The time we visited an abandoned WW2 bomb store

Every now and then I check in to the evil time thief Zuckerbook and get a reminder of something I posted some years ago. I was surprised to see a post today which made me realise it's been 5 years since I visited the Bomb Store!

The Bomb Store is an abandoned ammunition and ordnance storage facility in North Wales. It was used during WW2 for the storage of bombs and was a major storage facility serving the whole of the country. In 1942, two-thirds of the structure collapsed within seconds under the weight of the overlaying backfill, completely engulfing a train of twenty seven wagons which was in the process of unloading. The collapse buried over 14,000 tons of bombs which at the time represented 14% of the total RAF stock. Faulty design was blamed as the cause of the failure!

Gradually the site was cleared and some of the incendiary devices were dumped in local water filled pits previously quarried for slate. It took until 1956 to rid the site of ordnance and the whole place has been abandoned since then.

To get in to the remaining parts of the bomb store, it's necessary to edge your way down an unbelievably steep banking with loose shingle and slate. Not for the faint hearted!

So once you get in to the store, it's always good to make it a long visit. And when you're a lightpainter like me, it's manna from heaven because it's completely dark in daylight hours!

So this is a selection of images shot with a bunch of ne'er do well lightpainters deep underground in the dark!

The sparks are falling upwards

I've been a big fan of camera rotation photography for years and when you see a set of stairs like this you instantly remember MC Escher, an artist famous for changing perceptions of perspective! Sparks and a willing volunteer, aka victim, was used to make this image in one photographic exposure.

Good evening Mr. Smith, I've been expecting you

In photography, story telling is the holy grail. I went through a phase where I was trying too hard to tell a story but I did like the mysterious figure coming down the stairs! It's not my best lightpainted orb but it's all I got!

Speaking of orbs...

This lightpainted orb was considerably better than the one above. I sometimes develop three left feet spinning these things and fail miserably. But sometimes I nail it. This was one such nailed orb!

The shadow within

This is a quick hit and run shot using a continuous light source and capping the lens during the exposure. Start with a longer focal length to create the bigger silhouette, then cap the lens and zoom out and uncap the lens to create the smaller figure. All shot in one photographic exposure as usual.

Zooooooom

I'm not addicted to zoom pulling, I can give it up anytime I want!

Smoke and lasers

I'm not sure it was wise to set off smoke pellets inside the bomb store but we were still breathing normally afterwards! The more smoke you can create the better to make the laser beams more prominent.

I wandered around in the dark during this exposure with a red gelled torch to light up the archways.

Lightpainting using an iPad

I took an image I shot and displayed it on an iPad. I lined up the camera and exposed for the sculpture and replaced the lens cap without ending the exposure. I then swapped lenses and tripods to a pre-arranged stunt Lightpainter aka @fadetoblack and exposed his silhouette with lasers and smoke.

I like the technical effort that goes in to these types of shots and I'm reminded that I haven't done one of these in a long time!

Cascade

I had been experimenting with spinning lasers on a drill in a lightpainted image. I decided to combine spinning on the spot behind the silhouette here with a quick steel wool sparky using the same drill. Again all shot in one exposure.

About me:
I usually specialise in shooting lightpainting images but occasionally dabble in urbex and artistic model photography. I'm always on the lookout for someone to collaborate with; please don't hesitate to get in touch if you'd like to create art.

Social Media
https://www.facebook.com/fastchrisuk
https://www.flickr.com/photos/fastchris/

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WHAT IS LIGHTPAINTING?
Lightpainting is a photographic technique in which exposures are made by moving a hand-held light source while taking a long exposure photograph, either to illuminate a subject or to shine a point of light directly at the camera, or by moving the camera itself during exposure. Nothing is added or removed in post processing.

Single exposure Light Art Photography - no layers - no tricks - no photoshop

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