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This is a pretty big-ass post, I am saying that right now... so much so, I'm splitting it into two parts. But, it's for a good reason: I wanted to take photos of this area for a long time.
The first two shots aside, I lived in that area of town for 14 years: from 1986 until 2000. There has been quite a bit of change, including street-rerouting construction (more on that later). That said, let's get to this!
First off, these two shots were taken downtown, at Ohio and Capitol:
This is the Indiana State Capitol. It's a very nice building, and this was the only shot I took. I would've taken at least two more, but then my bus came.
I turned around, pointed the camera up, and took this shot. I really like this one.Now, the remaining shots are from the Riverside Park/White River area. It's a damn nice area, with parks, golf courses, and... it just looks so fucking beautiful. And hey, if I do some more digital coloring, these double as good ol'-fashioned background fuel!
This is the intersection of 16th and E Riverside Drive. For some reason, it used to be either "North Riverside East Drive" or "East Riverside Drive". I always used "East Riverside Drive" whenever I sent letters or other mail. But, this is a street that runs north and south, so they renamed it slightly, based on where it was next to the White River. Now it's E Riverside Drive. So, as an example, an address there would now be "2001 North E Riverside Drive" instead of "2001 East Riverside Drive". That sounds weird, but that's the way it seems it is.
This is the old house I grew up in. It kinda looks a bit worse since I was last there years ago (and, uh, two weeks ago, as I was looking for spots to take photos from). That birdbath and some of the bushes are still there. What is no longer there are the awnings (we took those down when we lived there, but still) and a big-ass tree that SHOULD be in the center of this shot. I still cannot believe they cut that tree down, man!
Front view of said house. That tree on the left, is, by the best of my recollection, still there.
You can't see the street, but this was taken at the intersection of 21st and E Riverside. What is on the far left side is a golf course, and it used to be that sometimes, I would find golf balls in the street or they would sometimes fly into windows.
I'm trying to find information on the structure in the center. That has been there for many years, and is named after the person responsible for the construction of Riverside Park, Thomas Taggart. Heck, he's responsible for the entire parks system here in Indianapolis. Indy Parks headquarters is not far from this spot.
Now, the area around this structure didn't always look like this. 20 years ago, that median wasn't even there, and there was a second road where playground equipment is now (on the far right side). That was filled in and built over due to expansion of the recreation center and the erection of said playground equipment.
Close up of Taggart Arch (I think that's what it was called; I'll have to check again...) I wish I could get closer, or even inside... but they put in a fence around it because of vandals. Damn vandals and their damn vandal-ing! Dammit!
My attempt at a ground-view shot. I kneeled down and held the camera down to the ground. I wanted to get the shot juuuuuust right... but it just doesn't seem that way. It'd look a bit cooler if that damn fence wasn't there.
These two shots were taken within feet of each other. The odd thing about the second one is that, if this was taken at a MUCH earlier time, I would be standing in the middle of a street. I said earlier that in order to expand the nearby recreation center and put in other improvements, changes had to be made, medians had to be put in, and streets had to be altered or eliminated altogether. I seem to like these two, but again, I wish I could've taken shots of the arch from inside.
Would you believe this mighty lake started out as a mere rain puddle? It's not even 20 years old. I'm pretty sure it started out this way. I mean, I used to pass this area on the way to school for many years.
Anyway, years ago, there was severe weather in the area over several nights, and it left behind a big puddle (about 1/4th the size of the lake). Over time, it just stood and stood until it was made into a lake. (I think the drainage pipe that was put in near it - somewhat visible on the left - had quite a bit to do with its lake-ification.) For a while, there was fencing around it, but now there isn't.
That's the end of the first part. The second part covers the rest of my walking around this area - including farther up the street that now connects to E Riverside - even though, just a few short years ago, it didn't.
It took a while, but here's another batch of photos. Here are some of my nephew sleeping:
Okay, that last one is not of him sleeping, but he just looks so adorable!
Um, here are some of streets near my home:
Intersection of 41st and Bolton. Going left on 41st here will lead to a dead end. A school playground blocks that part of street off.
Intersection of 41st and Campbell. If that minivan is the focal point, than something something something else. I did the best I could to not make it look overexposed, but it still looks like the sky is glowing white. The same problem persists in other shots I took as well.
