At the end of the sale, I'll be picking one of my Instagram followers to win a free 8x12 print of their choice, so be sure to follow @adamkohutphotography if you're not already!

I'm writing this because of another batch of auto makers who intentionally cheated on emissions tests, rather than spend their billions on lowering the toxins their cars put out.  You can read the full article here.  Basically there are laws against certain levels of poisons that vehicles put out, since they contribute to killing the planet in the long term, and killing people who breathe them in in the short term.  These auto makers didn't care, because money.  I personally think this is no different than walking up to someone and injecting them with poison.  Do you?  Does anyone else think that the people responsible for this should be arrested and tried for at least manslaughter?  Why is it illegal for a hitman to be hired to kill one person, but a CEO gets off the hook for secretly arranging mass murder?

"“The issue is a systemic one” across the industry, said Nick Molden, whose company Emissions Analytics tested the cars. The Guardian revealed last week that diesel cars from Renault, Nissan, Hyundai, Citroen, Fiat, Volvo and Jeep all pumped out significantly more NOx in more realistic driving conditions. NOx pollution is at illegal levels in many parts of the UK and is believed to have caused many thousands of premature deaths and billions of pounds in health costs." -theguardian

Some may have noticed posts by IFTTT on my page.  This awesome little service allows me to automatically post new items in my store, images on Instagram, and eventually blog posts, to my Facebook page, without ever going on it.  One step closer to being rid of Facebook for good, and hopefully moving on to something else (Google+?).  I don't want to fully go into IFTTT here, but you should all check it out if you enjoy snazzy automation scripts.

Onto the reason I'm posting in the first place.  It just came out that Facebook was manipulating peoples' news feeds and visible content further, as part of a psychological experiment.  Read the full story over at Maximum PC.  Facebook basically filtered out certain posts by your friends to see if they could make you feel more negative or positive.  This is incredibly creepy and disturbing.  I'm not sure how anyone can be ok with this and continue to use a service that intentionally alters your mood.

"The unwitting participants in the Facebook study were told (seemingly by their friends) for a week either that the world was a dark and cheerless place or that it was a saccharine paradise. That’s psychological manipulation, even when it’s carried out automatically. This is bad, even for Facebook."

I'd love to hear everyone's perspective, what you're switching to, or why this manipulation is ok with you.  Leave some comments!

Abandoned Victorian Tree House

I'd only seen one image of this place before, and the poster intentionally put the wrong region it was located in, to throw people off.  I was in the state looking for it last year, but didn't have any luck.  This year I'm back and finally found it!  Set far back from the road among huge, reaching, Live Oak trees, is this abandoned Victorian style tree house.

Abandoned Victorian Tree HouseAbandoned Victorian Tree House

From what I could tell, the area has been abandoned for about 13 years.  This appeared to be a house built for children.  There was a small living area downstairs, side room, and two upper floors big enough for small beds. 

Abandoned Victorian Tree House

At the top was a loft with bunk beds in the window.  Below, the trees had grown enough to begin pushing through the planks in the foundation.

Abandoned Victorian Tree House

Nearby, another large building, maybe some kind of inn.  The doors and windows covered in spiderwebs.

Inside, there were still piles of firewood waiting to be burned.

I was thrilled to find this place at last.  It's always a race against time to capture these spots before nature, vandals, or new development takes them away.  I was worried that after over a year, I'd never be able to add it to my collection.

Abandoned Victorian Tree House

You can purchase a print in the urban decay gallery, or head over to my Etsy print store.  Be sure to follow and add me as a favorite to keep up with new additions.  And as always, please share images and the facebook page with friends to help spread the word!

The day of the shoot, I showed up about an hour before dawn to make sure all the decorations were in place, and to get all the lighting ready.  It was a while back, but I remember numb fingers, a ladder, and no snow.  The owners expected it to be a bust, but I finished the shoot and drove three hours home.  The whole job took about 20 hours of work, and at the end, I was able to create a light morning snow storm that wouldn't have been possible to capture in actual snow.

I've been wanting to go back and re-do this with techniques I've learned since.  It still holds the record for the longest I've spent on a single image, and greatest amount of post production required.

Before

After

Auditorium

I had a great trip to the Midwest this year, and this was one of my favorite locations.

I don't do a lot of research on these places beforehand, because it would probably deter me from exploring.  Many locations turn out to be pretty dangerous, either because of the state of the buildings, or crime in the area.  It's really interesting looking into what these places were, and what became of them once I get back.

I can only hope my ignorance leads to great images, and you all enjoy them :)

The gymnasium

Built in 1925, the site of this massive Gothic church was donated by the U.S. Steel Corporation, who also paid for a large portion of it's construction.  Construction at the time cost over $1 million.  For some perspective, that's over $13.3 million today.

In addition to the church itself, there was also an auditorium with a stage and balcony seating (above), a gym (left), classrooms (below), as well as commercial and office space.

Classroom 1

Classroom hallway Classroom 2

Over the decades the complex was a cultural hub, but through the 60's & 70's, the collapse of the steel industry hit the area hard.  The poor economy, changing demographics, and sharp increase in crime caused membership to drop from 3,000 to a little over 300.  People were afraid to go after dark, and during one wedding ceremony, the father of the bride reportedly had his car stolen.  The church leadership finally closed up shop in 1975.  While another religious group briefly used the church in the 80's, it's been mostly abandoned for nearly 40 years.  Arson in the late 90's caused significant damage to the area, and took down the roof of the gym pictured above.

Fire damage

There's a door...right there. Second floor To the balcony Upper floor office?

Unlike many of these abandoned structures, this church didn't feel hidden away. While the area has seen better days, it also didn't really blend in among so many other crumbling buildings, as it might in Detroit.  A busy city surrounds it, with children playing just across the street.  It was very strange to be in a place once so architecturally beautiful, now disowned by it's city, literally at arm's reach.

I was glad to have seen it before another disaster, or demolition, takes the rest of the building down for good.  Apparently some part of it was used during the filming of Transformers 3, but I didn't spot it.  Then again, who knows what was going on in that movie.

You can click on any of the images to visit the print store and pick up your favorite.

As always, don't forget to like the facebook page and show your support by sharing it with your friends!

What's left of the sanctuary

If you like the slideshow, you can have one of your own done as part of your 2014 wedding package.  Also don't forget to like the facebook page to keep up (on a more frequent basis) with new photos and sales!

This was an ice cream stand built in 1929.  It started out in Lincoln RI and was later moved to it's current spot on Rt. 146 North, North Smithfield.  It closed in 1968 and never reopened, apparently due to plumbing issues.

Check out these beautiful all-in-one prints.  No frames needed, beautiful finish, and multiple hanging options.

Choose any photo from the Landscape or Urban Decay galleries, or one from your own gallery.  If you don't see the option listed for your photos, send me an email and I'll get it sorted out right away.  I'm still updating everyone's wedding and portrait pages with the new items.

I'm trying out a new blog hosted directly on the site.  For my fist post, I wanted to showcase an example of an evening real estate photo.  These are great for grabbing the attention of potential buyers, and getting attention is critical, especially in this market.

Take a look at my other architectural work at www.adamkohut.com/architecture