Thank you everyone for all of the birthday wishes. It was more than what I could have expected of a winter covid birthday. It wasn't the usual 10-15 person group dinner out but managed to be even more special. As many Monday Birthday's go it got started on Friday. With a surprise flower delivery from a dear old friend. Totally unexpected. The bouquet was from Rogers Park Florist. The neighborhood flower shop around the corner. The bouquet was truly gorgeous. Possibly the prettiest I've ever received. I happen to love flowers. I feel like a lot of people don't know that which I find a little weird.
Then on Saturday Alex and I slumber partied with my best friends in the wonderful new house they just bought in lovely Oak Park. Lauren made us a phenomenal spinach lasagna for dinner with chocolate cake of course and followed it up the next morning with another one of my favorites with basically homemade biscuits and gravy. We ate, we played games, we laughed, we slept, we watched movies, we loved on a pup all the while 10 inches of snow was falling outside. Sunday we needed to recover from all of the delicious rich foods and surgery treats. I pretty much ate the lasagna for the next three meals...lol. Sunday night a long time pal text me and asked if I wanted to sunrise party for my birthday. I hadn't had any plans to but I thought to myself...hell yea. Especially if someone is willing to get up early and join me, absolutely. Which is what brings you to the time lapse above. It was more of a cloud show than and sunrise but sill miraculous and marking my 41st revolution.
1362 images captured at 1 second intervals put back together at 24fps. Pardon the few jumps we had some doggies sniffing the tripod during capture.
Below was how things looked when we arrived. However Rachael brought bubbly and cupcakes. Little high in sugar for my morning meal but hey it's my birthday right.
So we scrapped the ice and snow off the bench, sat back enjoyed our red velvet cupcakes and bubbly and enjoyed the cold but beautiful show the Chicago Lakefront specializes in.
It was a glorious day and weekend. I felt loved and thought of and well known by those who love me. Thank you to everyone. Thankful to be alive and living this day. It was everything I could have asked for especially from 2021. Feeling blessed and grateful for the love in my life.
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Happy Forking Friday Folks. Wow. I'm so glad I decided 20 degrees without a windchill was warm enough. Once I arrived I realized many people thought that this morning as Pratt beach was full of sun worshipers. The first pano above was shortly after I arrived taken at 6:59am, and the second was as I was leaving taken at 7:24 am.
The preshow was really where it was at this morning. There is no comparison when the reds are ablaze and the clouds appear to be burning. I have about a 5 block walk from my apartment to the lakeshore. When I get to Sheridan I can usually see what might be in store. My pace often changes at that point and today it got a lot faster that last block. Ideally I arrive at least 30 min prior to sunrise. However, in the winter that usually gets cut down to about 15 minutes before. Only because my poor toes. I usually stay until I start to feel them going numb which can be dangerous for me since my foot surgeries and the fact that my big toes experiences significantly less blood flow than the rest. Today it took awhile to get back to feeling and back to normal color. I need some heated socks or some seriously insulated rubbers. The latter will have to wait until income is a thing again...lol
Below is the first video clip from my iPhone 11. Every morning the first struggle is whether I go, the next struggle is how much equipment do I take. I have a dji
mobile stabilizer for my phone but I just don't have hands for it if I'm taking the tripod which I actually did today. So time-lapse coming soon. Hopefully I will be finished with it soon so I can tack it in to this blog post. I need a beach wagon! That way I don't have to carry all of the equipment down there.
Here is another iPhone video with my morning mug in it. Sorry for the speedy panning.
Made a new sunrise friend today! There was a woman who I saw last time I was out who had a drum. She was out again this morning so I had to approach her and introduce myself because last week I took some cool shots that she was in that I wanted to share. I'm a huge fan of community and think it is the answer to so many things. The sunrise community here in Rogers Park is great, I'm always looking to expand it. Of course I had to ask her what sunrise was like for her. As she was giving me a beautiful answer I had an idea! I want to make short video clips of all the Pratt Beach Sunrisers saying why they come out and what it means to them. I think that would be an awesome way to extend my sunrise love and share this amazing community. If you are interested and/or willing please send me a message. Here is a little clip of it, unfortunately you can't hear the drum.
Here is the 17 second clip that I shared to my facebook and instagram. I love the little ducky in it. There were several ducks out but they moving far less than normal. I was wondering if they were partially frozen...lol.
Before it was all over I decided the sky was so beautiful I would cut the time-lapse short and do some pans while I had a moment. A lot of people have been asking about my process and motivation for the pans. There were two specific motivating factors. 1. The desire to do more with my sunrise stuff. 2. I saw a digitally panned image on instagram that I loved. So when I say digitally panned I mean they took a still image and added a panning effect in post. As I am a HUGE ADVOCATE of IN CAMERA obviously I wanted to do something similar but not in post. So for the process. I use an extended exposure my favorite is about 2.5 seconds, a darkening filter on the end of my lens, the camera is on a tripod. I line up the image frame to just outside the sun. Then click the shutter and pan the tripod during the exposure. So the main bright line you see is the actual sun being pulled across the frame and the lighter areas are the reflections in the water. I generally run through the different white balances to get an array of colors. Then my typical lightroom processes added after. In my mind I see these in series' of three on large canvasses.
Ok now for the finished time-lapse. I'm putting the 1 minute one in here. I often do two a one minute and a 30 second. I have found for social media the 30second ones do better. I guess thats the attention span these days. The technical details for the time-lapse are:
1/40 of a second shutter, F9, ISO 125, Canon 7D camera, Canon 70-200 2.8 lens at 95mm. Image capture every second put together at 15 fps with 907 images. I hope you enjoy. Remember what you focus on expands!
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Taken with iPhone 11
I almost didn't go this morning but being inauguration day and all, I decided I'd brave the cold. This morning was apparently the coldest day since Christmas. When I checked my trusty Weather Channel App it said 15 feels like 8. Danyel does not love the cold. It obviously wan't as mind-blowingly beautiful as yesterday but it was still mighty mesmerizing I chose again to leave the tripod behind but did not regret it today. The lake mountains were high which often means a less drastic and slower transition between dark and light. Not great for time-lapse or my sensitive digits. The winds were blowing just right so I worked on splashes until my fingers got too cold. Ran into my sunrise buddy Vern. I almost didn't recognize him because he had on his really cold coat. We chatted a bit until my toes started screaming at me. Many people must have felt the extra push through the cold to see the crisp because there was a lot more people out enjoying than usual.
Canon 7D stills when I first arrived to the lake. Around 7:06am.
Heres a short video clip from my iPhone 11 when I first arrived.
I shot splashes until I couldn't feel my fingers any longer. Most of the splashes shot with Canon 7D, Canon 70-200 2.8 II, 1/400, F4.5, ISO125, 75mm.
It's always hard to leave the lakefront at sunrise. I never want to turn my back and walk the other. Its funny to watch people leave sunrise. Some do the continual stop and turn, some people walk backward but everyone looks back. After giving up on splashes because numb fingers this is what I looked back to. I need electric socks and gloves...lol.
My final look back as I thank the sun, the sky, the water, for a picturesque start to such a Historic day. Thank you Wednesday. I love you all. What you Focus on Expands.
This shot was taken on my iPhone11 in pano mode.
Got up at 5. We had lemon water did our reading, morning pages and yoga. Which got me to about 6:45. I looked out the front window, pretty gray and solid. Looked out the back window also pretty gray. Checked the Loyola Crown Center Web Cam and there it was. A bright red ray, there was a crack in the cloud cover right at the horizon about a finger. I decided not to take the tripod, still struggling with that decision. I didn't think it would be long enough and it was the coldest it's been this morning with a "feels like" temp of 15. Luckily the winds weren't too bad. The minute I made it to the lake I regretted not brining the tripod. The sky was gorgeous. The clouds literally looked like smoke from a burning fire. Picture below from Canon 7d.
The clouds were thick above, you could tell the sun was making a brief appearance and shortly slip back up behind them.
Next are a few iPhone Video clips. It really was so beautiful I couldn't not try to catch it everyway possible especially since I wouldn't have a time lapse.
Then as quickly as she came, she disappeared again. So glad I made it out today. It was totally worth the numb finger tips.
What you focus on expands. See ya next sunrise. I love you all. Thanks for enjoying sunrise with me.
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Shooting details: 1/40th @ F13, ISO 100 Canon 7D. 130mm on Canon 70-200 2.8, shot every second. Put together at 15fps then doubled in post. Around 1200 images.
We slept in until 5:30 this morning because Al worked late last night. For years we have tried to be more disciplined in our morning routine. Every January we tighten up on this. Currently our morning routine usually consists of waking at 5am, drinking hot lemon water, chatting a bit while we wake up, then we do a reading from "Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life" by Wayne Dyer, then morning pages, then a 20 minute morning yoga. This usually brings us to about 6:30. Well this morning since our delay of getting out of bed it pushed us to about 6:50. After I got off the floor from yoga I checked out the back door. There was already gorgeous color in the sky. So quickly I pulled on my cuddle duds and suited up and ran out for sunrise. The walk was beautiful and warm for a January day. When I got to the beach you could tell the colors were eventually only going to occupy the the space directly surrounding the horizon where sunrise would be as clouds were closing in everywhere around me. It was one of those mornings where it seems like the sunrise is happening just for us Rogers Parkers. One of those mornings where the colors and the light are so beautiful you truly and easily feel blessed just by seeing it. Those mornings are my favorite. Sunrise serves as a form of prayer and meditation for me. I love my sunrise pals and having sunrise meet ups and parties but I always value my solo sunrises as they give me the perfect atmosphere for prayer and appreciation. Starting my day with sunrise is just another way to structure self care/love into my daily routine. If you haven't done it, I encourage you to get out there and give it a try especially if you are feeling unusually hopeless. angry, or just having trouble finding beauty in life right now.
Many of you know I follow and have studied positive psychology for over ten years now. One thing that many of these leaders say is MOVE. I was fortunate enough to be invited by a friend to see Tony Robbins once. It was totally wild but in a kinda creepy way...lol. I enjoyed the experience and took notes but wow it was strange to see an arena full of people turning to each other saying "I own you". I sat that exercise out because I never want to own anyone in anyway nor would such statements make me feel powerful. However there were shining gems among the creepy. He talked about movement. Said that if you are feeling bad or don't like how you are feeling move, move your body. Movement changes our physiology. Get out of bed or off the couch and go for a walk. Just move. I always try to keep this in mind. So whenever I'm feeling less than I move, whatever that means under the conditions I am in. Sunrise is like my initial scheduled time to move everyday. Even if the sun doesn't come out and its cold and gray I never regret my action and commitment to move in hopes of something beautiful.