45th and Campbell, looking down Campbell. I kinda don't like this shot, the "going down" doesn't look as straight as the others, thus no focal point (in some of the earlier street shots, there was some perspective/focal point stuff, as if you were looking down the street... I think there's little of that here).
I got some more, at least two more posts worth, as well as some stuff I found out about the area I took them in, as I lived in that area of town for many years.
Aug. 2006
Bee as the Tarot card Temperance. I did this as part of a contest someone was holding on DA. I didn't win, though.
August 2006
Stacy shouldn't have taken her helmet off. And Quinn is in there somewhere. Would you believe I used to draw her all the time? Now I draw her slightly less... slightly plus twenty. At any rate, I can only assume that Sandi didn't want to come along, saying something about how "the moon is dirty" and "those space monsters are sooo unfashionable", or something...
Looking back, I could've done a lot more with this piece beside use a couple of stock poses[tm]. Background, such as it is, looks kinda cool.
Aug. 2006
This is a comic based on a song by They Might Be Giants called "Four Of Two", and the song tells the story of a stupid boy, a mean girl and a broken clock.
The boy seen here things he might have a chance with the girl seen here... but is she really that mean? Probably not, but I think she'd probably brag to her fashionista friends about "playing with that nerdy kid down the street". Eh, I dunno.
Who the heck is that Lobinske guy, anyway?
Here are some photos I took from various points in June and early July. I'm sorry if they don't look that great, but... you look and see.
This is looking down a street a few blocks from where I live. There used to be a LOT more trees lining the street, but people kept dumping there, so most of the trees were cut down and the area was cleaned up, and was made into a small park.
Looking down 38th Street (again), this time from the other side of the street. This was a hard shot to get, and I almost got hit by a car. I did, however, wanted take it with a car closer to the spot I took it from.
Near the Indiana State Fairgrounds, and one of the signs to it is on the far right side. There used to be a LOT of buildings around this area, even a restaurant on the corner of 38th and Fall Creek. It was torn down about 20 years ago to make way for more parking space. The same can be said for at least three office buildings and a motel. A temporary barn was also here, about a block or so from where this shot was taken. With the right cropping, I could use this as a pretty good background.
In front of Arlington High School, on Arlington Ave. Taken from standing on a median.
A shot of the school's auditorium. I think this is a new addition... or was that the gymnasium? I forget.
Looking down Arlington Ave, towards 56th street. Stood on same median.
I have one more batch of photos, then I'll go out and take some more, hopefully from different areas of town and with different angles and such.
Starting today I'm going to put a lot of my older stuff (by "older stuff", I mean mostly stuff before September 2007), mostly comics and certain drawings. Though I am trying to improve currently, a few friends of mine have said that they liked some of the older stuff I did.
Looking back on these, however, there are construction, anatomy, and posing issues a plenty, including HANDS, my mortal enemy. I'm trying now to right the wrongs of my earlier drawings. I do hope you enjoy the older stuff, though, and take a look at the newer stuff, a great deal of which I post here.
Continuing those shots taken on May 23rd...
If this building was the focal point, I should've centered it more... Anyway, this is IPS School #98, and I used to go here back in... first and second grade. There is a park nearby here, but it seems hard to get to, and this always looked like a nice building. I couldn't go inside, but I did take a few shots around this area, as well as at that park.
This is looking down DuBarry Road, the street School #98 is on. This wasn't a good perspective shot. If, however, the focal point was that barely-visible sign in the center, then yeah, I'd say this was a damn fine shot!
The far west edge of the building, as well as a nearby tree. I could crop this shot by half, and use the tree for something. Dunno about the assorted greenery in the background, though.
I turned right around and took this shot. Another tree, and the school in far left, as well as DuBarry Rd. on the right. Nothing special about this one. It could work as a desktop wallpaper, maybe. MAYBE.
Part of the school's playground (albeit a small part), and a house in the background. And some of the walkway to one of the doors to the school can be seen.
There's a path hidden in the greenery (seen in one of the earlier shots of the school) that leads to this park. I don't think there's another way to get to it, but if there is one, it's either not easy to get to, or I haven't seen it. Anyway, here it is, and it looks like it's started to slide since the last time I visited it. Even most of the play equipment is gone...
