Some new photos from Fort Wayne

[fish1991222]

I read this project all the way through, it is such a great ideal to document your familiar place daily!

As a guy taking photography for hobby and way to kill the time, I usually found myself not that passionate on the projects I was shooting. However, these photos are telling me there are always something to point your lens at, just around you. That's the magic.

 

[Moto-Uno]

I enjoy the photos a lot , but , jeez it sure looks like rough times have been around for a while . Peter

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I read this project all the way through, it is such a great ideal to document your familiar place daily!

As a guy taking photography for hobby and way to kill the time, I usually found myself not that passionate on the projects I was shooting. However, these photos are telling me there are always something to point your lens at, just around you. That's the magic.

The trick is to photograph something you're interested in. Every really great photographer I know has a deep interest in the things he or she photographs.


I'm interested in history and social documentary. I know a woman who has a huge interest in insects and spiders, and she does incredible photos of these creatures. I know people who love antique cars, and they do wonderful photos of old cars. I know a guy who loves birds, and has spent 30 years photographing them.


What are you passionate about outside of photography?

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I enjoy the photos a lot , but , jeez it sure looks like rough times have been around for a while . Peter

The center of the United States has been hollowed out and left to die by our business elites and government leaders.

Most of the midwest's economy was industrial. We manufactured, built, things. Today, virtually all has been moved to low-wage third-world countries and the jobs that remain pay almost nothing. You can drive for miles though Fort Wayne, a city of 275,000 people, and not see a single business that pays its employees a living wage. Walmart, which is now paying $11 an hour to its lowest-paid people, is now one of the best-paying companies in the city.

When I was a teacher, I made a middle class income. That 'middle class' income made me a nobleman here. I earned more than the parents of 90% of my students did. As a teacher, not exactly the highest-paid profession. Most of the educated people here have to leave to make a living.

That's a problem all over Indiana. We have two state universities, Indiana University and Purdue University, that are among the best in the United States. Virtually all of their graduates leave Indiana because there are no jobs for them. Our politicians often lament the 'brain drain' and the fact that our taxes are basically paying to educate workers for other states (IU and Purdue are funded by state taxes; Indiana residents pay 1/4 the tuition that out of state students pay to attend these schools). My son is a perfect example. Purdue gave him a full academic scholarship to study computer science, a field with virtually no jobs in Indiana. His entire education is being paid for by our state government and the state will get no benefit at all from providing him with that free education because he will leave as soon as he graduates next year.

Still nothing is ever done to change anything. I'm not sure what can be done. The coastal elites that run our government and economy have written off the "fly-over" states. This country needs an industrial policy that encourages businesses that offer high-pay jobs to operate all over the country, not just in a few coastal cities. It would revitalize the economy of the country's center, it would reduce the ridiculous cost of living in the coastal cities (which are overcrowded because so many have to live in them to find good jobs, which drives up housing costs).

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

A giant fiberglass chicken watches over the playground next to Ugalde's Restaurant on State Road 5 at I-69 Exit-278 in rural Huntington County, Indiana. It is a couple of miles north of the small town of Warren.

The area around Exit-278 features a truck stop, a couple of restaurants, and a couple of motels.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Auburn United Pentecostal Church is a small white wooden church on the northeast corner of Jackson Street and 17th Street, facing west on Jackson Street, in the small town of Auburn, Indiana.

The front of the church has had modern vinyl siding installed, but the sides of the church still had wood siding with layers of peeling paint. The window above the front door and the windows on the sides of the church were traditional pointed arch windows, with plain clear glass.

 

[gb hill]

Chris I just spent my Sunday afternoon looking through your ongoing project from the past year. No disappointment at all. Loved the GE series. Reminded me of the old Norfolk Southern round house in Greensboro NC we went into years ago to photograph before it was demolished. The book store & plumbing supply was awesome. I love books & as a cat owner it’s cool to see the cats are keeping the rodents away from building nest with the pages of books 😀 Living in an older house myself those old supply stores are a treasure. We have one and many times I have found what I needed that no way the big box stores would have.

Sorry to read you haven’t been well & your stroke causing you to no longer teach at your job. That reminds me, the high school series was interesting I love reading your commentary along with the photos. I’ve been caring for my wife now for over a year because of health problems. But even with slow work she was still able to give me an iPad for our 31st anniversary. The color the PenF renders is lovely. I’m happy to see you have found a camera that suits you. Keep shooting my friend.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I haven't posted anything new in a long time. As those of you who have seen my update on Ariana, I have been really busy the last few weeks. I'm going to try to get back to posting at least one new photo a day, though that may not happen, depending on how much free time I have.

