Container terminals are among the most photogenic industrial environments anywhere and among the hardest to get into. They are also, from the outside, considerably more accessible than most photographers assume, because the interesting frames are rarely inside the fence. What follows is a practical guide to working the perimeter. It is not legal advice, and the rules vary enormously by country. Verify locally before you go, particularly anywhere with active security concerns, and treat the general principles below as a starting point rather than an authority.

The 135mm prime is the cheapest good lens in the used market and has been for thirty years. Every SLR system made one, most made several, they were sold in enormous numbers as portrait lenses, and then autofocus arrived and the entire installed base became unwanted. A clean M42 Takumar 135 or a Canon FD 135 costs less than a decent filter. On a crop body it becomes roughly a 200mm equivalent, and that is the focal length where industrial subjects start behaving properly.