Working Pictures

SALE

2012-02-19T08:09:00.001-05:00

Great Barrington, Massachusetts

Three Simple Theaters

2012-02-18T16:06:00.001-05:00

Mendon, Michigan

After photographing the colorful Capri theater in very early morning light I headed west for two theaters I'd researched online but had not been able to make contact with ahead of time. On the way, I ran into this derelict theater on the highway in Mendon. The morning light was still really nice and I made b&w 8x10 pictures and digital captures.

Dowagiac, Michigan

The 5-Mile Drive-in Theater is neat and clean but plain and simple. Except for the strange stonework component of the marquee. It had closed for the season just a week earlier, and would seem to be related to another theater not far away in Hartford, MI.

Dowagiac, Michigan

There were no speaker poles, and no instructions at the ticket booth about tuning to a short range FM broadcast, but there were large speakers mounted on top of the single screen and on stanchions at the back of the field. It's rare for a theater to rely on loudspeakers but this is a small field with no nearby neighbors so I think that's what's going on.

Dowagiac, Michigan

Strange to see a drive-in field without any speaker poles at all, not even empty ones to help with parking. There are those big loudspeakers at the top of the screen. The playground equipment is a nice touch as well. This used to be standard but insurance and liability problems have made playground equipment a rarity.

Hartford, Michigan

The Sunset is also well kept and just about as simple as you can get.

CLOSED

2012-02-18T06:46:00.000-05:00

Lee, Massachusetts

More Fire Suppression Facilities

2012-02-17T06:00:00.005-05:00

Great Barrington, Massachusetts

The Capri Drive-in Theater

2012-02-16T16:06:00.028-05:00

Coldwater, Michigan

The impeccably maintained Capri is one of the most well-known and successful drive-ins in the country. It will open for its 48th season this year.

Coldwater, Michigan

When the Capri switched from window speakers to FM broadcast sound, they removed the speaker poles, which interestingly turned out to be a mistake. People parked farther apart, and the management found they were having to turn people away, having filled the lot, but with fewer cars than before. The answer was to install empty plastic poles to guide parking.

Coldwater, Michigan

Red, White, and Blue

2012-02-16T06:00:00.004-05:00

Great Barrington, Massachusetts

Auburn/Garrett Drive-in Theater

2012-02-15T16:06:00.000-05:00

Garrett, Indiana

Named for the two nearest towns, this theater couldn't be more simply built, but it's been around since 1951, showing first-run films last September.

Garrett, Indiana

What Have You Done For Your Marriage Today?

2012-02-15T06:00:00.004-05:00

Canaan, Connecticut

Another Theater in the Corn Fields

2012-02-14T16:06:00.014-05:00

Liberty Center, Ohio

This is something quite rare, a new drive-in theater built from scratch just a few years ago. Called the Field of Dreams (the same family who built this theater later bought and renamed the Tiffen theater shown yesterday) it has the simplest possible phone pole construction technique for the big main screen and the same converted semi-trailer setup for a smaller screen. Corn fields border directly on the mowed parking area.

Liberty Center, Ohio

In the Alleyway

2012-02-14T06:00:00.013-05:00

Great Barrington, Massachusetts

I thought the reflected light in the dark alley was interesting, along with the graffiti, but then I found more interesting alterations to the brickwork.

Great Barrington, Massachusetts

Theater in the Corn

2012-02-13T16:06:00.019-05:00

Tiffen, Ohio

In north central Ohio, not too far from Toledo, the Field of Dreams, Tiffen, drive-in theater sits literally surrounded by miles of corn fields.

The theater was built in 1949 as The Tiffen and had a recent name change with new owners. The screen is enormous. At 120 feet wide, it's the largest in the state, and Ohio has more functioning DI theaters than any other state.

There's a second screen, much smaller, and really unusual.

It's mounted on a retired semi-trailer.

As is frequently the case, there are living quarters on the theater grounds, in this case a substantial one story house right at the entrance.

Beetle

2012-02-13T06:55:00.000-05:00

Liberty, New York

Theater Entrance

2012-02-12T06:52:00.000-05:00

Ellenville, New York

It's an old movie bijoux that was converted for live stage performance about twenty years ago and seems to be making a go of it.

