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Capital Ideas

Richard — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 04:02:20 +0000

One of my favorite photo subjects, the State Capital Building at the corner of Washington and Capital Streets. Gee, I can’t think why they named it Capital Street long ago? And you know, I lived here for many years growing up and beyond, and I never put two-and-two together that Washington Street was named after George Washington. No one ever told me. Totally logical but it just never crossed my mind. I happened one day to encounter a statue of George and a plaque on the south side of the building just a couple years ago that enlightened me. Probably one of the reasons I have a thing for the Capital, my grandfather had an office in this building working in the State Board of Accounts. When I was a very small boy I remember coming to visit him there. It hasn’t changed that much since then…which is a good thing. The rest of the city has changed dramatically though, in every direction from this building. To me the Capital Building is is sort of a living museum. It still functions as the traditional center of our state government. But the architecture is stupendous…amazing classic design, and the materials used inside and out are, well, museum quality. The shutter on my camera always seems to click whenever I’m within range.

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Fall Blooms

Richard — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 20:32:39 +0000

One of the flower garden areas at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. This one is next to the Greenhouse shop near the Lilly-Oldfields house. Even as the Fall season progresses, the blooms were still radiant there.

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Solar Gain

Richard — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 12:00:33 +0000

At certain times in early afternoon on Fall days when the sun is at the right angle, portions of the City County Building’s exterior along Market Street is bathed in a coppery glow shinning from a nearby building on Delaware’s highly reflective copper-tinted windows. The patterns created also add a noticeable amount of heat if you are walking through or sitting down in one of them, which actually feels kind of good if it’s a cool day.

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Uncommon View

Richard — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 12:13:58 +0000

A peek of a section of the Indiana State Museum from the walking path in-between it’s neighbor to the east, the Eiteljorge. From this perspective, the tall flowers and indigenous plantings along the path, and the bushes and trees in the background make it appear like the structure is rising from an overgrown field in a rural Indiana setting rather than it’s front-and-center position on the Mall of the White River State Park near downtown Indy. The path takes just a minute or two to walk it’s length but there are other surprises awaiting too. You’ll see.

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Monument Upgrade

Richard — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 12:46:04 +0000

Its been almost four months since restoration work began on Monument Circle. The massive crane which was used to remove the statue “Victory” from the top of it sits idle, waiting for the job of hoisting her up again after being restored, and construction barricades keep away the normal foot traffic and visitors from gathering around. Won’t it be nice to have it back, all spruced-up and shining? All of the work is scheduled to be completed in November, just in time for the annual holiday lights and Superbowl visitors shortly after.

Broad Ripple Park

Richard — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 12:25:21 +0000

Coming back from an appointment near Broad Ripple and stopped at the city park there. Had a few minutes and went for a short walk. It was really sunny but there were so many trees that it blocked it out. They made some interesting shadows in this photo. I hadn’t been there in a really long time and I didn’t realize…or maybe had forgotten is more like it…that there is so much space here. Facilities for gatherings large and small, trails, benches, tables, athletic fields, playgrounds. There’s a Bark Park too which I always thought was kind of a funny concept. Take your dog to meet and socialize with other dogs.

One of the first summer jobs I had was working for the Indianapolis Park System. Our group was based in Broad Ripple Park and we cut grass, picked up trash and did other assorted tasks at almost all of the northside parks. When I was here today I remembered how much fun I thought it was back in those days driving a full size tractor on city streets on the way to and from the other parks to cut grass.

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Watching the Draw

Richard — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 03:49:53 +0000

I met a client Downtown at the Circle briefly and was sitting afterwards in my car which was parked on Market Street directly facing the Monument in the very first spot with an unobstructed view. There was plenty of time left on the meter and as comfortable a place as any to finish a cup from Starbucks I had just gotten. It was entertaining watching the diverse activity that the Circle attracts. Small groups of tourists taking photos, people riding in horse drawn carriages, Execs in 3-piece suits on cell phones, people sitting on the steps eating lunch, delivery boys on bikes, street beggars, vendors selling hot dogs on the corner, small groups of people milling about with name tags that looked like they were on break from a convention of some sort, etc, etc. The Circle definitely has the draw. Eventually the Monument itself drew me in too. You know, you can walk or drive around it a million times and not notice things there. Like this scene above on the west face. Zoom lenses are pretty useful for capturing things that go unnoticed usually.

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Central Towpath

Richard — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:52:15 +0000

There’s been a discussion lately about the possible sale of land assets used by the water company which helps to provide a good portion of our drinking water. It’s suspicious when they start looking at selling publicly controlled property when times are leaner and there’s a shortfall in the budget. Why don’t they take a harder look at spending instead. No surprise. Growing or maintaining the scope of government seems to be more important to those in government. Don’t they realize once something is sold, it’s gone. What’s next, Monument Circle?

The Central Towpath above is one of these assets as well as Geist and Eagle Creek Reservoirs. Just look how beautiful this is. More importantly, it’s one of those things that binds us together as a community and a way we interact with each other. To me it’s treasured public art that we not only can look at but use. The real issue is control. What will happen if private interests want to change something later that is contrary to the best interest of the public. Land is probably our most precious asset. It nurtures us now in ways that cannot be replaced, and must do the same for future generations.

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Central Canal in the Afternoon

View from the Top

Richard — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 22:34:56 +0000

Normally when we can see the dome of the State Capital Building then we’re looking up at it, so I thought it was an interesting view from this perspective. This shot was taken from the top of the Monument on the Circle zooming in west down Market Street. To me it looks like the Monument and the Capital Building are about the same height? I’ll have to research that factoid. It’s recorded somewhere I’m sure.

After looking at this photo I started wondering how they raise and lower the State and U.S. flags on the top. You can’t just climb up there and pull on the ropes…well, unless you’re Spider Man.

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Over and Under

Richard — Mon, 17 May 2010 16:13:03 +0000

So, I’m driving north on Illinois Street, moving slowly at the “noon rush hour”. Stop and go, and slowly I’m approaching the Artsgarden, one of my favorite structures. So I picked up the camera resting on the passenger seat. It’s always nearby, someplace. I switched on the camera’s back LED screen instead of looking in the viewfinder, so I could drive and watch what I was shooting at the same time. Sometimes my behind-the-wheel multi-tasking reaches incedible levels. Really, you don’t want to know.

So here is the Artsgarden above (over) just before I go beneath it on Illinois Street (under). Oh good…a green light!

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