Unlike the sprawling, overwhelmingly oppressive landscape of the steelworks at Scunthorpe with its acres of cooling towers, blast furnaces, coke ovens, conveyers and other artefacts of industry, the visual landscape of the Aldwarke steelworks in Rotherham is more generically industrial. Like Scunthorpe, it’s not easy to photograph from directly outside, you have to go on site or go further away to photograph it. As I’ve not yet asked if I can go onsite (and the odds of being granted permission are probably midway between nil and f@ck all anyway) moving further away is the best option, as demonstrated in my last blog post.
So here’s a couple more views of the exterior, taken from the north of the site. The four brick chimneys are probably the most dominant visual feature and can be seen from some distance away, but the water tower and the metal chimneys are fairly prominent also. From this vantage point, I was shooting south/south west and as it was December the sun was low in the sky, thus giving a backlit effect. Using a telephoto lens, I then zoomed in close to frame just the vertical structures against the backdrop of the town, although the atmospheric conditions weren’t in my favour with the haze obscuring much of the background (and yes I have tried using the dehaze filter in Adobe Lightroom) .
As I’ve said before, it’s not the easiest or most interesting place to photograph but it’s a good addition to my mini-project on the British steel industry.
Mechanical Landscapes 
I’ve thought about making photos of this site in the past but gotten no further than “driving” past via Google Streetview to see if there are any ovbious compositions. The super-wide-angle lenses of Google’s vehicles can make it tricky to judge though.
It’s not too far from me (in Sheffield). My dad was employed there for a while.
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It’s not the easiest of places to photograph, partly because it’s set back from the road behind hedges and fences, but mainly because it’s somewhat featureless. Paradoxically, it’s easier to photograph from further away, albeit with a longer lens.
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I like these photos and I like the haze.But I am a person, who likes haze everywhere…
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I think the haze has the benefit of throwing the foreground into sharper contrast and reducing the visual impact of the background. Well that’s how I see it anyway?
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Yep, I think you are absolutely right. It enhances the main subject that might otherwise be lost in the background (if there are lots of disturbing elements in the background).
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