Have you ever seen ghosts while photographing abandoned buildings?

“Have you ever seen ghosts while photographing abandoned buildings at night?” It’s one of the most common questions I am asked. I have been places that are allegedly haunted after all. 

The creepiest place I have ever photographed

The eerily creepy Moundsville Penitentiary at night, fluttering bats and all.

The creepiest place I have ever photographed is Moundsville Penitentiary in West Virginia. Why? It’s a large stone Gothic behemoth of a penitentiary. This imposing place was a last stop for murderers, rapists and thieves. Almost 1,000 men lost their lives here. Between 1876 and 1995, these prisoners were hung, electrocuted, bludgeoned or have committed suicide. Some met grisly deaths in the outside weightlifting area.

A most unsettling room

I began photographing in the Sugar Shack.

The infamous Sugar Shack in Moundsville Penitentiary, home to numerous unspeakable tragedies. Many say that it is haunted.

This room was basically a free-for-all, a place where the guards looked the other way, a place where gambling, fighting, rape and murder took place. As you might imagine, there was indescribable mayhem, violence and injuries in this room. Chuck Ghent, our guide during our day tour, said, “Things happened in this room that made people call it the ‘Sugar Shack’ …  something you may not want to think too much about, heh heh.”

Paranormal investigators have reported hearing whispers, arguments, unexplained noises and cold spots in Sugar Shack. Ghent has said, “I’ve had footsteps walking behind me, and I’ve had doors close behind me.” Ghent worked as a correctional officer in the facility from 1986–1995. “In here, there wasn’t a day when you didn’t wonder if today might be your last day.”

“It just went dark in here!”

Worse, my head lamp died while I was setting up. I finished off a long exposure photo. I felt extremely uneasy there. And given that I regularly explore abandoned places at night, I’m typically not the uneasy sort. I left after that one photo. None of my other friends ever went there.

Was this due to malevolent spirits, ghosts of ones bludgeoned? Or was it because it was dark and creepy? Or because I already knew the history? 

I don’t know. But I wanted to leave.

Moundsville Penitentiary at night.

A haunted abandoned water park

A creepy abandoned water park at night.

The caretaker of the abandoned water park had been giving me a tour. “The gift shop is haunted. There is a painting of a woman on the wall inside. People keep tagging it. But the paint never stays on.”

I asked how long this had been happening. “I’m not sure. It’s been happening for a while, though. Don’t worry, they won’t bother you,” he assured me. 

Later that night while photographing, I came across the gift shop. 

The haunted gift shop in the abandoned water park. Shortly after this, I felt a sudden cold wind.

I ventured in, saw the painting of the woman, and smiled. I shined some blue light on her to give an eerie, bold and cartoonish quality. This sort of light painting would never stay on her. True to the caretaker’s word, the spirits never bothered me.

Shortly after that, an eerie cold wind blew in from nowhere. The air had been still and hot, but the sudden wind was gusty and cooler. Then just as suddenly, it stopped. Whether this was an atmospheric anomaly or the last vestiges of a seance, who can say?

An eerie scene inside an abandoned truck.

The haunted ghost town from “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” film

Grafton ghost town, Utah. Allegedly haunted, this is also the site of several movies.

I photographed the Grafton ghost town in Utah. It was first settled in 1859. Later, it was the site of several movies, including the bicycle scene in “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.”

And of course, it’s rumored to be haunted.

While photographing there, a car pulled up, and some young people got out and began exploring the area for ghosts. They said that they would record on their iPhones, mentioning that sometimes, voices that they didn’t hear initially would show up there.

I am sad to report that I never got any creepiness, weird activities or sounds there. But the people were quite friendly.

Creating my own ghost

A light drawing and light painting of a ghost floating over a swing.

Since I have had a dearth of encounters with ghosts, I thought I would create my own ghost. I created a light drawing of a ghost floating over a swing. If you want to learn how I created this, check out this article!

Ghosts

A ghost with a bicycle, a surreal image, Goldwell Open Air Museum near Rhyolite, Nevada.

So far, I have had no verifiable, definite encounters with ghosts. I’ve outlined some of my experiences, discussing them here, other articles, and on The Nightaxians YouTube podcast episodes. These may have been the result of paranormal activity. However, they could just as well be attributed to active imagination, weather anomalies, or something else.

However, I have had a number of frightening encounters. I’ve had bats suddenly whizzing past so close that I could feel the “whoosh” of their wings flapping. I’ve had scary encounters with angry burros, frightened birds and curious deer sneaking up on me. And of course, the usual scurrying rodents and other critters.

