Some new photos from Fort Wayne

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Someone asked a few weeks ago if I had any more photographs of Coney Island Hot Dogs, Fort Wayne's oldest restaurant, which has operated in the same location for 99 years. My son and I went to eat there yesterday evening. When we left, I made this photograph. The old man sitting at the counter parked his bike on the sidewalk outside and walked in as we were walking out. He was the last customer of the day!

Here's a detail crop so you can see what's going on inside:

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Chris:

Your night-time photos are fantastic. Do you remember any exposure details for this Coney Island Hot Dogs picture or the state fair bounce house picture?

And, as a resident of Manhattan, I find that your photos make me want to visit Indiana!
 
troym said:
Chris:

Your night-time photos are fantastic. Do you remember any exposure details for this Coney Island Hot Dogs picture or the state fair bounce house picture?

And, as a resident of Manhattan, I find that your photos make me want to visit Indiana!
Click to expand...

Thanks! The Coney Island one was shot at 1/15 of a second at f9.5 (halfway between f8 and f11) at ISO 1600. I shot it handheld.

The Bounce House was shot at 1/20 of a second at f4, ISO 3200, also handheld.

Both were shot with the 24-105mm f4L-IS lens that came with the camera. The lens's IS works beautifully for keeping the images sharp when I handhold this heavy camera/lens combo at slow shutter speeds.

If you ever do make it to Indiana, let me know! Would be cool to meet a fellow-RFF member.
 
Inspiring photo Chris. Wonderfully balanced composition. Simple and effective. Perfect exposure. Gorgeous light. It could be first (or last) page of a great American novel. Thanks for posting it.
 
j j said:
Inspiring photo Chris. Wonderfully balanced composition. Simple and effective. Perfect exposure. Gorgeous light. It could be first (or last) page of a great American novel. Thanks for posting it.
Click to expand...

Thanks, JJ. Here is another one I made there last night. The old man walking toward the door is the same one seen sitting at the counter in my previous photo.

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I was visiting my parents on a rainy evening in 2009, when the sun came back out and created this colorful rainbow over their backyard in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
 
Yes, the fact that I have not posted anything in this 500px account (I don't even know what that is) is proof that I'm a crummy photographer. I concur.

I have a few pictures of a cat I could post if you like. But I don't really know how to use all these expensive cameras I've got. Too many buttons and dials. Maybe I'll get one of these new phones that takes pictures, it might be easier.


Black said:
I think everyone has the right to criticise and no one is above criticism, however veiled that criticism may be. However, it seems a trifle hollow, when the person who is critiquing has nothing in their own public portfolio to display, by way of barometer as to what level of expectation we should hold, in this case, regarding content.

I note that your 500px account is bereft of content. Food for thought.
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It's too bad that places like Coney Island are becoming a rare site, even in Manhattan. This is why the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission was established in the early 1960s. The destruction of the old Penn Station drew tremendous public outrage. Jackie Kennedy was leading proponent of the commission. They saved Grand Central Station from the wrecking ball. Unfortunately, they have no power to preserve many of the small "mom and pop" businesses from gentrification. Many old establishments are just former shadows of themselves. I think of the area that Rockefeller Center occupies that was home to a vast richness of streets that contained wonderful brownstones, all destroyed in the name of progress. Or even the area where the World Trade Towers once stood, that is now home to One World Trade Center, aka "The Freedom Tower". This was called "Radio Row".

Yes, there are plenty of photos to be taken where one lives as evident by Chris' photos. We need to somehow preserve the past, show the present. We need to show future generations where we come from. By then, they won't exist.

Berenice Abbott, "Photograph of Radio Row, looking east along Cortlandt Street towards Greenwhich Street"
 

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I'm drawn to Chris' photos because they show a kind of texture of the places he photographs, not just the most beautiful moment or place.

Tom
 
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When I was a teenager, my grandfather, John Westerfield, bought a small house on Goose Lake in Whitley County, Indiana. We went fishing there all the time during the summers. This pier and rowboat belonged to another old man who owned property on the lake.

Goose lake was a small lake, about 80 acres in size, with houses along the north and west shores, and farms and woods around the rest. Most of the shallow water along the shore was full of water plants. Wasn't a good lake to swim in, but the fishing was great!

I made this photograph when I was in high school, 20 years ago.
 
froyd said:
...old photos from FW? Should this be a new thread?

By the way the Coney night shot was superb!
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I'm using my time off this summer to go through my archives of film waiting to be scanned. I have hundreds of rolls going back many years that have piled up to do. Of course, I'm still shooting new stuff, so we're getting a mix of new and old stuff.
 
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Another from my backlog of film waiting to be edited.

My son, Mack, is a huge Lego enthusiast. In 2011, Indiana's only Lego store opened at Castleton Square Mall in Indianapolis. We waited in line 2 hours to get into the store on the opening day!

Mack is picking out parts from the store's "Build your own Minifigure" display. Minifigures are the little people that come with Lego sets. They have interchangeable heads, hats, legs, and torsos.

Mack has more than 800 of them, and I have three of them standing on my computer: a Roman Legionary, a Scottish bagpiper, and a Spanish Conquistidor. A lot of them are historical figures. Mack has a Cleopatra (complete with snake), a Roman general, and Julius Caesar!
 
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This farm on Parent Road in Allen County, just west of I-469, is a Hoosier Homestead Farm. The Indiana Department of Agriculture awards the title to family-owned farms that have been owned by the same family for at least 100 years!

The barn here has had a large American flag hanging on the side facing I-469 (Fort Wayne's ring road) for several years. The old brick silo is interesting because few of them are still in use, and most have lost their distinctive roofs.

I photographed this place yesterday evening.
 
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