Weekly Challenge #122 - Decay & Dereliction

The challenge explained:
I'm looking for anything that depicts urban decay, a derelict building or car, old toys left in the tall grass, a beaten up bicycle on the side of the road, etc, Maybe graffiti. Use your imagination.

It could be urban, rural or right in your backyard (there's a Jeff Foxworthy joke in there somewhere!) Have fun and I hope we see lots of entries from new and long-time members.

Something I feel is important with these challenges. Submit your photos, it's a chance to learn and expand everyone's viewpoint. You might not think your's is a winner but that's not really the point. We all enjoy seeing a different perspective and learn from each other. Have fun and post your shot!

Be creative. Good luck and have fun!!!

Challenge Starts:
On your mark, get set, SHOOT!!! (and submit)

Challenge Ends:
Saturday, January 9, 2010 @ 1159PM EST


The fine print....
1. Post ONE photo (max 1024x1024).
2. The photo must portray an interpretation of the theme.
3. Post your single picture in this thread, and explain what motivated you to take the picture and/or how you feel it represents the weekly theme
4. The challenge is interactive. Any response is welcome.
5. The judge will pick the WINNERS and chose 1 of them to be the judge for the next week.
6. This challenge runs for 7 days plus a day for the judge to choose the winners.
7. Any Pentax camera will do or a Samsung DSLR.
8. Pictures can be from any time frame, not just within the week of the current theme.

Previous Challenge Subjects:
1-Statues, 2-Wheels, 3-Speed, 4-Peace, 5-Survival, 6-Macro, 7-Mountains, 8-Children, 9-Post Processing, 10- Windows & Doors, 11-Sport, 12-Urban Landscape, 13-Wisdom, 14-Power, 15-Music, 16-Pathways, 17-Lines, 18-Storm, 19-Boats, 20-Water, 21 - Golden Hour, 22 - Natural Lighting, Portraits, 23-Motion Blur, 24-Simplicity, 25-Color, 26-Cars, 27-Repetition, 28-Wildlife, 29-Epiphany, 30-Contrast, 31-Pets, 32-Landscapes, 33-Coastal, 34-Churches, 35-Bridges, 36-Creation, 37-Still Life: Food, 38-At the Zoo, 39-Wide Aperture, 40-Merry Christmas, 41- Sunsets, 42-Action, 43-Fireworks, 44-Manipulated Light Portraits, 45- Advertising/Product Shot, 46- B&W Street Shooting, people/buildings, 47-Vanishing Point, 48-Reflection, 49-Tranquility, 50-Expressions, 51-S Curve, 52-Hands, 53-Shadows, 54-Your Favorite Beverage, 55-Barriers, 56-Perspective, 57-Night Scenes, 58-Zen-like...Water and Stone 59-Modern architecture, 60-Sunrises, 61-Red, 62-Action on water, 63-Bodies in Motion, 64-Ruins, 65-Blue and green, 66-Iridescence, 67-Anthropomorpha, 68–Sound, 69-Backlight, 70-Group Shot, 71-Railway Scenes, 72-Technology, 73-Color on Color, 74-History, 75-Autumn/Harvest 76-working men and women, 77-Silhouettes, 78 Stranger Portrait, 79-Transportation, 80 - Lonely, 81 - Holidays, 82 - Toys 'n Games, 83 - Machines, 84 - Ice, 85 - Cats, 86 - Stories, 87 - Cultures, 88 - Absence, 89 - Weather, 90 - Old roads, 91 - The River, 92 - The Seventies, 93 - Beautiful Bokeh, 94 - Balance, 95 - Crop a miniature landscape, 96 - Opposing gravity, 97- Feet, 98 - Sacred Grounds, 99 - Extraordinarily Ordinary, 100-added textures, 101-still life, 102-bicycles, 103 - Broken, 104- Flowers (B&W), 105 Backlighting, 106-Water. 107-Wind, 108-Parent/Child candids, 109-Passion, 110-Events, 111-Streets, 112-The Aged, 113-Fire and Heat, 114-Nature vs. Culture, 115 - Letters or Numbers, 116 - Self-Portrait, 117 - The Tree, 118 - Minimalism, 119 - Rust, 120 - Before & After, 121 - Negative Space, 122 - Decay & Dereliction

A couple of examples:

[VaughnA]

I'll play.

I've been doing a lot of the "urban decay" stuff lately as there is a target rich envonment in downtown Lynchburg. I found the door open to an abandoned factory boiler room and took a few shots. This was my favorite:

K20D F8, 1.3sec, ISO400 with 18-55WR at 18mm. Tweaked a little in aperture but this is pretty much the look of the original with some sharpening and a little shadow highlighting. The weird grid look seems to be an artifact of the jpeg rendering on Flickr, it's not on the original.

[eccs19]

OK, I'll play. Not a great shot, but it definitely fits the theme. Old truck frame.

[bbluesman]

I really enjoy shooting degredation. Not exactly sure why. It is something that can be quite gritty and pose questions as to why all hope was abandoned.

Nice image Mark. The noise works well for the shot.

Cheers mate-same for me love this kind of stuff.

[PrimeObjectif]

This was photographed outside the automobile body shop whose owner works on my car.
Pentax K100D.

I love it. Immediately made me think of the end of Planet of the Apes.

[wllm]

Not for walking anymore.

[xs400]

I got this shot in southwest Washington state. K100D and kit 18-55mm.

[Class A]

Nature at work...

Attachment 51120

---

Last edited by Class A; 08-07-2010 at 09:18 AM.

[sealonsf]

Colombo, Sri Lanka

[reeftool]

I took this a couple of days ago while xc skiing, of an old historical house on the grounds of Saratoga Spa State Park. The State was planning to renovate it but budget issues put an end to that idea. They can't tear it down so it slowly rots away.

[seacapt]

Ol' Reliable

[StevenVH]

Plenty of decay and dereliction around here, just not enough time to shoot.



cheers

[casil403]

I was out on a friend's farm in Central Alberta and he had this old car graveyard down in a gully..he said the cars were already there when his family bought the farm back in 1969. Plenty to choose from as far as decay goes but I think the tree trying to absorb the car part in this image is particularly interesting

[Peter Zack]

About 12 hours to go. Lets get those shots in!!

[Xsalfior]

My Wife and I found an old church from 1879 near Radium B.C and I found this old organ. I love how you can see some of the fingerprints.

[Rense]