A request for help

Background:
I took my first endpoint photo in 1992 (with a film camera, of course). Back then, I was interested only in routes that served my home state, so during my travels over the next few years I photographed only a few other endpoints, passing right by many others. When I first began the "End US Highway" pages in 1998, it was just a quirky little afterthought: I simply scanned those photos and uploaded them to my nascent website. Today my family and friends still confirm that the idea is indeed quirky, but certainly the site is no longer small: starting in 1999, hundreds of people have offered (or agreed) to let me post their US route terminus photos on my pages. It was then that I started being more intentional about photographing endpoints at every opportunity. I didn't get a digital camera until 2004, and by then I had collected a shoebox full of endpoint prints!

I didn't set out to be the web's "central clearinghouse" for US endpoint photos, but I've since learned there are a lot of other people out there who are interested in this topic, and this site somehow evolved into just that. Eventually I had to enlist the help of Robert Droz, whose research allowed me to get a handle not only on the current endpoints, but also on all the historic US route termini. Even after that, I still didn't imagine that I'd come anywhere close to having a photo of every US highway terminus in the country. But as people continued to submit photos, I began to consider it an attainable goal, and in 2005 I put some tools in place that allowed me to measure progress, and allowed users of this site to see which endpoints still needed to be photographed. In 2009 (after 10 years of development), this site essentially reached the goal: we now have photos of all 1200+ current and historic US route endpoints.

The maps are another story altogether. During college in the late 1980s, I started drawing maps similar to those now on this site. In fact, one of my senior projects was a mockup for a book of detailed maps showing each of the US routes (I did US 1 through US 7). I drew the maps by hand - cutting out state boundaries and coastlines with an x-acto knife(!) It was incredibly labor-intensive, and although I wanted to finish the project, I never did. After graduation I started working as a cartographer, and about ten years later, I discovered that I had everything I needed to do this project on a computer. So I started tinkering around during my spare time, and about three years later I had a graphic database that I could use to generate the maps on this site (they were originally posted to the web in early 2005). Best part is, updates and customizations are a breeze now... whereas with the manual method I would've had to redo everything from scratch.

What kind of photos do I post on this site?
Well, if I had to sum it up in a single word, I'd say "signs". That is, the signage posted at junctions where US routes end (or ended). Photographs of intersections without signs are usually pretty non-descript. But when the signage is included, the photo becomes much more specific.

What kind of signs? It can vary, depending on where a particular highway ends, but in general here's what I look for:

How can you help?
Maybe you have one or more photos of the end of a US highway... Or perhaps you live near one, and you'd be interested in taking a photo of the sign... Or maybe you've got a roadtrip coming up, and your route will take you past one or more US highway termini... In any case, these pages would be a great place to share your photos and information with others who are already here, looking for it.

Are you interested in knowing what US routes end (or once ended) in a specific part of the country? I have maps that show all known current and historic endpoints - start here. And you're welcome to e-mail me if you have any questions.

Click here for my e-mail contact page

If you have a photo of a highway end that's better - or even different - than one I've already got posted, please let me know. Or, if you have some information that will add to, correct, and/or clarify what I've written on my pages - I'd like to know about that, too.

Obviously I can use digital images - but I can scan prints as well. Either way, let me know where you were and what's visible in the photo, approximately when the photo was taken, and whether you have a website to which you'd like me to link your name in my credit line.

What's in it for you?
No money, unfortunately. But you can take pride in knowing you've added to the wealth of trivial information on the web. That doesn't cut it for you? Then how about the possibility of increased traffic to your own website? I always give credit to the photographer, and I'm glad to link your name on my acknowledgements page to one of your web pages (or to your e-mail address, if you prefer).
A few things I've learned about getting good road sign photos:
Some people are really good at taking photos out the windshield of a moving car (and on some freeways, this is really your only safe option). But it's not easy, and it takes some preparation. First of all, you need to clean your windshield often, or else your image will be full of smudges. It helps to reduce glare if you can drape a black cloth over the top of your dashboard. You want to set your camera for a fast shutter speed, or else the exposure may take too long and the image will come out blurry. If your camera is more automatic and it doesn't let you determine the shutter speed, you still may be able to set it for "sports mode", which is basically the same thing: a setting meant for "motion shots". Finally, if you have the type of camera where you push the button halfway down to focus and then all the way down to take the shot, make sure you focus your lens on "infinity" a few seconds before you get to the sign, and then snap the photo. Depending on your camera, there may be some other issues to work out before you get decent photos in this manner. Basically, it's a good idea to practice a bit before taking the photos that are really important to you.

That being said - if I can pull over someplace and get out of the car for a photo, I do. I have a lot better success when I'm not having to deal with the added complications of moving shots taken through windshields. I try to fill a good portion of my frame with the sign itself - if the camera is too far away, then I can't even make out what the sign says in the resulting image. A good zoom lens can really help out in some circumstances. And usually I try to get the exposure using natural light only - flashbulbs tend to overexpose the signs, because of the reflective paint. (However, I've found that if the sign is in shadow and the background is bright, then the flash is sometimes necessary.)

As with many things, there's both a scientific and an artistic aspect to getting good road shots. In my opinion, the most satisfying photos clearly show the signs in the foreground, but also in the background they include something that helps to give a sense of place: perhaps a highway disappearing in the distance, a freeway interchange, a geographic feature, a local landmark, a watertower, a sign on a building... there are many possibilities, which of course will vary depending on where you are. You can browse the pages on my site to get a feel for which photos are good and which ones don't work so well.

But don't let all that intimidate you. As you browse this site, you'll see that I do post even bad photos - at least until something better comes along! So if you don't have the time to get out of your car and frame a good photo - or if you don't even think you have a feel for what makes a good photo - don't worry about it! Just snap away, and send me your results - the roadgeek community will be grateful.