A few shots from the ride home.

Today's ride home from work was pretty satisfying. Windy but, yes, quite satisfying. It wasn't very sunny but it also wasn't arctic. I enjoyed a steady cadence through the concrete jungle, freewheeling at my leisure, and took 20 minutes to explore around a train tressle about a mile away from where I work. Here are a few photos I took while messing around tonight.

- Mike

Fort Armistead.

This morning, in the snow & ice, I crawled through the tunnels of Fort Armistead which is located at the west end of the Key Bridge. It’s abandoned but definitely not unfrequented. This is a pretty creepy place to be crawling through. I was definitely not alone today and at one point heard people talking about my foot prints in the snow, just outside of a tunnel where I was set up inside, taking photos. Hearing them talk just 20’ away, I quietly packed my gear, ventured deeper into the tunnels and went lights-out for a few minutes. It was clear that they weren’t coming in after me and it worked to my benefit as I found a new area to set up and play.

The lack of light inside the tunnels made it very hard to photograph. I was forced to light my exposures with that of my Mag light. Waving it across the area I was photographing while the Nikon’s shutter was open.

The inside of the tunnels were completely covered in graffiti to include some satanic symbols and various other creepy things like swastikas & 666’s. Of all the bizarre things I saw inside, the craziest was a Mossberg shotgun box belonging to this model. And it wasn’t until I got home that a friend sent me this link. Hind sight’s 20-20 right?

I’m a ninja. Here are my photos from today…
Mike

4 from today.

Today I spent a couple of hours playing with light. My next venture is into off-camera lighting. I've always been intimidated by it. Lately I've been getting frustrated by not being able to pick up the detail I want in low-light situations so I'd say it's about time. As for now, here are a few random "product" style shots I took today.

- Mike

Snow Day!

Today was a great day. It started off with work being cancelled for the day(Wahooo!) due to an utterly devastating 2" of snow. Snow; to Baltimore is what Kryptonite is to Superman. But anyway, that was just the start of it. It progressed nicely from there to include a couple extra hours of sleep, a delicious breakfast complete with pineapple juice & bagels shared with the lovely girlfriend and a nice walk with Doris the dog. I know that may sound a little ordinary to you folks but during the work week, that's unheard of for me. But, it didn't stop there. It gets better, yes BETTER I say!

We were able to take care of some wedding invitation business up in Towson as well as share a kickin' lunch at Bertuci's. I've never eaten there before; it was awesome - killer pizza with fresh moz.

Yeah I know it's also Valentine's Day. Which ordinarily is no big whoop to me. Except that last year on this day my girlfriend and I decided to get married. Now we're just 3 months away from our wedding. (And a 2 week honeymoon in France!)

Right now (6pm) it's snowing pretty hard. Keep your fingers crossed for another snow day, in the mean time, here are some random images from this morning's walk.

- Mike.

The Baltimore Brewery - explored.

By 8am this morning I had already scaled a brick wall and barbed wire fence and crawled in through a broken out cinder block doorway. All this in 20° weather. Why? Cause' I'm a ninja; that's why.

The Baltimore Brewery is located in a "not so great" part of Baltimore. Probably one of the sketchiest neighborhoods I've had to infiltrate so far. But it was worth it; it always is.
There wasn't a whole lot inside. Most of the floors were dangerously rotted and riddled with holes. Creaks and moans abounded with each ascent to the next floor. This was probably the hairiest venture I've embarked upon. Lots of fun though, mind you. There were great views from the tallest, center spire.

While I was up there, I watched the fire department put out a house fire which was just a few houses down on E.Federal St. Pretty entertaining. I only had a view of the back of the house so there aren't any glorious fire photos to share with you. Just a good story.


At any rate, here's the goods: Baltimore Brewery Gallery


- Mike

A photo of a wheel...

With whirling red spoke nipples even.

- Mike

New project...

New video is in the works. It's about time isn't it? When's the last time you saw a new riding vid on phattire.net? sheesh!

unofficial trailer

- Mike

Graffiti Warehouse...

This morning I snuck into another abandoned warehouse on the SW side of Bmore. After bushwacking along a river bank and hiking down some railroad tracks, I ducked inside a conveyer shaft and crawled up inside the warehouse. Let me tell you: climbing up the rusty rollers of a conveyer shaft isn't as fun as it sounds. (but yes, it was fun)

When I got inside I found the warehouse completely empty. No neglected machinery, or traces of any type of work. Just empty space. Every wall was covered in tags so I took a bunch of photos while I explored. Just outside was the hum of tractor engines and murmer of voices. Somebody was working on a truck.

Just as I was about to climb a ladder to the 2nd floor I happened to glimpse over my right shoulder and make direct eye contact with a man in full Carhardt gear. Our eyes connected across the expanse of 2 warehouse floors through perfectly aligned open doors. Not knowing exactly what to do; I waved. This got me no response so I walked casually out of view and then ran back to the conveyer shaft and shimmied out of the structure. I had to cut it short today, but it's better to be safe than sorry... or in Central Booking.

• Short video here.
• Full gallery of photos here.

- Mike

Got a post from my girlfriend's father today.

Got a post from my girlfriend's father today. The man's got great taste in stamps.

-Mike