Aurora Theatre ColorsEast Aurora, NY Shea's in the Rain This photograph was long coming, long overdue, long imagined. The idea was born back in 2012 when I photographed the Shea's in the Rain scene in downtown Buffalo, NY. If Shea's and its marquee could look that great in the rain with the wet sidewalks reflecting the lights, why not other theaters?

And since then, I've been trying to watch out for favorable conditions. I needed rain that would make the sidewalk reflective but not too much rain to make photography on a tripod impossible. Ideally, a heavy rainfall that would stop for me to make the photo happen. Oh, and all of this happening at dusk would not hurt either to get the nice lighting conditions when there is still color left in the sky, yet, colors of the marquee rule. Back at Shea's, I was too late for that great blue hour light but I incorporated the moving train for added intrigue. There would not be a moving train by the Aurora Theatre so blue hour light was something I really wanted. And it finally happened! The conditions were almost perfect. Why only almost? I would have preferred even more water on the ground and some puddles. However, the rainfall stopped well before sunset and the sidewalk was starting to dry up. Yes, I wanted a pause on the rain, but had it been a little delayed things would have looked even better! I guess that is another opportunity to improve upon this colorful photograph. No complaints though, I really liked how it came together.

The Aurora Theater ReflectionEast Aurora, NY

After I captured the photo, I walked around a bit and took pictures from different angles, including more or less foreground, and I also walked past the theater entrance and shot a few frames from the other side. When I was ready to call it a night since the last hints of light disappeared from the cloudy sky it started raining again. And in just a few minutes it took me to walk back to my starting spot the sidewalks were plenty wet with nice puddles forming

That is what you can see in the vertical photo on the right. Great wet sidewalk reflecting the colors of the neon marquee and puddles creating a reflection clear enough for a mirror reflection of the theater's name Aurora. However, as you can also see the sky turned pitch black by that time. I guess it is a matter of preference, each photo has something extra to offer. One has the dramatic blue backdrop adding depth and more color to the scene, the other one a nice reflection. Which one is your favorite? Maybe one day, these two will meet in a soaking wet blue hour scene from East Aurora.

Have fun no matter what weather throws at you!

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