Author: Peep

  • Delavan, Wisconsin

    Delavan, Wisconsin

    Traveling regularly is a part of my day job as an independent consultant for Systems, Applications and Products in Data Processing (SAP). I enjoy it almost as much as photography. Having the opportunity to visit other locations and discover hidden gems along the way are one of the many perks of this type of employment.

    While working in Wisconsin, I took a side trip to Delavan and found a city within a town. In fact, the city of Delavan overlays the town of Delavan. Confusing, right? Don’t be. Both entities operate politically independent from each other, but you will get to enjoy the benefits of this quaint area filled with history located about 45 miles southwest of Milwaukee. Nearby is Lake Geneva with a large tourist draw and another popular destination.

    The coolest discovery about Delavan was the circus history. Between 1847 and 1894 it was home base for 26 circus companies and operations. In fact, the original PT Barnum Circus was founded here in 1871 by William Coup. Visit the cemeteries of Spring Grove and St. Andrews to discover over 130 members of the 19th century circus performers buried there, some with elaborate headstones. The US Postal Service issued the five-cent American Circus commemorative postage stamp on May 2, 1966 and Delavan was selected for the first day issue cover.

    On a side note, nonetheless important to our American cultural history, Delavan is the home of Gary Burghoff, better know to many as “Radar” on the TV series “M*A*S*H”. Born in Bristol, Connecticut and moved to the area at a young age, he gained experience acting with the Belfry Players of Williams Bay, Wisconsin, near the previously mentioned Lake Geneva.

    Here are a few images taken with the Pentax Super-Takumar 24mm f3.5 mounted on the Fujifilm X-Pro3 with a Pixco Focal Reducer Adapter.

  • Antioch, Illinois

    Antioch, Illinois

    On a recent trip to Wisconsin, I used some time off to travel around the area in search of interesting places and people. One of the first suggestion on a Google search was Antioch, Illinois, just across the border.

    In this part of the country, the towns are called “villages”, so that does require a change of mindset. The main differences between cities and villages are the government setup. Cities have majors and common counsel, where the villages have a president and board of trustees. The trustees are elected at large were the city major and the council elections are by district.

    Around the late 1880s, Antioch quickly became a popular vacation destination for folks 60 miles away in Chicago. The tourism economy grew after a rail line was laid to Chicago in 1886. Like Chicago, Antioch’s downtown has been changed due to may fires that destroyed most of the buildings in the area during 1891, 1903 and 1904.

    Antioch serves as a bedroom community within the two closest metropolitan areas of Chicago and Milwaukee.

    Here are some of the images I captured during my visit with vintage lenses mounted on the Fujifilm X-Pro3. Lenses used in these captures were the Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 20mm f4 and the Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 35mm f2.8.