A work in progress!

Last night I stopped and photographed the Casa Linda Theater. It hasn't been open as a theater for a number of years but the front isn't much different than it has always looked. About 6 pm the lights came on and I quickly shot a variety of compositions and exposures. It was also about 30 degrees with 30mph winds and I wasn't wanting to stay out very long. I figured this would be a great subject for a photoshop project and I can do that inside. Some of the lights are out and there are some real estate signs out front. The handicapped sign also needs to go. I have made some headway but am not finished yet. The image on the bottom  is a combination of 2 exposures. I also fixed the perspective, got rid of the sign and fixed the lights. I also got a little tweak from Topaz Adjust. I plan to put some writing on the marquee and some posters in the windows. I'll keep you posted on how that goes.

A successful show at Hidden Glen!

I just spent the weekend making my first appearance at the Hidden Glen Arts Festival in Olathe, Kansas. This small show in the Kansas City area proved to be a success. I also did do some photography on the trip. After setting up my booth on Friday, I drove to nearby Overland Park to photograph the Rio Theater at sunset. The top two images were from that evening. The entrance to the theater was created from five different exposures. I wasn't satisfied with the results from using Photomatix so I manually combined the exposures. Each exposure was put on a separate layer. I then masked out the part of each layer that I didn't want to include.
I made several stops while driving home today from Kansas. I found several locations that I need to go shoot again at a later date and time it so I can be there when the light is better. The bottom image was shot at Peggy Sue's 50's Diner. The exterior I will save for another day, but I did like the light coming through the blinds which was falling on the interior booths.

Travelin' Home!

After a successful Memorial Day at the show in Kerrville, I packed everything up and was on the road just after 6:00pm. I didn't have any definite plans. Just drive until I see something I want to photograph. That happened just on the outskirts of Llano and I took the first image. Five weeks of wet weather had the area quite green and wildflowers were still blooming. Actually it was probably much greener now than it was in early April when the flowers are usually blooming their best.
On the square in Llano is the old Lantex theater. I arrived just before sunset and decided to photograph it in the waning light. About 45 minutes later I figured I had done about all I could with it. I started to drive away and noticed the lights under the entrance had just come on. I circled back and parked the truck where I had just been. I got my camera back out and took this image. The others weren't the same without the added lighting.
After leaving Llano I figured I could make it to Temple before getting a room. This would also give me a chance to check out the City Garage in Salado, about 20 miles from Temple. I got there about 10:55. The lights were on so I got out and started shooting. I like this image but I do want to get there some other day to shoot it before the sky goes completely black. At 11:03 I was shooting one more composition and suddenly the lights went off. On a timer I guess. I had arrived there just in time.
The last image was taken this morning after leaving Temple. Too bad the field in the foreground wasn't covered in wildflowers. Oh well. Maybe next time.

New images from Kerrville!

Today was the first day of the Texas Arts and Crafts Festival in Kerrville. Usually I grab something to eat after the show ends for the day and after that will go crash in my motel for the rest of the evening. I did go feast on some fajitas but after that I decided to go find something to photograph. I came across the old Arcadia theater in downtown Kerrville. Both of these images were created from a series of different exposures that were combined with Photomatix Pro. I like both but I especially dig the Ticket Booth. Anyone out there second that motion?
The show went well today despite receiving some rain and hail in the afternoon. It was quite a storm. My booth is under a large tent that contains about 12 spaces. I am set up in 2 of the spaces. The sides of the big tent are open. The front of my display is 10 feet from the edge of the tent which puts the back walls of my display about 20 feet from the edge of the tent. The wind blew so hard that about half of my work hanging on the back wall got wet from rain which blew in. Some things got very wet, but the clear UV coating did its job and nothing was damaged. However there was some damage to other booths in the show. Some artists are in there own 10x10 tents. An area in the parking lot had about a dozen tents this morning. This afternoon when I left I only saw three. Several mangled EZ-Up tent frames were laying off to the side. Sadly, I heard a potter lost all his work.

Black and white or color or both?

The Plaza and Corner Pocket in Black and White

I converted this image to black and white a few days ago. The color version was posted on Jan 4. I like the bright colors of the original version but I also like this version. Some images work both ways while others only work in either black and white or color.
Clark

Off to the Theater again! Or is it Theatre?

Cinemark Theatre

I guess since I have photographed a couple of theaters lately that my eye has gotten into "Theater Mode". The Cinemark is out in Plano, Texas. I noticed it as I drove down 75 last week so I figured I would head over there some evening when it looked like we would have some nice light. Although this theater is not that old it does look similar to some of the ones built in the 40's or 50's. The next two images were taken last night. The Uptown Theater in Grand Prairie was opened in 1950. More info about it here http://www.uptowntheatergp.com/home.htm

Sold Out

Uptown Theater

All of these images were created the same way as some of the previous theater posts by using a combination of multiple exposures. The Uptown images were only 3 exposures where 5 were used on the Cinimark image. I also had to manually combine the SOLD OUT part of the Marquee in Photoshop.
Next week another photographer(Gary Kelly) and myself are going to spend several days in Oklahoma and Texas photographing parts of Route 66. Should be fun and should provide me with some interesting images.
Clark