A lot of this area is overgrown now, and large birds roam about. That thing near the bottom, is where a merry-go-round was (not the ones you see at a carnival, but those ones that you get on, and someone pushes). And that swing set looks like it hasn't been touched in years. I have been to this particular area two other times (to my best recollection): Once, back when I was in second grade (the merry-go-round was there back then); the other time in 2004, when this area looked a lot nicer, but a lake was put in, as well as some shelters.
I took this shot (and the next two) from the highest point of the only piece of playground equipment left, and part of it is right there. Also is the chimney from the school from earlier. Other than that, nothing much.
From the left side of where I took the last photo. Those trees look... kinda nice, but still, this park is in need of maintenance.
From the right side. More trees, and assorted greenery. Somewhere in this shot, though, is where I came into the park through the school playground. There's another entrance, but this was the only one I knew of.
Those are all the ones I took that day. I did take more, but those sucked.
I do have some more from later days, though.
Here are some shots that I took on May 23rd. I did go to some high places to take some of them, and the majority of them might show up as backgrounds in anything I might do later.
This was taken from the top of a bridge a few blocks from my house. I had to cross the street twice: once to get to this spot, and again to go back to the other side to go down the bridge. It was supposed to be a skyline of downtown Indianapolis (since whenever I'd look down the tracks when crossing, I would see the downtown buildings off in the distance). This shot didn't go as well as I thought, but I still like it, if not for the effort to get it.
Coming down the bridge, this was the view to my left. It looks... decent, I guess, but I could do without that big tree in the left. It looks a little intrusive to me.
I crossed the street again, and this was the view on that side. This is part of a construction company... well, it's part of the company's property. I always thought those trees looked nice, so I took a photo. I might have been better off using a different angle, but that big tree on the right (not the same tree in the last one), might intrude. It's not a good-looking tree.
Looking down Shadeland Ave. There might be lack of a focal point here, and I took this one (as well as the last three) that morning, yet the light levels vary. (I have everything on the camera set to Auto, so why things tend to over- or under-expose still, I have NO idea. Good thing I have a photo editor to fix some of these!) Um... I was looking down Shadeland going south. A LOT of car dealerships line this street from 38th Street on down to about 10th Street.
This is looking down 38th Street, a little past... 38th and Richardt. This shot looks similar to an earlier one I posted.
Those are all for now. I do have shots I took from a school near that area...
Now to take a break from all the photospam[tm] for a really old piece that I did nearly three years ago:
All of the Fearsome Fashionable Foursome (minus Sandi) are there. How the heck did they get jobs there?
This is crazy old, but it's still one of my favorites.
Here are the remainder of shots I took on May 22nd.
Interior (3rd floor) of a place I frequented all the time, the IUPUI University Library, near downtown. This is where I used to do most of my business before I got a computer at home. Yep... three days a week, most every week, for 7-1/2 years... Where did the time go?
2nd-floor entrance to IUPUI University Library. I haven't been here in nearly two years. The place has barely changed at all. Would you believe that this was once the site of one of IUPUI's parking lots? Then, for a few years after this was built, they still had part of the parking lot, but they re-sodded that area. It looks pretty beautiful now, and I took a shot near that area...
All that used to be parking lot. Usually when something is build, it's the other way around... but there it is. Right where that person is in far, far, FAR center, is where the parking lot ended. As said earlier, they re-sodded that area to make it look less... well, to beautify the area. I think the IUPUI website still has their historic photograph section up...
A different view of said area, and a new parking lot is in the background. It goes to a newer building, constructed a few years ago. That larger building there is a city/state government building.
That's the recent building, there, as well as some of... well, I guess you could call it a skyline, or part of it, anyway. The building on the right, the OneAmerica building, is the one of the tallest in Indianapolis. The building next to it, it had storm damage a few years ago, and it was fixed, but now they're making it look more modern.
Looking down North Street, at the corner of New York and North Streets.
At the corner of New York and North Streets. Another University building is in the background. I think it's the science building. (I haven't been in this area for sometime, so other than the library, I forgot which building's which.)
Another view of this building. This is directly across from the 1st-floor entrance of the University Library.
Those are all for now. Next post, I have some I've taken from the next day, including some near a school I used to go to.
Here are some more photos I took from May 22nd. I also took some more on other days, but the bulk of these were on May 22-23...
This was on the westside of Indianapolis, near 38th and Moller (sometimes spelled Moeller) Road. This is a large grassy, field-like area I sometimes cut through to get to the department store in this area. That building on the right is not a department store, but a gym. And those trees are still trees, I think...