See you at sunrise tomorrow?
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It's a long one today and you all can thank Ross for that! By long one I mean just over a minute compared to the usual 30 seconds. I almost missed this one today. The clouds were thick and gray and seemingly everywhere. I checked that trusty Loyola Crown Center web cam and woah. There was a strip of glorious light at the horizon. So I put on my two pairs of pants and grabbed the tripod. Getting to the beach I saw my sunrise buddy Trish and her trusty companion Scout. I scurried over to set up and just in time. The sun was big today. To think I almost missed this. Its all about the going. The commitment. The making of the space to do it. This time lapse contains 1128 images. I let it go long hoping it would pop back out the top of those clouds plus I was enjoying my time with Trish and Scout. The seagulls were doing loop de loos in the sky close to the shore so I got a video clip with my iPhone and posted to facebook. My buddy Ross and admirer of the sunrises mentioned how he enjoyed watching the birds fly around in it as opposed to the way they are just speedy flecs in the time lapses. So I decided I would leave this one at 15fps today so there was more of a presence of the birds. Thank you Ross for encouraging me to slow down today. After the time lapse I got in some pans. The colors were great even on the appropriate white balance settings...lol.
Thanks for your interest in sunrise and these images. Be kind, look each other in the eye and smile. Life is difficult no matter who you are. I love you all. Don't forget WHAT YOU FOCUS ON EXPANDS. Praying we can do this again tomorrow.
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This morning I woke around 5am as usual. A little slower maybe. Alex had an early appointment so we didn't have time for our usual morning routine of readings, morning pages and yoga. Instead I read the news. Every morning that I am contemplating sunrise I do three things to investigate the conditions. First thing I check the weather channel app for the temperature and winds. If its blowing hard easterly and below 20 degrees I may take a pass that day. That is also where I check the specific sunrise time. Generally the best colors happen at least 30 minutes prior to sunrise on many mornings. So I start checking this info about an hour before sunrise. Second thing I do is check out my back door look up and look east. It it's totally clear I may also skip it. Some clouds help create a lot of the drama. The third thing I do is bring up the Loyola Crown Center webcam. Loyal has campus web cams and the Crown Center one points south down the lakeshore. So if it completely clear where I am just a few blocks from the lake, often there are clouds only at the horizon or clearing only at the horizon and this can sometimes give me a peak at those conditions. At this point I'm usually getting my stuff together or bundling up to head out the door. I try to get my cameras ready to go for sunrise so I don't have to mess with it in the mornings. That means clear and formatted cards in the cameras and charged batteries. And back up cards and lens cloths in those bags at all times. My normal shoulder bag gear that I bring is 2 Canon bodies, either 5D3, 6D, or 7D. Usually the 6 and 7 since with the time-lapses I want to use a back up body instead of one of a main body. Then a 24-70 2.8 and a 70-200 2.8, both canon L series, and intervalometer, a pack of ND filters for my pans and a manfroto tripod. Today was pretty clear, but as I approached the lake there was significant clouding at the horizon that looked thick but you couldn't be sure. So I got to my chosen spot, set up mostly, then paused to drink the decaf coffee I got from 7/11 on the way and a bite of chocolate covered donut. I was breathing in sunrise and happy to be out witnessing whatever was gonna happen even though I had come to assume it would be less than I initially hoped for. Up walked my sunrise buddy Vern. Vern is cool. He is often out with his tripod and film cameras taking slide film shots of the pre dawn clouds. Usually in his blue jacket and rubber boots. Vern is a chaplain. Very kind hearted man. We enjoy open hearted vulnerable conversations often. As we wished each other new year and chatted about our holidays Vern says oooh there it is. I looked out and saw one of those ghosty pink sunrises only partially visible and a good distance above the horizon. Realizing I wasn't fully set up I jumped to action and plugged in the intervalometer and got the time lapse going. So in my opinion a little late. Sunrise was slated for 7:16 i think and I probably started the time lapse around 7:20 or after. I hadn't anticipated it to show until it got to the top of the cloud deck. I was using the 7D for the time-lapse and the 70-200mm set at 90mm. ISO 100, 1/40th, F14. With the intervalometer set for every second which is my go to. I think I may have set the white balance to cloudy today. I usually test out a few and pick the one I find the most pleasing.
This time lapse ended up being mourn 775 shots. Usually after I have stopped the time lapse I do what I call my Sunrise Pans or some stills. For the pans I put on a dark ND filter slow the shutter down between 2-3 seconds and while the camera is on the tripod pan the camera horizontally across the horizon dragging the light from the sun and reflecting on the water across the image plane. I play around with the white balance to get a variety of colors. Sometimes I move the camera around to make other patterns than just the straight lines.
Here were my favorite of the pans I was able to capture while chatting with Vern before the sun got too high.
Hopefully I will be here tomorrow with some more Sun. Remember what you focus on expands. I love you all!! Get out and catch a sun ris if you haven't in awhile!
]]>As a corporate location photographer with a specialization in politics I work often with State, City and National members of Government. This area of specialization has given me the honor to work with the last three Governors of the great state of Illinois. Pictured below former Illinois Governor Pat Quinn (2009-2015). I took this photo on October 25th 2011, while shooting for Chicago Ideas Week.
Former Governor Bruce Rauner (2015-2019) at his Inauguration on January 28th 2015. I had the very cool experience of working with Governor Rauner before his election during his campaign and one of the coolest experiences in my life was being one of two of his personal photographers throughout his inauguration. For three days in January 2015 I dressed in my best suits and stood outside my hotel room door at 6:30am waiting for Rauner to emerge with his team and start our 14 hour day of shadowing him on this exciting journey. To be the only photographer on the Inauguration stage was an awesome feeling I will not soon forget.
Which brings us to our current Governor J.B Pritzker. Who I have had the honor and pleasure of photographing many times over the last 7-10 years. Often through two of my favorite clients The Illinois Municipal League and the Illinois Holocaust Museum. The image below is last time I photographed him just before the arrival of the Coronavirus on December 17th, 2019 where he was speaking to large group of Mayors from all across the state.
I have even had the experience of being in "The Blue Room" with him which is the room at the Thompson Center where his daily Covid briefings are aired. Which brings us to the whole point of this post. Life during Covid-19. Today is day 26 of our state issued shelter in place. Sadly our most deaths recorded in a 24 hour period today of 125 bringing our total state death toll to 1072 today. A sad day. I however must say its a good time to be an Illinoisan. Govenor Pritzker has been an amazing reassurance during this unbelievable life experience. He has provided a daily briefing everyday at 2:30pm consistancely since the start. I have found these briefings to bring much comfort to me. He always seems as informed as possible. He works hard to be transparent with exact numbers. His willingness to stand up, accept and answer tons of questions posed to him with numbers, facts and empathy has made it so much less scary. I trust in his leadership and commitment to the people of Illinois more than I ever could have imagined.
Governor Pritzker THANK YOU. I will never be able to express my gratitude for your Empathy, Dedication and Drive to lead and serve the people of Illinois through one of the most frightening experiences of my 40 years on this planet.
Governor Pritzker speaking from the podium of "The Blue Room" in happier times on 10.10.19.
It gives me comfort to have been in that room I tune to religiously everyday to get the most reliable, recent information regarding our local and state status during the pandemic. Governor Pritzker's demeanor is serious, strong, passionate and empathetic. The qualities of a true leader. He is shining in these dark times. His visability, efforts and information during this horrific experience has been a light in the night.
Many of my cooler, notable photographic experiences I've shared with Governor Pritzker. Below is one of them. This shot I took of him moderating a talk with Former 1st Lady Laura Bush for the Illinois Holocaust Museum. She was cool. I loved meeting 1st Lady Laura Bush.
In 2016 we both got to hang out with Leon Panetta who if you don't know is Former Secretary of Defense, Director of the CIA, White House Chief of Staff and the sweetest, constantly smiling guy you have ever met. Not what you would expect. It was a pleasant surprise, I immediately wished he was my Grandpa.
Photo above taken by the Amazing Ron Gould.
Below is a 2015 photo I took of Governor Pritzker for the Illinois Holocaust Museum.
Then there was that time we got to meet Henry Kissinger Former Secretary of State and National Security Advisor. Kissinger was my first Secretary of State but not my last.
Being a photographer has really been an exciting, interesting and information packed experience.
Thank you Governor Pritzker for being a part of it for so long and for being such a Devoted and Diligent Leader. I love you.
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Day 10 of level 4 lockdown for Alex and I here in Chicago. What better time to catch up on some blog posts especially ones about fun social stuff.
I am lucky and honored to have been photographing Rollerderby for almost 15 years. I have had the privilege to photograph teams all over the country and some of the most iconic skaters of all time. Here in Chicago I started photographing Rollerderby for The Chicago Sirens and when that league dissolved I spent years photographing The Chicago Outfit and now most recently just did all the home team photos for the Windy City Rollers, which is what this post is about. When WCR asked me to do their home team photos I did what I always do at the start of a project...I started scouring the internet for inspiration and other team photos that I thought were really cool and hoped to improve on or make my own in some way. I had found a handful of images for inspiration. Two elements from separate images that I wanted to blend together was the backlighting shining through the legs and this V formation.
Mono lights would have been ideal for this project but I needed to use what equipment I had since the budget didn't allot for rental gear. I have an old Dinosaur (ancient, heavy and reliable) brownline speedotron pack that was gifted (what he calls extended loan) to me by my amazing mentor Ron Gould. I used 3 lights and luckily had some cord extensions. One specular backlight. Now the placing and height of this light turned out to be super important. Heightwise it needed to be high enough (just above average waist height) to not be seen but low enough to cast a large enough highlight on the floor. It also needed to be placed far enough behind the center skater as not to be seen between the legs. It also turned out to be crucially important that the front skater be standing directly in front of the backlight. I then lit the front with two lights one on each side. I wanted these lights to give off a soft and beautiful light so I used large octabank softboxes. The placing of these were also very important and needed to be placed in a way so the coaches in the back were still lit. The skater formation was also crucially important in executing this shot. I did this with 4 teams total. The Hells Bells pictured above was the team that executed the stance the best. The spacing of the feet and skates seemed to be the most important. The skate needed to be lined up exactly behind the skate of the person in front of each skater and everyone had to have a similar width in their stance. This is extra challenging on skates...lol. Kudos to the Bells for doing such a great job holding these difficult poses. I was on my hands and knees trying to adjust each skaters skates. I look forward to improving on this technique in the future. Thank you WCR for trusting me with your visual representation in this world. I hope this information proves helpful for any photographers out there trying to take some super cool Roller Derby Team Photos
]]>Turn off the TV and pick up a book, call a loved one, make some art.
