Tuesday, June 14, 2011

signs: Jackson's Liquor

Jackson's Liquor

Ilove this sign. I'll even skip my "why do liquor stores have so many of the great signs?" rant. I came across it the other week when I was shooting the heart sign on East 12th. Like many bars, it includes a drink glass, but it does them one better. The glass is filled by swirling neon poured out of a bottle of XXX. The 'party service' neon is long gone, but the rest of the neon appears to be in good shape. Anybody know if they still light it up at night?

5 comments:

Colburn said...

I ride down that stretch of E. 12th on my way home a few nights a week, and I'm pretty sure I've never seen any part of the sign lit up. I thought you had already posted a photo of this a year or two ago, but I must have been confusing it with a different sign you shot a while back.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the info! If you ever see that it's lit, let me know. It's a great looking sign.

Colburn said...

Boy, was I ever wrong---I should have double-checked before commenting. In fact, most of the sign except for the pouring "liquid" does still get lit up. I tried to take a photo tonight, but it didn't come out too well---maybe next time I'll get off the bike and take more time. Any advice for shooting neon well at night?

Unknown said...

Either stabilize the camera (tripod or brace the camera on something) or set a faster shutter speed. Even on a P&S, you may be able to force a faster shutter speed if you can set a higher ISO or set a "night mode". In any event, the shot you emailed isn't too bad for handheld.

Colburn said...

Thanks. My P&S does have manual settings, but I've never gotten much feel for nighttime photography since I rarely shoot after dark. And I realized last night why I had thought the sign was never lit up: the store is usually closed by the time I ride by.