Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
A Polaroid snapshot of The Frog, a large chunk of frog-shaped limestone that stands at the main entrance to the Hanson limestone quarry on Ardmore Avenue in the Waynedale area of Fort Wayne, Indiana.
The Frog originally stood on the northern rim of the quarry, on Sandpoint Road between Ardmore Avenue and Smith Road. It was one of several large limestone boulders that stood there, where a bend in the road came close to the edge of the 300 foot deep quarry. Decades ago, someone noticed that it was shaped like a frog, and this person painted the side of it green with an eye.
No one knows who painted it the first time, or how long it has been painted like a frog. It has been that way at least since the 1960s, as my parents and several others of their generation told me that it was already known as "The Frog" when they attended nearby Elmhurst High School in the late 60s. It was a popular place for kids to park to make out, drink, and smoke pot. Eventually, the quarry's employees started maintaining the famous landmark, periodically repainting it.
In the summer of 2012, Hanson bought all of the houses on the section of Sandpoint Road where The Frog originally stood and got approval from the county to close the road so that the quarry could expand. Because The Frog had become a beloved landmark, the company moved it to a prominent place at the quarry's main entrance on Ardmore Avenue where it can be seen by the thousands of people who drive past on the busy road each day.
I photographed it early in the morning, soon after sunrise.
5-29-22
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
Polaroid snapshot of a blue inflatable elephant standing in the side yard of a house on Old Trail Road in the Waynedale area of Fort Wayne, Indiana. It had a garden hose attached to it, so I think it is a toy that sprays water for kids to play in.
Waynedale used to be a small town in rural Allen County, Indiana. Although it was annexed by the city of Fort Wayne in 1957, Waynedale still looks like a small town.
5-27-22
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
It is very common to see hand-painted signs posted along highways in rural Indiana exhorting people to believe in Christ. This example of roadside evangelism stands on the edge of a soybean field on US-33 in rural Allen County, a few miles northwest of Fort Wayne.
It paraphrases John 14:6 - "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
6-7-22
Retro-Grouch
Veteran
Like the exhortation to worship Jesus, perhaps this is sacred to Ganesha.
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
Polaroid snapshot of the back of a fire truck next to the Southwest Fire District Station [NODE="1"]Home[/NODE] on Old Trail Road in the Waynedale area of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The truck has a 'Thin Red Line' flag painted on it. This has become a popular symbol for firefighters.
Southwest Fire District is a volunteer fire department in Allen County. This station is in the city, and is actually less than a mile from a Fort Wayne Fire Department station.
5-30-22
Retro-Grouch
Veteran
Wow, I thought Velvia gave saturated colors! This shot requires sunglasses for viewing.
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
In the right light, with the right exposure, the Polaroid film is very vivid. The reason so many of the Polaroids you see online look so low in saturation is that most of them are overexposed. In bright sun, giving one half to one stop less exposure than normal keeps the highlights from blowing out too badly and increases color saturation.
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
Polaroid snapshot of The Clyde Theatre, right before sunset, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It was opened as a movie theater in 1951 by Clyde Quimby, who also owned the Quimby Village shopping center, where the theatre is located. The theatre was later renamed the Quimby Village Theatre and changed to a two-screen movie theatre. That's how it was when I was young, when my parents often took my sister and I there to see movies.
The tall "Clyde" sign sticking up from the top of the marquee was gone by the time I began going to see movies there in the early 1980s. The theatre closed in 1993, and after being briefly used as a church, it was abandoned. By the time I photographed it the first time, back in 2008, it had already sat empty for nearly fifteen years.
In 2017, the old theatre was purchased by Chuck Surack, founder of Sweetwater Music, and a nine million dollar renovation began. The outside was restored to nearly the same configuration as it had back in 1951; the theatre got back its original name and the original "Clyde" sign was rebuilt. The inside was transformed into a live music venue, but the art deco lobby was restored to look much as it had originally. In May 2018, the Clyde Theatre reopened after it had sat vacant for more than twenty years.
5-26-22
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
Polaroid photographs of the now-closed Hall's Original Drive-In Restaurant next to the Quimby Village Shopping Center on Bluffton Road in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
The restaurant, opened in 1946, closed on December 23, 2021 after 75 years. It was the first restaurant opened by Don Hall. The Hall family still operates several other restaurants in Fort Wayne, New Haven, and Indianapolis. The main dining room was a semicircular room that stuck out of the front of the building.
In the 1950s and 1960s, it was a popular hangout for teenagers. In more recent years, Hall's mostly catered to older people. My family ate here occasionally when I was young; it is sad to see it closed.
5-16-22
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
A Polaroid snapshot of the sky shortly before sunset on a Spring evening in Churubusco, Indiana.
For several years, I have been doing abstract images of the sky and clouds in Indiana, so I decided to try one on Polaroid.
5-29-22
Retro-Grouch
Veteran
And your attempt is a success! The Polaroid works beautifully with these; that creamy, dreamy Polaroid color may be a whole new avenue to explore with this series. Go for it!
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
I agree. I need to get some more film but I intend to do more sky photos with Polaroid. I did some with the regular digital camera a few days ago that look nice. I'll post them as soon as I finish editing them.
Pál_K
Cameras. I has it.
This photo is much much better than the one some photographer made which just had a tricycle.
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
Northeast Indiana was hit by a derecho, a severe linear storm front with hurricane-force winds, on the night of June 13, 2022. The Waynedale area in southwest Fort Wayne, where my son and I live, was the hardest hit area. The National Weather Service recorded winds as high as 98 miles per hour in this part of the city!
Our house was undamaged, but a portion of the roofing material on the back of the garage was peeled back like a bed sheet! We were fortunate that we did not have any large trees in our yard. All over the neighborhood, trees were broken off at the base or completely uprooted. Many of them were very large, thick trees! Most of the damage to buildings was done by falling trees. Most of the electric lines in the area were taken down by falling trees, and our area was the last part of the city to get its power restored. Our electricity wasn't back on until the afternoon of the 17th!
I made this photograph of my garage early in the morning the day after the storm.
6-14-22
farlymac
PF McFarland
I know what you went through, Chris. We had one blow through here some years ago, and our power was out for eight days. Although our lines are underground, the pole with the transformers that the feed line was hooked up to was splintered and since we are at the end of the circuit we were the last to get any repairs. Lucky for you there was only minimal damage to that garage.
PF
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
Polaroid photograph of a long overgrown driveway leading to some trees in the distance where an abandoned farmhouse once stood. I photographed it on a foggy Spring morning.
The farmhouse was demolished in 2017, and the barns that stood nearby were taken down later. I photographed the House At The End Of The Long Drive several times before it was torn down.
6-13-22
Pál_K
Cameras. I has it.
This whole series is delightful. I love the photos and the historical descriptions. You are actually doing what I’ve dreamt of and only dabbled in. I need to go back and read this thread from the beginning.