I wrote one like this before. Probably for HubPages. This one has more points about being prepared and bringing stuff with you. I don't really do either of those. I wear totally the wrong shoes and I only bring the map book and my camera. 

 Probably not a great example to follow. 

10 safety tips when photographing abandoned buildings :: Photographs inQuinte by Geary LeBell

As my interest with taking photos of old, abandoned structures and buildings has increased over the years, so has my awareness of my safety. Many of the buildings that I enter are NOT structurally sound and present a risk to your safety when exploring.

Here are 10 tips when out exploring and taking photographs of old abandoned buildings and other structures.

1. Watch your step tripping hazard. Always be cautious with the steps you take. You need to be reasonably sure that the floor or surrounding structure is going to stay intact when exploring. There are many places where I've made a conscious decision not to enter because I felt my well-being was at risk. Entering an unsound building is a risk to your safety. Use common sense every time you make a decision to explore.

2. Be aware of your surroundings. Walking on uneven and weak flooring; being surrounded by loose brick, drywall, plaster and other building materials; and surrounded by sharp and ridged objects is a recipe for disaster if you do not exercise caution. Caution, balance and awareness of your surrounding are key to increasing your chances of not being injured or worse.

3. Photo gear bag with easy equipment access. Make sure your gear is accessible and safe. The ability to quickly access your camera, lenses and other equipment will not only provide safety for you, but your gear as well. Brining too much equipment or not being properly organized for transport creates frustration when trying to switch camera bodies or lenses and put you and your gear at risk. When exploring, I either leave my camera case in the car; bringing only what I need, or always wear it around my shoulders or neck when exploring the interior of a structure. Accessing my equipment can be done without ever taking the case off as it can go from behind me to in front of me by sliding the shoulder strap around my person, which provides easy access to all my equipment.

4. Wear the proper shoes. Wearing a solid shoe with good tread is critical when exploring old buildings. I would even go so far as to recommend work boots; even though I never wear them. The point is that you need to have a solid grip on the ground and ankle support for uneven ground. I wear a good quality running shoe with good tread and have never had an issue. Sandals, high heels or bare feet will surely get your injured!

5. Stepping on a nail hazard Wear proper clothing. Don't wear tight, bulky or expensive clothing. You'll need to be able to maneuver in tight spots and in awkward positions to get that amazing photo. Wearing tight jeans, a bulky jacket or a $800 dollar leather jacket is not ideal for this kind of photography. Think cheap, light and comfortable fitting.

6. Have a method of communicating with the outside world. If possible, carry your mobile phone in a secure but accessible location. The last thing you need is to get injured and/or stuck, having no way to notify someone.

7. Tell someone where you're at! Always tell a friend or family member where you're going. Accidents happen and you can take comfort in the fact that, if you're missing for some time, someone will know your location and eventually will find you. Remember the movie 127 hours?

8. Be calm, polite and understanding to property owners. Chances are, at one point or another you will be approached by the owner of a property you have not been given permission to be on. In my experience, being polite, understanding explaining your purpose usually is responded to in a positive manner. Always be accommodating, even if they tell you to get the #$#ck off my property!

9. Get permission go on someones property. Be aware of other people's presence. 99.9% of the time when you happen to cross paths with another person while exploring an old building you will have no issues. Just be aware if there are people in the area, you should use good judgement to avoid a situation you don't want to be in. Use your gut feeling and common sense to avoid suspect individuals! Be wary of causing injury to them and vice versa, them to you.

10. And finally, get permission. The best thing you can do to relieve the stress of being in an abandoned building without permission is to get permission. Sure it's fun and gets the adrenalin pumping, but to have permission from a property owner will set your mind at ease and provide you with a more pleasurable, un-rushed experience. Some ideas on how to get permission: talk to a neighbour, investigate the place online before heading out, check with local Land registrars.

When you don't live in the city you can call yourself a rural explorer.

