more of the former cotton warehouse @grantville (fujica ax-5)

On yet another trip to Grantville, I convinced a friend to go as well. This time, to mix things up, I shot some black and white film. I especially like how this vine on the side of a former cotton warehouse came out. I am also fond of this black and white version of a valve on the wall of a former cotton warehouse.

While wandering around downtown, we were disappointed to discover that Nick's Pizza Stop was closed for the holiday. However, we did come across an ancient Chevrolet Suburban with "No Fear" spray painted on the side.

even more dilapidated buildings and a junkyard @grantville (nikon d70)

A few years ago, I got up early on Thanksgiving day and headed down to Grantville, Georgia. I intended to explore the inside of the old cotton warehouse and figured no one would be around to bother me at that hour on a holiday.

Prior to visiting the warehouse, I snapped a few pictures of buildings in the downtown. One of my favorites is this photograph of an antique store.

While there is a lock on the door of the cotton warehouse facing the street, around back I discovered a gaping hole in the wall. Inside what remains of the warehouse, the roof and floor are completely gone, is a junkyard. Among old refrigerators and other debris, I found a first generation Honda CVCC and a station wagon of unknown make. Interestingly, the CVCC was a more upscale model than my family owned - ours did not come with luxuries such as a tachometer. The cargo area of the station wagon contained a large piece of what appeared to be electronic equipment, the function of which I could not determine. Because the walls were blocking most of the sunlight, I used a remote SB-800 to add some light to both flicks of the cars.

After finishing up in the junkyard, I wandered down the street. A City of Grantville cop car pulled up and parked at the old train depot. The pig was quite obviously watching me, and followed me for a ways after I got in my car and pulled out. Much to my surprise, he did not pull me over and gratuitously Taser me.

more dilapidated buildings @grantville (nikon d70)

A little bird told me the state of affairs in Grantville would be improving. So I packed my Nikon D70 and raced back down to get some more sweet flicks of decay.

Setting up a shot of the crumbling wall of a former cotton warehouse was a pain in my ass. The full light of the setting sun falling on the warehouse wall in the background was fucking up my program, because the brick in the foreground was in shadow. I set up one Nikon SB-800 Speedlight as a remote firing at the bricks, which worked well. Explore the rest of the cotton warehouse.

Across the street, I found an old hotel and took this photograph of an old window on the building's porch. I took another shot of the interior of the old hotel. Based on the lumber and tools strewn about inside the old hotel, at least one attempt at renovation has been started.

Down the street from the old hotel is a former bank. Remembering Ken from Lithonia's advice to look up, I took this photograph of a bank. I liked the results, hence this similar bank flick. Finally, I decided to get a bit of sky in this last shot of a bank in Grantville, Georgia.

All photographs featured in this post were taken with a Nikon D70. The lens used for the bank flicks was a Nikkor 85mm f/1.8 with a circular polarizer.

grist mill @grantville (nikon d70)

On my second trip to Grantville, I met a character named Bill Brooks. Mr. Brooks had a penchant for chatting and also owned a few of the falling down buildings in Grantville, notably the former cotton warehouse and the grist mill.

While talking my ear off, Mr. Brooks was kind enough to show me around behind some of his properties. First up was some old power generation equipment. I was busy snapping flicks and not paying attention to Mr. Brooks, but I recall this piece operated at enormous RPMs and was fabricated out of metal two inches thick to keep the gears from blowing out in the case of failure.

Next up was this General Motors 454 V8 engine modified to run on natural gas. The engine provided power in a system used to air conditioning buildings using chilled water. Additionally, a heat exchanger in place of radiator provided hot water. At one point in his career, Mr. Brooks engineered and sold these contraptions to building managers. Although more economical than using electric power to cool facilities, mechanics were often unfamiliar with the equipment and had issues repairing them. Screaming tenants and Georgia Power would then convince building management to get back on the grid. Mr. Brooks had apparently picked up several of the surplus machines and sold them on Ebay.

After photographing, I dropped in at Nick's Pizza Stop for dinner and met one of the proprietors, Kim. I enjoyed my tasty calzone and the friendly service.

All photos mentioned in this post were taken with a Nikon D70 and a 28-70mm f/2.8 constant aperture zoom.