Abandoned Greenhouses - Part 2

A follow up on my previous blog post about this location. I thought about this location a lot in the intervening years, but despite a desire to return at dusk, it took me 5 years to actually do it. I’m not sure what my excuse was, a mixture of waiting for the right conditions/timings, as well as good old fashioned procrastination.

A constant reminder was the album artwork for The Dealer by Foxing, which uses a photo taken by Juuso Westerlund as part of his golden boys series. Great album and photo, it’s atmospheric, and also unsettling.

This shot is from 2023, I happened to be nearby, but couldn’t get there before it got dark. It was pitch black when I arrived and I didn’t fancy going in by myself to have a walk around, so I shot this through the fence. Shame to only come away with one photo, but I was relieved to know the greenhouses were still there.

Then last year I finally made it back at dusk, had a good wander round inside, and managed to get the shots I had been thinking about for years. In case it all seemed to be going too smoothly, my flash stopped working when I arrived, and I glumly thought that maybe it’s just not meant to be. But I have a little back up flash, and that had more than enough power these blue hour shots, so it all turned ok.

I thought about taking some longer exposures with the tripod - but apart from the fact I didn’t really want to hang there around longer than I needed to - there are no external light sources, so the photos would have just looked like daytime shots. I like how the flash gives that sharp contrast between the metal frames and the sky. I enjoy the freedom of shooting handheld, which was possible shooting wide open at f/2 and using ISO 1250-3200.

The main feeling when I was driving away was that of relief, I’d finally managed to get back, even if I never make it out again and they are bulldozed tomorrow, I know I won’t have that feeling of regret.