Chances are you already know the first place you want to explore. There's something that catches your eye on the way home from work every day, each time you drive to visit your Mother, when you go on the backroad into the next town... There's a place out there which you'd like to stop and get a look at, if only you dared. Let's not say you need to find the time. The time is there. It's not easy to stop the car, get out with your camera and make that first step into being an urban explorer.

Or, a rural explorer, as I see it. I don't live in the city. I've lived in the city, in a small city and a range of towns around Ontario. I started exploring abandoned farm houses with my Mother and my Aunt, before I ever knew other people were doing the same thing. I didn't go looking for antiques, old hardware or anything like that. I wasn't hoping to see a ghost or wanting to get creeped out. I wanted to see a relic from the past, the old woodwork, the way the bricks had weathered and whatever mysteries might be lost, forgotten and buried under dust, debris and wild plants. The best thing I found myself was an old iron key. I still have it in my jewelry box.

The first time I explored on my own was years later. Right after I got my first digital camera. No co-incedence there. The digital camera is a wonder for anyone into exploring. Now you can take all the photos you want and not think twice about the cost of getting them developed or how many rolls of film you had packed into your purse.

The photo in this introduction is the very first house I explored, alone. Just my digital camera and me. That was the year 2006.

The Real Dangers of Urban Exploration

You may expect the top danger for explorers to be people. It's not!

I've been exploring, often alone, and the biggest danger I've found is from wild animals. Not that I have been attacked by wolves, raccoons, rabid squirrels... no. I've been threatened by birds and attacked by bees. I've had toads and frogs scare the pee out of me - I still think I stepped on one poor toad when I was walking through very long grass and couldn't see where my feet were stepping.

Birds can be territorial and may dive bomb you. The only solution is to tolerate it or hide. I've yet to have one actually strike me. But, the closest to do so were blackbirds (those smaller versions of crows) and hummingbirds. Don't laugh!

Bees are pretty self explanatory. Rule number 1: don't step in between the flight path of two beehives. Just don't do it. If you really must, duck down low and make sure your hair is covered. There is nothing like having a bee lost in your long, curly hair - near enough to your ear so you know you're in danger of being stung and you're not really keen on finding it with your fingers.

People will sometimes ask you what you are doing. In all but one case I have never had any trouble at all with people. They are curious. If they know something about the history of the house/ bulding/ location they will usually tell you about it. Volunteering all kinds of historical information. Which is great. I do like to hear it. Sometimes people want to talk more than I want to keep listening, but I do appreciate their time, their interest in the place I'm looking at and... the fact that I'm a woman and they are likely telling me all this because I don't seem like someone who would be geting into trouble, or making trouble.

Only once, I had a woman who was suspicious. But, it turned out she was the owner of the house I was photographing - it was a ruin but not abandoned. In that case I liked it for the ruined look. But, there are cases where you will find out (later hopefuly) that the abandoned house your're photographing isn't actually abandoned after all. It's kind of funny, later.

Getting back to animals... watch for animal holes. You might hurt your leg if you step into one. It is a good idea not to go alone just in case you do get hurt and need help. I do not explore inside the houses, hardly ever actually. I will go inside if I'm with a group, or at least one other person. Safety in numbers, when it comes to injury or... getting caught as a tresspasser.

This has not happened to me. But, it is on my mind each time I stop and get out of the car at a location I want to explore. I feel I am keeping myself out of trouble by not entering the premises. If I just walk around outside taking my photos I'm not breaking into the property. Also, I just don't feel right about entering a home this way. Most often they are pretty gutted by other explorers or people looking for hardware and such to steal and sell as vintage. So, in theory, I feel I am not tresspassing, or really missing much.

I was asked to leave one location by the security people. This was a time I was not alone so that was nice for me. I had already taken the photos I wanted too. I think they left me alone to wander around for awhile before they finally approached me. But, I'm sure they would have come on the run if I had been trying to do more than take outside photos.

