Elgin Area Camera Club: Murder Shacks: Abandoned and Unsettling Places

Elgin Area Camera Club January 13, 2026 Program: Murder Shacks: Photographing Abandoned and Unsettling Places
By Keith French and Jim Frazier

Murder Shacks: Photographing Abandoned and Unsettling Places
Discover how to find, approach, and photograph forgotten buildings with an eerie edge. This presentation covers safety, ethical considerations, and compositional techniques to create powerful images that embrace decay, mystery, and creepiness.

Keith French has been a full-time professional photographer since 2001, with an extensive background spanning multiple genres of photography. His photographic journey began in 1984, when he built his first color darkroom in his home. Drawing on this diverse background and his passion for teaching, Keith brings a unique blend of knowledge, enthusiasm, and approachability to his workshops and classes. His teaching experience ranges from novice to advanced amateur photographers and includes instruction through his camera store, the Chicago Area Photography School (CAPS), and as a presenter and photo walk host with Out of Chicago.
Continuing his commitment to photographic education, Keith hosts and co-hosts numerous workshops locally in the Chicago area, as well as destination workshops in North Dakota, Colorado, Oregon, California, Nevada, Wisconsin, and Southern Illinois.
www.kfrenchphoto.com
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Jim Frazier has been taking pictures since 1963 when a car salesman gave the annoying 10 year old kid a camera to distract him while he sold his parents a 1963 Mercury Monterey. He went all in on digital in 2003 when a friend showed him a beautiful 8x10 picture of a Purple Sandpiper taken with a 5MP camera. He’s been an accountant, a salesman, and a professional speaker. Jim has worked, slept, and taken pictures in all 50 states.

Jim has taught photography classes and made CACCA presentations. And he has sold a few pictures (his first sale was to the Wall Street Journal), but he’s always tried to maintain his amateur status as a photographer.

Jim has always enjoyed photographing old buildings, but developed a passion for murder shacks when he discovered a group on Flickr dedicated to that topic, eventually becoming the administrator.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jimfrazier/

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Elgin Area Camera Club
November 11, 2025 at 7:30pm
Zion Lutheran Church (in the basement)
330 Griswold St, Elgin

While the meeting starts at 7:30pm, please feel free to arrive a little early to ask any photography questions and meet other members.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/ElginACC
http://www.elginareacameraclub.com/

Questions? Contact Jim Frazier at [jim@jimfrazier.com](mailto:jim@jimfrazier.com) or [takechargeseminars@gmail.com](mailto:takechargeseminars@gmail.com)