Finally start that meditation or yoga practice you've been promising yourself.
Now is great time to start implementing some new habits.
The great Sufi Poet RUMI reminds us
This too shall pass.
Below is a compilation of 45 Sunrises and a few Sunsets from 2019 in 7 minutes.
We will be holding hands at the lakefront and lying on the beaches in great swaths soon my friends.
I love you all. Thanks for watching.
Follow me on Instagram for more similar content.
]]>My Next Class will be April 18th 2020 10am to 5pm Get your tickets here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/april-18th-photo-101-with-danyel-duncan-tickets-96446511111
Ever wonder how to take star trails?? I will cover this in Photo101 with Danyel Duncan on April 18th.
I took this image in Iron River Wisconsin. Which lies directly under Polaris the North Star located in the center of the images. Star trails depend on many elements. For instance in the City of Chicago, you are more likely to be shooting plane trails instead of star trails because of the light pollution. Location plays a big factor. You ability to leave your shutter open for long periods of time and manual set your camera settings. If you can't get out of town to a place with lower light pollution then you can shoot plane trails, or some cool long exposures with busses and trains. Or my favorite the Sunrise.
This is a 2.5 second exposure of sunrise over Lake Michigan from Pratt Beach in Rogers Park. With the camera on a tripod after clicking the shutter I panned the camera slowly. Which is how I create what I call my Sunrise Pans.
Maybe you want to learn out to blur out the background of your images so your subject is stronger like in the images below. This is called depth of field. I will be covering this in class also. It's all about the Aperature.
Here are a few videos of Mini Classes I have created to help my students prepare for class so they are ahead of the game and can maximize learning or for students who maybe got busy and could keep up with practicing and need a few refreshers on the basics. These videos can also be found on my website under the Photo Philosopher Tab.
5 minute mini class on Shutter Speed below.
Mini class on Aperture below.
Looking forward to seeing you in Class on April 18th 2020.
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February 11th 2020
February 12th 2020
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Many of you might not know but I LOVE boxing. I spent 12 years of my youth in competitive martial arts with a weekly full contact padded up of course fight night. I loved it. Fighting for sport is a really cool thing to me which is kind of funny for how much of an anti violence person I am. So of course every year I stay for the first few fights. Here are some of my favorite shots of what I caught before I left.
First Fight 125lbs
Red Fernando Valdez(W) vs. Gilbert Canseco
The 3rd match was the Womens Match. These two were a great match up. It was Red's first fight and Blues second fight. They were practically punch for punch the entire match. No fear, each one diving in, often blasting each other in with face shots at the same time. When the clap happened at the end of each bout when many fights relax these two double the energy to get in as many blows as possible before the bell. YEAH! Ladies, awesome fight! Thanks for the energetic excitement.
121lbs
Red: Carolyn Creedon vs. Blue: Alyson Makstein(W)
This guy in the white was my favorite boxer of the evening. During introductions he was very unassuming, his bowing to the referees almost had a fanciness to it. But boy he danced. There was a lightness to his strut that made the match just seem naturally easier to him. It was cool to watch. Out of Tennessee in the Red Corner Alan Abbu(W) vs. Blue: Mario Herrera 165lbs.
Like here in the Victory photo there is just something sweet and innocent seeming in that face. I'm a huge fan. I might need to start an Alan Fan Club. Join me?
All things Vulnerability have always interested me. This part of boxing has always been interesting to me in the sense that there is demonstration of a clear winner and non winner. With the non winners face on display for all to witness. Most sports you can retreat to a locker room or dugout and mourn your non victory with some privacy. I've developed a mild obsession with this element of the Victory shot. Here are some powerful ones from last night. Congratulation to all of the fighters winners and non winners everyone looked great and brought an awesome game. Thank you.
I was recently asked out to the Blind Dragon Karaoke Bar Chicago to snap some shots for some new menu items and drink specials.
This place is cool. Wether you enter from the Found Hotel entrance which is pictured below or via the "back alley" entrance pictures under that you immediately get a really cool, kinda spooky, opium den type of vibe. Totally the kind of place you could meet a man and buy a small furry creature named Gizmo. I can't wait to go back when it's actually open and see it in action.
They feature some really cool smoking cauldron like drinks they call Punch Bowls. Below is Chris The amazing food and beverage manager for Found's two spots Blind Dragon and Mason which is opening on Friday. I couldn't resist the chance to make him into the mystical being he is.
There is an open main area with tables and booths then off the walls of that space private karaoke rooms.
Below one of the 3 private Karaoke rooms where you can order food spread and punch bowls and sing your heart out with all your favorite people celebrating what deserves it together for and unforgettable memory.
They have some delicious bits including jam packed Ramens and an array of Sake options to drive home the very cool ambiance.
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Just like my friends of Round Lake Beach pictured here from 2019's annual conference.
In addition to their Annual Conference I also have the privilege of photographing their yearly journal reception in December. At which time I usually set up for a few hours to do portraits for any of the Illinois Municipal League Members who would like a new professional headshot. Even though this particular part of the job is usually pretty hairy and has me covered in sweat by the time it is over it is also one of my favorite parts. Being a portrait photographer is a really cool thing. You essentially have someones undivided attention for at least a few minutes. In that time I need to make them feel comfortable and confident while scanning them for any stray hairs or imperfections in their hair, clothing, ect. The Mayors of this great State of Illinois are some of the best I've met. They help make the stress of a lot of portraits in way too short of time a lot of fun. Thank you to the Illinois Municipal League and all the amazing mayors of this state who help make my job fun while putting food on my table. I hope to be a part of your amazing organization for years to come. Here are some of my favorite Mayors putting on their smiles on for me.
Mayor Tom Jordan City of West Frankfurt.
Mayor Inman of Macomb.
Mayor Rockingham of North Chicago.
Mayor Reinbold of Richton Park.
Mayor Julie Moore Wolf of Decatur.
Mayor Claar of Bolingbrook.
Mayor Kernc of Diamond.
Mayor Craig of Hanover Park.
Mayor Tokar of Chicago Ridge.
And those are just a few. If one of these lovely humans is your Mayor know that they are putting in extra time and doing the hard work in efforts to serve you and your municipalities as best as possible.
All of which would not be as amazing without Illinois Municipal Leagues fearless and brave leader Mr. Brad Cole. One of my all time favorite contacts. Thank you for trusting me with so much of the IML's imagery and appreciating my dedication to deliver for you all.
It's cold and snowing in Chicago today, albeit it has been a mild winter over all. January is often the time of year when I finally get around to looking at all the photos that I took for love or fun. Photos from trips. I love visiting Seattle. When I do I always make it a point to stop at the Volunteer Park Dahlia Garden. Some of the most beautiful Dahlia's I've ever seen. When I think of Seattle I think of beautiful flowers and with beautiful flowers come all the bees. Enjoy the beauty I saw on my last visit to the Gardens. I would like to extend a huge THANK YOU to the Puget Sound Dahlia Association for all of their love, dedication and hard work that goes into maintaining this beautiful treasure of nature for all of us to enjoy freely.
My mornings usually start around 4:30am. People often freak out when they find out this info. It's a choice but it's not. It seems my body's natural rhythm is to wake at that time no matter what time I went to bed. So eventually I just stopped fighting it and finally going to bed at a time that made waking at that hour livable. Don't get me wrong, I love the mornings and I am so glad I have more of them that most people. Im the kinda person who prefers at least two hours of waking time before having to head out the door for work or other similar activities. TWO HOURS!! Yes, two hours. I've come to realize that TIME is huge in my life. If I am in a rush I am never the person I want to be. I've spent my 30s trying to evolve into a more loving and patient human. I have found not running late is the biggest factor in that. Getting up early serves me very well in this endeavor. When you wake up at 4:30am there isn't much happening and not too many other people I know are awake. Which gives me the glorious opportunity to capture the sunrise often.
Today July 29th 2019, I had set my alarm for 5am, woke around 4:12, eventually
got out of bed around 4:20. Made coffee, did some dishes and picked up some stuff that was still laying around from the weekend fun. One of my many blessings is living in the Rogers Park Neighborhood of Chicago, which is just a short 10 minute walk to the beach. Another one of my great blessings is that I have a few neighborhood friends who also get up early to enjoy the sunrise. Rob sent a message to our sunrise group at 4:39 seeing who else was up. I gathered my camera stuffs together and made my togo coffee and headed out the door. I used to go down an hour before sunrise, now I go down maybe 20 minutes before. I generally do timelapses of sunrise like this one. Which I try to post on my website but sometimes they only make it to facebook. I used to post them on linkedIn also but fell out of that habit unfortunately. There is so much posting and social media-ing now that has to be done as a photographer it is overwhelming. I didn't become a photographer to spend all my time on social media promoting my work. I became a photographer to do the work of capturing images. It's a never ending struggle to do enough of the social media to survive and thrive doing what I love. In an attempt to blog more I am going to try and start posting some of my sunrise timelapses on the blog regularly. I started a youtube channel a few years ago but have also lost the gusto with that. I'm thinking about making videos about the making of timelapses to put on the youtube channel. Is that something you all would like to see?
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I have always felt a tie and relevance to the Solstices. Winter and these short days have always been a damper on my spirit. So celebrating the official change in other direction of that seems natural to me. So I thought it pretty cool that on my first night home for the holiday I got to celebrate and meditate on this gift of longer days and more light. When we arrived to the house there were no lights being used, the entire place was light up by candle light. They had many mantles littered with candles and other cool shit. I was glad I decided to tote the camera along.
The super awesome metal Indian bust was my favorite!