If you do enter any abandoned, derelict or ruined building you must know you are at risk. You can not be 100% sure about anything in that building. Even a place which does not look badly derelict can have structural damage. Don't be an idiot about exploring inside. Wear decent footwear, bring a flashlight (even in daylight). Have someone with you or at least make sure your phone is charged and with you so you can call for help.

How to Find Locations for Urban Exploring

I find places to explore by driving around and looking out the car window. These are the times it's important to have someone else driving the car. You can't navigate the car and have most of your attention focused on catching sight of weathered wood, boarded windows or a driveway overgrown with plants.

Another idea is to join Flickr. You can get a free account. Search for local groups with explorers who are already adding photos. Some of them will put directions and locations on the photos. Not everyone will. I tend to leave it ambiguous. I like to protect the places from vandals and people who just want to grab whatever they can sell. So, I am cautious about giving directions. But, that doesn't mean I hoard them all. If you can join the local group, get involved in a discussion, share any photos from old places you already have - you might find a place in the group. Try to attend when people plan an event - meeting at one site. It's a lot of fun plus you make real contacts and become someone they will share information with.

Flickr has a lot of local groups but it isn't the only source. Search online and see what you find.

Read local history. Read the news. See which buildings in your own town are historical and may be in danger of being demolished. Read about the history fo your area and see what has already been lost and what is still left.

Check real estate listings. Some places have been for sale for years, empty. Some of them are being sold due to fire or damage from something else. Some are being sold in order to be knocked down so the land can be farmed or have housing developments built over them.

Urban Exploration Photography Tips

My new (new 2 years ago) digital camera has a great feature for urban and rural explorers, zoom. I've got 10x zoom. This makes a big difference in what I can get into a photo without having to be physically closer. You can't always get close up when there are fences, animals, and etc in the way.

Frame your photo and use the rule of thirds. I like to photograph a foreground of weeds/ wildflowers in front of a house. Sometimes I scoot down to the ground so the house appears to be on a hill. (It helps if it actually is on a bit of a rise). I like to get trees on the sides of my photos. It gives the photo a real, living edge. Then I take a photo where the house fills the frame.

Be creative, try different angles, try getting high (the roof of another building, a tree?) then get down low for a different view. Using a tripod is nice, if you have one. I did buy one but I have yet to actually take it with me.

I do have a camera strap. I always keep it on my wrist when I am using the camera. It is so easy to have some litle thing trip you up and next thing you drop the camera. If you have that strap over your wrist, your camera has a much better survival rate.

Focus on details. There will be little details you miss, You will notice them once you upload the photos from your camera. As you get practice you start noticing details easier, while you are still on the site. Train your mind to look for small things, the trimmings, the cracks. There will be details which especially appeal to you of course.

Don't be stingy with your photos. Take extra. You can delete any you don't need later. Or, you might find one of your extras just happened to catch the light and the angle just right.

Try different times of day, different seasons too. Sunset adds a glow to your photos outside. Winter makes everything look mysterious and silent. You should explore night photography too, what works for taking photos in darkness. Bring a flashlight, shine it on a window and get a photo of the beam inside the house.

Women Urban and Rural Explorers

I have met the women explorers on this list through my years of running the Flickr group: Ontario Rural Ruins.

If you are a woman urban or rural explorer send me a note and I will check your links and photos and add you to the list.

Flickr: Female Urban Explorers "This group is a place for UE girls to get together to talk about our explores and experiences and a place to share our images. Let's celebrate the fact that we are female Urban Explorers....and proud of it!"

msDeKay Ontario urban and rural explorer. Lots of photos, not all locations in Ontario.

KateKnevil Ontario rural explorer. Not a lot of photos but very good photos.

Lee-Ann Licini Ontario rural and urban explorer. She also runs the Creepy Ontario group on Flickr.

The Navigator Ontario urban and rural explorer. I've actually met Carla, face to face once.

Michelle Ontario rural explorer and artist. Now moved away from Ontario and living in the US. Her paintings of rural ruins are available on her site.

Today when you talk about personal websites what do you first think about?

