Box, Missouri

Wheat fields. Notice in the second shot the few random corn plants that have sneaked into the wheat field. I wonder what Monsanto would have to say about that?

Box, Missouri

Eldorado Weeds

Eldorado Springs, Missouri

The Boulevard Drive-in

Kansas City, Kansas

Just after nine last night. The Boulevard is one of the few drive-in theaters to have already made the transition to digital projection, and the first to have a 4K resolution projector. Thanks to Wes and Brian for the guided tour and the freedom to roam the lot with my cameras in the happy "block party" atmosphere throughout the theater lot before the show.

Birthplace

Lamar, Missouri

detail

NOT U, NOT US

Cabool, Missouri

GUN SALE!!

Houston, Missouri

Evening in Carthage

Carthage, Missouri

A church building next to the motel.

Carthage, Missouri

A sliver of moon. Both about 45 minutes ago.

HOUSTON BUSINESS DIST. 3 BLOCKS

Houston, Missouri

Southern Inn

Houston, Missouri

Getting coffee at the lobby before heading out to photograph The Phoenix drive-in.

JOB MATCH

Effingham, Illinois

Posting has been scarce because I've been working almost non-stop on the drive-in theater pictures. The possible subjects are close enough together that I've had almost no time for other shooting, except for Monday morning traveling from Effingham to a theater in Gibson City. I ended the day at the home of one of the three professors from the traveling scholarship for my junior of college—we hadn't met in person since 1970.

Three more Illinois theaters today, and tomorrow I'm heading into Missouri where I'll probably spend two days at six or seven theaters still active in the southern half of the state. Maybe I'll get to spend some time doing photo walkabout in some of the small towns along the way. Or at least get a chance to take a close look at Monday's shooting—I think there's a lot of good stuff but I haven't had a chance to do more than skim through and pick a few interesting shots.

MOVE...your career

Tuscola, Illinois

Advocacy in a Shop Window

Effingham, Illinois

Effingham, Illinois

Southside Auto Parts

Muncie, Indiana

The Great American Drive-in Theater Road Trip set out at 4:37 Friday morning. As of this morning I've photographed at seven theaters and covered just under a thousand miles. The nature of the opening two days of the trip was so hectic I've gotten almost no side shooting, but yesterday I did get this on my way to an abandoned theater north of Muncie. Even though it's still May, the temperature yesterday got over a muggy 90° and the light on the great flat land out here already has the harsh-but-hazy high summer look.

City Trees

Waterbury, Connecticut

Waterbury, Connecticut

Stencil, Again

Waterbury, Connecticut

CROSSROADS CANTINA PARKING

Waterbury, Connecticut

Judea Garden

Washington, Connecticut

"Where Volunteers Till the Soil to Feed Their Neighbors."

A great idea. Plus I liked the scarecrows.

detail

 

At the Chinese Restaurant

Watertown, Connecticut

For at least twenty years we've gone once in a while to a Chinese restaurant about ten miles away because it's always been better than the come-and-go competition, at reasonable prices.

Saturday we went with my new friend Rogelio, who took my Introduction to Platinum workshop at CAP/ICP late last March. He's a college professor/researcher (biology) in Mexico City, but has been spending six months on a grant at a college in NYC. Which put him in a great position to indulge his passion for photography by taking courses in the Big Apple, and environs. He wanted to have a two-day private workshop before I left on The Giant Road Trip, and we squeezed it in this past weekend.

One of the things we looked at was how good a palladium print we could make from digital enlarged negatives he'd prepared at ICP (their equipment, Epson 3880 printers, using Dan Burkholder's system) and the answer was, very promising. Using "new Platine" paper, the negatives had enough UV-blocking strength in the highlights to print with a simple palladium formula using no contrast agents. The results were enough to make me interested in exploring the digital negative system for my Z3200 as a high priority among the myriad tasks to be done between the two sections of the drive-in theater road trip.

The restaurant had changed since we were there last. We didn't see the couple who had obviously been the owners, or any of their kids who worked there as they were growing up and then in summers when they were in college. The menu had gone general-Asian with Thai and other specialties not seen before. My "Chinese vegetable soup" had turned into "tofu and vegetable soup" in a vegetarian section of the new menu. It was only a little different from before, and just as good. So was the vegetable moo shi. What Tina and Rogelio ordered, which included the new Thai dishes was good too. Another thing about this place, which is located in a nondescript strip mall, has been the wonderful giant-scale Chinese ink brush paintings on the walls. Very beautiful. They're still there, but now there is a scatter of 32" flat-screen TVs, which I could do without, and some jade-ish small sculptural objects which are not, let's just say, on a par with the wonderful ink-on-paper paintings.

8

Waterbury, Connecticut

Faded

Waterbury, Connecticut

Crooked Utility Poles

Waterbury, Connecticut

Swamp at White's Memorial

Litchfield, Connecticut

View from the Bridge

Bantam, Connecticut