Some new photos from Fort Wayne

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

This doorway separates two of the rooms at Little Shop of Laura's, a secondhand shop on Broadway in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Among the ladies handbags hanging from the top of the doorway is a sign that says:

"Prayer Changes Things."

The heart painted on the wall is one of many that adorn the walls of the store.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

This house is on Wells Street, between Russell Avenue and Elmer Avenue, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I've always found it interesting, as it is built on top of a steep hill, with the garage built into the hill under the house.​

The garage door still has a Bernie Sanders campaign sign in the window, though I photographed it three weeks after the 2016 presidential election.​

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

This barn is on US-33, southeast of Wolf Lake, in rural Noble County, Indiana.​

Many old barns in Indiana have the name of the family that built it, and the date of construction, painted on the sides or on the roof. This one says: "HILE ✭ 1928."​

I photographed it Monday evening, about a half hour before the last light of the evening had gone.
​

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

This sunflower farm is located on the northeast corner of County Road 900N and State Road 9 in Huntington County, Indiana. Almost all of the sunflowers were facing east, so I photographed them from the eastern edge of the field, looking west.​

There is a large moth on one of the flowers, visible on the third flower up from the bottom in the middle of the picture.​

I made this photograph on a September evening, on one of the last days of summer.​

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

This corner of the field had only a sparse growth of much smaller plants than those in the rest of the field

The taller sunflower, which was only about three feet tall, looks like it is leaning over to the sad-looking smaller one to give it a hug.​

 

[dave lackey]

Very nice, Chris. It has been awhile since I checked in. Thank you for continuing your work. Oh, and Merry Christmas...🙂)

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Very nice, Chris. It has been awhile since I checked in. Thank you for continuing your work. Oh, and Merry Christmas...🙂)

Thanks, Dave. I can't imagine not continuing my work, it gives some purpose to my life. The only other thing I loved doing was teaching, and I had to quit doing that because of my health. On the days I feel well, I go out with my camera!

Merry Christmas to you too

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

This old brick building is on State Road 1 in the small town of Spancerville, Indiana. The stone above the door says 1917, the year it was built.​

The 1917 building, and the former bank building next door, are home to a business called Agra Warehouse.​

Here's a crop of the date marker:

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

This classic "EAT" arrow sign is mounted on the side of Twentieth Century Restaurant, a small diner in a cinderblock building on the south side of US-6, just west of State Road 15, in rural Elkhart County, Indiana. It is a few miles north of the small town of Milford.

I photographed it Tuesday morning.

 

[ASA 32]

Elkhart, Indiana, was a major railroad center, and the New York Central had a car classification or hump yard near there. I wonder if the restaurant took its name from the Twentieth Century Limited, the crack New York-Chicago passenger train.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Elkhart, Indiana, was a major railroad center, and the New York Central had a car classification or hump yard near there. I wonder if the restaurant took its name from the Twentieth Century Limited, the crack New York-Chicago passenger train.

Could be. There's a railroad track a couple hundred feet east of the restaurant that runs north from there into Goshen and then in to Elkhart.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

This giant Merry Christmas wreath made of thousands of colored lights hangs on the back of the Indiana-Michigan Power Center (formerly known as One Summit Square) in downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana.​

Originally built in the late 1930s to adorn the side of the Wolf and Dessauer Department Store in downtown Fort Wayne, it was lost after the store closed around 1970. There was also a smaller version of this wreath and a 150 foot long Santa Claus with his sleigh and reindeer.​

A decade later, all three of the Wolf and Dessauer Christmas displays were discovered hidden away in a warehouse. In bad condition, they needed hundreds of hours of work and thousands of dollars worth of parts to restore it to functioning condition. A group of local electricians, including my grandfather, John Westerfield, volunteered their time to rebuild the historic displays.​

After the restoration was complete in the early 1980s, they were put back on display during the Christmas season.​

The Indiana-Michigan Power Center, Fort Wayne's tallest building, occupies the block in downtown Fort Wayne bounded by Washington Boulevard, Calhoun Street, Clinton Street, and Wayne Street.​

The wreath hangs on the back of the building, facing north toward Wayne Street. The land behind the building is a public plaza, which was so icy when I was there photographing that I had to smash holes in the ice with a flashlight I had in my pocket just to keep the tripod from sliding!​

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

This decapitated snowman stood in front of a house on the west side of Clay Street, just south of Jefferson Boulevard, in Mishawaka, Indiana.​

The head seems to be looking up in shock at his headless body. Reminds me of the snowmen that Calvin used to build in cartoonist Bill Watterson's "Calvin and Hobbes."
​

I photographed him last Tuesday.

 

[dave lackey]

Merry Christmas, Chris!

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Merry Christmas, Chris!

Thanks, Dave. Merry Christmas to you too, and to everyone else at RFF also.

 

[thawkins]

Hi Chris.......Your work is inspiring. Just the sort of photography I enjoy doing. I have enjoyed your posts and commentary through this last year a and will be looking forward to your new submissions. Happy new year!!

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Hi Chris.......Your work is inspiring. Just the sort of photography I enjoy doing. I have enjoyed your posts and commentary through this last year a and will be looking forward to your new submissions. Happy new year!!

Thanks, thawkins. I've been shooting a lot lately but not posting. I need to get in front of the computer and finish editing all the new stuff.

 

[thawkins]

Yep. I have never seen a built in meter in any digital camera that gave accurate exposures for the types of things I photograph. Every single photo I make with my 5DmkII is metered with an incident meter, and the exposures are consistently perfect. The built-in meter's display always says I am off by a stop or more, and it is always wrong.

Even if it were calibrated correctly, its still a reflected-light meter, with all the limitations and issues that brings.

I am not a photojournalist or sports photographer who has to work fast to get fleeting action; for them an imperfect exposure is not a big deal. For me, it ruins the shot. I have time to work with my subjects, so there's no excuse aside from laziness to not make sure the photo is perfect.

Chris......I completely agree.........Inhave used a Nikon D90 for a number of years. I use a Luna Pro meter and shoot in manual mode. Much better result!

 

[thawkins]

OK Chris I have a few questions: what film cameras and film do you use do you use? Do you ever use transparency film or do use only digital for all your color work? As I said before, your work is inspiring. Eager to hear from you.