Request for comments - Eastern State Penitentiary

09/09/2006 03:29:05 PM · #1

Last weekend I took the family to Eastern State Penitentiary, which is an amazing photo opportunity. This prison opened in 1829 and was closed in 1971. It's considered to be the first true penitentiary. It used solitary confinement as a form of rehabilitation. This prison was home to Al Capone at one point.

Please do me the favor of viewing and commenting here. Much appreciated!

Message edited by author 2006-09-09 15:29:42.

09/09/2006 07:38:07 PM · #2

Bump for the evening.

Mattel Barbie Photo Designer Digital Camera

09/09/2006 08:00:14 PM · #3

Eugene,

I took a quick look - It's remarkable how beautiful decay can be. Your photographs are even better than the real thing. Hope you enjoyed the outing in my neighborhood.

Think about attending the Halloween festivities - this event brings out very strange people - good opportunity to practice night photos.

-Mary

Prof_Fate

09/09/2006 10:02:00 PM · #4

We were in Phila about a month ago on vacation and wanted to go very much...but no one under 7 is allowed in (Why?) and our kids are 5 and 3. I guess it's a reason to come back!

digitalknight

09/09/2006 10:18:09 PM · #5

might be worth the $500 to take a couple of models in there - what a great location!

But then there's the million dollar insurance policy too - hmmm link

All the locations I find here are full of ruble, so I have to clean them out before the girls/guys show up to model - sometimes it seems like it might be worth the extra cash to shoot in a clean place that is still cool.

09/09/2006 10:42:17 PM · #6

Originally posted by Prof_Fate:

We were in Phila about a month ago on vacation and wanted to go very much...but no one under 7 is allowed in (Why?) and our kids are 5 and 3. I guess it's a reason to come back!

Lots of saftey hazards. You must sign a waiver just to enter. Did really read it. I could have given over rights to my first born for all I know. lol

The formost concern that I could see is LOTS of peeling white paint, IOW lead dust everywhere.

Originally posted by digitalknight:

They had a contest that the submission deadline was days before I went where part of the prize is an all access photographers day pass, the same pass you mention.

//www.easternstate.org/events/photo_contest.html

DOH! I should have read that better. The 9/1 deadline is only if mailing entries! Kill me now!

Prof_Fate

09/09/2006 10:57:34 PM · #7

Originally posted by digitalknight:

99% of photog insurance includes that. I don't yuet have it...the cheapest I can find is $350,and the insurance worth having is $575.

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR

09/09/2006 11:14:44 PM · #8

Ok... Judi's convinced me that I still have time to pull this off, so I'M GOING FOR IT. I need to pick a Color and a B&W to take to be printed in the morning. Adrenaline!

jmlelii

Nikon D850

09/10/2006 01:07:47 AM · #9

You guys know you can rent that place out?

Maybe we can have a philly get together, and we all pitch in and rent the place! ANyone up for that?? Cause I def. would be.

09/10/2006 08:06:30 AM · #10

I'm entering a b&w and color photo in the contest so if you come I may see you there.

09/10/2006 09:27:21 AM · #11

Ok so the two that I picked for today contest are:

(Note these are cropped 4x6 and I'll be done 8x10, so I lose 1/4 on the ends... Gr... I'm also not doing the border or watermark for obvious reasons.)

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

09/10/2006 05:10:58 PM · #12

Well, out of 26 entries in each category (B&W and Color) neither myself nor Mary (

maryba) won. The judge commented on many entries, but neither of us got commented on either. :(

The winners will be posted next week they say, but I have to say that the B&W winner I liked, but the Color winner was one of my least favorite. There were others that I felt were stronger images, but as the judge said, "It's just MY opinion."

Since the contest is open to members (not that they checked for membership) I am now a member and have a year (minus Nov-Mar) to go back and improve upon my images.

Comments still welcome!

Jaded_Housewife

Canon EOS-5D

09/10/2006 05:13:33 PM · #13

Thats sucks. i love the color one. very cool.

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

09/10/2006 05:38:05 PM · #14

Originally posted by jaded_youth:

Thats sucks. i love the color one. very cool.

Part of my problem was related to print processing. Ritz wasn't open until noon, so I went to CVS. The machine isn't calibrated well. My B&W had a large spot with a burgundy cast to it. The color was over-exposed and both had strange dark stripes along the very edge that if I had put my ususal white border probably wouldn't have been noticable. For being a last minute thing I quite happy with myself to be honest.

Judi

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

09/10/2006 08:17:42 PM · #15

Damn...so sorry to hear of your results. Maybe next year you will have some even better quality prints to enter to show them what you are made of.

09/10/2006 09:28:27 PM · #16

Since this was the first time I wasn't sure what to expect. It was helpful to see what the judge liked and didn't like. It appears he didn't mind loss of detail in dark areas but not in light areas.

The color photograph winner was a surprise - I liked Eugene's photograph much better.

Another thing that I noticed is that some of the photographers had access to the non-public areas. I need to check how they got this access.

09/10/2006 10:26:40 PM · #17

Originally posted by maryba:

Since this was the first time I wasn't sure what to expect. It was helpful to see what the judge liked and didn't like. It appears he didn't mind loss of detail in dark areas but not in light areas.

I noticed this too. He's the judge though.

Originally posted by maryba:

Another thing that I noticed is that some of the photographers had access to the non-public areas. I need to check how they got this access.

I noticed this especially with the one B&W through the window arch looking down from the 3rd level of on of the cell blocks. I believe it's possible to do private tours or member only tours. The other thoughtI had was that it was last years winner who had open access.