Some recent photos, and a request for advice.
When I was younger, I spent the majority of my time kicking around Old Ellicott City, here in Maryland. I had a few friends who lived right off of Main Street, and we'd often take advantage of the lack of parental supervision we enjoyed and stay out for hours wandering around the town, exploring all the out-of-the way spots and old buildings.
One area we spent a bit of time at was Hilltop Drive. We'd usually spend our weekend nights walking around the ruins of The Patapsco Female Institute looking for ghosts. In order to keep a low profile and avoid the cops, we'd leave our bikes or park our cars on Hilltop and walk the rest of the way to Hell House (The Patapsco Female Institute).
Anyway, it's been a bunch of years since I've visited EC, and the other day Ash and I had the urge to drive around and enjoy the weather a bit. Our travels took us back to my old stomping grounds, and up Hilltop. Upon seeing the houses that lined the winding road, I was shocked to see that the houses were, well...trashed. Boarded up, missing walls and/or roofs, and just in a state of over-all decay.
I've been trying to find out what happened to the houses, and the answer seems to be that a few years ago they were all set on fire within a short time span by a group of kids who had been using them as party houses. I wish I could express how pissed off and upset this makes me, that some...young assholes could do something like that to structures that still had so much potential. Now, they're just sitting there condemned, waiting to be razed. Such a waste.
Now, I never had any particular attachment to any of these buildings - I just liked them. Hilltop is a tight, windy road, and the houses along that road were as interesting and unique as the rest of the area. Seeing them in such a sad state kinda shocked me, and it's upsetting to think that they're probably going to be knocked down soon.
Anyway, Here is part one of the pics. I was able to get a bunch of pics of multiple structures, but I don't want to picture-bomb you fine folks. I'll post a few more here and there, as I finish sorting and uploading them.
The Burned-Out Longhouse
The House With The Porch
Overgrown steps up to the house
This is a small toolshed in the back yard of the house
Both of the houses had multiple busted-out windows (and a few doorways as well) and I was sorely tempted to use one of them to gain entrance to the structures to take some shots inside. The many prominent "NO TRESPASSING" signs and the fact that a Howard County Sheriff drove past as we were taking pics and warned us to stay out because of the severe mold problem in the structures pretty much changed my mind, though. Oh, and the fact that ash probably would have killed me if I'd tried.
I had previously thought that the property the house with the porch was on was too overgrown to attempt to get much closer, but as we walked up the road I found a trail through the back yard (about the same time I noticed the shed) so the next time we head back there to take pics, I'll get more close-up shots of the house itself. One of the windows on the side of the house has a makeshift ladder leaning against it, so there may still be someone squatting in it. Who knows.
Now, to solicit some advice. wxgeek & voltbang, I'm looking at you guys in particular.
The camera I have now (Canon SD100 IS Digital Elph) isn't bad, but I'm definitely noticing it's limitations in certain situations. As a result, I'm looking into purchasing a decent entry-level digital SLR. I don't really know jack about proper photography, but the criteria I'm looking to fill are as follows:
I need something that is simple enough for me to use it pretty much out of the box, but also has enough advanced features and capability that I'll be able to "grow into it" as I gain more experience.
Primary uses for this camera will be old buildings and some food photography. I originally bought the Canon I have now to help me take pictures of food I produce in order to build a proper portfolio, but I'm noticing that it's not exactly ideal.
I talked to Ash about my needs, and she seems to think that I could get by (at least for awhile) with a wide-angle lens and a macro lens, but I'm definitely open to other suggestions. If at all possible, I'd like to keep the total price (camera body and lenses) to under $700 - even that's pushing it quite a bit.
And that's about it! Any and all advice is greatly appreciated. :)
One area we spent a bit of time at was Hilltop Drive. We'd usually spend our weekend nights walking around the ruins of The Patapsco Female Institute looking for ghosts. In order to keep a low profile and avoid the cops, we'd leave our bikes or park our cars on Hilltop and walk the rest of the way to Hell House (The Patapsco Female Institute).
Anyway, it's been a bunch of years since I've visited EC, and the other day Ash and I had the urge to drive around and enjoy the weather a bit. Our travels took us back to my old stomping grounds, and up Hilltop. Upon seeing the houses that lined the winding road, I was shocked to see that the houses were, well...trashed. Boarded up, missing walls and/or roofs, and just in a state of over-all decay.
I've been trying to find out what happened to the houses, and the answer seems to be that a few years ago they were all set on fire within a short time span by a group of kids who had been using them as party houses. I wish I could express how pissed off and upset this makes me, that some...young assholes could do something like that to structures that still had so much potential. Now, they're just sitting there condemned, waiting to be razed. Such a waste.
Now, I never had any particular attachment to any of these buildings - I just liked them. Hilltop is a tight, windy road, and the houses along that road were as interesting and unique as the rest of the area. Seeing them in such a sad state kinda shocked me, and it's upsetting to think that they're probably going to be knocked down soon.
Anyway, Here is part one of the pics. I was able to get a bunch of pics of multiple structures, but I don't want to picture-bomb you fine folks. I'll post a few more here and there, as I finish sorting and uploading them.
The Burned-Out Longhouse
The House With The Porch
Overgrown steps up to the house
This is a small toolshed in the back yard of the house
Both of the houses had multiple busted-out windows (and a few doorways as well) and I was sorely tempted to use one of them to gain entrance to the structures to take some shots inside. The many prominent "NO TRESPASSING" signs and the fact that a Howard County Sheriff drove past as we were taking pics and warned us to stay out because of the severe mold problem in the structures pretty much changed my mind, though. Oh, and the fact that ash probably would have killed me if I'd tried.
I had previously thought that the property the house with the porch was on was too overgrown to attempt to get much closer, but as we walked up the road I found a trail through the back yard (about the same time I noticed the shed) so the next time we head back there to take pics, I'll get more close-up shots of the house itself. One of the windows on the side of the house has a makeshift ladder leaning against it, so there may still be someone squatting in it. Who knows.
Now, to solicit some advice. wxgeek & voltbang, I'm looking at you guys in particular.
The camera I have now (Canon SD100 IS Digital Elph) isn't bad, but I'm definitely noticing it's limitations in certain situations. As a result, I'm looking into purchasing a decent entry-level digital SLR. I don't really know jack about proper photography, but the criteria I'm looking to fill are as follows:
I need something that is simple enough for me to use it pretty much out of the box, but also has enough advanced features and capability that I'll be able to "grow into it" as I gain more experience.
Primary uses for this camera will be old buildings and some food photography. I originally bought the Canon I have now to help me take pictures of food I produce in order to build a proper portfolio, but I'm noticing that it's not exactly ideal.
I talked to Ash about my needs, and she seems to think that I could get by (at least for awhile) with a wide-angle lens and a macro lens, but I'm definitely open to other suggestions. If at all possible, I'd like to keep the total price (camera body and lenses) to under $700 - even that's pushing it quite a bit.
And that's about it! Any and all advice is greatly appreciated. :)