Photo: "Building 253"

Building 253, Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard 

When I began taking photos of abandoned locations eight years ago, I always assumed there'd be a return visit to these sites and my friends and I would always talk about "the next time." But over the years, I have learned that each visit should be treated as the last because these relics can wind up inaccessible or demolished very quickly. 

This photo was taken during my first visit to a beautiful glass building, a machine shop, at the former Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco back in 2006. I made a few visits over the next two years, but when the site became much more difficult to access, I never made it back to this building. 

Photo: "Greystone Psychiatric Power Plant"

Kirkbride asylums were constructed to be self-sufficient and most campuses contained a dairy and agricultural farm, a post office, recreational facilities, water utilities and a power plant. Greystone Park Psychiatic Hospital was no exception.

This power station generated power for the entire campus, which included the main Kirbride building, which was designed to house 450 patients, nurses quarters and all other ancillary buildings. 

(3 image pano stitched vertically, shot with Canon 17mm TS-E)

"Before & After"

Before (left) and after (right)

I'm a fairly simple gal when it comes to image editing (I blame the documentary photographer in me.)

Everyone has their own style, but I like mild adjustments and prefer to ensure the appearance of my images mostly resembles what I saw in person.  

For the curious, above is a sample image from a dental chair in a hospital in New York, showing the RAW vs the Lightroom edit.