I was watching Doom Patrol on streaming the other day and noticed that the first episode really features downtown Lawrenceville in broad daylight! Which is easy to notice since, well, I live in Gwinnett and come here all the time! 🙂 

Here are some photos from an early morning walk around the square with 3 cameras: my ISCO anamorphic lens setup, and two infrared cameras, a Sigma SD14 and SD15 (both with different filters and processing).

We’ve eaten at many of the restaurants on the square, and I’m pleased to see a new ice cream place nestled in the park area. This spot with Japanese maples will look very nice in the autumn for portraits.

In my previous posts we’ve been to some of the Stranger Things spots so I figured I’d stay on this theme for the rest of the summer.  I’m usually out walking around so might as well find the spots the Hollywood industry has also deemed photo/cinema worthy.  (In the Doom Patrol episode I also noticed downtown Flowery Branch in some of the cuts)

As I was walking around the new park across from the volleyball courts, I saw something that looked like a Lao dancer.  Sure enough when I got closer, I was like, hey I know that girl! 😉 Thanks to Gwinnett County for having our diversity on display.  All the tv shows like to showcase the old timey feel of the various downtowns, but hopefully everyone sees the vast amount of development and mixed cultures that is the state of Georgia.

I photographed a wedding at the historic courthouse ages ago.  It’s in repair right now.

In the Doom Patrol episode 1 scene you can clearly see the La Cazuela sign in the background.

Downtown Lawrenceville has a comic book shop, Galactic Quest.

This is the new performing arts center.  In my opinion the back of the building is so large and flat that it visually dominates the square with its plainness.  It really clashes with the old charm of the rest of the buildings right now.  Since they are still working on the block maybe they’ll plant some trees to cover it, or add a mural or something.  It is definitely the featureless backside of building and to me just looks odd facing the normal flow of traffic. Again, with all the development everywhere all one needs to do is come back in a few weeks and the look and vibe can totally be different.

Here’s the cute little “park” in front of the ice cream shop, knitting store, and a paint and sip place.  It looks pretty neat in infrared already and hopefully the leaves will be in nice color when I make my rounds again in the fall.

The nice house in the background is actually a coffee shop.  During my walks I’m seeing what would work for me for future photo shoots, either with or without people.  Not just from a visual or lighting perspective, but simple logistical things like parking, walkability, and any cool places to eat or drink at. 

So that’s it, a simple morning walk around our town that we passed through like a million times already–but there’s always new perspectives and angles to see.