Windmill

Windmill, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

We've visited the various windmills that dot the city of Batavia, Illinois, so I won't bore you with the town's history of windmill manufacture. Anyway, here's another one, a big Batavia-made piece that dates from the late 1800's. It's in great shape, and turns silently when the wind's up.

Campana

The Campana Building-Batavia, IL, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

The Campana Building is a landmark in the town of Batavia, Illinois. This Streamline Moderne building received landmark status in the late 70's, and still retains much of it's period style and detail, such as the glass block windows and teal green tile.

It also still has it's neon sign, the logo for Campana Balm, the company's signature product. Sadly it no longer works, and you can see some busted glass in this shot. I don't remember the last time I saw it illuminated, although I know I have. When it was foggy, all you could see was the sign at the top.

Fresh Snow and Monochrome

Winter Quiet, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

I'm about to institute iPhone Wednesdays around here. I seem to be doing more phoneography than usual. Anyway, this is the Japanese garden at the Fabyan Forest Preserve in Batavia, Illinois. Fresh snow and monochrome!

The Campana Building

Storm, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Second week in a row we've had heavy weather!

This is the Campana building in Batavia, Illinois. Built in 1936, this building features styling cues from both the Streamline Moderne and Bauhaus schools of architecture. It was designed to be the main factory for the Campana Company, which made the popular Italian Balm hand lotion.

Considered very modern when it was built, the Campana building featured full air conditioning (there are no opening windows), fluorescent lighting, desks arranged in rows, and an automated manufacturing system.

Today the factory is closed, but the building is still in use for other businesses. The Campana building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, and remains fundamentally in the same condition as when it was operating, and retains most of it's period detailing.

And, it was raining that day.

TtV Tuesday!

Challenge-TtV, originally uploaded by William 74.

Full-Vue or Fuzz-Vue?

Snowfall on the Fox

Snowfall, originally uploaded by William 74.

I've been staying local lately, due to a bunch of things but mainly the weather. It's been alternately really cold, cloudy and grey, raining, or snowing. Generally just unpleasant weather for outdoorsy activities like driving places and taking pictures of them.

This is the Fabyan Lighthouse on a particularly dim, snowy day. I do like this one, though. I think it has a really old-timey feel, like a vintage postcard or a local history book in a particularly dusty corner of the town hall.

ETA:fixed link.

Snowfall

Snowfall, originally uploaded by William 74.

When in doubt, go back to the Tea Garden in Batavia. It's such a picturesque little spot, and it's always fun to shoot in different lighting and weather conditions. I like shooting snowscapes, but don't often shoot when it's actually snowing-it seems that when it's falling hard enough to be picturesque it's also falling hard enough to make driving anywhere a pain. But I got lucky this day and the roads were pretty good, and I didn't get stuck or anything.

I like this one-it's got an old-timey feel, don't ya think?

Goodhue Special

Goodhue Special-TtV, originally uploaded by William 74.

This week's TtV Tuesday entry is another locally made antique windmill from the Batavia collection. This one's a Goodhue Special, made by the Appleton Manufacturing Company. It dates, if I remember correctly, from the 1920's, and is in fine condition.

This is another one of those shots that shows just what I like about TtV photography. It's essentially a picture of a reflection, as this is what's on the mirror inside one of my dusty old Full-Vues, which is directly viewable from the glass window on the top of the camera. It's very analogue, like looking at a projection.