Old Taylor Distillery

[GoneTomorrow]

Thought I'd share some shots from a great find I came across this weekend. I was driving around Woodford and Franklin counties, Kentucky, yesterday (where Jim Beam, Woodford Reserve, etc. are all produced), and drove by an enormous old and abandoned distillery called "The Old Taylor Distillery." Established 1887, it closed down in the 70s after dieing a slow death caused by Prohibition (as many other distilleries did). Now it's abandoned, but is a great place for photography. I only was able to get a dozen or so good shots as it was getting dark, but I plan to return. I must say one thing, that the 10-22mm lens is amazing. At 10mm for the interior shots, I was able to shoot shutter speeds as long as 1-2" hand held. (with mixed results of course). Wide angle rocks.

NB - I know there numerous flaws in these shots (major purple fringing), but it was spur of the moment and I didn't have my tripod, and I was a bit rushed because of the sun set and doubts about whether it was legal for me to be in there. ;)

Please give me any C&C you can muster, I need it! Especially considerations or techniques I could have used in the absence of a tripod.

First set:

1. Front of the main building from the road, very castlesque:
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/GoneTomorrow/IMG_7383-1.jpg

2. More of the front (next three):
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/GoneTomorrow/IMG_7388.jpg

3.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/GoneTomorrow/IMG_7391.jpg

4.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/GoneTomorrow/IMG_7394.jpg

5.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/GoneTomorrow/IMG_7401.jpg

6. Some shots on the grounds, such great architecture:
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/GoneTomorrow/IMG_7412.jpg


7. More of the interior:
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/GoneTomorrow/IMG_7421.jpg

[GoneTomorrow]

8. This and the next are an old very Southern style pavilion with a keyhole shaped pond. It held lavish parties in the early 20th century. (Here (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7364897@N02/3190617807/) is a photo of one such party from 1915).
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/GoneTomorrow/IMG_7424.jpg

9.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/GoneTomorrow/IMG_7427.jpg

10. A small gazebo adjacent to the pavilion:
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/GoneTomorrow/IMG_7433.jpg

11. Gazebo interior:
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/GoneTomorrow/IMG_7435.jpg

12. 12-14 are of the distilling equipment, much of it looked salvageable:
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/GoneTomorrow/IMG_7448.jpg

13.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/GoneTomorrow/IMG_7451.jpg

14.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/GoneTomorrow/IMG_7454.jpg

15. Here's the first interior shot. This shot was hand held with a shutter speed of 2.5" (two and a half seconds). Yes, there's some blur, but you have to admit that it's decent for being hand held. That's a kid on the left who had been through the facility before and knew a lot about it, so he showed me around:
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/GoneTomorrow/IMG_7456.jpg

[GoneTomorrow]

16. 16-19 are of the interior of the distillery, all hand held with 1-2" shutter speeds, some with the flash used:
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/GoneTomorrow/IMG_7457.jpg

17. Those are all solid copper stills, a small fortune's worth. This distillery could easily be reopened like the Woodford Reserve distillery was:
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/GoneTomorrow/IMG_7458.jpg

18.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/GoneTomorrow/IMG_7465.jpg

19.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/GoneTomorrow/IMG_7466.jpg

20.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/GoneTomorrow/IMG_7469.jpg

21. This room was interesting. There were bottles on the shelf which contained batch samples and they had labels which had handwritten notes about the batch number, quality, etc. There were even massive log books with entries going back to the 30s:
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/GoneTomorrow/IMG_7480.jpg

22. These last two are on the roof of the main building. An amazing place, I'm going back with my tripod and spending some more time, especially since there's a rumor it might be torn down:
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/GoneTomorrow/IMG_7490.jpg

23.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/GoneTomorrow/IMG_7493.jpg

[GoneTomorrow]

Forgive me for bumping my own thread, but if anyone who views this would give me some feedback (even bad), I would really appreciate it as I'm going back to this location soon and would like some composition tips.

[TheFloridaShooter]

I really liked the series. The history and the loss need to be remembered. Thanks for posting it. I see you did alot of HDR's.

[Doctorstrangepork]

Cool location with lots of potential. I'm no expert on capturing this sort of thing (recently posted a similar thread with no feedback good or bad :) )so take my advice FWIW...

I think the series isn't bad (I like your pavillion, blurred figure, chair and masonry sign shots the best) but I would also try to capture and isolate subjects that tell the story of this place - whether that's the faded glory of the pavillion, the decaying interior or the plants slowly reclaiming the brickwork. Your 50mm might help here with the option of narrow DOF?

