Back from the Lens Doctor: EF 24-105 L

A while back, while photographing the Republic Steel East Thomas Plant and Wade Sand and Gravel in Birmingham, I had the misfortune of dropping my Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L lens from about should height and it landing lens first in the hard-pack road; actually, it wasn't even "dropping" it so much as it was the quick release plate disengaging from the tripod while it was slung over my shoulder and allowing gravity to do her worst. She did.

I began to notice in subsequent outings that the photos taken with the lens just weren't sharp. And the problem didn't improve regardless of focal length, aperture, or use of Image Stabilization. But in the words of the immortal GI Joe, "Knowing is only half the battle." The real issue was, what was I going to do about it. After a couple months of deliberation, I sent the lens off to Canon's repair center in Virginia. And they sent me quite the estimate; they could repair it for about a third of what I paid for it, which was not insubstantial. So rather than having an uber-expensive paperweight I ponied up the rubles. 

Upon the lens' return about 10 days later, I discovered, and I'm pretty certain about this, the lens now takes sharper photographs than when I first purchased it (used). And I learned a couple of valuable lessons through this experience:

• Buying used is not always the best alternative, even when you save several hundred dollars up front. If I had purchased the lens new, it would have still been under warranty when I dropped it and the repairs would have been covered by Canon; thus I came out about even in this thing.
• Don't rely on the quick release plate to stay mounted to the tripod. Take that extra couple of seconds to sling that camera over your shoulder or use the wrist strap.
• Canon's repair service has a really quick turnaround time, but I hope not to use again in the near future.

The subject of my first test shots was the closest cuddly thing at hand.

Darby wants to play ball. I want to test out my newly repaired lens.

Republic Steel, East Thomas Plant :: Meter Panel

Meter Panel, Republic Steel, East Thomas Plant, Birmingham

Meter Panels at Republic Steel's East Thomas Plant in Birmingham, Alabama, on the premises of Wade Sand and Gravel.

It's impossible to know what the function of this panel of meters once was while Republic Steel was still in operation. But now it sits defunct and destroyed in near darkness, alone, missing the daily bustle that formerly encompassed its steady operation.

The broken glass and chipping paint are constant reminders of the grand industrial past that is Birmingham's, iron and steel titan of the South. The ruins of the factors lie around the city like so mine dinosaur skeletons, scoured and scavenged. The meat was long ago picked away; all that is left is the bones.

Republic Steel, East Thomas Plant :: Cauldron

Cauldron at Republic Steel, East Thomas Plant in Birmingham, Alabama
Canon Rebel T2i, Tokina AT-X 12-24mm @ 12mm, 3.2s @ f/8, ISO 200

This gargantuan vat is housed in the upper level of one of the frowzy buildings at the Republic Steel, East Thomas Plant.

Like the tubs and basins in a prior post, I've no idea as to what use this cauldron was put. But when I was alone in this dark building with its strange sights and sounds, I permitted my imagination to run amuck a bit, and the stains and remains could lead one to any sort of conjecture. Molten metal. Whole cows. Terminator robots that then reconfigured themselves into their proper shape. Regardless of its prior use, it now does nothing but gather rust and befuddle visiting photographers.

Republic Steel, East Thomas Plant :: Rub-a-Dub

In one of the buildings at the Republic Steel, East Thomas Plant in Birmingham, there is a room filled with all sorts of tubs: sinks, toilets, large basins, bath tubs. It's hard to say what purpose there was in lodging all of this accumulated tubbery in this particular locale, because it's entirely out of sorts with the contents of not only the adjacent rooms but also the rest of the building. Not to mention, the eerie cast levied by the green-hued windows.

Republic Steel, East Thomas Plant :: Roomful of Tubs and Basins

Republic Steel, East Thomas Plant :: Walled in and Waterlogged

Remains of the Republic Steel, East Thomas Plant in Birmingham

Trying to describe the status of the remains of this building is more than a small chore, and one which I could not adequately complete. 

  As I approached the end from which I photographed, stomping through the overgrown brush and walking up to the window, I heard a loud splash as a turtle abandoned its perch atop one of the pipes. Shortly thereafter, the moving water subsided, and no further signs of life emerged.

  When I visited the Republic Steel, East Thomas plant (located on the grounds of Wade Sand and Gravel in Birmingham) two years, I photographed this same building (on the blog, in the gallery), but this time I wanted to capture a more all-encompassing view. This oddly shaped photograph is a composite of ten or more photographs, which normally I would have cropped but decided I liked the turn-out and ought to leave well enough alone.

Revisiting the Ensley Steel Works

Back in October, I posted some photos from a visit to the Ensley Steel Works in Birmingham that had occurred about a year prior to that past. Yet I recently developed a roll of Kodak BW400CN that was shot on my Canon EOS 3; the film contains shots from several outings dating back more than two years. That roll contain several shots from U.S. Steel's Ensley Steel Works that I had forgotten that I had even taken, some of which I liked even better than the similar photos taken on the Panasonic LX3, which can be seen in the previous post (linked above).

For additional photos of this ilk, I have also previously posted about Republic Steel's East Thomas Plant in Birmingham.

Republic Steel's East Thomas Plant

A little more than a year ago, two friends and I were given permission to shoot the remains of Republic Steel's East Thomas plant, which lies on the premises of Wade Sand & Gravel on the western side of Birmingham. 

I haven't shared these photos until now, but at long last, here they are.

Part of the reason I share this now is that I've been given permission to photograph another historic Birmingham structure at the end of this week. I'm pretty excited, though I have no idea how it'll turn out; the only photos I've seen of the building's interior are nearly 100 years old.