While inside I found out we were at a Former President of City Councils' house, so that was a cool and relatable tidbit. While at the Solstice party we met up another former Glass City Roller buddy of mine Ms Beefy Vanderhuge. Beefy told me that she was volunteering in the morning and invited me to come along. Interested in how my home town was giving back to the community and excited to see my friend being a part of it I agreed. I'm glad I did too because it set a nice tone for the day. I believe it is in part put on by a few groups called Food for Thought and Fellowship Matters, INC. you can check out more about them at their website FellowshipMatters.Org. They really had some awesome stuff happening. A hot food line up, and the plates that were walking away had my mouth watering. Wrapped gifts for kids, a bread line and fresh produce. There was even a giant Mobile Medical Unit, LifeLine Toledo on site.
There was also some guys blacksmithing hearts and giving them away. Myself and most of the children were entranced by the live craftsmanship. So of course I took a bunch of pictures then asked some questions.
Turns out our philanthropist blacksmith was Dane Turpening of Toledo Twisted Iron. Check out his website at www.toledotiwstediron.com. Dane endured my journalistic assault with a sweet and open demeanor. Beefy then took me to see some of his other more prominent work that most of Toledo probably recognizes him for.
Dane is responsible for ECHO or "the rings" as I have often heard them referred to. The rings are fashioned from parts of the former steam plant that resided on the shores of the river since 1896. Promedica wanted to preserve this history in some way and turns out Toledo Twisted Iron was up for the job. Nicely done Dane. Dane also created the awesome decretive screens of the fire pits in the same vicinity also crafted from reclaimed steel from the steam plant.
Being downtown on the banks of the Maumee looking at sculptures brought back fond memories of my Grandma Duncan. Back in 1984 The Portside Festival Market Place opened up. My Grandma would pick me up and we would park her car and board a Tarta bus and visit Portside regularly thought the 80s until it's sad close in 1990. When I think back on it all I can remember is magic. Large flags of fish wavering in the giant space while people bought and sold all sorts of things. Clutched tightly to Grandmas hand I remember just always being excited at the bustle and vast collection of artisan goods. Outside next to the market place there was giant public art sculptures. The one I remember most fondly still stands today. Sun Obelisk by Dale Eldred. A 60-foot tower of stainless steel, glass and reflective tape diffracts sunlight into a beacon of rainbows. Tragically it was a solid cloud cover type of day so no magic there. But it was still nice to gaze up at and remember my awe as a small child 30 years ago looking up at the same creation.
I'm glad you are still standing Sun Obelisk.
After our sculpture tour of downtown Beefy swung me by a very cool Toledo Shop called Handmade Toledo. Which happens to be owned and operated by another one of my former Glass City Roller pals Betty Floored. It was awesome to see the space finally for the first time.
I love seeing the dreams of friends realized and tangible. Of course I took some shots of the awesomeness that is Toledo Handmade, who you should follow on instagram probably @handmadetoledo.
Bought myself two pretty cool Toledo Tee Shirts by Printedonalark.com.
Then to top off my First Full Day back in town we rejoined with my lovely hosts and hit the World Famous Toledo Museum of Art. Most people don't know much about Toledo and if they do it's usually the Mudhens or the bit about the Glass City due to its being the location of the first glass manufacturers in the late 1800s. Toledo has a huge art population and culture. There was a particularly awesome exhibit my friends were interested in showing me so off to the Museum we went.
Holy Toledo!! Rebecca Louise Law's Exhibit Community was awesome!! So glad I got to experience it. The minute you walked through the doors the smell was magical. Like you had just entered a wild flower garden. Which basically you did. Check out this amazing artist and her truly wonderful exhibits at www.rebeccalouiselaw.com.
After the exhibit it we decided to wonder around the museum a bit. Which of course brought us to a place fond in my heart The Water Lilies by Monet. My first real memory of art is based on the Water Lilies by Monet. When I was in grade school, possibly the first grade Meadowvale's amazing resident Art Teacher Jane Archambeau enlisted the whole school to cover all of the hallway walls in water lilies. Each class was responsible for a section of the hallway. In my 7 year old brain it seemed like it took weeks. I remember standing in the hallways and falling in love with the power of art on my little soul. I then was a recipient of a scholarship to classes at the Toledo Museum of Art for several years which expanded my love and experience of art. I have the grandest memories of running through the halls of the museum and curling up in corners to draw on my sketch pad. I'm sure we were supervised but in memory it seemed like we had so much freedom to roam and experience our own inspiration in whatever corner of the museum that was. It made the museum less intimidating and made art feel so accessible and possible. Which may have had something to do with my ability years later to abandon all responsibility as far as my parents were concerned and seek out an artistic profession. Thank you Mrs Archambeau, Claude Monet and the Toledo Museum of Art. It was good to be inside your walls again. I was flooded with great memories.
Friends and Art Museums, one of my favorite combinations.
Thanks so much you all for taking me. It was instrumental in my ability to process the holiday I'm sure. Dear Beefy, Vod, and Steve, seriously there are not words to express my gratitude. I may have been a "boarder" of sorts (lol) but it sure did make home feel a bit more homey. You have host spirits. I felt so welcome and comfortable. I feel like I can't even describe the comfort it provided me. Thank you. Thank you. I love you. Forking Roller Derby, saving my life yet again. I can't say enough how thankful I am and how much I value the amazing humans that Rollerderby has brought into my life. It seems as if almost anywhere I go I got roller derby people to love and be loved by. Derby connections are like bonds formed in steel, well mine seem to be anyway. I love it. I love Derby. I love Derby Friendships. It's something. BIG.
Then after the Museum I headed to good ole Sandy Duncan's where I shoulda been all along... wink wink. The next day I had the beautiful gift of having lunch with my beloved 3rd grade teacher Ms. Fink. It's such a joy to have that connection revitalized. Teachers were so impactful in my life. I have got more than a handful that I know had a firm hand in me ever making it to anything. Ms. Fink was the first. She has always joked that she "knocked the chip off my shoulder", which in a sense I think she most certainly did. I always had a natural rebellion against authority. If someone was trying to boss me, that just always triggered more doubt and questioning. Ms. Fink had some magical presentation of her authority that I accepted and trusted right away, and I was a very suspicious kid. To be in my late 30s and still be able to share space with my first most influential teacher well, its one of those small pleasures that brings unexplainable joy. Thank you Ms Fink and sister Barbra for making time to spend hours with me under the excuse of lunch. I really enjoyed our time together and look forward to our next opportunity to share stories and air.
I do regret not having an opportunity to snap a photo of us all.
On Christmas Eve morning Vod and I hopped in the car and drove up to Luna Pier in hopes of catching a sunrise. Unfortunately the cloud cover was too thick for an actual sighting but it was still beautiful like a cotton candy sky.
I decided to go ahead and do a timelapse anyway. In hind sight I wish I would have used the fisheye for this particular timelapse. I was just glad to be enjoying dawn with a friend and the sky and water.
You can check out my collection of 2018 Sunrises here!
I'm gonna close out with the HOUSE and The VOD.
And that was Toledo folks.
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We pulled over on the side of the road into the Preserve and got out. So enamoured by the golden light and hue surrounding us, I don't even think we closed the car doors. We both just started wondering out into the beauty; as if trying to get lost in some fantastical wonderland. Instantly forgetting we were just on the outskirts of our constantly bustling beloved city Chicago. She turns to me and says, is it possible to pick up this light?
I let out one of my ridiculous cackles and honestly said I don't know. I hope so. Turns out I came pretty close. However, no image could compare to the feeling around you of living, breathing tranquility.
Nestled along the Des Plaines River lies 245 acres of pure magic. If you need to get out of the city and connect with nature or just get the hell away from people for a minute this is the place. Accessible via the CTA Green line but you can get even closer with the METRA Union Pacific West Line. Address-wise Thatcher Woods is considered to be in Maywood. There is a nature museum on site but I did not check it out. We drove right in and seemingly called by Sirens, blindly and carelessly wandered into the woods dizzy with nature not paying much mind to trail colors or direction much.
I'm always a sucker for a good reflection. I found myself out in this magic with only a fixed 50mm lens. Soon I would be wishing and scolding over the fact that I didn't have my 70-200, but she is so heavy. I didn't know coffee was going to turn into a forest jaunt. They say (and I to my students) ALWAYS BRING YOUR CAMERA, but once you arrive at that place then what they mean is always bring your 70-200...lol.
At one point we were stopped near some fallen trees deep in discussion about something most likely roller derby, relationships, death or children. When we looked up and took a good look all around us. We were surrounded by 7, yes 7 deer. I have never seen 7 deer out in the wild at one sighting in my life. I couldn't believe it and I hadn't even really left the city. What?!?!?! This is when only having a fixed fifty really ripped at me. I got as close as I felt I could without them running off. They didn't seem to jarred by our slow movements. In some of the images we were actually stepping on sticks to break them to get the deer to look up.
Then all of a sudden all the deer ears shot up. Of course our heads shot in the direction of the deer at first we didn't see anything. Then through the distance came bounding a coyote...I shit you not. It was amazing. All the cotten tails shot up and the deer bounced off. At this point we decided to make our way back, we were pretty sure there wasn't any topping that.
And that my friends is the amazing Thatcher woods. The text is a link to their website. I highly encourage a visit any time of year. As soon as I get some good boots I'm going back in the snow with a canon of a lens and getting some deer headshots. I can't believe I have lived not too far from this magnificence for over 17 years and am just now finding out about it. Thank you to God and my friend Tiffany for introducing me to yet another thing that makes this great city so fricking awesome! Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed the images.
Remember:
What you think about expands. Choose your thoughts wisely and with love.
Until next time.
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Not long ago a friend mentioned to me how it's funny the way winter makes you need things that the summer had you forgetting.
I'm always touting the bullshit line that everything happens for a reason. It's one of my mantras. Some people don't like it but it helps me to process things.
Cassiopeia
As we lie there looking up at the sky, one familiar to you.
One shockingly beautiful to me.
I see Cassiopeia in all of her glory. I wasn't looking for her, I didn't even know she'd be there.
How serendipitous to be gazing up at the most gorgeous narcissist the sky has ever know.
Did I fall asleep and wake up in a John Cusack movie.
Already bewitched by Polaris and all her fixed dominance as every other star dances around her each time I defy time with my camera.
We pass the bottle of My Faire Lady back and forth.
And I wonder why am I here? On this dock under Cassiopeia with you.
What lesson or knowing is to be brought about by this moment.
Is it only in the stars, or the dead deer carcass frozen and floating majestically only a few feet away.
#deadinthewater
Astronomy, Astrology, Science, Meteorology, Biology colliding with my philosophies of Astro Physics and Manifestation.
Black Matter, Emptiness, Nothingness the only birth place of all possibility.