Not so long ago people would think a personal website was a page (or a full site) they built on a free web host service like Geocities, Tripod, AOL or their own space on the ISP (Internet Service Provider) they were paying to connect to the Internet. Geocities was one of the best places to have a personal site then. There were good options and features and you could be part of a large community or the bigger community of all of Geocities too.

Not much point in talking about it now. Geocities is gone. Bought by Yahoo and later closed down. As for the rest, they are mostly full of abandoned personal websites. If you search you can find them. But, it's like wandering around the ruins of a ghost town now.

Your personal website can be anything: a blog, an online journal, a photo blog, a podcast, a wiki community or your own hand-made HTML site. Once you have an idea for the site, the next thing is to choose your media - the method to your madness. Build your web empire, but decide on how it will be constructed and where.

What's Your Online Experience?

Have you ever run your own site? Yes, a personal blog. Yes, an online journal. Yes, a photo blog Yes, a podcast. Yes, a microblog. Yes, a wiki community. No, but I'd like to. No. I don't want a personal site. No, I don't want a web presence.

Build Your Own Personal Site (with HTML)

Of course, you can build your own site, from scratch using HTML, without using a service like Geocities to give you a start and some basic elements to cut and paste. Most people rush into starting a blog, rather than working with the nuts and bolts of HTML and creating a site. But, it is a great experience. You will learn a lot and feel pretty good about having built something. Your personal site can be as simple or complicated as you want to make it.

Pick up a book about HTML, CSS and PHP code, or something simpler for the personal web site creator. Once you get the hang of it, creating a personal site is really empowering and you really do get the feeling of being active and a real part of the online community - not quite an expert geek but for sure qualified to be among the geeky realm.

Of course, you aren't alone among the code with nothing but a blank Notepad in front of you. There is very good software which can get you started and help you figure out what goes where. Most of the site building software will show you a version of your site as you work on it. Microsoft has recently made their Web Expressions software free. Pick up the Design software too so you can create your own images/ graphics for your site too.

I know almost no one will go this route when creating their personal web presence. It has lost popularity due to the quick and easy methods of just putting up a blog, but there really is nothing else like it.

A personal site doesn't have to be extravagant. This is my personal domain, thatgrrl.ca. I used to have more on this site, but now it is an index to my other sites as my mighty web empire grew.

Online Journal

LiveJournal has done a better job of hanging on than most of the other old personal web places. It began as a site for online journals/ diaries (back before people were calling them blogs). You can still create a site there, free. Or buy more features, options and space for your site if you want them. LiveJournal has a good community, a good taxonomy if you want to find people by their interests, hobbies, careers, etc. Even after all these years, I would still suggest LiveJournal as a good place to begin your personal site and start dipping into social media.

I don't use LiveJournal a lot, but I have a personal account which you can see as an example.

Personal Weblogs

Blogger was one of the first and simplest places to run a personal blog site from. Google bought it at one point. For awhile it seemed to be sink or swim, but someone took notice of it again and began updating it, giving it new features and allowing people to use the Blogger software as a CMS to run their site on their own domain even. You might find yourself on a Blogger site and not even know it. They have broken out of the original restricted design. But, you can still see traces of it, especially when you comment on a Blogger site (if you don't have a Blogger/ Google account yourself).

Blogger is still free and you can do a lot with creating a site and using social media. I would suggest Blogger first to someone who wants to start their first personal site. The instructions for getting started are very good. The service is well supported by the company and the community. You can easily find WordPress fanatics who will put Blogger down (taking it too far) but the fact is, you can run Blogger and it is still fairly simple to make custom changes to your template (theme) and the code itself if you want to add features or change the look and workings of your site.Don't rush into being an elisties snob about Blogger, it is a really good starting place for a personal website. A free Blogger.com site will give you more flexibility than a free WordPress.com site.

