13 pics from Fort Stevens (old military base) - Oregon

[rparchen]

I had the pleasure to travel from Seattle down the Oregon coast, to Napa Valley (wifey needed some wine), over to Yosemite, and back. 1400 pictures later....I finally started to process some of the first ones I took. We stayed the first night at the tip of Oregon in Fort Stevens state park. The dreary weather didn't help much but it wasn't going to stop me. I think it added to the mood of the pictures anyways. I was really going for a gritty type of nasty looking pictures. Military bases weren't meant to look nice anyways. Please let me know what you think of the series. Enjoy!

This first shot is of the Peter Iredale shipwreck. This ship ran aground in 1906 and has slowly been rotting on the beach every since. Thankfully I caught it at 6am and during low-tide so I could go right up next to it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/rparchen/Photography/Travel/ShipWreck2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/rparchen/Photography/Travel/Shipwreck3.jpg

Next up is the Russell Battery. It's a pretty large structure that housed huge guns that protected the coast.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/rparchen/Photography/Travel/RussellBattery2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/rparchen/Photography/Travel/RussellBattery3.jpg

The main guns were placed in spots like this and rotate on huge gears to aim.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/rparchen/Photography/Travel/RussellBattery4.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/rparchen/Photography/Travel/RussellBattery7.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/rparchen/Photography/Travel/RussellBattery9.jpg

This was the only room that had a fireplace, I'm guessing it was for whoever ran the joint (it sure looks fit for a king!)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/rparchen/Photography/Travel/RussellBattery10.jpg

[rparchen]

The last place we checked out was the West Battery, which is the main structure. Sure enough, this part of the park didn't open until 8am so my wife and I had the jump the fence to get it. Probably not the best idea at a military base but I don't think anyone noticed :D By the time we made it over to here is started to pour rain so I didn't get many shots from here. It was pretty similar to the Russell Battery anyways. Enjoy!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/rparchen/Photography/Travel/WestBattery2.jpg

Old crank used to hoist up the ammo:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/rparchen/Photography/Travel/WestBattery3.jpg

Tool room:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/rparchen/Photography/Travel/WestBattery4.jpg

Nasty door to the ammo room:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/rparchen/Photography/Travel/WestBattery5.jpg

Looked like a strange little guard room or something to the left:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/rparchen/Photography/Travel/WestBattery6.jpg

[3Honu]

#1 blew me away. Not many photos do that. Outstanding job!

All of your pictures are well processed. I love #1 though.

[rparchen]

Thanks for the comments, I appreciate it. I thought this would have gotten a little more attention considering I didn't find anything else on here about this place when I searched. Oh well, I'm glad you enjoyed them :)

[3Honu]

This forum is a bit finicky. Sometimes posts will languish for a while before they are recognized.

[Livinthalife]

Love them, the murky sky adds as well. Looks depressing. Love the processing as well. #1 is my fav as well, though I would like to see it less centered.

[3Honu]

Because the shot is taken from the very front of the bow I will disgree in the rule of thirds on this picture.

[das_shark]

This place looks almost exactly like Fort Morgan, AL. If you find yourself in Mobile or Gulf Shores, you might like the drive out the penninsula for more of these pics on a different body of water.

[OrlandoM]

Awesome pics !!!!
I think it is a great place to shoot urban decay style photography.
Thanks for sharing

[dr_richt]

Yes, #1 is an outstanding photo. I think that the overcast sky certainly helped to capture the "mood."

Awesome pictures of days gone by!!!!

[kenyc]

Great shots, but I just got called for posting more than 8 shots in a thread.....

KAC

[CBRfanatic0429]

i want to buy the first one...

[Balliolman]

Lovely work, indeed!

[kenyc]

i want to buy the first one...

That is a wall-hanger!
KAC

[kendickson]

#1 - absolutely fantastic!!
All images are great - great atmosphere.

[Miyagi-san]

Very nice,

when I was growing up, every memorial day weekend 6 or 7 families would get together and picnic all day at Fort Casey on Whidbey Island, WA.

These pics look identical to that place....brings back some great memories of a stomping ground of mine from decades ago :)

The tone is great in these especially...

[adam*]

Excellent series, are the military ones HDR?

[zippy25]

#1 is absolutely incredible. It gave me goose-bumps. I like some of your others, but that first one...

[funkybuddha]

what kind of PP did you do? HDR?

[rparchen]

I really appreciate all of the positive comments that I have been getting. It seems to be the consensus that #1 is the best, I'll be happy to post a larger version if anyone wishes to use it for a background. I went through a Window's crash yesterday AND having my back-up hard disk critically fail. I lost a ton of photo's but thankfully I was able to pull the 1400 pics of my trip off before my system went completely dead. I'll repost a larger version later this evening after I reinstall all of my editing software. About the PP, I used 5 exposures in Photomatix and then final editing in CS3. I try for a very subtle HDR that doesn't just scream "fake" and I think many of these images could have easily been done with a single exposure. I'll see if I can re-edit the first shot non-HDR and see how it looks. Thanks again for taking the time and writing out comments.

[airfrogusmc]

Good series. Love the execution..

[grizzy]

WOW.

Love the HDR on most of these.

[3Turner]

I agree with the consensus of those before, #1 is very weel executed and is excellent right where it is at in the frame. I do not think that the rule-of-3rds would have made it any more dramatic or in your face as it is here.

Hopefully all works out with your HD issue....and I would be one of those who would use your shot as a wallpaper on my desktop ;)

[kenyc]

I really appreciate all of the positive comments that I have been getting. It seems to be the consensus that #1 is the best, I'll be happy to post a larger version if anyone wishes to use it for a background. I went through a Window's crash yesterday AND having my back-up hard disk critically fail. I lost a ton of photo's but thankfully I was able to pull the 1400 pics of my trip off before my system went completely dead. I'll repost a larger version later this evening after I reinstall all of my editing software. About the PP, I used 5 exposures in Photomatix and then final editing in CS3. I try for a very subtle HDR that doesn't just scream "fake" and I think many of these images could have easily been done with a single exposure. I'll see if I can re-edit the first shot non-HDR and see how it looks. Thanks again for taking the time and writing out comments.

You've definitely succeeded in keeping the hdr subtle, but still brining out the enhanced view.

KAC

[rparchen]

It's good to hear the HDR isn't too over done. I tried to pick the best look from photomatix without getting a nasty fake look. I find that technique extremely useful for landscapes but very easily overdone if I'm not careful.

[ciber21]

#1 is one of the best picture I have ever seen!!! great work!

[rparchen]

I finally got PS loaded and saved some larger sizes. There are two sizes in here, one at 1600x1200 and another at 1680x1050 for wide screen users. Let me know how this turns out.
http://parchen.smugmug.com/gallery/3034071#165005818

[johnthebaptist]

#1 is truly amazing. All the shots have amazing color IMO. Great job!

[3Turner]

Thanks for the wall papers Rick. Outstanding work.