Lost in Space.
Spider Lake, Iron River, Wisconsin...
Whoa, my first North Woods experience...
Well, needless to say it was magic.
It all started as a last minute artists retreat for four Roller derby pals. Before accepting the invitation I did some research on the location. It hadn't been all that long since I returned from the Pacific Northwest and was feeling a tinge of guilt at taking advantage of so many opportunities when I should be buckling down and working on innovation. After googling multiple things about Iron River one of which being it's extremely low light pollution my interests were peaked. The real excitement came when I stumbled upon an awesome star trials shot taken in Iron River, WI. It was different than most of the star trials photos I had seen. So I did a bit more research. I learned that the way the earth sits on it's axis from Iron Rivers location you are basically pointing directly at Polaris the North Star. That meaning if you focus your lens on Polaris and do a star trail she will remain and all the other stars will circle around her. It's recommended to rely on multiple exposures for the most optimum outcome. I however love to do my artistic stuff the old fashioned way. The photography that puts food in my mouth and makes this play possible is all about the most cutting edge technology and how to deliver as much, as fast as possible so in my art I like to live on the opposite side of that spectrum. I stayed out there for hours, extended exposure after extended exposure, having to occasionally come in and let my toes and fingers defrost. I saw so many shooting stars. The brilliance of the sky was totally distracting until the burn of the numbness took hold. What a blessing. It was an amazing experience for a sky lover like me.
I highly recommend Iron River.
Shooting Info and Recommendations
You will need a tripod and a remote timer of some sort in most cases, some cameras have these features built in.
I recommend a wide angle lenses. I used a 15mm fisheye in some of my images and a 28 mm in the one above and some others. The Fisheye offered a bit more context and was cool in regards to recognizing it was the sky. The 28mm made everything more pronounced and lengthened the trails which I liked.
I had the most success with 20-40 minute exposures with an average aperture of F4, and ranging ISO's from 200-1600.
I had the most success over exposing and then bringing the exposure back down in Lightroom in post. Give yourself lots of time and plan for multiple tries as every situation is going to be different. I hope you find it as fun and magical as I do.
Photo below taken with the 15mm fisheye.
We left Chicago Friday morning around 10:30am, took the long way and stopped at every other daunting sign exclaiming things like FREE WINE! On our Lunch stop I had one of the best Bloody Mary's in my life. Seriously this place deserves a shout out.
Sobelman's of Richfield. If you ever find yourself hungry or thirsty for a meal near 1827 State Hwy. 175 Richfield Wisconsin 53076 you should give them a visit.
After looking it up online to find a link for this blog I discovered there are multiple locations! I'm sure they are all great! Check em out!
Hours later our legs were growing restless and we were lured off the highway by large signs promising free wine. Before we knew it we were parking. There was a twilight zone feel in the atmosphere. At first it looked like a cute town of store fronts but we soon realized it was a bunch of iron sheds with store front facades attached. As we joyfully hopped out of the car and entered the space hopefully locating the free wine our spirits caught a chill. There was an immediate sense of irritation among the very cranky proprietors. We sped through the un-pleasurable experience and stopped in the next store. Where we mentioned the unwelcoming feeling next door, thats when I had the feeling all of these people were related. Then we entered the third shop where I inquired about the possible relation as she recommended the free wine. Confirmation received. What else to do at that strange moment than spin into a "Sweetest Thing" type movie montage.
We arrived at the cabin late, darkness. The sky was covered in clouds. I decided to head to bed early and get some rest in hopes for a clear morning. When I awoke around 5:30 am I stepped outside and looked up. The sky was crystal clear. A chill of excitement shot through my fingertips and my face as I smiled in amazement. There was a bright crescent moon. You could actually see the entire moon, the unlit parts. I had never seen that before. WOW. After a few moments of stupor I tried to collect myself and my photography equipment to get out there and catch it before it was gone and prep for a possible sunrise or at least a dawn light time-lapse. I definitely recommend getting one of the free sky apps so you can research what to point your lens and can enjoy knowing what you are seeing and also where the sun and moon are going to rise. There is always great power in pre planning your shots!
When we got down to the dock it was mostly dark. You could see a few things in the slim light of the bright crescent moons glitter. My friend looked into the water at something that appeared to be white floating in the water. My immediate response was dismissal and mumbled how its probably just a plastic bag. The home town northwoods girl in her laughed at my city ignorance and said "there aren't plastic bags in the water out here" as she continued nodding. I joked saying maybe it's a dead body. As dawn turned into day and the sky started to illuminate the water we realized it was a dead body. A frozen, beautifully tragic, perfectly preserved deer. She looked like a double exposure found in an old film box in some estate sale. The mirror like reflection of the trees and the sky on the perfectly still water made it all look like a beautiful illusion. A moment frozen in time not water.
We checked out some of the local art offerings.
Then like most scenarios I get distracted by the ancient details. The desire to preserve the already gone.
Then to get the real feel of November and accept the cycle of life some cemetery photography in my first snow of the year.
You can book the awesome accommodations I was lucky to experience yourself on Airbnb.
Spacious Cabin on Spider Lake
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/17382490?s=51
The steam shower alone was worth the trip. Clean, comfortable and very spacious beautiful log cabin made of extra large old growth pine and cedar. Fire place.
Thanks for reading!
Of course I made her take me to the Public Market, especially since last time I was there in 2014 she wouldn't.
I loved the flowers, all the flowers. If I lived in Seattle I would buy fresh flowers every week.
We stumbled upon the cutest little wine and cheese shop in the Public Market with a beautiful view and delicious offerings. Northwest Tastings was a great place to sip and bite while resting and regrouping for the next adventure. I definitely recommend hitting this spot if you find yourself at the Market, it's worth the hunt.
Like I said the view is pretty magical.
The boom of Seattle is hard not to notice. When I visited back in 2014 the sky was filled with construction cranes and in 2018 there were just as many if not more.
I love old phone booths. I try and snap a picture any time I see them. I'm pretty nostalgic and there is something about the history of communication evolution I find important. Seattle has bunch!
The Space Needle was pricy but I thought well worth it. We stayed for a few hours, the beer was more than at a Chicago sporting event however. The views were spectacular. Sunset was glorious.
You are so cool. Being your friend makes me cooler too. Thank you millions for being my tour guide.
We also traveled out to ALKI beach. Of course I had to hit the beach.
West Seattle Brewing Company was an awesome spot to sit and soak up the beautiful late summer vibes across from the beach.
Thank you so much for taking this visual journey of my trip to the PNW. I hope you enjoyed and maybe got some inspiration.
Always remember what you think about expands. Ponder wisely.
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The year following RollerCon 2008 Grand Raggidy was the fist away bout of the season for the 2009 Chicago OUTFIT, of which I was honored to be the team photographer for at the time. It was an awesome super competitive bout. The captains of Grand Rapids skated into the locker room after the bout with iced buckets of beer and passed out swag bags while inviting us to the after party where there would be free pizza. The one thing the Outfit always won was the after party, so we happily accepted the invitation. That night was an amazing coming together of teams and killer roller derby personalities of skaters who would go down history. That night the Quarterboy I thought I didn't care for wedged her way deep into my heart and here is a picture of it happening.
I cherish this image. It hangs framed in my foyer. I have always had an obsession with plutonic love affairs. My favorite movies are Shawshank Redemption and Beaches. I have been so blessed to have the best friends. There isn't enough Gratitude to express my Thankfulness to the ONE for these blessings. I see my friends as pure essence. This human right here, is one of my life's great gifts. We are very different but enough alike to have a non stop good time doing anything and everything anywhere and everywhere. Our friendship has spanned many states, many teams, many girlfriends, and many years. My cup overflows as I look toward the years left of it yet to come. Thank you for the wonderful friendship, it's one of my favorites.
Grand Raggidy in true fashion of midwest Michigan hospitality invited us to the Derby After After Party in some wild Derby/Tiki basement where we proceeded to play dirty jenga. It was nights like these that I still can't believe. Rollerderby brought situations that were even better than what I could dream up. It was like living inside of your favorite fantasy or comic book. Back in those days there was a lot of jersey trading. We were all so in love and envy of each other that when you would meet a skater and you two shared this fascinating admiration you would trade jerseys. Here is it happening below.
Pictured left to right: Daddy's Girl, Tera Nuone, Lola Blow, Quarterboy, Shutterspeed, Jackie Daniels and Althea in Hell. Quite a collection of pretty colorful Rollederby personalities from all over the country.
This photo always seems pretty perfectly representative of our friendship. Probably taken by Shutterspeed.
The shot below is from RollerCon2009. The Vagine Ragime used to host a super fun and outrageously ridiculous Scavenger Hunt every year at RollerCon. It was a huge success and grew more infamous every year. In 2009 I was asked by Injure Rogers Founder of the VR to be one of the esteemed judges for the HUNT. I could hardly contain my excitement at this opportunity. Every year this group was made up of some of the most well known Queer Rollerderby party Monsters and Colorful personalities, all around roller derby favorites. Just being in a room with these people was a dream come true and an energy explosion. Well everyone knows about my obsession with bathroom photos so obviously when I found myself amongst these shining stars of Rollerderby we took a bathroom photo. To this day this photo remains one of my all time favorites. These people were my heroes. There is Quarterboy right in the center, holding the VR flier of activities for the week featureing Althea N Hell from the VR expo bout the previous year.
Photo below is from the 2009 Vagine Ragime vs the Caulk Suckers expo bout that took place on Fremont Street. It was awesome to be bouting in the center of it all. The public loved it.
But enough about RollerDerby...back to the current Adventures of Shoot To Kill and Quarterboy. I got to Seattle on a Sunday afternoon. We dropped off my luggage and headed out for some alfresco dinning and drinks as the weather was a dream at 73 degrees at the end of September. The next morning we packed and headed out to a cute little place called Lake Tyee out near Mount Baker about an hour south of the Canadian border. QB loves it so much she tattooed the totem on her leg, so obviously we had to snap a shot.
The lake was so still and the skies so bright every thing I pointed my camera at seemed worthy of a click or two.
There was a hiking trail that takes about two hours that circles the lake that I pleaded QB to take with me. She packed a few beers into a pack and I got the camera strap on and off we went. We took a break half way around for a drink break when QB busts out a Glass City Rollers cozy which is my home town Roller Derby Team.