Note: If you pay someone for a custom blog (Blogger) template, make sure you are paying for more than just a background and header image. A lot of people offer services as a blog designer for Blogger. Not all of them are selling original creations you couldn't just do yourself, for no cost at all. However, if you really don't want to DIY, try Etsy as a starting place to find blog designers.

Community Sites

Another option for creating your own personal website, is a wiki. A lot of people have not heard of wikis, but they will know Wikipedia. Did you ever wonder about the name? Wikipedia is intended as an online encyclopaedia But, a personal wiki is about your own topic focus and the resources you can bring or find. However, you do not work and maintain a wiki alone, it's a community effort.

A wiki is like creating a mega site about a chosen topic. Often a personal hobby, interest or something you know a lot about and want to share your knowledge and resources with the online community. The idea is to gather others to add their own content, resources and knowledge too. If you want to get deep into a topic and find others who share your interest, starting a wiki is a good choice. A wiki has many branches of information stemming from an index - it will also be searchable.

However, you will have to use social media and online promotion to bring people in to find your wiki site. (Not so different from any other site, but people seem to think once they build it other people will just come, show up magically). it can happen, but that takes a lot of time and you could get feeling pretty lonesome and discouraged before they find you.

WikiWikiWeb - Where the wiki originated.

Microblogs/ Social Media Sites

Then there are the tumblog sort of sites. Tumblog is another word for microblogs. These are not meant to be full service sites. Instead the focus is on short entries to the site and using social media to share your entries, photos, text, quotes, etc. I like Tumblr and Twitter, but there are a lot of them out there. If you choose Tumblr the only downside I have ever found is the change they made to commenting on Tumblr sites.

Whatever their reasoning you can't comment without using extra, outside software. The site owner (that would be you) sets it up. Not a tricky thing to do, but I've never understood why it was changed. Anyway, the focus of a microblog is shortness, brevity and sharing content. If you don't want a personal diary sort of site - just quick updates and keeping up with friends, consider a microblog.

You may not think of Twitter as a blog or personal site. It's become very fast paced, more like a forum than a site. But, Twitter is a microblog. A very successful microblogging and social media site. You can find me on Twitter.

Get started Using Twitter.

Photo Blogs/ Sites

Next up, photo sharing. You may not want to write much at all. If so, take a look at Flickr. You can post your photos, illustrations and videos too. Free, up to a set limit, or get a paid account and post as many photos as you like. I use Flickr because I like the groups. You can upload your own photos, add descriptions, give them a title beyond the one the camera spits out with them - then look for people on Flickr.

It is amazing how many communities/ groups there are on Flickr. You can find a group started for anything you can imagine. If you can't find a group, you may just need to search again with a different phrase, because everything under the sun is at Flickr. However, Yahoo took over Flickr, made changes people didn't like and a lot of people abandoned their accounts. Some are back, some are not as active, some have left groups started and not maintained. But, Flickr is not a ghost town. I'm there myself.

Another clever and creative way to use a photo site, like Flickr, is to make and show off an art journal. All your own art can be scanned (or take a photograph of it) to create an image file. Then the image can be loaded to your photo blog. You can create your own art gallery with your personal creations and a commentary about each of them.

Get started using Flickr.

Podcasting

Podcasting is another way to create your personal presence online. Instead of images, podcasting is all about sound. You may have some images loaded for eye candy, but the focus is on sharing your music or giving your own web radio show. You can create a podcast and have a live show, or store the files online and let people run them in whatever order (chronological or subject) they choose. BlogTalkRadio is one site which offers the set up for running your own live podcast.

I haven't done much podcasting. I listened to a friend who was a professional DJ and put on her own live radio show through a site for an online game, Kingdom of Loathing. Also, I assisted Bev Walton-Porter with finding guests for her live show. I was a guest on one show too.

If you are interested in creating a live show, the world is your oyster. Get out there and do it.

Social Interaction

Content Curation Something a little new still is a merge between photo sharing and social media, content curation. The important thing with using content curation is to remember you want to keep the links you share looking like something someone else will read. Don't shortcut and leave extra text, use an image which doesn't match the content and don't scrimp on writing a little description or note of some kind.