Midway, Magic City

2012-02-11T16:06:00.000-05:00

Ravenna, Ohio

The Midway Drive-in has a single screen with an unusually large gravel field. Densely planted trees serve to provide both privacy and protection from direct light pollution.

Barberton, Ohio

Magic City is the nickname of Barberton, OH, supposedly because shortly after being founded it grew "like magic." The marquee used to be much more elaborate with an Arabian nights magical theme, but when the theater changed hands years ago the new owners objected to the magical imagery on religious grounds and removed it. The current management told me this, sad about the loss of the great marquee. People do strange things.

Barberton, Ohio

Speaking of strange, the Magic City is the only DI I've seen with a pair of screens set up like this. You can see both screens from the parking area for screen two. The field is tightly bordered—few DI theaters survive so close to built-up areas—so the more usual 180° positioning wasn't practical. Two or more screens has become more or less an economic necessity, relatively few single screen theaters survive. Notice there are still traditional pole speakers here, along with FM broadcast of the movie soundtrack.

46

2012-02-11T07:00:00.002-05:00

Liberty, New York

Elm Road and Skyway Drive-in Theaters

2012-02-10T16:06:00.064-05:00

Warren, Ohio

After photographing the Reynolds, I moved on to the city of Warren, OH. With a little over 40,000 population, the city, located 14 miles northwest of Youngstown and just 15 miles from the Pennsylvania border, has two up and running drive-in theaters. I got to the Elm Road theater around three in the afternoon. I'd been in touch with the owners by email and I had a great interview with the man who has been involved with the theater his whole life. (Interview material is being saved for "the book"). The Elm road has beautifully maintained mature plantings which not only look good but also provide needed protection from light pollution. It's in a busy commercial district with lots of traffic.

Warren, Ohio

There's playground equipment on a lawn in front of the main screen, and two more screens at the back of the field.

Warren, Ohio

I'd also been in touch with the owner of Sky Way theater, just a short drive from the Elm Road. We met around six o'clock as a threatening storm sky loomed. Another fascinating interview as the storm broke and the rains came down. Suddenly the rain stopped and the sun broke out below the clouds in the west. I raced out to the car and got two exposures with the 8x10 Deardorff, along with a lot of color digital captures before the clouds covered the sun again and scene went dark.

Warren, Ohio

I found a place to stay nearby, then returned at sunrise to the Elm Road to photograph the wonderful marquee in strong morning sunlight.

Warren, Ohio

Orange Snow Shovel

2012-02-10T06:50:00.002-05:00

Liberty, New York

Reynolds Drive-in Theater

2012-02-09T16:06:00.053-05:00

Transfer, Pennsylvania

Anyone who has been stopping by here for a while knows that I've been working on a long term project on The American Drive-in Movie Theater for more than a dozen years now. The project has been done on large format black and white film, 8x10 and 7x17 inch. The pictures are not meant to be simple documentation but attempt to be a more complex 'documentary landscape' approach. Every DI theater is unique, but there are repeating visual themes and what I'm trying to do in the series is find situations where the vernacular architecture of the theaters resonates with the particular landscape of their geographical area. A large selection of these pictures can be viewed in a slideshow at this link.

This past September for the first time in several years I was able to get out on a road trip to add to the project. I continued to use the 8x10 and 7x17 to make b&w pictures that directly expand the project. But of course I had digital capture equipment along as well, so I did a lot of color work to see where that might take me. Obviously I could shoot much more freely with digital "free film" than with the big cameras. I was curious what a looser approach might come up with.

Transfer, Pennsylvania

The expedition began on September 12, at 4:30 AM, and at about 1:15 PM I reached the first of the theaters on my itinerary, at Transfer, PA. It's a small, single screen theater dating back to the late 1950s, with an unusual masonry and sheet metal screen tower. The mixed sun and cloud conditions were good—these theaters are one of the few subjects that I think look their best in full sunlight. It did occur to me that finding the first venue on my list with a big for sale sign in front wasn't exactly a great omen.

In the coming days I'll be putting up color work from this trip in afternoon posts here.

