Some new photos from Fort Wayne

[KansanTim]

that may well be. but it looks like chris is covering more of the rural aspects of that metro area, at least to me.

Good point, especially with the last few, which he said were on a drive to Muncie.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I agree with everyone else Chris, this thread is excellent.

Do you take requests? On page 8 you posted a photo of Coney Island Dogs Restaurant. I would be interested to see more photos of the place. If you got them post them. Please.

I don't have any others there, but I plan to do more. Haven't had a chance to go back. The place is ALWAYS busy, and they don't want me getting in customers' way, so i have to find a time when its not very busy, like the day I shot the one you've seen, and then I just had a few minutes before a crowd came in!

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

that may well be. but it looks like chris is covering more of the rural aspects of that metro area, at least to me.

I do a lot of stuff in the city of Fort Wayne, and a lot in the rural areas of Indiana too. Most of my rural work is done in Allen County (where Fort Wayne is located) or the other counties of northeast Indiana. Muncie is a little further south, but I knew there were several things there I wanted to photograph that I had seen the previous time I visited the town.

Fort Wayne is Indiana's second largest city, with over 250,000 people. Its the 70th largest city in the USA.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Yesterday afternoon, I drive to a small town in southern Michigan, just north of Toledo, Ohio, to visit some friends. Along the way, I stopped and photographed some interesting things.

I found this gigantic 10 foot tall patio chair on display at Herron's Amish Furniture in the tiny town of Okolona, Ohio. The store sells storage sheds and patio furniture from a lot at the corner of US-24 and County Road 17D just north of the town.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Here's another from my trip yesterday. Uncle Sam's Fireworks is along US-23 in Monroe County, Michigan, just a few miles north of Toledo, Ohio.

I also liked it in black and white, but haven't decided which I prefer yet.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Another photograph that I made yesterday evening. This smiley-faced Stop Ahead sign stands on Lewis Avenue in the small town of Ida, Michigan. Lewis Avenue is the town's main street.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Another from my trip to Michigan Saturday.

This beautiful old storefront has been divided into tiny apartments. I went into one to talk to the man living there, and it looked like just a tiny room with a bed and television, and little room to walk around. A lot of working-class people live like this in small towns in the midwest because the good factory jobs have all gone away.

This building is on on Lewis Avenue in the small town of Ida, Michigan.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

This unusually named Mexican restaurant is on Lewis Avenue, the main street in the little town of Ida, Michigan. It was one of only a couple small restaurants in Ida. I photographed it Saturday evening.

 

[mfunnell]

More good stuff Chris. Keep 'em coming! For what it's worth, I prefer the black and white version of the Uncle Sam's Fireworks photo, though I could easily understand if someone preferred the colour one.

...Mike

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

More good stuff Chris. Keep 'em coming! For what it's worth, I prefer the black and white version of the Uncle Sam's Fireworks photo, though I could easily understand if someone preferred the colour one.

...Mike

Thanks, Mike. Its funny about the Uncle Sam photo. All the photographers who have seen it prefer the black and white one, and the non-photographers prefer the color one!

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Here's another one of the big red patio chair. This was on display at a place that sells outdoor furniture, storage sheds, and playground equipment in rural northwest Ohio.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I first saw this little barn with a cross hanging on it a few days ago. When I went back to photograph it tonight, the sun was setting, and the elderly man who owned it asked if I wanted him to light it up. Of course, I said YES, so he plugged in the blue Christmas lights that outline the cross.

This place is on Tillman Road, between Hessen Cassel Road and Wayne Trace, in rural southeast Allen County, Indiana, about a mile east of Fort Wayne.

Here's a crop showing the lights on the cross:

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Sandy Thompson was the weather reporter on Fort Wayne's Channel 15 News for 23 years. In October of 2010, the station decided to not renew her contract.

A lot of people in the community were upset by her firing. In the summer of 2012, when Indiana suffered a serious drought, someone posted signs like this on a couple of vacant lots on Lafayette Street in Fort Wayne's inner-city. This one says "Sandy Thompson For Mayor" and the others said "Sandy Thompson Can Stop The Drought."

The umbrella on the sign refers to Sandy Thompson's trademark red umbrellas that she held when broadcasting outdoors during rainstorms. I photographed this sign last week.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

This broken-down old house looks abandoned, but a family lives there. I didn't get to talk to the woman who gave me permission to photograph it, because she was on the phone the whole time I was there. It reminded me of Richard Youse's house. He was an elderly man living with his cats in a ruined old farmhouse in Allen County.

This house is on the Wells County side of the road that forms the border between Wells and Allen Counties in northeast Indiana. Wells County calls the road County Road 1200N, and Allen County calls it South County Line Road. I photographed it pretty late in the evening, around 9pm, a couple of weeks ago.

 

[kbg32]

I like the barn with the cross. Did you take one when daylight was even lower?

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I like the barn with the cross. Did you take one when daylight was even lower?

I don't. I didn't stay till dark because I was being drained of my blood by several mosquitos. :bang:

 

[froyd]

Phenomenal tones on this one in particular, but the whole series is remarkable.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Phenomenal tones on this one in particular, but the whole series is remarkable.

Thanks, It is just Tri-X in D-76 1+1, but the evening light made it, I think.

 

[Contarama]

Amazing photography sir. You are a special asset to your community IMO much like Ms.Thompson I think.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

6 Mile Bar and Pizzeria is a little bar at the corner of Wayne Trace and Tillman Road, just outside the city of Fort Wayne, Indiana. This ancient sign hangs on the garage behind the bar, facing Tillman Road, and it still has the establishment's former name on it, along with old-style Pepsi-Cola logos. A lot of bars and small restaurants in the Fort Wayne area have signs with Pepsi's name or logo. I think that the company gave the signs to places that served Pepsi.

I photographed it a couple nights ago, pretty late in the evening, around 9:30pm.