We headed into town for a few things and stopped at the cutest brewery called Birdsview Brewing
Her plot of paradise looked out over a ravine with a babbling brook at the bottom. Which of course we took the camera down to check out. Every morning we woke to the sound of rushing water and every night fell asleep to it. It was pure magic. The light was like nothing I had ever seen. The quality and color temperature of it by the time it filtered down through all the trees and dampness was just gorgeous. The greenest of green, moss everywhere.
I attempted to catch some star trails but my camping companion didn't posses the patience required for night photography.
As most people know I am usually a very early riser. So the next morning I decided to hit the lake trail on my own for a pensive photographic early morning trip around the lake before QB even gets up. The lake was covered in a layer of flaming fog. There is nothing like the stillness and rolling smoke of morning.
Lake Tyee was a magical experience and I was way over due for a connection to nature. Thank you so much QB for sharing your hard earned spoils with me. It was a healing experience to bask in the sunlit nature and shining love of your friendship.
After a few days in what to me seemed like a Rainforest we headed back to Seatle where I forced QB to take me on all touristy adventures like the space needle and Pike Street Public Market.
Thanks for reading, love you all. Please sign up for my monthly newsletter to see some of what I am so lucky to see.
Remember the thoughts you think are creating your future.
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Let's start with my main gear combo. My main camera body is a Canon 5D Mark III, which I love very much. It has done everything I have ever asked of it and much much more. When working I use it in combination with Canon lenses 24-70 2.8 and 70-200 2.8, when shooting for fun I usually have a nifty fifty attached which is a Canon 50mm 1.8. Now if you are like many reading this blog you many not even know what those numbers stand for. In 24-70 that is the zoom range in millimeters. This is the distance between your camera's sensor, and the point of convergence in the lens. The 2.8 indicates the maximum aperture of your lens, which is how wide it will go, and ultimately how much light it will allow in. When the number is lower, it allows more light in. Most 18-55mm lenses have a max aperture of 3.5-5.6, which doesn't allow much creativity with shallow depth of field. Shallow depth of field is when one part of the photo is in sharp focus and other parts are blurry. I definately recommend the 24-70 2.8 for anyone wanting to step up their photo game and willing to invest in a great piece of equipment. It is a great first professional zoom lens. The link below is for the Canon 5d3 with 24-70mm 2.8
Now if you've got a decent amount of money in your budget you can get the newest version of the Canon 5D which is a Mark IV, link below. The link is for the camera body only.
Now for those of you who are buying cameras for a beginner. I recommend the Canon Rebel series cameras. The most popular version is the T6. Which runs around $375-$400 with the 18-55 kit lens. As much as I am not a fan of the kit lenses it is nice to be able to open your camera out of the box and start shooting with out spending a ton more money. I would however recommend picking up a Canon 50mm 1.8, so you can start enjoying the creativity and low light aspects of wide open apertures. There is also a newer version The Canon Rebel T7 running about $800.
Now if you want to spend even less you can purchase the Canon T5, which could save you about 40 or 50 dollars. There is also a middle ground between the Rebel series and the 5d series. The Canon 80D $1300 (with kit lens) and the Canon 7D and 7D2 $1200 (body only) cameras. Many of you may be wondering what about NIKON. Nikon is great also. I used to be an avid Nikon user but made the switch to Canon about 10 years ago and haven't looked back. I teach people how to use Nikons on a regular basis in Photo 101 in a day classes at the Chicago Photography Academy. In my experience the menu layouts in the Canon gears seems to be more intuitive and remain more consistent between different camera models which is one of the reason I prefer Canon. Another thing to think about is the mirrorless cameras. Sony has a few great models out with a decent range in price. I purchased a Sony Mirrorless last year and ended up returning it. I hope this has helped answer some of your camera buying questions. If you should have anymore please comment on this blog post or direct messaged me via email, FB, or twitter. Happy Camera hunting.
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The night was a great success. Wow. This is why I became a photographer. To capture history. I didn't always know that. Congratulations to the Humanitarian Award Recipients Dr. Richard A. Chaifetz and E. Scott Santi. Tonight was one of those nights when I feel blessed that I do what I love and finally have worked hard enough to get paid decently doing something some would pay to do. I love you Chicago. I love you Ron. I love you Illinois Holocaust Museum. I love you Mark 3. I love you life. Thank you to everyone who posed for me in photo school or just otherwise let me torture them with my camera and all those who supported me on this uphill journey. Im so glad I risked it all to do something that I love. Last but surely not least a huge heartfelt THANK YOU to our friends at the #IHM, we do truly love you all and are so honored and enjoy working with you.
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I'm going to start with the lovely Beverly Johnson, because I just finished her memoir a few weeks ago. The Face That Changed It All, which was released on August 25, 2015. Beverly Johnson seems to be most famously know for being the first African American model to appear on the cover of American Vogue in August 1974. She also has a sizable Filmography. I of course had the privilege to meet and photograph her in October of 2015 at Chicago Ideas Week. While she was on my sweep she found out that her Memoir had just made the Times Top 100 list. She was giddy with excitement so I asked her if she had a copy and would get it out to take a few snaps with. She was happy to oblige. After I photographed her she retreated to the speakers green room which was directly behind my make shift studio set up in what was basically an electrical closet. She wasn't in there long, before she was back out in the photo area sitting at a chair next to my digital tech's desk. Just handling some business with who I assumed was her assistant and doing a few things on her phone and touching up her make up. At first I thought it odd, why is she hanging out out here. Then I realized she was about to go on stage and give a talk which is a little bit out of her element and the place she felt the most comfortable was in the photo pit with the snapping strobes. It was endearing to me. She was a wonderful pleasure to meet and to photograph. A true pro. Check out her book for a good read and insight into the race struggle of the modeling industry and how she helped pave the way to for all of the Models of Color to follow. Her book felt very honest as she recalled the stories of her past in a scramble of modeling, money, love and chaos. Check out her Chicago Ideas Week Talk here https://www.chicagoideas.com/videos/the-face-that-changed-it-all.
That same week I was the photographer for The Chicago Ideas Week Talk RACE IN AMERICA, which clicking on will link you to the talk. DeRay was fun on the sweep. A total ball of energy. After we introduced ourselves we began joking and laughing immediately. When the amazing Assistant Stage Manager Peggy snapped her fingers as a friendly reminder we only had a few minutes DeRay immediately struck his signature pose in his signature blue vest. I asked him what he was wearing under and if he would be willing to pull back a layer and expose that fun, silly side I had noticed within seconds. He was a blast. I enjoyed every second of our interaction, and have excitedly followed his story since. Here is a link to his Wikipedia for more information.
I also got to Photograph Common that week. Who I believe needs no introduction or description. And if you are not familiar with Common check out these links Glory by Common & John Legend for Selma and one of my favorites Common NPR Tiny Desk Concert at the White House. Photographing Common was not as intimate and smooth as the previously mentioned. He showed up a bit behind schedule and with an entourage that completely crowed my makeshift studio. There were about three different reporters interviewing him on my sweep, several people escorting him from his group, what seemed like some other random followers, maybe a few lucky selected high school kids, a video guy with a huge tripod and about three other photographers. As politely as possible I stepped aside and let the interviews go down then eventually had to gently elbow my way through the other photographers to snap only three shots to get my job done, this being the best of the few. He himself was very friendly and gentle seeming and a little softer spoken than I had imagined. Here is a link to Commons Chicago Ideas Week Talk Exploring the Power and Purpose of Art and Education.
Anthony "The Twilite Tone" Khan, who I've photographed on a few occasions. One of the first people to take a phone call on my sweep and be willing to make it part of the shoot. We had some fun. Here is a link to a Bio on him from Downtown Music Publishing and to his CIW talk links.
Amazing Sculptor Garland Martin Taylor. You have got to see and read about his Gun Sculpture which I was lucky enough to see up close in person. Check out one of his Chicago Ideas Week Talks about it A Conversation Piece.
Monica Haslip, a motivated dynamo and respected leader in cultural development, youth advocacy and community arts.
September 2015, I was beyond excited to meet and photograph Condoleezza Rice the first female African-American Secretary of State. She was fascinating with all of her emanating quite strength. I photograph a lot of politics, and even more Republican politics and there is not very many woman and even less black women. This woman's presence wowed me.
In 2014 I had the inspiring experience of hearing Modern Day Hero Antoinette Tuff's story of survival and how she stopped a school shooting. Watch the Chicago Ideas Week video of her story Prepared for a Purpose.
Sean Combs, watch his Chicago Ideas Week Talk here.
In 2013 I got to photograph and hear Terry McMillan the author of "Waiting to Exhale" and several other books. Watch her Chicago Ideas Week Talk Why I Lie for a Living.
Also in 2013 CNN Political Contributor and Political Strategist and Pollster Cornell Belcher watch him participate in Chicago Ideas Week Political Roundtable.
In 2012 the amazing Helene Gayle President & CEO of CARE USA, empowering women and fighting poverty all over the world.
Also in 2012 Stephen Bradberry Chicago native and veteran community organizer and executive director of Alliance Institute. Watch his Chicago Ideas Week talk Your Community is your Responsibility
In 2011 I photographed the Brave Ameena Matthews, Violence Interrupter from CeaseFire. You can catch her in this FRONTLINE episode talking about the movie The Interrupters. Ameena is the daughter of Jeff Fort, one of the city's most infamous gang leaders. Her story is one of profound transformation and a continued motivation and endurance to live and create a better life. Below Ameen is fellow Violence Interrupter Ricardo "Cobe" Williams of CeaseFire and also in the movie The Interrupters.
These are just a small handful of some of the amazing people and stories of color I have been so blessed and honored to hear and experience. Thank you for taking the time to share in the images and stories of these amazing inspirers, civil rights leaders and trail blazers. Thank you for all you have done.
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Megyn was being interviewed by Indiana Governor Elect Eric Holcomb. She was very diplomatic and pretty funny. Handled herself with great grace. She had the Governor elect laughing several times. She talked about her new book "Settle for More" and how her life evolved in that manner, her early days as a lawyer here in Chicago and how unhappy she found herself to be and the road to change. She fielded several questions about Trump and conducted herself wonderfully non partisan while still speaking her truth.
This is kind of a behind the scenes shot. As photographers we are rarely in the photos and there are not too many opportunities to get shots of us working so when I can I like to catch those moments. The shot above you can see the myth, the man, the legend Ron Gould off to the left kneeling next to the stage waiting to catch that interesting moment. It's always best to have two shooters. That way you can get different angles without having to move around too much which can be quite a distraction it also almost guarantees no important moments are missed. Thanks for reading.
