Flash Gordon's Spaceship Hangar

[Chris Dodkin]

As mentioned on one of Brian's posts - this has been on my radar for a while - so I did an exploratory trip up to the airship hangars at Tustin today.

I have one thing to say...

THESE THINGS ARE HUGE!

 

[Pete Askew]

Superb Chris. I love the geometry in that second shot and the B&W treatment really works here. Spot-on. Some day I need to take a trip to the Cargo Lifter site here in Germany. A great shame they gave up on the project (dreadful management as I understand it, but a great concept now being made real by a UK - Canadian venture). The hangers were built though and have been turned into some sort of theme park I believe. Still, I doubt they will be as evocative as these. I dream of the day I'll be able to travel to the US in an airship. It'd beat a plane any day!

OK, maybe I won't bother!! StrangeHarvest.com::Anything to Feel Weightless Again: The Cargo Lifter and the Tropical Island Resort

 

[Thomas brookes]

Holy cow!!!! It was hard to grasp the scale until I zoomed in on the "little" roller shutter door..... The ones that fit big rigs in!!!! That's amazing. Great shots chris... As always!!

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Thanks Pete & Tom - they really are a site to see - it's difficult to get an idea of scale.

They do have a high fence around them now - so I had to jack up the tripod to max height, above head level, and shoot over the top using a shutter release.

I'd like to go back when we either have some interesting clouds, and/or a nice sunrise.

 

[Brian Moore]

Excellent Chris! They are both superb images. By the way, if these were mine I wouldn't be bothered trying to find a cloudy day to re-shoot. I think the cloudless sky is a perfect contrast to the hangars. Very excellent indeed.

(By the way,...is there a shopping center there?)

 

[Chris Dodkin]

You know what Brian - there was a CostCo right behind me, and a Target next door where I bought some lunch!

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Here's some detail on the massive sliding hangar doors...

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Open the pod bay doors, Hal...

 

[Pete Askew]

Love the shot of the doors. Cropped a touch on the right and leveled a bit and it would make a great print.

 

[Chris Dodkin]

I was struggling with the perspective as I wasn't square on to the doors - will have another play with the perspective tool in PS.

I used the same tool to pull off a 'tilt/shift' on the first two shots - the hangers are so tall that you end up looking up at them, and hence the tilt of the camera leaves them looking like they're key-stoning away from you.

I'd love to have Darren's TS lens for such occasions, but I haven't got the $$$ to justify it - PS does a pretty good job when you have plenty of pixels to play with.

 

[Pete Askew]

I always use Transform/Distort rather than the perspective tool and use a grid as a guide.

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Here we go - centered the crop on the door opening, and tweaked the perspective

 

[Paul Lange]

Very monumental Chris, love the sense of scale and the BW treatment.

 

[Pete Askew]

That's the fella Chris. Superb. Now all you need to do is print it 4' wide!!

 

[Darren Bradley]

You're welcome to borrow it if you like, Chris.

Otherwise, we should take a trip up there together some time.

I've driven by these countless times, too, but never stopped to shoot them. Well done, sir!