SIDEWALK CLOSED

2012-02-09T06:00:00.019-05:00

Ellenville, New York

I guess it might be hard to find a ready made sign that reads, "flagstone path closed." It wasn't readily apparent why this shortcut across a vacant corner lot with ornamental grasses and stones should be closed. The hazard-warning-orange plastic chain is a nice touch, though.

Winter Light Forty-Four: More Walls and Signs

2012-02-08T16:06:00.007-05:00

Ellenville, New York

Getting even minimalist-er...

Liberty, New York

Winter Light Forty-Three: Walls and Trees

2012-02-08T06:00:00.010-05:00

Walden, New York

Maybe it's the time of year, but I seem to be getting a bit minimalist here.

Liberty, New York

Two Washers

2012-02-07T16:06:00.006-05:00

Walden, New York

Awning/Mustang

2012-02-07T06:00:00.041-05:00

Walden, New York

Something a little unusual happened when I was making these two pictures. The locations are around the block from each other and the exposures are only about three minutes apart. The odd thing was that in both cases, as I was looking at the scene and deciding whether to make a picture, a blog post title popped into my head. "Awning" and "Mustang" presented themselves as blog titles before I'd actually made the pictures. Seems a little weird.

Walden, New York

T&T NAILS

2012-02-06T16:10:00.000-05:00

Walden, New York

Pink & white eyelashes?

Three Fire Hydrants

2012-02-06T06:00:00.001-05:00

Walden, New York

This is getting to be enough of a theme to have its own label. There's something just a bit anthropomorphic about a fireplug. Plus, while they all look more or less the same, when you look closely you find a surprising amount of variation. This variation, especially in size, leads to surprising scale changes in relation to the hydrant's surroundings. All makes for quite an interesting visual game.

Liberty, New York

Pizza Person Wanted

2012-02-05T16:06:00.009-05:00

Walden, New York

FAMOUS RAISIN PUMPERNIKEL

2012-02-05T06:00:00.067-05:00

Ellenville, New York

The raisin pumpernikel (this is a unique spelling, but who am I to argue?) deserves to be famous. Not just raisins but I'm sure there are dried cranberries and a variety of large seeds that I don't even recognize. There was also insanely wonderful-looking black Russian pumpernickel and round loaves of rye, but to my horror I found I had just four dollars cash in my wallet. So I bought the signature loaf, $2.50, and the next time I do a shooting expedition that takes me through Ellenville I'll be sure to have enough cash to buy half a dozen loaves of bread for the freezer.

When I was a little kid, at least once a month I'd ride on a Saturday morning with my father from our small house in Roseland, NJ, to his mother's tiny house in Newark, where he would fix the furnace or the plumbing or whatever else needed doing. On the way out, we would always stop at 'The Jewish Bakery' in Pleasantville, to buy a loaf of either black Russian pumpernickel or regular rye, and between the two of us very few slices made the round trip. Naturally, spoiled by this, I couldn't stand the "bread" that was served at the Roseland Elementary School cafeteria. To my delight, Cohen's had a bread slicer very much like, and certainly every bit as old, as the ones at the larger Pleasantville Bakery half a century ago.

Green, and President McKinley

2012-02-04T16:06:00.000-05:00

Walden, New York

Not so sure about green Chinese food, but then the former president is looking pretty green himself.

Walden, New York

Wall

2012-02-04T06:00:00.004-05:00

Ellenville, New York

Another Short Fire Plug

2012-02-03T16:06:00.000-05:00

Walden, New York

Winter Light, Forty-Two:COCKTAIL & GIFT CERTIFICATES AVAILABLE

2012-02-03T06:00:00.012-05:00

Torrington, Connecticut

Winter Light, Forty-One

2012-02-03T06:00:00.001-05:00

Roxbury, Connecticut

Bethlehem, Connecticut

Stretch...

2012-02-02T16:08:00.000-05:00

Roxbury, Connecticut

This is a park where people come to walk or run or sometimes just look at the view.