A content curation site, like Scoop.it, gives you a lot of social media focus. If this is really what you want, to build yourself up in Twitter, Facebook and the other social communities, content curation is the highway on your path. Don't forget, content curation is very visual - often it is the image which people will 'read', even before the headline. Once you create your quick post to the link you have chosen send notice to Twitter (my favourite) and the other social media sites where you will be building up followers due to your great links through content curation and you own personal ideas, thoughts, suggestions, research and knowledge on the topic you are focusing on.

Originally published on HubPages. Laura has been writing online since 1996. Her first content was sold to a print zine. She is a solo publisher of her own sites.

After being inspired by photos taken of little dolls in peril or just trying to cope in the big world, I have found my own little people to experiment with. I’ve seen people use Barbie dolls, some kind of revenge against the media thing I think. I know an artist who uses tiny figurines which are sold to be set up in model train villages.

I have been using two Bratz dolls which I bought at a GoodWill store. I like their sort of bitchy expression and the fact that they aren't blonde princess types. These Bratz dolls have a range for true torment, real peril and facing it all with an annoyed look.

So far the hardest part is getting the photograph in good focus. Even when I’m sure I’ve got several good photos, I end up deleting all but one or two cause they are blurry looking. I’m going to see what tricks and ideas I can find from other sites and people who are taking close up photos of little things. It's almost macro photography, but not quite that close up and focused on one small thing.

My best tips for anyone giving this a try:

• Clear out anything you don't want in the photo's background. Get clutter out of the way. Look through your camera before you start and see what you still need to move out of your way.
• Get in close to your dolls/ toys. In the photo you should clearly see their faces and details of hands and other small items you pose with them.
• Tidy up her hair. The Bratz dolls hair becomes a mess pretty easily.
• Practice different angels: overhead, to the left, to the right, from below, over her shoulder, etc.
• Practice focusing on something in the background and have your foreground be a little blurry, not in direct focus.
• If you are indoors, bring a light you can move around. Don't let it cause glare but experiment with moving it around for different effects, like shadows.
• I bought a tripod to help me get a better photo, without blurring due to any least movement of my hand. This should help me get better, clearly focused photos. Also, it's nice cause it keeps my camera in the exact same spot if I want to try playing with the light.
• Use the macro button/ feature on your camera. This means you have to move the camera really close but it does give you better luck catching the details.

Orchid Dolls - Ten Tips For Doll Photography

• Align the eyes, forward, upward or sideways: spend the time you need for that.
• Focus the eyes. Make the doll look directly at your lens, or at some distant point from the camera.
• Another important thing are the eyebrows: even if the wig has a fringe, I always try to show the eyebrows because this is what enhances the expression in the doll’s look.
• I don’t use high angles with my dolls, because it makes them look like simple dolls. To make them look alive, I put myself to their eye level or even, sometimes, below it.
• Try to avoid elements out of our doll’s scale in our framing, such as benches, litter bins, people walking… unless, of course, your intention is to show just that.

A Source of Inspiration

• Little People by Slinkachu - A tiny street art project.

I found these at Better Photo as I was looking for links to post to Bewitching Vagabond tonight. I started looking for tips for beginners using scanners.

"We look at a painting to know the painter; it's his company we are after, not his skill." - James McNeill Whistler

"A photograph is a most important document, and there is nothing more damning to go down to posterity than a silly, foolish smile caught and fixed forever." - Mark Twain

"You don't take a photograph. You ask, quietly, to borrow it." - Pentax advertisement

"Life is like a good black and white photograph, there's black, there's white, and lots of shades in between." - Karl Heiner

"A good photograph is knowing where to stand." - Ansel Adams

Practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty. - Anonymous

Senseless photographers practice random acts of beauty; intelligent photographers practice consistent acts of selflessness.

"A photograph is always invisible, it is not it that we see." - Roland Barthes