Tried visiting a dead mall at noon vs 10am and the difference was crazy

Honestly I always hit up dead malls right when they open at 10am thinking I'd get the best photos with no people around. But last week I went to the old Westland Mall in Hialeah around noon instead and it was way better. The light coming through those skylights hit different and made the empty food court actually look kinda cool in pictures. Plus there was this old security guard who let me into the closed arcade section and told me stories about how it used to be packed on Fridays. At 10am the place feels creepy and dead in a bad way but at noon you get that sad nostalgic vibe that's more interesting to shoot. Has anyone else noticed their dead mall trips work better at certain times of day?

2 comments

2 Comments

emma6841mo ago

My friend Jenna went to this dead mall in Tampa around 3pm once and said the sunset light through the broken skylights made everything look gold and sad, like a movie set or something. She got some crazy good photos of an old arcade carpet that looked radioactive in that light.

the_mia1mo ago

Oh man, that's the golden hour effect in a dead mall. You want the best shots. Show up at 2:45 and wait. The light shifts fast. Bring a tripod too because the shadows get deep in there. And watch out for loose tiles near those skylights. I learned that the hard way. Almost twisted my ankle.