Little kids say the darndest things. My favorite shots are when that happens and I catch everyone in a laughing moment. It's always just so genuine.
Sunday was the Congers, with my favorite little man Morgan and his new ish little sister Cece. Morgan is a ham and we always have a great time on photo day. The Congers wanted to stick to their new neighborhood and take advantage of some of the amazing colors happening with the leaves.
Morgan practicing for his future modeling career. My personal favorite shot from the day.
CIW 2016 I was the main photographer at the MCA Museum of Contemporary Art. I photographed there three days Tuesday 10/18, Wednesday 10/19 and Thursday 10/20. I was to set up a studio back stage for portraits of each speaker before getting mic'd to test their media, in which I generally have less than five minutes to get a good portrait. Mind you, these people are usually ten minutes out from going on stage to give a speech or participate in a panel discussion. Needless to say that is usually heavily on their mind, not getting a good photo they were just ambushed with. So it takes some work on my part to make this possible. Set up Tuesday morning was a bit rougher than I had anticipated being year 6 and all. We were to set up a 3 light set up on a black 9ft paper sweep, in which we had an area of about a 4.5 ft radius to do so. One of the things I love about CIW is that it is a challenge. It's so alive, and so big and so exciting with so many moving parts and people that rarely does it flow according to plan. My lovely digital tech (who I will tell you more about later) and I spent the first 90 minutes trying out different possible solutions to make the set up work. Finally we decided to tear it all down and make do with what we had. We got rid of the back drop, grabbed a stage curtain and stretched and clamped it to serve as our background, after rigging one of the sidelights on top of lighting stage equipment very questionably we were ready to go. Monday's schedule was Advertising, Future of Policing and Wild Card. Advertising we were still trying to make our assigned background and set up work out so I don't love any of those shots, so we will move on to the future of Policing. Portraits are as follows: Eugene O'Donnell, Cedric Alexander who at one time was in the running for Chicago Police Superintendent, and Craig Futterman a Law Professor at University of Chicago.
Policing: Force of the FutureCHICAGO, IL - OCTOBER 18 : Cedric Alexander, Craig Futterman, Eugene O’Donnell, Cheryl Corley and Marc Lamont Hill discuss the future of policing. Over the last three years, the state of our country’s police force has become a national discussion. Now that cell phones double as a video cameras, incidents of violence perpetrated by police officers has become a regular part of our national conversation. What if we could reimagine the role of the police and change our approach to policing from distrust to positive action, and what does the future of policing look like?
Policing: Force of the FutureCHICAGO, IL - OCTOBER 18 : Cedric Alexander, Craig Futterman, Eugene O’Donnell, Cheryl Corley and Marc Lamont Hill discuss the future of policing. Over the last three years, the state of our country’s police force has become a national discussion. Now that cell phones double as a video cameras, incidents of violence perpetrated by police officers has become a regular part of our national conversation. What if we could reimagine the role of the police and change our approach to policing from distrust to positive action, and what does the future of policing look like?
Policing: Force of the FutureCHICAGO, IL - OCTOBER 18 : Cedric Alexander, Craig Futterman, Eugene O’Donnell, Cheryl Corley and Marc Lamont Hill discuss the future of policing. Over the last three years, the state of our country’s police force has become a national discussion. Now that cell phones double as a video cameras, incidents of violence perpetrated by police officers has become a regular part of our national conversation. What if we could reimagine the role of the police and change our approach to policing from distrust to positive action, and what does the future of policing look like?
Policing: Force of the FutureCHICAGO, IL - OCTOBER 18 : Cedric Alexander, Craig Futterman, Eugene O’Donnell, Cheryl Corley and Marc Lamont Hill discuss the future of policing. Over the last three years, the state of our country’s police force has become a national discussion. Now that cell phones double as a video cameras, incidents of violence perpetrated by police officers has become a regular part of our national conversation. What if we could reimagine the role of the police and change our approach to policing from distrust to positive action, and what does the future of policing look like?
Policing: Force of the FutureCHICAGO, IL - OCTOBER 18 : Cedric Alexander, Craig Futterman, Eugene O’Donnell, Cheryl Corley and Marc Lamont Hill discuss the future of policing. Over the last three years, the state of our country’s police force has become a national discussion. Now that cell phones double as a video cameras, incidents of violence perpetrated by police officers has become a regular part of our national conversation. What if we could reimagine the role of the police and change our approach to policing from distrust to positive action, and what does the future of policing look like?
This was a pretty exciting and passionate discussion, a little too bias on one side but intense none the less. I love Marc Lamont Hill. I have had the pleasure to photograph him two years in a row for CIW. He brings an energy and rebellious nature to some very serious topics and conversations that would not be as interesting without his touch.
Wild Card Talk was up next, and that one usually always has some cool surprises in the line up, last year it was Beverly Johnson. This year it was Bob Saget, who was a pleasure to deal with. I had heard he could be pretty lewd and crude, so I had my tough skin on. He actually seemed like a really sweet guy, a few off color jokes here and there but nothing I found offensive. He was more than happy to play around on the sweep till I got the shot I wanted and he humored me and let me get a selfie of us.
Next up on the sweep was Dancer Michelle Dorrance, who was a total pleasure to which the audience seemed to think so as well. She even got them all to stand up and participate in a dance with her. She talked a lot about tap dance, its history and influence and the dancers she found the most influential.
Wildcard: Anything Can Happen, and We Promise You It WillMIchelle Dorrance - CHICAGO, IL - OCTOBER 18 : Jamila Woods, Bob Saget, Michelle Dorrance, Dr. Bradley Garrett, Yesenia Maldonado and Bryan Babylon perform for the Wildcard event at the Edison Neeson Theater at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. (Photo by Danyel Duncan/Chicago Ideas Week)
Everyone backstage and in the audience was super stoked to have surprise performance by Jimila Woods, especially my tech Jon Wes.
Wildcard: Anything Can Happen, and We Promise You It WillJamila Woods - CHICAGO, IL - OCTOBER 18 : Jamila Woods, Bob Saget, Michelle Dorrance, Dr. Bradley Garrett, Yesenia Maldonado and Bryan Babylon perform for the Wildcard event at the Edison Neeson Theater at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. (Photo by Danyel Duncan/Chicago Ideas Week)
Wildcard: Anything Can Happen, and We Promise You It WillCHICAGO, IL - OCTOBER 18 : Jamila Woods, Bob Saget, Michelle Dorrance, Dr. Bradley Garrett, Yesenia Maldonado and Bryan Babylon perform for the Wildcard event at the Edison Neeson Theater at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. (Photo by Danyel Duncan/Chicago Ideas Week)
The talk was hosted by funny man Brian Babylon. Who I have had the great pleasure to get to know and photograph several times throughout the years of CIW.
Wildcard: Anything Can Happen, and We Promise You It WillBrian Babylon - CHICAGO, IL - OCTOBER 18 : Jamila Woods, Bob Saget, Michelle Dorrance, Dr. Bradley Garrett, Yesenia Maldonado and Bryan Babylon perform for the Wildcard event at the Edison Neeson Theater at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. (Photo by Danyel Duncan/Chicago Ideas Week)
Wildcard: Anything Can Happen, and We Promise You It WillCHICAGO, IL - OCTOBER 18 : Jamila Woods, Bob Saget, Michelle Dorrance, Dr. Bradley Garrett, Yesenia Maldonado and Bryan Babylon perform for the Wildcard event at the Edison Neeson Theater at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. (Photo by Danyel Duncan/Chicago Ideas Week)
Wednesday was Humanity & Technology, The Future of Storytelling and Comedy. Two of my favorites from the Comedy talk were two hilarious women Negin Farsad who had me constantly cracking up and Phoebe Robinson of 2 Dope Queens.
Comedy: But, Seriously…Negin Farsad - CHICAGO, IL - OCTOBER 19 : It’s no secret that Chicago is one of the world’s biggest comedy hubs. From Bill Murray to Tina Fey, some of the biggest names in the business have cut their teeth here. Comedy shapes our conversations and allows society to reflect on how it’s changed. A joke that was funny 20, 10 or even two years ago may seem completely unacceptable today. Take a thoughtful look at comedy as a whole with Chelsea Devantez, Negin Farsad, Anne Libera, Phoebe Robinson, and Bob Saget.
Comedy: But, Seriously…Phoebe Robinson - CHICAGO, IL - OCTOBER 19 : It’s no secret that Chicago is one of the world’s biggest comedy hubs. From Bill Murray to Tina Fey, some of the biggest names in the business have cut their teeth here. Comedy shapes our conversations and allows society to reflect on how it’s changed. A joke that was funny 20, 10 or even two years ago may seem completely unacceptable today. Take a thoughtful look at comedy as a whole with Chelsea Devantez, Negin Farsad, Anne Libera, Phoebe Robinson, and Bob Saget.
Thursday was Space and Hip Hop talks. Host of the space talk was Dr. Hakeem Oluseyi, self proclaimed gangster nerd who is all about the star stuff. Loved this guy. He had a wonderful and engaging spirit and made for the perfect host for the space talk.
I love astronauts so I had to get my picture with this guy, Four time space man Christopher J Ferguson who was on the final mission of the space program. Turns out he was a photo enthusiast and had a some cool stories to share about photographing in space.
I will have to admit the Hip Hop talk was one of my favorites of 2016. Toure' who was the host of the Hip Hop talk was awesome to have on the sweep. He let us get in a short interview on the sweep where he answered some tough questions like what it was like to interview Lady Gaga, favorite Nina Simone song and who was your favorite interview. The two guests for the Hip Hop talk were Young Guru and Ghostface Killah one of the original founders of The Wu-Tang Klan.
Hip-Hop: The Essential American Art FormCHICAGO, IL - OCTOBER 20 : Since its arrival in the early 1970s, hip-hop has grown to shape much of American culture. Until recently, it hasn’t been included in conversations about fine art like other genres of music. Today, hip-hop is widely accepted as an essential art form for critiquing, influencing and reflecting on American society. Hear from some of the leading artists and producers in the genre about the future of hip-hop, and be treated to a rendition of Wu-Tang Clan's "C.R.E.A.M." by Ghostface Killah.
