The Historic Hemet Theatre is a movie theater in Hemet California built in 1921 by William Martin. It is one of the oldest movie theatres in the country.
It took about 10 trips to this location to get this shot done. After choosing the best time of day to shoot, then I had to deal with parked cars on both sides of the street. When I finally arrived on a day where there were no cars in my way I got this shot. The funny thing was, after setting up my 4x5, I forgot my film in the car and had to go back to the car and get it. When I got back, there was a car parked in the spot I needed to shoot from. Luckily, I was able to position my tripod in the correct spot in the street and still not touch the car, or have any part of the car in the frame.
This was shot on Kodak Portra 160 with a 150mm lens and drum scanned. The resulting file is huge as always with a 4x5 film drum scan. I don’t like a few things in the photo, but as always with urban scenes, there are trade-offs, and for me they add to the story of the image.
I also shot this on 35mm Ilford FP4 (black&white film), and digital. The 4x5 is my favorite, but the FP4 shot is a close runner-up. I don’t like the digital shot.
The theater manager had seen me with a camera outside on one of my first scouting trips and asked if they could have a photo, so naturally I agreed. They have no idea how much time went into this including film developing, drum scanning etc. The good news is that I love this and would have done it anyway.
Hopefully the theatre gets restored at some point. If my photos help their social media, then all the better.
Historic Hemet Theatre - 4×5 film version
| Tag Name | Data |
|---|---|
| Title | Historic Hemet Theatre |
| Image Description | The Historic Hemet Theatre is a movie theater in Hemet California built in 1921 by William Martin. It is one of the oldest movie theatres in the country. |
| Keywords | 4x5 camera, 4x5 film, california, film scan, hemet, hemet california, historic hemet theatre, kodak portra 160, morning |
| Copyright | Copyright ExpertPhoto.com All Rights Reserved |
| Artist | ExpertPhoto.com |
| Make | Toyo-Field |
| Camera Model Name | Toyo-Field 45CF |
| Lens Model | Schneider 150mm f/5.6 Apo-Symmar |
| Focal Length | 150.00mm |
| Focal Length In 35mm Format | 45.00mm |
| Shutter Speed Value | 1/250 second |
| Aperture Value | 16.00 |
| ISO | 160 |
| Date/Time Original | Saturday December 06, 2025 10:45am |
| City | Hemet |
| State | California |
| Country | United States |
| GPS Altitude | 480 meters (1574.8 feet) above sea level |
| GPS Latitude | 33.7477622416889 |
| GPS Longitude | -116.969867274989 |
| Map | Google Map Link |
Historic Hemet Theatre - 35mm film version
| Tag Name | Data |
|---|---|
| Title | Historic Hemet Theatre |
| Image Description | The Historic Hemet Theatre is a movie theater in Hemet California built in 1921 by William Martin. It is one of the oldest movie theatres in the country. |
| Keywords | 35mm film, Ilford FP4 Plus, black and white film, california, film scan, hemet, hemet california, historic hemet theatre, marquee sign, morning, movie theater, sign, theater |
| Copyright | Copyright ExpertPhoto.com All Rights Reserved |
| Artist | ExpertPhoto.com |
| Make | Canon |
| Camera Model Name | Canon EOS-3 |
| Lens Model | EF24-70mm f/2.8L II USM |
| Focal Length | 40.00mm |
| Shutter Speed Value | 1/320 second |
| Aperture Value | 11.00 |
| ISO | 125 |
| Date/Time Original | Thursday November 27, 2025 11:42am |
| City | Hemet |
| State | California |
| Country | United States |
| GPS Altitude | 480 meters (1574.8 feet) above sea level |
| GPS Latitude | 33.7477622416889 |
| GPS Longitude | -116.969867274989 |
| Map | Google Map Link |
Historic Hemet Theatre - Digital version
| Tag Name | Data |
|---|---|
| Title | Historic Hemet Theatre |
| Image Description | The Historic Hemet Theatre is a movie theater in Hemet California built in 1921 by William Martin. It is one of the oldest movie theatres in the country. |
| Keywords | california, hemet, hemet california, historic hemet theatre, marquee sign, morning, movie theater, sign, theater |
| Copyright | Copyright ExpertPhoto.com All Rights Reserved |
| Artist | ExpertPhoto.com |
| Make | Canon |
| Camera Model Name | Canon EOS R5 |
| Lens Model | EF16-35mm f/2.8L III USM |
| Focal Length | 35.00mm |
| Shutter Speed Value | 1/250 second |
| Aperture Value | 16.00 |
| ISO | 160 |
| Date/Time Original | Saturday December 06, 2025 11:09am |
| City | Hemet |
| State | California |
| Country | United States |
| GPS Altitude | 480 meters (1574.8 feet) above sea level |
| GPS Latitude | 33.7477622416889 |
| GPS Longitude | -116.969867274989 |
| Map | Google Map Link |