Where I live in Upstate NY I’m very close to the old Griffiss Air Force base. Actually, I’m only a few miles from the airstrip and I can still see large cargo planes performing practice take off and landings from my yard. It’s great to see a big C-5 fly over heard at a very low altitude while it makes multiple passes at the runway. The base was decommissioned in 1995 and is now home to a technology park, an aircraft refurbishment center and the Air Force’s Rome Air Labs.

There is another abandoned site not far from the air base that I have been passing on my way to and from work for the last 22 years. I believe it was an old army station but I have not really investigated its history. What this small site does have is a plethora of old buildings I would love to explore. I just haven’t gone as far as to jump the fence and fight my way through the overgrowth.

Yesterday afternoon the sun was fighting its way through the clouds so I decided to head over to this site and grab a few images with my telephoto lens. There is a group of white birch (I believe) growing up around a cement tower and I can also spot the top of another structure from one of the corn fields next to the fence. I’m thinking once the snow starts accumulating it would be a good time to revisit these buildings and maybe get a little adventurous.

Installation Decay
Nikon D5100, Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6, 1/60s, 55mm, f/16, ISO 200

The Tower
Nikon D5100, Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6, 1/60s, 98mm, EV -0.7, f/16, ISO 200

In The Round
Nikon D5100, Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6, 1/80s, 200mm, EV -0.7, f/16, ISO 200