my first abandoned house

[STM]

Since you now have access to this house I would suggest you go back there and take some images from more unique and out of the ordinary perspectives. All of these images are very "pedestrian". Change your viewpoint, high or low and work with lighting. Look for the unusual rather than the usual as you have done here. Look for objects of the house with texture and shoot them. Peeling paint on a window sill, reflections in a dirty and, broken pane of glass, etc.

Also, work with black and white too. Black and white is a thousand times more powerful and expressive a medium than color!

What about shooting with less light? After the sun goes down? Would that not add something to these images?

Absolutely, why not? Why not try and find a particularly spooky looking side of the house or a room and shoot it by moonlight and convert it to black and white? Don't look for the ordinary in the image, look for the out of the ordinary in images. I like to approach things like that from a more abstract perspective. That is what makes an image art rather than just a snapshot!

That room with the overturned overstuffed chair? Turn the chair over and shoot it late in the day with light falling on it from the window and other parts in shadow? Zero in on just the chair and the window and do it in black and white. If you want, add some "noise" in PS to make it look like a black and white image and up the contrast. Like I said, don't look for the ordinary, look for the EXTRA-ordinary!

 

[iPhoto17]

thanks for the tips everyone, only problem i had was that its on a busy road and easy to spot people in the house, if i can ill go back and shoot black and white like i used to and frame up my shots more carefully, i just wanted to get in and get out wthout getting caught

 

[Netskimmer]

People just driving by aren't usually the ones calling the cops. If there are neighbors nearby you could try asking them who owns the property so you can get permission. If they don't know the owner and they see you out there afterwards they will probably assume you have gotten permission. They are also less like to rat you to the cops if they know you are just taking pictures for fun and not using drugs or otherwse up to no good over there. Even if the cops do catch you taking pics the worse thing they usually do is ask you to leave.

 

[iPhoto17]

i was shooting pictures on an old run down bridge and someone called the cops on me thinking i was shooting a gun off the bridge, it was a bit creepy too after i left i heard a door slam shut from the direction of the houseits not like i was the one who put the shotgun in the outside wall

the only neighbors near by were some town houses a couple hundred feet away, it was just a weed in a field of roses with al the new town houses up

 

[Netskimmer]

I can see someone being concerned about someone standing over a bridge pointing a long black object. Did the cops hassle you?

 

[iPhoto17]

I can see someone being concerned about someone standing over a bridge pointing a long black object. Did the cops hassle you?

we had just finished the shoot and as soon as we got back in the car a cop car with his spotlight on came around the corner flashed his blues at as and got out with his gun drawn, patted me down and everyone else stayed in the car, he was cool with it as soon as he noticed there werent any guns and gave us more haunted locations to shoot at

 

[Starskream666]

Looks like you're pitching a messy abandoned house in the house finder newspaper.

 

[Netskimmer]

Most cops won't give you too much greif as long as you maintain the proper attitide. It can often be a balancing act between being cooperative and having the interaction go smoothly and excersing your rights and potentially pissing off the cops. I have had far more positive enteraction than negative ones thus far. (knocks on wood)

 

[iPhoto17]

thats good, only thing is that i didnt see the keep out sign by order of mecklenburg county on the front door until i left the house, but i didnt get caught and it was a great experience even if i didnt have my camera with me

 

[iPhoto17]

these two came out pretty good in black and white