Photographing iconic neon sign @ historic Route 66 at night

[KenElevenShadows]

How I got the photo: Three steps to photographing the iconic Roy"s sign on historic Route 66

 

https://photofocus.com/photography/how-i-got-the-photo-three-steps-to-photographing-the-iconic-roys-sign-on-historic-route-66/

 

 

I hope you like the article, thanks!

[Notes_Norton]

Nice work, plus it takes me back to my childhood.

 

Thanks for the tips in the article as well.

[Lou Gehrig Charles]

I approve... HDR is probably a good way to shoot that at night. If I recall, there is about a billion-watt light on the side of the gas station that faces the sign.... More than enough to wash out almost any other moonlight or anything else.

 

I was last there in 2016 and tried shooting it at night. I lit the dark side of the sign with my Protomachine flashlight. You can see the overpowering light from the gas station at left. I'd emailed the owner and got permission to be there; important because the one time previously I had tried to shoot there at night a guy in a pickup truck chased me off. He followed me most of the way back to Ludlow, tailgating the whole time.

 

[KenElevenShadows]

I approve... HDR is probably a good way to shoot that at night. If I recall, there is about a billion-watt light on the side of the gas station that faces the sign.... More than enough to wash out almost any other moonlight or anything else.

 

I was last there in 2016 and tried shooting it at night. I lit the dark side of the sign with my Protomachine flashlight. You can see the overpowering light from the gas station at left. I'd emailed the owner and got permission to be there; important because the one time previously I had tried to shoot there at night a guy in a pickup truck chased me off. He followed me most of the way back to Ludlow, tailgating the whole time.

 

 

Hey, there you are! Nice meeting you!

 

There was a very bright light bulb as you describe. Now, of course in 2016, the neon sign was not lit yet. This is a relatively recent thing.

 

Now that is strange. I've never heard of anyone getting chased off from there before for photographing the sign. Technically, yes, it is private property, but it's such an innocuous site, just off the side of the road.

 

This is a photo of the sign before it was lit from 2019. This is looking....well, I suppose somewhat SE? My back is to the motel and cafe, in other words, and that's a full moon in back of the sign.

 

[KenElevenShadows]

With the original post's photo, I felt like I could have pulled it off without HDR because the dynamic range of the Pentax is pretty great. I think it would have come out well. But I don't like to take chances, so in cases like this, I often bracket anyway. And since I bracketed them, I may as well use it, haha!