Snipers In The Hood

Lemon Strawberry Panache

Not the primary face of Indy's Old Northside

A project that has kept me busy -- and busy enough to derail regular posts here or at my Facebook page in recent weeks -- has been the task to photograph the Old Northside neighborhood of Indianapolis. The project actually is being undertaken by several interested members of the Indy Meetup Photo Club (IMUPC), the same club that covered the inaugural Park2Park Relay Race in Hendricks County on June 25.

The Old Northside project has been going on since May, and it's been in full steam since June. Club members have been out photographing various scenes in the neighborhood -- either as a group or individually -- since then. I've done both group and individual shoots in the neighborhood, and as you might have guessed from my existing neighborhoods galleries folder at my online site at Smugmug.com, this is something I really enjoy doing, and the Old Northside project is no exception.

I'll be posting some shots from my efforts in the project later this month; the Propylaeum, the club's partner in the project, will display our work at an open house fundraiser on Aug. 21. Admission is $10; there will be food and refreshments (including a cash bar) as well as an opportunity to tour the historic Propylaeum structure.

This neighborhood definitely is worth a photographic profile; there are remarkable, beautiful structures there to behold. However, while on an individual shoot in the neighborhood last weekend, I came across an off-the-beaten path alley scene that was unlike anything I've seen anywhere else in the neighborhood. In a way, an antithesis to all the striking features I'd found, but nevertheless intriguing ... and even interesting. It was some brick wall art and graffiti in the shell of a structure roofless except for a section with overhead crisscrossing, intersecting thin steel beams -- a sort of work of art themselves. It reminded me -- but on a much larger scale -- of a surprise I came across earlier this month when I took a shortcut en route to my car after a photo gallery opening in the Fountain Square neighborhood of Indianapolis and came across an alleyway of murals and artwork that I'm sure wasn't commissioned.

I took quite a few photographs of this Old Northside discovery, none of which I intend to submit for the Old Northside project, so I feel I can post them here now.

Above and below: I might not have even thought to explore the alley had I not been intrigued by the bright green doors on the facade and the lack of roof I could detect from the open area above the green door on the left. The doorway (below) gives a hint of what's to come once one makes the precarious step inside.

The Marengo Illinois Spot

Back In The Nation

Stuck In Folsom Prison

Denny's Pino's ... Far Out Man

If Mountains Could Speak

The Big Bang

Sacred Navajo Ground

Painting With Light

Playin' The Ponies In Downtown Woodstock

Heading West

Native Lands

Loveland's Waterfront

Trash or Recycled Art?

Tunnel Color Spectrum

Ben Heine - Pencil Vs Camera!

I could have called it "Drawing Vs Photography" or "Imagination Vs Reality"...

Thank you all for the great feedbacks you sent me.

This series is new and growing EVERY WEEK (I intend to make at least 100 PvsC works), please come back again to see more.

All the graphic elements shown in this set (and in my Flickr stream) come from my own stock/production. I drew the sketches, took the photos, edited them

Pencil Vs Camera! - a set on Flickr

From the Graphic Design & Photography Forum

Technorati Tags: Ben Heine, Pencil, Camera, Photography

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.