Nov 5th, 2018
Urban Exploration Photography Tips - An #Urbexer’s Guide
This week on Project Freelance I wanted to give you some tips on how to SAFELY get in and photograph abandoned buildings. Know Who You're Taking With You! You wouldn’t just let ANYONE into your secret treehouse, would you? So DONT LET RANDOM PEOPLE KNOW THE LOCATION OF YOUR ABANDONED BUILDING! My number one tip for exploring abandoned buildings is “Take a Buddy!” I can’t stress this enough! It’s exactly the same as going on a hiking adventure.
DO YOUR RESEARCH Take the time to research the place you are trying to explore. Just like a hiking trip, you want to know as much as possible about the area you’re going to be in.
WHERE TO FIND LOCATIONS! So the number one question I get is "where do you find all of these places?" Well, how do you find Target, or Starbucks, or A Camp Site? You google it, ask someone, or go on instagram!
Instagram is the best place to find locations, because of the introduction of hashtags! There are numerous hashtags you can use to find photos and videos of abandoned places, rooftops, cranes, tunnels, trains, and just about anything else you could want to explore. Try searching things like #Urbex, #urbanexploration, #urbanexplore #abandoned, #abandonedhouse #urbex_kings #Kings_abandoned #abandonedlosangeles #abandonedchicago, #abandoneddetroit, #itsabandoned #moodygrams.
ASK SOMEONE TO TAKE YOU Often times, us explorers would kill to explore a place a second time. It’s a lot more exciting when you KNOW the place and can share it with someone else who will appreciate it for the art, the history, and the decay. If I’m traveling somewhere for work I will set aside free time to go explore an abandoned place or two.
BRING THE RIGHT GEAR! The right exploration gear is important for a successful mission! Depending on what you are going into these buildings for, you need to bring in the right gear. As a photographer, I obviously bring camera gear, but if you are a tagger, for example, you’re going to bring a very different bag of gear.
LEAVE YOUR ID IN THE CAR! Put your keys on a carabiner, hook it on your belt loop, and tuck them into your pocket. You don’t want to sound like a janitor running through an abandoned jail. It’s loud and you WILL get caught.
TAKE ONLY WHAT YOU NEED Other than camera gear I bring a head lamp, snacks, two bottles of water, baby wipes, hand sanitiser, and, because I’m a lady, a few tampons. You never know man. If you have a girl in your group it’s always nice to be prepared for shit like that. Trust me.
GET PAID TO EXPLORE! So, I figured out a way to make money exploring these abandoned places, by photographing bands, clothing, amazon seller products, skateboards, or by filming a Youtube video, and selling the video footage and photos of the abandonment as stock photography and videography.
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