2010 Penrod, in the hours before the 2nd rainfall

Artist Jennifer Mujezinovic of Bloomington with her her oil on canvas portraits at Penrod, in a corner booth near the Lilly House on the grounds of the Indianapolis Musuem of Art

Today's post is another attempt to "catch up" to lots of shoots this month. The images today are from only about two and a half to three hours of time spent at the 2010 Penrod arts and crafts fair on Sept. 11, 2010. Penrod is a hugely popular annual attraction in Central Indiana that, in all of my previous visits, had always lived up to its self-proclaimed billing as "Indiana's Nicest Day."

This year, for the first time, I decided to play photographer at Penrod, which of course was the kiss of death to it remaining a nice day. In fact, it turned out to be the first day of any significant rainfall Central Indiana had received in almost a month.

I took a huge gamble this day: I had checked the National Weather Service Doppler radar from home early in the morning before leaving for the fair. Doppler accurately indicated it was raining outside at the time (OK ... I know ... duh). The important factor, however, was that Doppler indicated that there would be a break in the rain very soon, and that one more dosage of rain -- one that looked like it would be relatively short -- would move across the area within about three hours then the area would be rainfree the rest of the day.

Doppler was right on the first count; the first rain did let up about 9 a.m. just as I was about to enter the fair venue, which was the beautiful grounds of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. All of the images in this post were shot from about 9 a.m. till the second rain came about 11:15 a.m. or so. The second rain turned out to be not as brief as I had thought. And, it was heavy. Because I "read" Doppler to indicate the second rain would be short and sweet, I gambled to equip myself lightly when I reached the ground: I brought along my two camera bodies (each with a different lens) and a small bag containing my wide-angle lens, and that was it. I elected not to bring any protective gear, presuming I could take cover and wait out the second rain when it came (my car was parked about six blocks away in an area served by a shuttle bus).

The second rain came about 15 minutes into the Carmel Symphony Orchestra's performance on the Symphony Stage, which is where I was at the time. I wasn't very close to anything of substantial cover (well, OK, there was the stage, but the symphony -- and all of its musicians -- dutifully played on at least for as long as I hung around). I bolted toward the 38th Street gate at a fast walk pace and found a very hefty tree along the way, where I decided to park myself. It did keep me -- and my exposed camera equipment -- mostly dry for the first 15 minutes. But eventually, the tree's leaves strarted to sieve, so at the first momentary letup, I bolted for the shuttle bus and left the grounds. The rain did intensify again, and it didn't stop until about 20 minutes to a half-hour later, and true to Doppler radar, there was no more rain the rest of the day. I just wasn't there to enjoy the rest of it.

Last minute preparartions: Balloons festooning the booth

Bright colors seemed to be the lure at this artist's booth

First in a series of shots from the Dance Stage, where the lead-off performers were students at the Expressenz Dance Studio, 9850 Michigan Road, Indianapolis.

Even some of the artwork required protection from the damp elements

The first of three shots from the performance by the Rich Hardesty Band, the lead-off entertainment at the fair's Rock Stage.

Not-too-scary mortals at a booth staffed by The Indianapolis Children's Museum Guild promoting the museum's annual Haunted House attraction.

 

This gentleman's art (or craft, depending on how you prefer to look at it) is to entertain with humor -- while setting up a magic trick or two with ropes. He was very charming, indeed.

For the first couple of hours, this sparsely populated main thoroughfare on the IMA grounds was the storyline of the 2010 Penrod fair. Right before the second rain (below), the people did come.

A close-up of a brightly colored ornamental orb at one artist's booth.

First up at the Symphony Stage at the Penrod fair was Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra harpist Melissa Gallant.

The irony of a forsaken, nearly full bottle of spring water under an unoccupied bench didn't escape me on this first day of rain in a couple of weeks.

A two-part, front-and-back look at how the well-known LOVE sculpture on the IMA grounds fit into the Penrod landscape this day. The first view, from the front (above), presented a not very flattering juxtaposition with the Culinary Arts demonstration tent off to the right side.

The second view, from behind, casts it in a slightly more favorable role: as a family-friendly backdrop.

A doll (could this possibly be cranky, sarcastic Maxine of mass-forward email fame?) at the very end of a vendor booth along one of the fair's main thoroughfares.

The opening act on the Blues Stage was Phoebe and the Mojo Makers. This, you might have guessed, is Phoebe. Below, you have the Mojo Makers -- the drummer on the left, with drum brush in mid stroke, and guitar player on the far end.

The second act on the Symphony Stage (above and below) 
was the Carmel Symphony Orchestra. It was during this group's performance that the second rain came.

Cheese: Concert comfort food?

I've seen a lot of people tote snacks and drinks to casual outdoor concerts, so this image wasn't unusual in that respect. I saw this gentleman pull out some cheese for his snack at Saturday's shoot at the Indianapolis Jazz Orchestra's show in the Sunken Garden of Garfield Park, then noticed how the setting sun was highlighting his beard and shirt, so I felt compelled to grab this frame.

Here's to finding comfort and making the best out of your experience -- on what was a very uncomfortable, hot and humid evening.

Jazz ensemble livens up the Garden

It was a hot and humid early evening, but that didn't stop the Indianapolis Jazz Orchestra from keeping its date Saturday to perform in the Sunken Garden of Garfield Park as part of the "Music in the Garden" series.

With temperatures reaching into the mid-90s for the sixth consecutive day, organizers wisely staged the ensemble at the west end of the garden, where the stage and a good 30 yards of audience seating area extending into the garden lawn were protected from the setting sun by the shade of at least a couple dozen trees. Joining the band on several numbers were vocalists Lydia McAdams and Rick Vale.

A note of gratitude to Indianapolis Star photographer Alan Petersime, who I ran into at the show Saturday. He was covering the performance for the newspaper. Alan showed me a striking image he had captured of some people sitting on a cement bench under the sprawling limbs of an expansive tree lining the north fringe of the garden, so I felt compelled to grab a copy myself. It's the image you see at the very bottom of this post. I think his turned out better (you can see it in his gallery posted at the multimedia area of indystar.com); Alan grabbed a frame with the full tree displayed, which I think made the image more powerful because it really dwarfs the people underneath. Also, he caught it at a time when the sun splashed highlights on the full tree, contrasting it nicely with the out-of-sunlight trees behind it.