Fireplug

2012-02-02T06:57:00.002-05:00

Winsted, Connecticut

Brick Reformed Church

2012-02-01T16:45:00.000-05:00

Montgomery, New York

The weather forecast for today was ridiculous, temperatures up over 60° F by afternoon, on February first. I decided I wanted to have a look at the winter light on this crazy weather day in some places near enough to get to easily but not the ones right around the corner where I shoot all the time. Along with the warm temperatures there was the sort of overcast light that I love, not dark and gloomy, but soft and luminous. So I did about three hours of walkabout in Walden, Ellenville, and Liberty, New York. Then the sky cleared and in the early afternoon and I decided to try to find a different route back to I-84 to see if I could find some more interesting towns. That didn't work out all that well, but on Route 17W I found this, with sun and cloud atmosphere that worked nicely.

Rainy Woods

2012-02-01T06:00:00.001-05:00

Woodbury, Connecticut

Fog, Route 47

2012-01-31T16:15:00.000-05:00

Woodbury, Connecticut

More from the Woods

2012-01-31T06:51:00.000-05:00

Woodbury, Connecticut

Winter Light, Forty (enough Roman numerals)

2012-01-30T15:52:00.000-05:00

Bethlehem, Connecticut

About seven thirty this morning, cold and very windy. But temperatures are supposed to soar over 50° F tomorrow—a very strange winter we're having.

Winter Light, XXXIX: Flyover

2012-01-30T06:00:00.066-05:00

Roxbury, Connecticut

Yesterday afternoon I'd stopped at a familiar spot, one of several vantage points at Toplands Farm that I've used many times. There was an interesting sky and I wanted to try some 16:9 format shots with it backing up the field and wonderful stark trees at the crest of the drumlin. But I heard a strange sound, and finally looking directly overhead found a large jet leaving a dense contrail. There's nothing unusual about large jets flying over, we're under standard routes for the New York regional airports and Bradley International, but there was something a bit off about the sound. In the clear air you could see the body of the jet, a gap, and then the condensing trail.

detail

After making several shots I turned back to find the original framing I'd intended to try, expecting the contrail to come into play. I made a number of shots with slight variation of framing, but sensed through the viewfinder that something was funny about the contrail.

When I lowered the camera and looked at the scene again, I realized I couldn't see the plane. It had, in effect, disappeared, and the contrail was much broken up. Later when I could look at the pictures on screen, this was easy to confirm.

detail

The exif data tells me the two shots were made 37 seconds apart. The vapor trail I would guess ended from hitting a change in atmospheric conditions, but what happened to the plane? I can only guess that it traveled far enough to pass behind and be hidden by the fairly dense cloud, but that really seems too far away, and the aim also doesn't seem right. Maybe a substantial course change would account for both. BTW, I'm not trying to start a thread about space aliens, just wondering what set of atmospheric conditions might result in non-standard sound from the plane and the strange disappearing act.

The Woods

2012-01-29T16:15:00.003-05:00

Woodbury, Connecticut

More Trees in Fog

2012-01-29T06:00:00.006-05:00

Woodbury, Connecticut

Bethlehem, Connecticut

Another Pair from Steep Rock

2012-01-28T16:15:00.001-05:00

Washington, Connecticut

Two More from Steep Rock

2012-01-28T06:00:00.000-05:00

Washington, Connecticut

At Whites Memorial Reserve

2012-01-27T16:06:00.001-05:00

Litchfield, Connecticut

Frozen Swamp

2012-01-27T06:40:00.000-05:00

Washington, Connecticut

Winter Light, XXXVIII: Steep Rock Reservation

2012-01-26T15:29:00.000-05:00

Washington, Connecticut

With rain predicted for the afternoon, I thought the mid-day light looked pretty interesting and went up to Steep Rock Reservation to try for some pictures in the woods. Instead of rain, a very light snow began to fall and there was more than an hour of really interesting conditions. I was also wondering how well I could get this sort of subject to work on micro-4/3s format, and in the process finally discovered something I like about an LCD viewing screen:

Working on a tripod! I can use a chest-high camera position while standing comfortably up straight, looking at the articulated LCD. I even found that the touch-the-screen focus-point feature was very handy, though not in this particular shot. One problem though was that I've done so much work with view cameras that for half an hour or so, every time I wanted to pan the head slightly to fine tune the framing, I'd turn it the wrong way!

Family

2012-01-26T06:00:00.000-05:00

Greenwich, Connecticut

On the Grounds of The Bruce Museum. We saw a wonderful show of American Impressionists, and the rest of the museum's eclectic collection was also fun.

