Preston Castle

Steve had the pleasure to photograph the interior of Preston Castle with 19 other photographers as part of a field trip sponsored by the Viewpoint Gallery. This is a former boys reform school built in the late 1890's and closed down in the 1960's. This facility was established as an alternative to Folsom or San Quentin prisons as a place for reform of troubled youth. It is located in the town of Ione, California it is about a 45 minute drive from Sacramento.  The place is currently being managed via the Preston Castle foundation that is in the process of restoring it floor-by-floor.  The castle has recieved some recent noteriety for being considered haunted. This has attracted more attention to the place, including haunted house evening tours that are regularly given (they must be scheduled in advance). Currently the place is in various states of disrepair with the top floor and basement off limits due hazardous conditions.  The current condition tends to work nicely for photography in terms of giving that auroa of antiquity.

Arriving there in morning, we started photography at 7 AM, with many of the photographers finishing by around 11 AM. A docent was on hand, but were relatively hands-off in allowing our group to wander around unescorted from room-to-room and floor-to-floor. The hazardous areas (like holes in floors) are clearly marked or shut-off via locked doors or other barricades.  This freedom allowed more time and thought to explore different photographic ideas and compositions.  With only 20 people, it was relatively easy to shoot this place without getting in each others way too much.  The facilities include an infirmary, doctors office, work shop, various offices or employee quarters, bath rooms and shower areas, a kitchen, and various stairwells.  All the floors, furnishings, and other equipment looks at least 50 years or older.  With many windows, there was lots of opportunity to make use of natural light to try out different compositions.  A tripod was a necessity and for most of the shooting, Steve found a 24-105mm lens on his Canon 5D mark II full frame body worked out well.  In the photos posted below Steve decided to process them in color. There seemed to be enough interesting color and light on the interior of the castle that it tends give equally good results when compared to applying the more instinctive and classical black and white approach.

The long wait	Some light modeling	This way out
Behind the blue door	Electroshock therapy?	Kitchen brew
Old milk	End of the hall	Viewpoint shooters