The site of the former steel plant in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania has been repurposed into a music and arts venue called SteelStacks.  The steel mill blast furnaces have been preserved as a historic backdrop.   The plant made steel for over 100 years before closing in 1995.   It’s steel has been used in many of America’s most iconic buildings, bridges, and stadiums.  The Hoover Mason Trestle was a narrow gauge railroad that was used to carry coke, limestone and iron ore to the blast furnaces.   The trestle now includes an elevated public walkway that parallels the railway and blast furnaces.  46 feet in the air and nearly 2000 feet long, the walkway provides an amazing close-up look at the heart of this once mighty steel mill.  

 

Grand landscapes

The row of blast furnaces is an industrial landscape that can be captured on a grand scale.  Five furnaces run end to end for a quarter mile with the highest components standing 230 feet tall.  As the walkway is immediately adjacent to the furnaces, a wide angle tilt-shift lens is the perfect tool to capture the tanks and stacks rising into the sky while maintaining proper vertical perspective.  With a normal wide angle lens, such tall objects tend to point toward the center of the image when photographed up-close and your camera is tilted upward.  

   

 

 

 

 

Patinas of rust and paint

 

 

 

 

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Intimate Details

This immense site is full of interesting little details that can be captured with a medium or long zoom lens.

 

 

Shadow Play

The early morning sky had no clouds, but the direct lighting made for some interesting shadows.

 

 

 

Something unexpected

 

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Industrial Infrared

Some amazing clouds finally rolled in and it was time to break out the infrared camera.  Sadly, these beautiful skies did not last long before it became completely overcast.   These shots were taken with a Canon R6 mirrorless camera converted to infrared with a super color filter and EF 17 mm TSE lens.  The 17 mm TSE lens was perfect for including more sky in the images than would be possible using the 24 mm TSE from the up close vantage points on the walkway.   

 

 

 

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