Anyone shoot in a scrap yard?

[mark]

Scouted a scrap yard today. I was planning to ask the owners if I could go in and shoot but I was seriously overwhelmed. So much stuff. So many opportunities. It was hard to focus.

Anyone here ever shot in a scrap yard? If so how did you seperate the trees from the forest?

 

[erikg]

Yes. Go slow. But get the permission first, no place around here will let anyone on the property any more. I\'d love to get back to one place, too bad.

 

[bwrules]

If it's a junk yard, climb into one of the cars if it's safe, and shoot out the cracked windshield or something.

 

[Jeff Kubach]

If you looking for a good scrap yard come over to my garage!

Jeff

 

[CGW]

Active scrap/salvage/recycling businesses aren't usually very welcoming. They're busy, dirty, sometimes dangerous places whose owners aren't keen on having civilians onsite. I've had better luck at older, slower, half-dead yards. Here in Canada(esp. Ontario), environmental regulations force old yards to clean-up or close, especially the latter if they're in the way of housing developers. I've had better luck shooting on and around old farms, frankly.

 

[Rick A]

Old salvage yards are fantastic places to shoot, I haven't been in one in years. I love to roam the freight yards, permission is getting harder to obtain though. there is an old PRR railroad repair shop about an hour from my home, I would love to spend a day there.

 

[Nicholas Lindan]

Bret Weston was certainly a fan of junk yards.
http://www.johnclearygallery.com/Brett_Weston/brett_weston_broken_glass_photo.php
http://www.edward-weston.com/brett_weston_original_1.htm
http://www.artnet.com/artwork/425973419/119642/brett-weston-cracked-paint-garrapata.html
Automobile paint just doesn't age like it used to...

 

[vpwphoto]

I have actually been paid several times to photograph a recycling yard. It is a treat. Be careful, and don't trespass.
I do figure if you ask they will say no... I had to wear hard-hat, steel toes and safety glasses.

 

[paul_c5x4]

Get yourself a pair of steel toe cap boots, high viz vest, hard hat, and safety glasses - Then go ask. Working scrap yards are dangerous places and if the guy in charge can see you take safety seriously, you have a better chance of getting in.

 

[vpwphoto]

Even on assignment a handler was close by.... and dang those places are dirty! The place I photographs handles all the scrap metal from the Subaru Zero land fill plant here in Lafayette, Indiana. I have also been asked to photograph it from the air twice. You can see a couple scrap-yard images on my home-page www.vincentseye.com

 

[tony lockerbie]

We have a car scrap yard near to here (S.E. OZ) that has become a bit of a magnet to photographers. The switched on owner now charges $10.00 for you to photograph in there, which suits me fine, as you can easily spend a day in these places!
I find that you need to walk around for a while just to get a "feel" for the subjects, and they are everywhere.

 

[keithwms]

Macro heaven!

 

[mark]

I was actually looking for something and they told me to drive around until I found it. Big scrap yard small town mentality. I drove the whole lot. It was great.

 

[dehk]

Seperate the trees?! you worry too much, just go shoot.

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

Macro heaven!

And pinhole heaven!

 

[Mike Wilde]

Active scrap/salvage/recycling businesses aren't usually very welcoming. They're busy, dirty, sometimes dangerous places whose owners aren't keen on having civilians onsite. I've had better luck at older, slower, half-dead yards. Here in Canada(esp. Ontario), environmental regulations force old yards to clean-up or close, especially the latter if they're in the way of housing developers. I've had better luck shooting on and around old farms, frankly.

Here in Toronto, behind where Elevator used to be on Industrial in Leaside there is a scrap metal yard. They do not welcome shooters. Bob Carnie has been chased out before (more than once). A lot of what they have is shredded and compressed/bent bits that are neat abstactions. Go on a Sunday morning when the sun is rising. A lot of the stuff can be viewed from a rial siding that runs between Industrial St and Commercial Road.

I would love to get into Cooksville Auto Wreckers, in Mississuaga. There are a ton of vehicles, wierdly enough, in the middle of the City. Regretably, they keep it well fenced both physically and visually. I suspect the soil is contaminated enough no one wants to buy them out yet, for the cost of the remediation.

I have heard of a scrap yard out Bowmaville/Kingston way off of the 401 that has cars from the 30's and 40's with forests growing up through them.

Off of 9th line here in west Missisauga there are a few land holdings with good collections of old derelict trucks and farm machinery between Brittania and Derry, that you get a glimpse fo as you zoom north on the 407. I have yet to find the time to see how one might negotiate access. Their buildings that front along 9th Line seem to be going concerns.

 

[Bob Carnie]

Well Mike outed me

I have been shooting in a scrap yard for about 7 years , until I got caught on a Sunday morning two years ago, the place is right behind my old shop with no fence.
Took me a year to get up the guts to go back , I took into the management a few really nice prints and basically got their permission to walk around their yard and collect as much metal objects as I wanted. These I took up north to a daylight studio as well a skylight studio in my shop, I have been shooting these objects on table top now for a couple of years.
I also sent a framed print to a very large metal crushing operation in Ontario , they are willing to let me walk around anytime I want and I plan to do this over the next couple of years. They also will allow me to place objects in the crusher, I can think of a few on this site so if I invite you to meet me be careful.
To date I have around 1500 image that I use as source for my solarization work and next I plan to make some small silver edition prints .
I do not condone breaking into the yards , one reason its illegal, two big dogs.
I have moved from handholding medium format to tripod 4x5 and will continue this way for the next couple of years. If I ever do get access to the crusher I think I will move to 8x0 with some lighting.
I have photographed in the Car Graveyard that Mike speaks of , very interesting place, but unfortunately the crusty old owner passed away a year ago and I think the whole property will be sold .
This man placed every car/truck side by side and the growth around each car makes it look like a huge jungle land parking lot. He did not pile one on the other like most junk yards, kind of like giving a resting place for these vehicles.

 

[CGW]

Here in Toronto, behind where Elevator used to be on Industrial in Leaside there is a scrap metal yard. They do not welcome shooters. Bob Carnie has been chased out before (more than once). A lot of what they have is shredded and compressed/bent bits that are neat abstactions. Go on a Sunday morning when the sun is rising. A lot of the stuff can be viewed from a rial siding that runs between Industrial St and Commercial Road.

I would love to get into Cooksville Auto Wreckers, in Mississuaga. There are a ton of vehicles, wierdly enough, in the middle of the City. Regretably, they keep it well fenced both physically and visually. I suspect the soil is contaminated enough no one wants to buy them out yet, for the cost of the remediation.

I have heard of a scrap yard out Bowmaville/Kingston way off of the 401 that has cars from the 30's and 40's with forests growing up through them.

Off of 9th line here in west Missisauga there are a few land holdings with good collections of old derelict trucks and farm machinery between Brittania and Derry, that you get a glimpse fo as you zoom north on the 407. I have yet to find the time to see how one might negotiate access. Their buildings that front along 9th Line seem to be going concerns.

Dropped my terminally-ill Subaru off at Cooksville last week. It's not quite what you imagine, Mike. They strip/crush/recycle cars. Parts harvesting is where the money is, followed by bulk scrapping of what's left. There's not really a sprawling vista of rusting hulks.It was very un-photogenic, trust me. That sort of yard, where it still exists, will be very rural.

 

[benjiboy]

Many times, one of my sons lives in South Wales and took me here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodham_Brothers which to me is the ultimate scrapyard and is often referred to by enthusiasts as " he Valley Of The Kings"