60. Roadside Attraction - August 3-9, 2014
Deron-
The Van Buren Drive-In
The Van Buren Drive-In
Paul-
What attracts us on our road trips? Obviously, it varies from one person to the next. A Santa’s village in the middle of a Nevada summer. The promise of sweet corn and cool crescents of watermelon from the back of a truck. That out-of-the-way bar with all hubcaps tacked to the wall. It’s a curbside lure that’s part personal taste and curiosity. And sometimes you just feel compelled to stop.
For this week’s theme, I went out to shoot two objects that are actually listed on a national web site as Lincoln roadside attractions: 1) The huge rooster in front of Lee’s diner—a place where locals have been going to get the best fried chicken since the late Bronze Age; and 2) an enormous stone head sculpted from brick along a bike trail near downtown Lincoln. En route from the former to the latter I saw this makeshift memorial on the side of a road staking its claim amid a tangle of weeds. A bridge, creek, and poorly marked road come to a regrettable meeting point here. As I understand it, at least one cyclist and one motorist have been killed here in separate accidents. This shrine—a collection point for trinkets, ribbons, photos, poems, and flowers—seeks to commemorate these lives.
Is it a “roadside attraction?” I think so; it certainly attracted me. And it flanks the road. But I’ll leave you to make your own decisions. After reviewing my shots of large heads and monster poultry, I opted for something smaller, ephemeral, and more poignant.
Step off the road and prepare yourself for anything.
Our Story So Far… Her first day on camera at KCCI, slight hung over weatherwoman Tiffinee Summers wove her way unsteadily through a bundle of cables (taking with her a bundle of nerves) onto the studio set. Her convenience store breakfast burrito was not sitting well in her stomach and, just perhaps, that late night out with Action News Reporter Clay Mussbacker might have been better spent at home reading up on geosynclines and cold fronts. Water under the bridge, she thought, as her stomach gurgled its agreement. With seconds to airtime, Summers checked the green screen and, to her horror, discovered her regional climate map had been replaced with footage of a rider’s perspective of the new rollercoaster (“Hell on Wheels”) opening at the local theme park. As camera three cued her intro, Tiffine'e smiled a $5,000 orthodontic smile, began to speak an apology for the mix-up, and then unceremoniously wretched before the station’s 18-36 demographic. Quickly pulling together what pride and presence she could muster, she gamely told her audience “Yeah, Des Moines, that’s what the weather’s gonna be like today.” In the control room, the Director quickly cut to a commercial for tires, but not before snapping a picture of the hapless news newbie on an Olympus E-500 with a 14-45mm zoom lens (shot at 45mm); set at 1/160 sec. and f14. The ISO was 125.
What attracts us on our road trips? Obviously, it varies from one person to the next. A Santa’s village in the middle of a Nevada summer. The promise of sweet corn and cool crescents of watermelon from the back of a truck. That out-of-the-way bar with all hubcaps tacked to the wall. It’s a curbside lure that’s part personal taste and curiosity. And sometimes you just feel compelled to stop.
For this week’s theme, I went out to shoot two objects that are actually listed on a national web site as Lincoln roadside attractions: 1) The huge rooster in front of Lee’s diner—a place where locals have been going to get the best fried chicken since the late Bronze Age; and 2) an enormous stone head sculpted from brick along a bike trail near downtown Lincoln. En route from the former to the latter I saw this makeshift memorial on the side of a road staking its claim amid a tangle of weeds. A bridge, creek, and poorly marked road come to a regrettable meeting point here. As I understand it, at least one cyclist and one motorist have been killed here in separate accidents. This shrine—a collection point for trinkets, ribbons, photos, poems, and flowers—seeks to commemorate these lives.
Is it a “roadside attraction?” I think so; it certainly attracted me. And it flanks the road. But I’ll leave you to make your own decisions. After reviewing my shots of large heads and monster poultry, I opted for something smaller, ephemeral, and more poignant.
Step off the road and prepare yourself for anything.
Our Story So Far… Her first day on camera at KCCI, slight hung over weatherwoman Tiffinee Summers wove her way unsteadily through a bundle of cables (taking with her a bundle of nerves) onto the studio set. Her convenience store breakfast burrito was not sitting well in her stomach and, just perhaps, that late night out with Action News Reporter Clay Mussbacker might have been better spent at home reading up on geosynclines and cold fronts. Water under the bridge, she thought, as her stomach gurgled its agreement. With seconds to airtime, Summers checked the green screen and, to her horror, discovered her regional climate map had been replaced with footage of a rider’s perspective of the new rollercoaster (“Hell on Wheels”) opening at the local theme park. As camera three cued her intro, Tiffine'e smiled a $5,000 orthodontic smile, began to speak an apology for the mix-up, and then unceremoniously wretched before the station’s 18-36 demographic. Quickly pulling together what pride and presence she could muster, she gamely told her audience “Yeah, Des Moines, that’s what the weather’s gonna be like today.” In the control room, the Director quickly cut to a commercial for tires, but not before snapping a picture of the hapless news newbie on an Olympus E-500 with a 14-45mm zoom lens (shot at 45mm); set at 1/160 sec. and f14. The ISO was 125.
