Urban Exploring: Out of Bounds

I joined my friend Luca Polach this week for some Urban Exploration. He had researched two spots for us to check out - a gigantic steel and concrete overpass on the Don Valley Parkway, and a storm water drainage system out in industrial Mississauga. You also should check out his shots from our expedition on facebook when you are done here.

We were not technically supposed to be in either of these places...

We accessed the underbelly of the bridge after a brief hike down into the Don Valley, and a bit of clambering and climbing through/around fences

The view from end to end seems to go on forever, but in reality is about 500 meters.

Here is a picture of a camera taking pictures

The view of the Toronto Skyline through the heavy steel supports. Sadly, more than a few people have jumped to their deaths from here.

Here is a picture of Luca taking pictures to lighten the mood.

I like the way the steel rays outwards. As Luca observed its almost a crystal form.

The bridge was tagged all over.

View from the far side looking back over the DVP.

I'm glad we didn't meet this artist in person.

Here we are at the storm water system, our second destination. This was clearly a place where some talented graffiti artists practiced their craft 

The trains came roaring past every thirty minutes or so. We had only a few seconds to swing our tripods from wherever we were working to try and catch it.

The GO Train!

This is one of the trains reflected in the water, over a 1 second exposure.

Luca had a manual flash bulb. Here we use it with some blue paper as a filter.

Luca has been doing some great work with burning steel wool. This was a great location to experiment!

The last time the GO train came by some drizzle had gotten on my lens, creating an interesting if unintended effect.