This photo is from back in June, one of the hundreds in my backlog of work i am trying to finish editing and posting:

Immaculate Conception Catholic Church is on the north side of 7th Street, between McClellan Street and Division Street, in the small town of Auburn, Indiana.

For Memorial Day, they had a large display of American flags in the yard next to the church, along with plywood cutouts of kneeling soldiers praying for their lost comrades. Each flag had a tag hanging from it that commemorated a specific individual soldier who had died in war.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

The old Independent Order Of Odd Fellows building is on First Street (State Road 13) in the small town of Pierceton, Indiana.

One of the storefronts on the building's first floor is a restaurant called Odd Fellow Cafe & Coffee. In small towns in Indiana, fraternal organizations like the Odd Fellows often built buildings with commercial spaces on the first floor and the organization's meeting hall on the second floor.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

This blackboard asks people to write why they love the small town of Plymouth, Indiana.

It hangs on the side of the building on the northwest corner of Michigan Street (State Road 17) and LaPorte Street. The blackboard was placed by a group called "The Very Nice People LLC."

It was covered in writing, none of it having anything to do with Plymouth. Looked like it was mostly irreverent messages written by kids.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

This mural combining the American flag and the flag of Indiana hangs on the side of the Lauer Building in the small town of Plymouth, Indiana. The Mural celebrates Indiana's statehood bicentennial: 1816-2016.

The yellow brick building on the corner of Michigan Street (State Road 17) and Garro Street is home to the Marshall County Historical Museum.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

This old vacant building is on 2nd Street, between Main Street and Indiana Street, in the small town of Wanatah, Indiana.

The sign over the door says: "The Mack Warehouse."

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

It seems like most of the small towns I've photographed in Indiana have a Freemasons Lodge, though in many of the smallest towns they're no longer active. This one is still open; it is in Pierceton, Indiana.

 

[ptpdprinter]

Have you had any difficulty moving from the 3:2 aspect ratio of your Canon FF to the 4:3 aspect ratio of your Olympus m43? I assume you are framing in camera and printing full frame.

 

[ChipMcD]

Chris,

This recent series is very nice. The IOOF building shot is museum worthy, in my opinion. Keep up the great work.

Chip

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Have you had any difficulty moving from the 3:2 aspect ratio of your Canon FF to the 4:3 aspect ratio of your Olympus m43? I assume you are framing in camera and printing full frame.

Most of my photos involve some cropping. This is because I almost always do perspective correction in Lightroom so my buildings are 'square.' Because you lose some of the sides of the image when you do this, I have to compose with some extra space that can be thrown away when the image is edited.

I like the 4/3 ratio. I often cropped my 35mm format images because for some things the 3/2 aspect ratio was 'too long.' I sometimes crop images square, too. I don't let the camera's technical design limit my images.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Chris,

This recent series is very nice. The IOOF building shot is museum worthy, in my opinion. Keep up the great work.

Chip

Thanks. 🙂🙂

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

These wind turbines stand in a cornfield on the Ohio side of State Line Road, between Township Road 94 and State Route 613, in Paulding County, Ohio.
They are part of a huge wind farm on the Ohio side of the Indiana-Ohio state line that stretches across the western edges of Paulding County and Van Wert County.

I photographed the wind turbines back in September, looking northeast from the corner of State Line Road and Egerton Road in Allen County, Indiana. The one in the foreground is only a couple hundred feet from the state line.

 

[ebolton]

When I drove across the country with my son 2 years ago, I was really surprised (and heartened) by how many of those gigantic farms on the plains had wind turbines sprinkled in with the crops. I assume the farms are leasing the land for the turbines to the power companies, and they both benefit.


-Ed

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

When I drove across the country with my son 2 years ago, I was really surprised (and heartened) by how many of those gigantic farms on the plains had wind turbines sprinkled in with the crops. I assume the farms are leasing the land for the turbines to the power companies, and they both benefit.

-Ed

Yes, that's how it works. The power companies pay the farmers rent, which is a lot more money than they'd get from selling the crops they would otherwise grow on the small piece of the field occupied by each wind turbine.

They're just beginning to come into my part of the country. Before they were mostly found in the great plains. There are a lot of wind farms in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, etc. Right now, Indiana only has one or two and they're not close to Fort Wayne. This one in Ohio is in a county (Paulding County, Ohio) that borders the county where Fort Wayne is located (Allen County, Indiana). They're generally not located near large cities or towns.