Jerry-
Greetings from my remote Sioux City hideout! I am attempting to use my phone to participate in our weekly shoot. This sculpture is visible as you drive by the Nanotechnology and Physics building at the U of M. He faces a female version about 100 feet away. D5200, 16-85 at 16mm, f11 @1/500, ISO 400.
"Called Spannungsfeld, quantum physicist-cum-sculptor Julian Voss-Andreae's work translates as a tension field, as between opposites like male-female, positive-negative, or matter-antimatter."
— at University of Minnesota
Greetings from my remote Sioux City hideout! I am attempting to use my phone to participate in our weekly shoot. This sculpture is visible as you drive by the Nanotechnology and Physics building at the U of M. He faces a female version about 100 feet away. D5200, 16-85 at 16mm, f11 @1/500, ISO 400.
"Called Spannungsfeld, quantum physicist-cum-sculptor Julian Voss-Andreae's work translates as a tension field, as between opposites like male-female, positive-negative, or matter-antimatter."
— at University of Minnesota
Kevin-
If we ever do Roadside Attraction again we should not call it Roadside Attraction II, but rather Another Roadside Attraction, from the 1971 novel by Tom Robbins.
Okay, on the the photo. I was actually on my way to Blue Earth, Minnesota to photograph the Jolly Green Giant, a 55 foot tall statue that is positioned there.
But on my way to the Green Giant I passed a different roadside attraction I had forgotten about that really grabbed me. Just outside of Jordan, Minnesota is “Minnesota’s Largest Candy Store” (though the official name of the business is actually “Minnesota’s Largest Candy Store.”) 😊
And it is really, really ginormous inside. If the candy you want is still made, I am certain they will have it.
I had been there once before, a number of years ago, I really liked the light from the setting sun a lot and I waited (taking the time to go in an make a purchase of course) until just before they closed when the sun was particularly low in the sky. I had driven Michelle’s Audi and I propped the rear door open so I could stand on top of the entry step to gain a higher perspective than my tripod could have provided.
Shot with my Nikon D4s. 24-70mm f/2.8 lens set to 32mm. ISO 400. Exposure was f/8 at 1/400th of a second. The very next frame I captured the lights along the top of the building turned off, as they were closing for the day.
If we ever do Roadside Attraction again we should not call it Roadside Attraction II, but rather Another Roadside Attraction, from the 1971 novel by Tom Robbins.
Okay, on the the photo. I was actually on my way to Blue Earth, Minnesota to photograph the Jolly Green Giant, a 55 foot tall statue that is positioned there.
But on my way to the Green Giant I passed a different roadside attraction I had forgotten about that really grabbed me. Just outside of Jordan, Minnesota is “Minnesota’s Largest Candy Store” (though the official name of the business is actually “Minnesota’s Largest Candy Store.”) 😊
And it is really, really ginormous inside. If the candy you want is still made, I am certain they will have it.
I had been there once before, a number of years ago, I really liked the light from the setting sun a lot and I waited (taking the time to go in an make a purchase of course) until just before they closed when the sun was particularly low in the sky. I had driven Michelle’s Audi and I propped the rear door open so I could stand on top of the entry step to gain a higher perspective than my tripod could have provided.
Shot with my Nikon D4s. 24-70mm f/2.8 lens set to 32mm. ISO 400. Exposure was f/8 at 1/400th of a second. The very next frame I captured the lights along the top of the building turned off, as they were closing for the day.
Byron-
Sometimes nature will not cooperate. The day I went to my Uncle's 100th birthday party I knew I would pass really close to several roadside attractions. Unfortunately the cloud cover was more suited to shooting portraits than roadside attractions.
But alas, I had to deal with what I was given. So I decided to take a picture of the world famous Prairie Chicken just outside of Rothsay, MN. I attempted to shoot it in a way that looked like I was sneaking up on a real prairie chicken.
It was shot at ISO 200, 55mm, f/8 @ 1/640 sec
Sometimes nature will not cooperate. The day I went to my Uncle's 100th birthday party I knew I would pass really close to several roadside attractions. Unfortunately the cloud cover was more suited to shooting portraits than roadside attractions.
But alas, I had to deal with what I was given. So I decided to take a picture of the world famous Prairie Chicken just outside of Rothsay, MN. I attempted to shoot it in a way that looked like I was sneaking up on a real prairie chicken.
It was shot at ISO 200, 55mm, f/8 @ 1/640 sec