But for now, I’ve not seen something strange in my neighborhood. I’ve not seen something weird that don’t look good. And I ain’t seen no ghost.

We discuss our creepiest places to photograph here on our YouTube podcast.

VISIT ME, VISIT ME!

BOOKS AND PRINTS:
Head on over to the Ken Lee Photography website to purchase books or look at night photography and long exposure prints and more.  My books are available there and Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Target, Booktopia, Books A Million, IBS, and Aladin. If you enjoy the book, please leave a nice review, thanks!

NIGHTAXIANS VIDEO YOUTUBE PODCAST:

Night photographers Tim Little, Mike Cooper and I all use Pentax gear. We discuss this, gear, adventures, light painting, lenses, night photography, creativity, and more in this ongoing YouTube podcast. Subscribe and watch to the Nightaxians today!

SOCIAL MEDIA:
Ken Lee Photography Facebook Page (poke your head in, say hi, and “like” the page if you would, uh, like)
Instagram

PODCAST:
Behind the Shot video podcast – interview February 2020

VIDEO PRESENTATION:

How We Got the Shots: Five Photographers, Five Stories – Night Photo Summit 2022

VIDEO INTERVIEW:

Ken Lee’s Abandoned Trains Planes and Automobiles with Tim Little of Cape Nights Photography
Conversation about night photography and my book with Lance Keimig of National Park At Night

ARTICLES:
A Photographer Captures Haunting Nighttime Images of Abandoned Buildings, Planes, and Cars in the American Southwest – Business Insider by Erin McDowell
A Photographer Explores Southern California’s Desert Ruins – Los Angeles Magazine article by Chris Nichols

 

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Creepiest place I have ever photographed at night

People ask night photographers all sorts of questions. One of the most common is: what’s the scariest, creepiest place you have ever photographed? 

 

The last stop for almost 1000 souls

The imposing Gothic stone structure, Moundsville Penitentiary in West Virginia, was the last stop for murderers, rapists, and thieves. Almost one thousand men lost their lives here. Between 1876 and 1995, these prisoners were hung, electrocuted, bludgeoned, or committed suicide. Some met grisly deaths in the outside weightlifting area. 

Moundsville was bizarrely violent. It made the United States Department of Justice’s Top Ten Most Violent Correctional Facilities list. 

Some met their deaths at the hands of prison guards. Moundsville broke men, leaving them shattered. Some feel that these tortured prisoners still remain within the large stone walls. 

Moundsville takes its name from Native American burial mounds across the street. Death was no stranger to these parts.

Dark. Creepy. Imposing. Haunted. Old. Abandoned. Strange.

Three of us night photographers could not resist. During a humid summer in 2017, Tim Little, Mike Cooper and I photographed at Moundsville. At night. With no lights on.

 

Preparing for night photography within the stone walls

We arrived shortly after sunset. We were mobile, having all our camera equipment, water, snacks, and accessories in backpacks. We shuffled past “Sparky”, the infamous electric chair that sent many to their deaths. In the hallway, Tim passed out Motorola CP110 radios. These had a range of 1.5 miles. We were not sure if their signal would go through several thick stone walls, but it’s what we had. We would use these to communicate anything, typically using it to let others know where we were going so we wouldn’t interfere with each other or call for help.

 

The Sugar Shack

The Sugar Shack is dark in more than one way. This was a recreation room located downstairs, and is the most infamous room at Moundsville. This room was basically a free-for-all, a place where the guards looked the other way, a place where gambling, fighting, rape, and murder took place. 

The sky was still relatively bright. However, I wanted to begin photographing. I chose the darkest place. This was the Sugar Shack.

I immediately got the creeps upon coming down here. I am typically not prone to being spooked. However, this room had a really ominous feel. I set up for one photo. My headlamp suddenly died. It was pitch dark. I could not see my hand in front of me. To finish off the photo, I counted steps to the wall and “light painted” the room with my ProtoMachines. I then packed up and left. One photo was enough.

 

Blood Red Cells

I photographed the Block J & K cells. This was foreboding. My footsteps echoed throughout. I decided to go with this, choosing a blood red photo, shining the light in such a way that the bars of the prison cells showed on the floor. I did this with every cell. The entire image was red except for some of the lights from outside shining in through the glass brick windows. At one point, something clattered and sounded like it dropped to the floor. I whirled around. No one was there. I never knew what fell.

