GH2: Relic (Abandoned Phoenix Trotting Park)

dan.carter

Well-known member
The Phoenix Trotting Park, a horse racing track, was originally built in 1964 in Goodyear, Arizona. It opened in 1965 and was run for about two and a half seasons. The large, futuristically designed structure gave an optimistic look for the 1960s.

Originally planned to be built for a cost of about $3 million, the facility ended up costing around $10 million. Various incentives during the events that were held, such as free parking and admission did initially lead to decent attendance. However, a variety of factors led to the inevitable closing of the track. The hot weather of the desert caused events to be uncomfortable to attendees. The location provided limited means to control rain, leading to floods that caused accessibility problems. The park is also located about 20 miles outside of Phoenix and was built long before any major roads made the area easily accessible to those in the city or its suburbs.

The main building of the park was used in the 1998 Charlie/Martin Sheen movie No Code of Conduct. Part of the feature involved a large explosion occurring at the track. Despite the original assurances by the production staff that no animals would be injured, hundreds of the birds occupying the abandoned structure were killed and injured when the effect went off.

Panasonic DMC-GH2
Lumix 14-140mm and 20mm lenses
Gitzo GT1830 tripod
Manfrotto 701HDV head

 
Great shots, you worked well with just the 2 lenses. Impressive location, this would make for a great dystopian future/sci fi set :-)
 
I drove by there yesterday on my way to LA. I remarked to my assistant what a great place it would be to shoot in. How do you get get permission to access the location.
 
Dan I love your work man, Im so glad you posted this, Something about urban exploration that I dig. I guess it's fascinating that the labor and money that goes in to a structure, then it just gets abandoned for some reason or another. It seems odd to me that a company wouldn't buy some of these and rehab them. Any ways, im watching your other vids next. Thanks again for posting.
 
Dan, thanks for this. We did a bit of exploration in Detroit and your compositions really bring out that strange feeling of decay in a modern setting. Great shots, love the edit.
 
Great shots, you worked well with just the 2 lenses. Impressive location, this would make for a great dystopian future/sci fi set :-)

Thank you Adrian. You're right, this place is beautifully creepy.

I'm continually surprised by the GH2 in low-light. Some of these shots were ISO 3200 with the 14-140 without a hint of noise.
 
Dan I love your work man, Im so glad you posted this, Something about urban exploration that I dig. I guess it's fascinating that the labor and money that goes in to a structure, then it just gets abandoned for some reason or another. It seems odd to me that a company wouldn't buy some of these and rehab them. Any ways, im watching your other vids next. Thanks again for posting.

Thank you for the encouragement maranfilms. It is a shame this structure couldn't be used productively, but until then it retains its elegance.
 
I drove by there yesterday on my way to LA. I remarked to my assistant what a great place it would be to shoot in. How do you get get permission to access the location.

I wish I knew Paul. I'd love to spend several days recording this structure in all types of lighting and weather.
 
Dan, thanks for this. We did a bit of exploration in Detroit and your compositions really bring out that strange feeling of decay in a modern setting. Great shots, love the edit.

Thank you for the good words Erik.

Arizona is a great place to find abandoned history. My list of possibilities keeps getting longer.
 
Wow.... nothing at all stood out as saying "I was shot at 3200". Impressive performance.

The GH2 constantly surpises me with its low-light ability. I'm still getting over the days of anything over ISO 1250 with my 7D being unuseable.

Thanks for watching.
 
I just picked up a gh2 today in Boston, Cant wait to get an adapter for it so I can use my fd glass. Im shocked at how small it feels in my hand. Coming from Canon, it feels like a toy. But the image quality speaks volumes. How did you feel going from the 7d to this? Handling wise. I did see they finally came out with a battery grip for it though. Hopefully it will help it fit my huge hands.

I checked out your other vids yesterday, A lot of fun to watch. you did a pisser job on the abandoned mine vid, looked great. That tree was creepy, 19 hanged. Damn im sure there's some ghost stories around that place. Let us know when you do some more exploration stuff. thanks
 
It looks great!



Just curious. How many more lenses would he need to shoot this? The kit lenses is the best lens to work with the GH2.

Thank you for watching John. Glad you liked the project.

I agree, the 14-140mm is the go-to lens. Because I didn't know how long I'd have in the structure, I only took 2 lenses, and only used the 20mm for 2 shots. With more time, I would have used the 20mm in more areas and would take the 7-14mm.
 
I just picked up a gh2 today in Boston, Cant wait to get an adapter for it so I can use my fd glass. Im shocked at how small it feels in my hand. Coming from Canon, it feels like a toy. But the image quality speaks volumes. How did you feel going from the 7d to this? Handling wise. I did see they finally came out with a battery grip for it though. Hopefully it will help it fit my huge hands.

I checked out your other vids yesterday, A lot of fun to watch. you did a pisser job on the abandoned mine vid, looked great. That tree was creepy, 19 hanged. Damn im sure there's some ghost stories around that place. Let us know when you do some more exploration stuff. thanks

Congratulation on your new GH2. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do mine.

Initially, because of the smaller size, I inadvertently pressed wrong buttons, but with experience became less an issue. The lack of swivel screen on the 7D was a literal pain-in-the-neck for me, so the GH2 has been a great relief. Overall the GH2 has been a joy to work with, and constantly surprises with its abilities and image.

Thank you for the good words for my projects. I'm happy to hear you enjoyed them.
 
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