Underground Photography.

As a mining engineer, I have taken pictures in underground mining operations and tunnels since 1975, when I got my first SLR camera.
It is a harsh environment for cameras and lenses, rock dust and moisture are the main concerns, but also diesel exhaust and fumes from blasting can cause problems. Light is also a matter of concern. No light, no pictures. It is as simple as that. Luckily, today the mining equipment comes with bright Xenon lamps, sometimes as bright as daylight.
I will post some pictures I have taken during my career underground:
Here is loading a truck with ore.

Safety first! Rock bolting in a calcite mine.

Wow, and here I was, thinking this thread was going to be "underground" as in clandestine, secret etc. - not literally under the ground !

Very interesting subject, and one that the vast majority will never experience. Please post more of these.

Thank you very much!
Yes, it is a special environment, only accessible to a few. My job has brought me to places most people will never be allowed to enter.
I’ve been in the business for 46 years now, first as a miner, then as a shiftboss, mine captain, mining engineer and now consultant and instructor on new mining equipment. Once a miner, always a miner!

A modern underground drilling jumbo looks like a spider with its long booms. Here on the outside trimming the rock on a tunnel entrance.

I've had access (thanks to my work) to places off-limits to the general public, including a couple of mining sites, mainly sand and gravel operations, so no underground. But even those quarries are quite something - you've got to be on your toes to make sure you don't get run over by a huge dozer or the like.

I got a chuckle out of your typo in your opening line. I didn't realize they had DSLRs in the mid seventies .

But we know what you meant...

These are really cool images. They definitely pose a technical challenge, but cool nonetheless.

Really enjoy your unique view from a part of the world that most will never see TheAnalogGuy. Thanks for sharing.

-Duck- wrote in post #18890253
I got a chuckle out of your typo in your opening line. I didn't realize they had DSLRs in the mid seventies ..

My first SLR was a Chinon, which I bought in 1975. I soon sold it and bought an Olympus 1, then an Olympus 2, 2n, Canon F1......including lenses from 14 mm fisheye to 600 mm tele. I still have a large collection of analog cameras and lenses, but I don't develop film anymore. I leave that to some other analog enthusiasts.

From a railroad tunnel construction site. The face is 211 square metres.

My job is, among other tasks, to train operators on new equipmen.

TheAnalogGuy wrote in post #18890409
My first DSLR was a Chinon, which I bought in 1975.

You do realize you are writing DSLR, as in digital single lens reflex, right? Chinon didn't release a digital until 1999.

TustinMike wrote in post #18890237
I've had access (thanks to my work) to places off-limits to the general public, including a couple of mining sites, mainly sand and gravel operations, so no underground. But even those quarries are quite something - you've got to be on your toes to make sure you don't get run over by a huge dozer or the like.

That's right. I am involved in open pit mining as well, but I prefer the underground operations. Here is a large quarry in wesrern Norway. It produces rock for export to continental Europe.

-Duck- wrote in post #18890422
You do realize you are writing DSLR, as in digital single lens reflex, right? Chinon didn't release a digital until 1999.

Sorry, sorry! You are right of course! My bad! Sometimes my fingers are faster than my brain!

TheAnalogGuy wrote in post #18890424
Sorry, sorry! You are right of course! My bad! Sometimes my fingers are faster than my brain!

I knew what you meant the first time but was thrown a little when you repeated it the second.
It's funny nonetheless. We all have moments like that. I know I've had my share. Either way, I'm enjoying the pics.