I'm not sure on all of the HDR, personally for these types of subjects I prefer a gritty, contrasty PP, playing with vingettes, B+W or desaturated colours depending on the subject.

This thread has some great shots: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=675920

And this one a heap of subjects: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=442895

But as I say I've still got heaps to learn so I'm probably completely wrong :) Thanks for sharing, be interested to see what you get next time around.

[GoneTomorrow]

I really liked the series. The history and the loss need to be remembered. Thanks for posting it. I see you did alot of HDR's.

Thanks, actually no HDRs here believe it or not. I've discovered, through some finagling, a method to make HDRs in Photoshop from a single underexposed image. Basically, the Fill Light tool and some tweaking of the Exposure, Brightness and Contrast. I did true HDRs for each shot with 3 bracketed RAWs in Photomatix, but I'm starting to find that this new method gives comparable results.

Cool location with lots of potential. I'm no expert on capturing this sort of thing (recently posted a similar thread with no feedback good or bad :) )so take my advice FWIW...

I think the series isn't bad (I like your pavillion, blurred figure, chair and masonry sign shots the best) but I would also try to capture and isolate subjects that tell the story of this place - whether that's the faded glory of the pavillion, the decaying interior or the plants slowly reclaiming the brickwork. Your 50mm might help here with the option of narrow DOF?

I'm not sure on all of the HDR, personally for these types of subjects I prefer a gritty, contrasty PP, playing with vingettes, B+W or desaturated colours depending on the subject.

This thread has some great shots: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=675920

And this one a heap of subjects: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=442895

But as I say I've still got heaps to learn so I'm probably completely wrong :) Thanks for sharing, be interested to see what you get next time around.

Thanks, eveything you say makes perfect sense. I'll definitely break out the 50mm next time. This time I was rushed by the falling light, but I plan to spend a whole afternoon there this weekend (covertly, a little trespassing involved).

And no big deal about not getting feedback here. There are just so many posts in a given day that within minutes your own post can be bumped off the first page and go unnoticed. At least that's what I tell myself. ;)

[jverran]

Forgive me for bumping my own thread, but if anyone who views this would give me some feedback (even bad), I would really appreciate it as I'm going back to this location soon and would like some composition tips.


no worries, sometimes a little self promotion isn't bad. I like the whole lot, very nice colors and composition. I do like the ghost in frame 15,, pretty cool.

[rustyjaw]

I would say that these are pretty good shots, particularly the room of stills!

I would try a few things on your next outing. First, ditch the flash if at all possible. It flattens out the scene and I see a shadow in many of the flash shots, possibly cast from the camera itself. I know it's a hassle, but a tripod is worth the time. Even if you need to expose for many minutes, capturing natural light is usually worth it. If it's pitch black, then try bringing a flashlight and do some creative lighting of the scene from an angle other than where the camera is, to create depth and drama.

Second, you mostly seem to have nicely aligned shots, but on a few (particularly 21) the vertical mis-alignment is a detriment. It's even more noticeable because of the wide angle and the tight space you are shooting in. I think for interiors w/ a super-wide, it's best to either be nearly perfectly aligned, or off enough that it adds something to the shot and looks intentional.

Third, try turning the camera more! Sometimes a composition that is pedestrian in landscape orientation can be transformed into something great just by turning the camera 90-degrees! I recommend trying vertical compositions even when it might seem 'wrong.' For example, I think shot 16 could be greatly enhanced by shooting vertically, bringing more visual importance to the arrangement of lockers, chair, stool and desk. That combined with a more aligned shot could be very compelling...

[GoneTomorrow]

Thanks, all valid suggestions. I was rather rushed when I shot these and didn't have my tripod, so I did the best I could. However, I was really asleep at the wheel when used the flash with the damned lens hood on (hence the shadows). And I have the toughest time judging levelness with UWA, something disconcerting about such wide angles that makes it hard (distortion has a lot do with I'm sure).

[travelin man]

Very cool shoots. I live near but have never heard of it.

[jrherald420]

Bumping an old thread, nice shots!!! I also didnt know about this place either, id love to make a trip there sometime provided its still there!

[GoneTomorrow]

Bumping an old thread, nice shots!!! I also didnt know about this place either, id love to make a trip there sometime provided its still there!

Thanks, it's still there, in the process of some sort of renovation I hear.

[jrherald420]

Really, you wouldnt PM me the info would you?