's a lot of old industrial parks, the abandoned Washington Gas headquarters (which is fenced up), a small gravel quarry...definitely a gritty, work (as opposed to residential) feel and not many people around on a weekend.
--If you are willing to do a parking garage and you want something close by, then try the parking deck at the Vienna Metro.
--In Fairfax City off of "Old Picket Road" (which branches off of "Pickett Road" and is near Fairfax Circle and a Home Depot), there is a safe yet very gritty area with a gravel plant that I believe is closed on weekends, next to a Volvo repair shop and a Home Depot. If that doesn't work for you, around Fairfax Circle there are a series of small businesses...I'm thinking particular of a marble counter shop that has a bunch of dust and rubble in front of their gates with lots of space in the parking lot before the gates. Definitely an abandoned or decayed look to it.
--Check out behind the Home Depot in the Mosaic District off of Lee Highway in Merrifield. It is full of small businesses (furniture repair, granite counters, industrial lighting). Some look very gritty, not much in the way of signage, lots of parking lots, many will be closed on a Sunday or even a Saturday (since some of them are BtB). This is pretty close to Vienna btw.

Now, be warned...there are plenty of places that look industrial or abandoned. But this is Northern Virginia. Property is worth a premium. So there are people everywhere. If you're thinking of doing a shoot with a beautiful girl in lingerie perched on top of a 57 Camaro, you will draw a crowd in any built-on space you go in Northern Virginia.

 

[Nevermore1]

There isn't much left behind the Home Depot in Dunn Loring (Mosaic), most of that has been built up and it gets pretty busy on the weekends now. There may be an area there that you are aware of that I'm not though. Very good suggestions.

 

[supraman215]

Thanks so much joe that's so helpful. I was also thinking the parking garage at the Vienna metro station since its in my friend's neighborhood. But i'll look into the other ones.

 

[TheStunch]

57 Camaro? anywho, maybe i missed it, what kind of car is it? and what style, if any, is it modified to?

I do alot of stance shoots, and sometimes i can barely get those cars in and out of places, due to rough speed bumps or pot hole filled roads, in fact once i almost blew a shoot because the car had scheduled was so low and so stanced that it was difficult to even get it into a gas station, let alone any cool places to shoot, so that may be a consideration for you, if the car is down near the earth

also, sometimes, if you can't find a good spot, due to whatever reason, don't over look great spots on the side of the road. here's a photo of the previously mentioned low car, taken from a cool spot at the side of the road because navigating uptown almost got us high centered, lol:

with a bit of creative thinking, even a nice part of town can serve as a unique backdrop for some good shots, if you're still short on shooting locations.

 

[supraman215]

Nothing stanced, it's a totally stock '14 S4. That's a really neat background. But that could be a lot of driving around to find street parking. I was also thinking nighttime instead of daytime depending on the weather.

 

[TheStunch]

mmm indeed, no parking troubles, looking at a long exposure, I reckon, might do ok, further out with some skyline as a backdrop, maybe using a freeway as a divider, maybe you could get some sweet light trails in there. I found a parking lot that was positioned so that the Dallas skyline was nice and in frame, so that the parking lot itself was kind of a drag, but at night it became a great place to shoot, maybe there's something like that near you?
(pic for reference)

somewhere I have a shot that better utilizes the back drop but you get the idea, parking lot is mostly empty, not terribly scenic, but at night it's THE place to photo this type of shot. lol, looking at it, maybe i should clone out the other car in the scene XD

 

[supraman215]

I was going to bring some strobes, and do some light painting with multiple layers. We might end up doing twilight instead of night not sure yet. No idea what the weather will be.

 

[TheStunch]

that could end up looking really solid, please post results! Also, love your home photography, makes me want to buy a new house, lol

 

[supraman215]

Thanks. I really like the work done in this video though it's not exactly what i'm going to try to do it's close. How to light paint a car and composite in Photoshop - YouTube it's going to be sort of a variation on a theme. i still like the 3/4 view vs. the square side view I think it looks more aggressive especially with a UWA lens.

 

[Braineack]

I'm dying to shoot here:

Phoenix Dr - Google Maps

If you look at the street view from 66, it's a bunch of apandoned buildings compleley plastered in graffiti. Problem is it may be gated and I've seen a cop sitting out front from time to time.