WALKER'S POINT: ALTERNATIVE SCENES

As I have stated before, Milwaukee's Walker's Point is an older neighborhood of an older industrial Midwestern city.  It includes sections that are undergoing a rejuvenation and sections that aren't.  And both offer photographic opportunities.  Here are a few.

This first is of an antique shop.

In the past when I have tried to shoot this building, there has generally been one or more cars parked in front.  This time the street was clear, except for an orange traffic cone positioned in front that I was able to partially crop out.

What were more interesting were the store's antique posters.  Here are portions of a couple of those.

And then there was the paintwork above the entrance.

I thought it worked better to treat these as abstract opportunities rather than trying to capture the entire entryway.  The resolution on these shots was actually quite good.

And here is another storefront that caught my eye for its colors.

One of my favorite Walker's Point spots is on the campus of an old tannery that has been converted to a combination of housing and office space.  For me the more attractive portions are actually those that still looking for renovation.

Here, for example, is an entryway for what I believe is an apartment building.

This is the second time I have shot this same entryway, and both times the same motorcycle was parked in front.  I think the motorcycle makes this composition, but I wish the motorcycle had been facing into the shot rather than out.

And a couple of more shots from the same neighborhood: a building plaque that I liked for its corruption . . .

and a doorway for its obsolescence.

The archway over the door creates an imbalance in the composition, but otherwise the shot held a lot of interest for me.  Again, the resolution on these shots was really good for handheld, I thought.  Shutter speed was 1/25 second and 1/80th second, respectively.  Having a camera lens that is capable of compensating electronically for camera shake helps a lot.

The following photo isn't really much of shot, but I liked it anyway.  I think the light striking the brick wall contrasted nicely with the dark window openings.

I decided that the tree actually helped the composition providing some perspective.

One of the places I like is a thoroughly neglected area situated next to an abandoned building in the same neighborhood.  The location has been a site for graffiti artists in the past.  But what attracted me were the older graffiti that had weathered away and that offered opportunities in abstraction, including the following.

This area adjoins a railroad spur leading to a switching yard.

Note the track--not exactly a high speed rail.

Finally, the Walker's Point area is in the shadow of the Allen-Bradley (now Rockwell International) clock tower.  

For nearly 50 years this was the largest four-sided clock in the world, with clock faces more than 40 feet in diameter.  But then in 2010 the Saudis built a four-sided clock with faces more than 140 feet in diameter . . . just a tad larger.

John