Winter Light, XXXVII

2012-01-25T16:28:00.000-05:00

Litchfield, Connecticut

Noontime today.

Winter Light, XXXVI: IORM

2012-01-25T06:00:00.002-05:00

Winsted, Connecticut

The letters on the building stand for "Improved Order of Red Men," a fraternal organization with a long history going back to before the American Revolution. At the yearly Laurel Festival parade here, members march in full Native American regalia. I haven't heard of any repercussions to this locally, and perhaps some of them actually have Indian blood, but non-Indians wearing regalia really infuriates
actual Native Americans. I learned about this twenty-some years ago while doing pro-bono photo illustration work promoting a pow-wow put on by Connecticut tribes. The leaders I worked with were bemused by earnest new-agers adopting bits and pieces of indigenous culture, but got pissed as hell if they encountered white frat boys cavorting in regalia as if it were a Halloween costume.

Grill, Bar, Two Flags

2012-01-24T16:25:00.000-05:00

Winsted, Connecticut

Winter Light, XXXV: NO

2012-01-24T06:00:00.000-05:00

Winsted, Connecticut

CIVIL WAR MONUMENT

2012-01-23T16:06:00.001-05:00

Winsted, Connecticut

Blog Notes: Post at TOP

2012-01-23T11:41:00.000-05:00

A week or so ago I thought I'd write up some notes for a rare technical post here, about some things I was finding out while working with a new piece of equipment in connection with the Winter Light series. Thing is, the notes took off and grew into a full length article for The Online Photographer. If you're interested just link on over to have a look.

Winter Light, XXXIV: Approaching Storm Clouds

2012-01-23T06:00:00.008-05:00

Woodbury, Connecticut

Winter Light, XXXIII: Meeker Swamp

2012-01-22T16:15:00.006-05:00

Washington, Connecticut

Plastic Jesus

2012-01-22T06:00:00.001-05:00

Winsted, Connecticut

Blue Jay

2012-01-21T16:06:00.004-05:00

Winsted, Connecticut

Winter Light, XXXII: The Back Yard

2012-01-21T11:35:00.000-05:00

Woodbury, Connecticut

Eleven o'clock, this morning. Snow, at 18°F.

Winter Light, XXXI

2012-01-21T06:00:00.001-05:00

Woodbury, Connecticut

Burr Pond State Park

2012-01-20T16:06:00.001-05:00

Burrville, Connecticut

I guess it's OK to feed the bears.

BIOMEGA

2012-01-20T06:00:00.000-05:00

Winsted, Connecticut

FOR SALE

2012-01-19T16:06:00.000-05:00

Torrington, Connecticut

Winter Light, XXX: Another Two from Torrington

2012-01-19T06:00:00.002-05:00

Torrington, Connecticut

Winter Light, XXIX: Cold Morning

2012-01-18T20:00:00.007-05:00

Woodbury, Connecticut

Just after dawn this morning, in a hard biting cold wind.

Stop SOPA and PIPA

2012-01-18T16:07:00.000-05:00

On strike most of today to join the protest of SOPA and PIPA. For more information, link over to Wikipedia.

And the Rains Came

2012-01-17T16:35:00.002-05:00

Woodbury, Connecticut

Winter Light, XXVIII: Snow and Rain

2012-01-17T14:15:00.000-05:00

Woodbury, Connecticut

We had a few inches of snow last night, and around mid-day the rain is coming in. It's supposed to turn into a real downpour with a threat of flooding because of the snow cover and ground frozen hard by several days of temperatures way below freezing.

Woodbury, Connecticut

Winter Light, XXVII: Threatening Sky

2012-01-17T06:45:00.000-05:00

Roxbury, Connecticut

Parking Lot

2012-01-16T16:18:00.000-05:00

Naugatuck, Connecticut

Winter Light, XXVI: Two from Naugatuck

2012-01-16T06:00:00.001-05:00

Naugatuck, Connecticut

Winter Light, XXV: Not Grafitti

2012-01-15T16:06:00.001-05:00

Torrington, Connecticut

Flag

2012-01-15T06:56:00.000-05:00

Bethlehem, Connecticut

This one's ready for one of those proper disposal drop-off sites.

