The Factory London Indoor Adventure Park and My Exterior Scout Photos

Originally posted at The Factory London Scout in my architecture photography blog at scottwebb.me.

I’ve really found huge benefits in scouting architecture photo projects. My Scout of the exterior of The Factory London Indoor Adventure Park opening June 8th 2018, seems to be no exception. If you’re like me, you’ve probably seen many snapshots of the inside of the Old Kellogg Plant transformed. I know a number of people that are wildly excited about everything The Factory is bringing to London. I’d like to share 5 photos of the outside of The Factory from my initial scout. I won’t get into all the benefits of scouting in this post, but I’ll post up a new article for that soon.

West Entrance of The Factory London Ontario

Scouting images aren’t typically polished images and that’s true for these images of outside the west entrance of The Factory I’m sharing here. They help the architecture photographer to prepare for the official shoot. Sometimes, photographers spend a couple of days scouting to get familiar and get the brain working on how we can solve onsite challenges. These images I’m sharing are still really great and I could see them helpful for editorial.

Just the other night, around 8:15 pm, the sky looked to have cleared up and was soon to potentially give London a nice sunset. I followed the 5-second rule and grabbed my already packed gear to rush out. My car was on empty, but I’d get gas after. I had to see what was going on over at The Factory! Maybe it wouldn’t be too impactful? Maybe sunrise would be the better option? What time do the outside lights come on? What’s that look like?

I got over to 100 Kellogg lane at 8:30 pm to start capturing some angles and noting different things to take into consideration.

Here is a photo I took at 8:36 pm:

The Factory’s West Entrance at Sunset

From this photo, I made a major crop of that huge porch design because I felt it looked closes to a rendering view. As well, I want to get an image similar to this but using a different lens and keeping as much of the 42mp in the photo as possible. And, if you’ve been here on my site before, you know I want to include people in architecture images when possible. Check out the crop that is still an amazing size for a lot of uses:

Crop in close at the industrial entrance of The Factory, London! Sadly, without people.

A Different Angle

Looking at The Factory Entrance from another angle

With this photo from another angle, I left so much room at the bottom as it could be thought of as space to put copy or headlines. Of course, it could be cropped to remove that portion too. I was looking for another angle that I believe could possibly show a larger crowd of people. I mean, I think The Factory is going to be of high interest over the grand opening weekend.

After these images, The Factory London lit up! 9 pm on the dot the outside lights came on to shoot me over the moon. While I’ve learned there is still some lighting to come, knowing what time the lights come on is very helpful. Since this entrance is in shade at this time of the day, the lighting really creates an entirely new look and feel. Hmm, what if we could manipulate what time those lights come on later in the week? I like how Steven at Matter thinks! This is a factor that might not have come up without scouting too.

The Factory after 9 pm

Kellogg plant turned The Factory London with outside lights on

I’m not 100 on the angle but I wanted to catch all the signage in a frame to see how it would turn out. These photos are like sketches in the sketchbook of an artist. I play a lot of what ifs. My curiosity gets the best of me. One could add drama to this image by doing a sky replacement, but I really avoid doing that at all costs. I just pray for a more epic sky later. I do wonder about light painting some of the landscape though.

The Factory London Ontario hitting Twilight as I scout a straight on photo

Scouting a straight on angle of The Factory from a distance became interesting as it pretty much hit twilight. Once officially open, it might be difficult to get a photo like this due to parked cars. However, it still feels lonely without people or cars moving. I also can’t help but wonder about shoot at sunrise. Who’s up for coming out to be a model at 5 am? ha.

Early Twilight from an angle at The Factory

Going Back for Sunrise

The next morning, I got up for sunrise. It turned out to be a bit of a bust because of the overcast sky and rain. With sun tracking apps, I still see where the sun should be and I’ve got some other views in created in my mind.

Stay Tuned

Stay tuned for the final images sporting people and life. The Factory is going to be such a great place for Londoners and visitors. I love how excited people are already and I hope they say Wow to the architectural work done by Matter Architectural Studio Inc. and everyone else thus far.

Everything around the Kellogg plant being revitalized feels very positive for London. For all kinds of details about The Factory London go to https://thefactorylondon.ca or maybe even hit up their Facebook page at https://facebook.com/thefactorylondon

Let me know in the comments if you plan to go for the Grand Opening of The Factory, what you think of the exterior. Any constructive criticism you may have for me is always welcome too.

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Oh, and for those of you on the edge of your seat wondering if I ran out of gas on the way home, I almost did.

Luckily, I came across a gas station at the last moment and made it! :)