Hip-Hop: The Essential American Art FormCHICAGO, IL - OCTOBER 20 : Since its arrival in the early 1970s, hip-hop has grown to shape much of American culture. Until recently, it hasn’t been included in conversations about fine art like other genres of music. Today, hip-hop is widely accepted as an essential art form for critiquing, influencing and reflecting on American society. Hear from some of the leading artists and producers in the genre about the future of hip-hop, and be treated to a rendition of Wu-Tang Clan's "C.R.E.A.M." by Ghostface Killah.
Hip-Hop: The Essential American Art FormCHICAGO, IL - OCTOBER 20 : Since its arrival in the early 1970s, hip-hop has grown to shape much of American culture. Until recently, it hasn’t been included in conversations about fine art like other genres of music. Today, hip-hop is widely accepted as an essential art form for critiquing, influencing and reflecting on American society. Hear from some of the leading artists and producers in the genre about the future of hip-hop, and be treated to a rendition of Wu-Tang Clan's "C.R.E.A.M." by Ghostface Killah.
This group pictures give you a little better idea of our space constraints in our very small backstage studios. And, finally...a few shots of some of the behind the scenes powerhouses that make CIW go round. First off we have my handsome and amazing digital tech Jon Wes, who without I wouldn't have made it.
Next up we have Asst. Stage Manager Angelique Grandone. I must admit I think I have a thing for Asst. Stage Managers. Most all of them that I have met have been amazing women who are excellent wranglers with awesome personality and a superior ability to deal with anyone and get any job done.
Below Mel Safford Director of Booking and The Co-op and Rachel Graham Director of YOU(th) Programing.
Nick The Producer.
Below Gabrielle Zuckerman Head of Programming.
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Yesterday I had an early job at the Illinois Holocaust Museum, which I am honored and privileged to work with and at often. I have met many survivors and heard several of their stories, one in particular multiple times. Aaron Elster, thank you for surviving and reliving those traumas over and over again to inform us and help make social change. I feel blessed just to be in your presence, Thank you.
While I was “working” aka living my dream, I couldn’t help but feel “wow, my job is great’. I felt blessed to be able to make a living doing something that I love to do. I know these talents are not my own, that they are just the collective energy force expressing itself through me but I am very grateful I was able to open up and allow that to happen. Being a career photographer has its many challenges, some of which I never thought I would overcome. It was a long, slow, and expensive road but the journey has been amazing and for that I am grateful. Thank You GOD. I so often get paid to photograph people who others are paying the big bucks just to hear talk. It’s truly amazing. Half of the time I feel like I’m cheating because I would pay to hear these people and wait in line to meet them but I don’t have to cause I’m being paid to interact and record them for the tangible proof and enjoyment for others. Yesterday after Aaron Elster (Holocaust Survivor and Vice President of the Illinois Holocaust Museum) shared his story an amazing man named Hudson Taylor told us his story. He is a beautiful inside and out it seemed. He is a straight white man who happens to be a world class wrestler who started #Athlete Ally, where he fights for the LGTBQI rights in sports. He’s story was an inspirational one about creating social change and how to make the most impact with what you have available to you.
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I had the great privilege of photographing the 30th Annual Chicago Hunger Walk for the Greater Chicago Food Depository. Directly below is a shot I grabbed before the walk started as Governor Rauner pulled up on his Harley as he greeted and congratulated the amazing Kate Maehr Executive Director and CEO of the Greater Chicago Food Depository. Second below is a shot from atop the Start banner structure. One of the great things about photography is the VIP type of angles and access you often have.
I also had the luxury of experiencing one of the best views I have ever seen of the city of Chicago from the home of resident Bob Buford. Mr. Buford's home was one of the most impressive I have ever seen. It was an honor just to see the city from that perspective. Pictured below The Governor of Ohio John Kasich speaks passionately to a small crowd in the private residence about some of the issues he takes seriously. I was surprised and impressed by what the Ohio Governor had to say. He has since thrown his hat into the Presidential run. The picture second below is a photo of me between Reince Priebus Chairman of the Republican National Committee and The Governor of Ohio. My favorite thing about Corporate Location work is the interesting places I find myself that I never would have imagined.
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The shot below is one of my favorites from the Q & A forum. I was all the way to stage right looking for an interesting angle, peeking through the shoulders of some giant secret service people when I saw this shot.
And finally, the reason I do these things...so I can add shots like this to the wall. When I approached him, I tripped and almost fell but luckily W. leaned in and caught me which is why we look so close and happy in our embrace.
This shot is from Sunday, at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum. One of the bonuses of being the Governors official photographer is not having to elbow fight all of the press for a place in front. I love the way all of the LED lights from the video cameras cast a rim light around the Rauner's.
This shot is from the Inaugural Interfaith Service on Monday morning the 12th at the Beautiful First Presbyterian Church of Springfield Illinois. Archbishop Blase J. Cupich of the Archdiocese of Chicago figuring out his order in the lineup.
The Governor (elect) and LT Gov (elect) back stage just before the beginning of the start of the Inauguration. One last happy, relieved, and thankful sentiment before it all starts for real. With good ole Ron in the background doing what he does best.
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Roller Derby really carried my photography along in a sense. It takes pretty excellent equipment to be able to capture this sport well. So I as I grew more and more understanding of the challenges and needs to capture the derby my equipment continued to evolve to meet these needs. My most memorable photographic rollerdeby accomplishment was when I had a triple double truck published in Blood and Thunder magazine. I had the privilege to photograph the Chicago Outfit it's first 3 years of existence and in that time I made friends and created moments I would remember forever. So thank you to everyone who touched my life through roller derby and thank you to Roller Derby for being an awesome thing. Please enjoy a few of my favorite pictures from the bout below. If you like what you see, feel free to visit the entire album under my client access gallery page, or at www.danyelduncan.com/chicagooutfit0426.
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This was truly an enlightening night to be a part of. Once a year I get to share space with some of the most experienced lives ever lived and some of the most influential of Chicago's Power Players all in the efforts to make the world a better place. I have been so blessed to have had the chance to meet and work with so many Holocaust survivors. Just being in the presence of people who have endured such unthinkable things and grown so strong and worked so hard to help make sure no one else should ever have to face such things is beautifully uplifting and inspiring.
Above is a photo of Fritzie Fritzshall the President of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and one of the worlds most productive and inspiring Holocaust Survivors. Just being in her presence you feel an angelic and powerful sense of spirit.
Pictured above is Survivor and First Vice President of the Holocaust Museum Aaron Elster talking with Humanitarian Award recipient and Chairman of the Chicago Cubs Thomas Ricketts.
Steven Nasatir President of the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation looks to the stage with heartfelt attention from his well deserved front row seat.
Henry Kissinger former U.S. Secretary of State 1973-1977 and Nobel Peace Laureate talks on the current situation in Russian and possible outcomes with the conflict over Crimea.
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I recently had the pleasure to work with young aspiring stylist Giovonnie Gonzalez of Swerve Hair Salon located at 1419 N Wells Chicago. Giovonnie came to me to assist him in building a stronger image identity for himself and his work. We started out with a meeting to discuss ideas and figure out how many sessions and shoots it would take to accomplish the goals we were developing. Overall it’s looking like we will need about 4 to 5 total productions/shoots to end up with our final product of strong images of Giovonnie, Images of him doing hair, professional shots of the finished hair styles, and an identity video of Gio and his work. These are some samples of our first and very successful shoot where we concentrated on portraiture of Gio. The shot above is my favorite. As always when people end up in front of my camera I want to see them; their insides, what they would look like if I could see through them. I strive to capture that intimacy of identity and personality. Of course often part of this process for me is an attempt to strip them down which ideally always includes shedding the facade of stylish clothing. When I asked Gio to remove his shirt, he smiled and did so with a sweet and sincere sense of willing vulnerability. When he pulled his shirt off and I read his chest piece I knew this moment was meant to be and the beginning of great creation and collaboration. God is Love. God is Love. Anyone who knows me well could only imagine how my heart melted at the sight of this bold statement of commitment he had chosen to make and bare on his flesh. God is Love. Below I will include a few other images from our first shoot. Stay tuned to watch the growth of this collaboration for what I’m sure will be a great and beautiful result. Gio, thank you for opportunity to get to know and work with you. I immensely look forward to our continued growth as creative beings inspired by love and God.
Day Two: Sargon shooting K Serra with one of his amazing set ups. Kima looking good and useful wearing it’s music video studio clothes.
Exciting happenings for Shoot To Kill today at my home base, Kima Photo Studio. It’s day two of filming K Serra’s music video of her hit song “Radio Waves” by the amazing Cinematographer Sargon Saadi. Check out both of these amazing artists sites. You can download the Radio Waves single for free at www.kserramusic.com/main/. I met K Serra at a show she performed at Schubas, then contracted her to write and perform a song in celebration of my love. The song was amazing, the lyrics and melody couldn’t have been more perfect. Thank you Rachel. So of course I jumped at hosting and helping with the construction of the music video for Radio Waves. Stay posted for info and hopefully a preview of the Music video of Radio Waves upon it’s anticipated completion. Until then here are some behind the scenes shots of it’s awesome production. Extra special thank you’s to the the behind the scenes crew: the amazing gadget, grip man Nick Stoianof, and the lovely Brook Umbrell.
Day Two: Sargon filming the beautiful K Serra
Day Two: The beautiful K Serra engulfed in light and smoke.
Day Two: Cool shot of Sargon from behind diffusion filming K Serra in front.
Day Two: K Serra singing into the light.
Day Two: Sargon hard at work constructing one of his dynamic lighting set ups.
Day One: Set shot of the creative team hard at work at Kima Photo Studio.
Day One: Sargon filming as Brook and Rachel dowse the water with food coloring.
Day One: OOOOoooo Magic.
Day One: Cool shot of the tank dowsed with all the colors.
Devin meticulously prepping some of his work to be photographed.
And here are some photos of Devin’s Capstone project RememberMe. You can download the ebook Remember Me for free on Lulu here http://www.lulu.com/shop/devin-parker/remember-me/ebook/product-20953023.html if you are interested in all the tools needed for DIY funeral planning, it even includes casket building instructions!!
The entire Remember Me DIY funeral planning book.
Devin’s band of Zombies that were interviewed for the promotional video for the Remember ME project. You can view these interviews at http://vimeo.com/rememberme
Fun shot of Devin being attacked by his zombie crew.
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3D Lake House Model by Alyssa Jacobsen
Birds eye
Back of House
Side angle showing second floor bedroom.
Inside kitchen
Details
house model.
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