Where to next?

I need a new city to use as my next project target...I was thinking Madison, or Milwaukee.  Any ideas?

Twentieth: 600 Block - Wausau WI 1940's/2012

I also love this 600 block because of the busy-ness as well.  Also what is so interesting is the corner building has in the remote past burned down and is now where the patio of The Back When Cafe.  This one was satisfying to me because the time of day was accurately matched, and the shadows seemed to just overlap themselves! 

Nineteenth: 500 Block #2 - Wausau, Wisconsin - 1940's/2012

This image is very interesting because its very busy with life.  Theres multiple people walkings from both time periods, walkings along side each other in front of which is now La Prima Deli.  This was one was difficult at first to balance because the entire block along the right side is what is now the entire First American Center - which they also changed the lay out of the road as well.  It is now a lot skinnier than it once was, as it is now a 1 way.

Eighteenth - Chippewa Falls, Spring St 1896/2012

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This image has now become my absolute favorite, hands down.  I didn't expect this one to work out at all actually, because a couple of the buildings are no longer there, and the ones that have seem to have been refaced a number of times.  Also given that there wasn't much of a side street back then, and that it looks to be a sidewalk (to their standards) i really didn't think things were going to line up.  That is until one day when I decided i would give it a try to try and line them up.  Sure enough, it lined up better than I had expected, which was when i noticed that some of the buildings were actually the same buildings, just refinished.

This one is so interesting to me because of the people, and their characteristics.  Its a great image, in that everyone seems to be posing in a thought out manner...watch how their shadows cast but don't overlap.  Most everyone stood still enough to capture the image, except 2 of the people who seemed to have moved.  Even the horse stood in place.  This one is also really great to me because of it's age.  It always seems like the older the Then image is, the more interesting.  This is a blend of 1896/2012 - about 116 years in transformation!

Fifteenth: McDonnell High School/Heyde Center

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Back in the Early 1900's, this building was home to McDonnell High School.  These days it is known as the Heyde Center for the Arts.  Its a beautiful building, interior and exterior.  It really has not changed much at all.  The stairway was rebuilt, and the building that sits next to it seems to have changed, but thats about it.

This one to date is the most accurately rephotographed Then & Now I have in my collection.  This one doesn't get as much public rave as some of the other pieces, but this type are my personal favorite.  Its possible to layer the brick in such a way that it skips generations of times per brick.  The windows lined up perfectly, so it was kind of fun to play with the gradient fade from gray -> blue sky reflection.

Seventeenth: Bridge St looking South - Chippewa Falls, WI

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Bridge St looking South - was a difficult one to rephotograph.  It seems like the wider the angle lens they used back in the early 1900's, then the more difficult it is to match the old barrel distortion.  Every lens creates barrel distortion, but back in the 1920's - lens optics were different than they are now, so imitating that level of distortion with a new lens is quite a challenge.  Not impossible though.

My favorite part of this image is in the Right Center - I actually successfully blended an Oldsmobile Alero with a Ford Model T.  The rear wheel well seemed to match up perfectly!

Sixteenth: Bridge St looking North - Chippewa Falls, WI

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Bridge St looking north was a lot of fun for me to do.  It took several attempts to get the scaling right when I was out there on that hot sunny day.  Capturing the NOW shot required me to stand out in the middle of traffic and compose and focus very quickly.  So I would wait for a red light, and wait for a gap in cars, and walk out into the street to peer through my view finder and judge the proximity of my location to the photographer's in 1913.  After I thought I was in the right position,  I actually stood on the sidewalk and waited for a car of interest to pull up to the stop light, and wait.  I wonder if they were wondering what I was doing photographing the back of their car.  This one gets paired along with Bridge St looking South - both of which feature my logo as the cars' license plates.