 

Psych ward

Near the end of the evening, the radio squawked. “We have to be out of here in twelve minutes!” I looked at my phone. Sure enough, it was almost time to leave. I was upstairs. Broken glass, shattered ceramics, and lots of dust lay everywhere, creating scraping sounds as I walked. I had twelve minutes. I had really wanted to photograph the psych ward. This lay on the other side of a large community room, which I had to cross.

FLU-FLU-FLU-FLU-FLUP! 

I whipped around, shining my ProtoMachines light. I was met with a rush of wings and moving air. Bats! As if this Gothic stone building weren’t enough, bats also lived here. 

I peered into the medical room in the psych ward. I could do this. I set up the camera quickly, shined my light into the room, and focused. I tripped the shutter and illuminated the room with red and blue light from the ProtoMachines into the room. It was pitch dark, so it didn’t matter how long the exposure was. It was all dependent on my light. I wanted to photograph quickly since I had to get back to the front, which was at least five minutes away. 24 seconds later, I was done. I closed the shutter. The photo looked good. I could now leave the psych ward. I would no longer disturb the bats. Or anything else.

 

VISIT ME, VISIT ME!

MY WEBSITE:
Head on over to the Ken Lee Photography website to purchase books or look at night photography and long exposure photos.  My latest book, “Abandoned Southern California: The Slowing of Time” is available there and Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Target, Booktopia, Books A Million, IBS, and Aladin. If you enjoy the book, please leave a nice review.

SOCIAL MEDIA:
Ken Lee Photography Facebook Page (poke your head in, say hi, and “like” the page if you would, uh, like)
Instagram

PODCAST:
Behind the Shot video podcast – interview February 2020

VIDEO INTERVIEW:
Conversation about night photography and my book with Lance Keimig of National Park At Night

ARTICLES:
A Photographer Captures Haunting Nighttime Images of Abandoned Buildings, Planes, and Cars in the American Southwest – Business Insider by Erin McDowell
A Photographer Explores Southern California’s Desert Ruins – Los Angeles Magazine article by Chris Nichols

 

How I got the photo: Rag doll atop a tricycle in a ghost town

Sometimes, spooky, creepy Halloween-type photos walk up to you with a demonic smile and say, “Hey, I’ve got it half set up for you! Bring it home!” And so it was at this Arizona ghost town. I was walking around at night with one of the volunteers who stays at the ghost town. I came across this scene with this red-headed rag doll sitting atop a tricycle. The universe had smiled upon me. I was meant to take this photo.

Setting up for snickering

Using a Feisol CT-3372 tripod, I positioned a Nikon D610 at “eye level”, using a Rokinon 12mm f/2.8 fisheye lens to make the scene look even weirder.  I did admittedly position the rag doll so she would be peering straight into the camera. While I did so, the volunteer started half-chuckling, half-snickering, saying, “You are one sick person. I love it!”

I wanted the room dark. There’s a fine line between a dark image and underexposure. I was going to try and walk that tightrope while still giving the shadows some detail.

Lighting it up

Then I took my ProtoMachines LED2 and used a white light from the right side to illuminate part of the rag doll, keeping the left side in shadow. I did this from a low vantage point so I would also create texture on the wooden floor. I handheld the ProtoMachines, as I almost always do, so I could light quickly and efficiently while the camera shutter was open.

I switched the ProtoMachines to a red light and briefly illuminated the circular Polly Gas sign in the back. With photos like this, any time I can make something look weirder, I’m all for it!

I chose to do a 61 second exposure, as I wanted to keep everything relatively dark while keeping detail in the shadows instead of being completely black.

When the volunteer peered into the LED monitor to view this photo, he cocked his head back and laughed. We had answered the smile of the universe, and all was good.

 

VISIT ME, VISIT ME!

MY WEBSITE:
Head on over to the Ken Lee Photography website to purchase books or look at night photography and long exposure photos.  My latest book, “Abandoned Southern California: The Slowing of Time” is available there and Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Target, Booktopia, Books A Million, IBS, and Aladin. If you enjoy the book, please leave a nice review.

SOCIAL MEDIA:
Ken Lee Photography Facebook Page (poke your head in, say hi, and “like” the page if you would, uh, like)
Instagram

PODCAST:
Behind the Shot video podcast – interview February 2020

VIDEO INTERVIEW:
Conversation about night photography and my book with Lance Keimig of National Park At Night

ARTICLES:
A Photographer Captures Haunting Nighttime Images of Abandoned Buildings, Planes, and Cars in the American Southwest – Business Insider by Erin McDowell
A Photographer Explores Southern California’s Desert Ruins – Los Angeles Magazine article by Chris Nichols