That in the far distance is said store.
That is a shot of Ohio Street downtown. I intend on using this one as a background for something I might do in Photoshop at an undetermined date. This was the only downtown shot I took.
Those are all for now. I think I have a few more, a couple of interior shots of the IUPUI University Library, as well as nearby buildings.
Looking at these, I do need to pick a focal point, as evidenced to a comment on the last post. I am new at this, so there is a lot to learn when doing something like this.
Sometime ago, I went out with a digital camera and took photos of places around Indianapolis. Here are a few of them. I am new to this photography thing, though, so a good number of these shots might suck. I also adjusted the brightness and color for some of these as well.
This is looking down 38th St. and... I'm sure it's Central Ave... or hell, maybe it's Capitol Ave.
This is from a little further down 38th Street. I love shots of the sky. Dunno why... but I think they look damn beautiful.
This is one of my favorite shots that I took that day, near Crown Hill Cemetery. I just love that particular part of town. Hell, anything past... I think 38th and Orchard going westbound, I like. Maybe it's because I lived on the westside of Indianapolis for so long... or maybe it's... SOMETHING ELSE!!!
Further down 38th. Um... this corridor (from 38th and Boulevard to 38th and MLK/Michigan Rd) has been improved quite a bit over the last... 20 or so years. That great median work there? Wasn't around back then. They made 'em look real nice... adds to the the general... landscaping and such. This is one of those backgrounds I could use if/when I do some digital art again.
Near 38th and Clarendon, the halfway mark of said corridor. This is my current wallpaper. I like how this one turned out, the shot really was that bright. I adjusted the color slightly.
Intersection of 38th and Clarendon. Dunno why I took this shot. I think it looks somewhat decent. Car looks a little slanty...There are some more photos I took, but I'll get to those later.
This is the Indiana State Capitol. It's a very nice building, and this was the only shot I took. I would've taken at least two more, but then my bus came.
I turned around, pointed the camera up, and took this shot. I really like this one.
This is the intersection of 16th and E Riverside Drive. For some reason, it used to be either "North Riverside East Drive" or "East Riverside Drive". I always used "East Riverside Drive" whenever I sent letters or other mail. But, this is a street that runs north and south, so they renamed it slightly, based on where it was next to the White River. Now it's E Riverside Drive. So, as an example, an address there would now be "2001 North E Riverside Drive" instead of "2001 East Riverside Drive". That sounds weird, but that's the way it seems it is.
This is the old house I grew up in. It kinda looks a bit worse since I was last there years ago (and, uh, two weeks ago, as I was looking for spots to take photos from). That birdbath and some of the bushes are still there. What is no longer there are the awnings (we took those down when we lived there, but still) and a big-ass tree that SHOULD be in the center of this shot. I still cannot believe they cut that tree down, man!
Front view of said house. That tree on the left, is, by the best of my recollection, still there.
You can't see the street, but this was taken at the intersection of 21st and E Riverside. What is on the far left side is a golf course, and it used to be that sometimes, I would find golf balls in the street or they would sometimes fly into windows.
I'm trying to find information on the structure in the center. That has been there for many years, and is named after the person responsible for the construction of Riverside Park, Thomas Taggart. Heck, he's responsible for the entire parks system here in Indianapolis. Indy Parks headquarters is not far from this spot.
Close up of Taggart Arch (I think that's what it was called; I'll have to check again...) I wish I could get closer, or even inside... but they put in a fence around it because of vandals. Damn vandals and their damn vandal-ing! Dammit!
My attempt at a ground-view shot. I kneeled down and held the camera down to the ground. I wanted to get the shot juuuuuust right... but it just doesn't seem that way. It'd look a bit cooler if that damn fence wasn't there.
These two shots were taken within feet of each other. The odd thing about the second one is that, if this was taken at a MUCH earlier time, I would be standing in the middle of a street. I said earlier that in order to expand the nearby recreation center and put in other improvements, changes had to be made, medians had to be put in, and streets had to be altered or eliminated altogether. I seem to like these two, but again, I wish I could've taken shots of the arch from inside.
Would you believe this mighty lake started out as a mere rain puddle? It's not even 20 years old. I'm pretty sure it started out this way. I mean, I used to pass this area on the way to school for many years.
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