Instamatic Karma

Instamatic Karma, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

I've got loads of racing shots from this same vantage point (the pedestrian bridge over the main straight at Road America), and most of them highlight my terrible panning technique. The best way to save them, I think, is to make them look like vintage prints taken on old cheap cameras.

Central Camera

I'm pretty sure we've visited Central Camera's classic vintage sign, but it's such a nice one it's worth revisiting. I took this one just last October, and it was such a grab shot that it's turned out far nicer than it had any business being. I don't often go for selective color, but in this instance I think it worked out very nicely.

RT

RT, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Back in ye olden days, you could buy your family sedan in a number of configurations, from mild to wild. Usually the manufacturer had a special designation for the top and bottom of the lines - the base models would have some sort of fancy name (if anything), and the racy ones would get something...er, racy. GM had it's SS models, Ford the GT, AMC liked to use SST, and Plymouth used R/T, which meant, of course, Road and Track. This one's a '67 or so Belvedere.

Stripes

Stripes, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

I've always been a fan of the pinstriper's art, and this example, on an Oldsmobile, is so far one of my faves. The skull motif just makes it.

Out Of State Plates

Ted's Imports, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

California "yellow plate" on a vintage Porsche. I don't know if Ted's Imports was a dealer back in the fifties or not, but it's a nice retro touch.

Winter Fog

Winter Fog, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

We had an excellent fog day earlier this week. Well, excellent for photographic purposes, if not much else (driving, flying, not bumping into things or falling into ditches).

Anyway, I was driving around and saw this stand of trees just off the road. It's a road I've driven down hundreds of times, as it's close to work, and I'd never really paid much attention to the trees and surroundings - mostly it's new buildings tied in to a shopping center and hospital complex. But on a deeply foggy afternoon, they just floated out of the mist. I pulled a sharp Uey and parked illegally just to get this shot - pretty minor in the grand scheme of photographic things.

Porsche

Porsche, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

I have no story about this photo. I just think it turned out well. Taken on the Porsche stand at the Chicago Auto Show.

Ploetz Furniture

Ploetz Furniture, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

I guess I should've posted this yesterday and brought a glorious return to Neon Friday, but I was busy. Sorry.

Anyway, this excellent neon sign is for a long-standing furniture store in Baraboo, Wisconsin. Baraboo is a neat town in itself, with a charming downtown and an wonderful vintage movie theater. But this beauty was a complete surprise to me. I imagine it dates from the late fifties, maybe the early sixties.

Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Originally formed in 1852 to provide express and banking services to California, Wells Fargo is one of the best-known banking companies in the United States. It's well known stagecoach logo stems from the company's operations in the mail forwarding business, and Wells Fargo was also involved in the legendary Pony Express during the Express' last few months of operation.

This beautiful stained glass clock is at a Wells Fargo branch in Baraboo, Wisconsin.

Ashland

Ashland, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

The view of the Chicago skyline, as seen from the pedestrian bridge at the Ashland Avenue train station. Built in 1892 for the Lake Street Elevated Railroad, the Ashland stop is one of the oldest station buildings still in use in the Chicago rail system.

Tivoli Lanes

Tivoli Lanes, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

This is the bowling alley next door to the Tivoli Theater. I like this sign, but I really like the glow on the side of the building.

Tivoli

Tivoli, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

I believe we've visited Downers Grove's historic Tivoli Theater before. It's a nice old building, but it's marquee is kind of hard to shoot. It's only one-sided, and sticks out at a weird angle from the building. Plus you have to stand in the middle of the street to get a clear shot at it. Fortunately, even on a Saturday night, traffic's fairly light.

Grain Belt

Grain Belt, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

The iconic Grain Belt Beer sign in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Erected in 1941, the sign originally sat atop a downtown club until 1950, when it was moved to it's current location on Nicollet Island. Featuring the early, pre-WW2 logo, the sign has 800 feet of neon tubing and 1400 incandescent bulbs in the lettering, which lights up sequentially. It looks great, but sadly, despite being restored in the 80's, the sign no longer works. Hopefully it'll be restored again someday.

Field

Field, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

I took this on Christmas Day, somewhere out in the countryside west of town. We'd had some snow the previous days, and a cold snap had finally caused the trees to shed the last of their leaves. The skies were a solid overcast, almost exactly the same shade of white as the snow that covered the now bare fields. It was stark, almost monochromatic, a typical Midwestern winter scene.

Ranstead

Ranstead, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

I have taken to looking at rooflines more and more of late, finally realizing that there's often a name and date inscribed at the peak, sometimes some interesting decoration or brickwork, some bright colors, or in this case all three.

I have plenty of shots like this but haven't really ever published them. I'm starting to realize what I missed.

Taken in Elgin, IL, in december of 2013.

The Ringling Theatre

Ringling Theater, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

I suppose that I should have some sort of interesting, year ending post for you, but instead I have this, a shot I took on a sunny October afternoon. First, some history.

Opened in 1915, the Al. Ringling Theatre is located in the town of Baraboo, Wisconsin. Built by Albert Ringling (of the circus family - Baraboo was the winter headquarters of the circus for many years), this fantastic house was designed by noted theater architects Rapp & Rapp. Originally a vaudeville and silent film palace, the Ringling is still operating today, as a movie house (Lincoln was opening when I shot this). The Ringling is one of the oldest continuously operating theaters in the United States.

Anyway, I'd never heard of the place till I saw it. I was grinding along the highway, returning to my Chicago area home from a brief visit to Minneapolis. I'd gotten a late start on the drive up, ending up spending much of it on the road after dark, putting paid to my plans of doing some shooting along the way. So, I made sure I had the time to make at least one stop on the return trip-and was greeted with a spectacular day. I looked at my map and decided on the town of Baraboo, Wisconsin.

Why Baraboo? I liked the name - I remember seeing a picture in a book about trains, showing the station with a big sign on the side that said "BARABOO". It stuck in my mind as one of those classic upper Midwestern names, like Sleepy Eye or Oconomowoc, and I had a good feeling that Baraboo would have a great downtown.

I wasn't disappointed - Baraboo's downtown is quite charming, and I passed a nice hour looking around at stuff on this lazy fall afternoon. But really, to find a grand old vaudeville house, complete with neon sign, right downtown? I wouldn't have thought it, but there it was.

So there you have it, a short story to round out the year.

It's Back!

Cad, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Rumors of the old rusty Cadillac's demise were premature. It seems that the owner hooked it up to a tractor and pulled it around to the back of the barn, to facilitate the harvest season. It's now parked back out front, in almost the same spot as before.

Incidentally, it seems that in the meantime the owner has painted some greyish-blue primer onto some of the rustier spots, particularly on the hood and roof. So....is the restoration finally starting?

Merry Christmas!

Tree, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Dragstrip

Dragstrip, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

I took this at Byron Dragway in northwestern Illinois, during an historic drag racing event. One of the challenges of shooting old cars is finding an appropriate backdrop - it's a bit jarring to see an vintage car parked in front of a new grocery store or something. It can be particularly hard at racetracks, which are usually full of advertising signs and modern cars.

This is as true at drag strips as it is at road courses. Particularly at the starting line, where there's usually modern safety equipment and an emergency vehicle, right where your subject's doing a smoking burnout.

Anyway, the organizers of the races I was at hit the mark with their start line truck, which was this well patinated old sixties Ford, complete with a Holman & Moody logo on the door.

Pillsbury

Pillsbury, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

The famous Pillsbury A Mill in Minneapolis. Viewed from across the famous Stone Arch Bridge.

This was the best shot I managed to get of the iconic neon sign.