Small Mural

2012-01-14T16:06:00.003-05:00

Winsted, Connecticut

Winter Light, XXIV: at Burr Pond

2012-01-14T06:00:00.008-05:00

Burrville, Connecticut

Study in Peach

2012-01-13T16:06:00.003-05:00

Winsted, Connecticut

Winter Light, XXIII: Two More from Bethlehem

2012-01-13T06:57:00.000-05:00

Bethlehem, Connecticut

Thicket

2012-01-12T15:56:00.000-05:00

Bridgewater, Connecticut

Around noontime today, in a raw, cold drizzle.

Winter Light, XXII: Two from Bethlehem

2012-01-12T07:20:00.000-05:00

Bethlehem, Connecticut

Rural winter light does different things than urban winter light. Can't quite put my finger on it, but the country winter light pictures seem a bit more broody and even forbidding than the city ones.

Bethlehem, Connecticut

Winter Light, XXI: Two from Torrington

2012-01-11T06:00:00.002-05:00

Torrington, Connecticut

Lamp

2012-01-10T16:12:00.000-05:00

Naugatuck, Connecticut

The storefront is without a current tenant. Looks as though the landlord wants it to look a little less vacant.

More City Trees

2012-01-10T06:00:00.001-05:00

Naugatuck, Connecticut

Short Stop

2012-01-09T18:01:00.001-05:00

Bethlehem, Connecticut

Sorry, couldn't resist the post title.

Atlantis

2012-01-09T15:47:00.000-05:00

Naugatuck, Connecticut

Moon, Bridge, Bird

2012-01-09T07:46:00.000-05:00

Naugatuck, Connecticut

Young Talent Show

2012-01-08T16:06:00.000-05:00

Washington Depot, Connecticut

From yesterday afternoon's opening reception at the Washington Art Association.

Two Flags

2012-01-08T06:00:00.001-05:00

Union City, Connecticut

Naugatuck, Connecticut

DISCOUNT

2012-01-07T16:15:00.001-05:00

Naugatuck, Connecticut

FOUNDRY & MACHINE CO.

2012-01-07T06:00:00.006-05:00

Ansonia, Connecticut

Behind the Research Lab Building

2012-01-06T16:09:00.000-05:00

Ansonia, Connecticut

Winter Light, XX: Moon, Clouds, Cows

2012-01-06T06:00:00.002-05:00

Woodbury, Connecticut

Three twenty-five yesterday afternoon.

Plastic

2012-01-05T15:44:00.002-05:00

Winsted, Connecticut

Red Striped Awning

2012-01-05T07:25:00.000-05:00

Winsted, Connecticut

NO

2012-01-04T16:06:00.005-05:00

Winsted, Connecticut

OBSIDIVM

2012-01-04T08:23:00.000-05:00

Ansonia, Connecticut

Winter Light, XIX: Cold Foggy Morning, 1/1/12

2012-01-03T06:00:00.042-05:00

Woodbury, Connecticut

The first morning of the year was foggy, and cold. That's weird. At about seven AM the temperature was in the mid-twenties (minus 3-5 degrees Celsius) with thick fog everywhere, and heavy frost on the car windows that I didn't even try to attack with a scraper. I'm environmentally conscious enough—and cheap enough—that I hate warming up a car at idle so its systems will melt the ice. But the thick coat of ice made it clear I was going to have to throw a few ounces of gas at the problem, go inside and have a little more coffee, and then get out to shoot. So where is the fog coming from? Frozen air should have no moisture in it. There had to be a front of warmer air moving through to cause this, but at nine the air temperature had still not reached the freezing point (according to my car's computer) but voluminous fog was still wafting from small streams and just about everywhere else. A front of warmer air may well have been the cause, by noon the temperature had soared to a couple degrees above 50.

PRIMO

2012-01-02T16:06:00.007-05:00

Torrington, Connecticut

Winter Woods

2012-01-02T06:00:00.009-05:00

Washington, Connecticut

Lawyer App, II

2012-01-01T18:06:00.001-05:00

Ansonia, Connecticut

Lawyer App

2012-01-01T15:12:00.000-05:00

Winsted, Connecticut