Stained

I had the opportunity recently to photography the interior of a church with lots of really interesting stain-glass windows. Said to be a light philosophy that expressed the "...thought that light reflected on earth is the closest we can get to the divine", I wanted to capture the essence of the glass and its impact on the viewer.

Tough Love

Last Friday evening was belt promotion for 3-9 y.o. and I was honored to be asked to shoot it. The instructor is an amazingly gifted teacher and gave this little guy special attention and words of encouragement to increase his chances of succeeding. In the end, despite everyone's heartbreak, he fell short of securing his belt. This time. I felt bad for the little guy but thought back on my martial arts days and remembered how much I appreciated the lessons of tough love I got to know so well. Life is indeed full of fun, happiness and good times. It's also fraught with pain, suffering and unfairness. Although I lose to the negatives periodically, I'm confident I'd lose more often if it wasn't for those lessons of tough love I learned as a child.

Up Close and Personal

I took a quick trip to our downtown area one day because I just had to get out of the house. I decided to do what I often hear you should do periodically and this is take only one lens and just do what you can with what you have. I took my 50mm and was near some these "sky rats" as a friend used to call them. I finally gave up on sneaking up on them for a close shot and soon after I started concentrating on the riverbank this one starts photo bombing me. I followed him and got what he probably wanted.

Mother Ship

On a trip to Chicago's Millennium Park one evening, I came across a rather odd art display involving colored flood lamps and white sheer fabric cloth in odd shapes. Their oddity and size reminded me of spaceships and alien invasions.

Day of the Dead

Yesterday was Mexico's Day of the Dead. Last weekend I attended a crazy shut-down-the-downtown-streets type of celebration called Nightmare on Chicago Street. I shot hundreds of this one was my favorite.

The Future

Laid off the other day. Future's a bit unclear but I'm staying positive and hopeful. “A stumble may prevent a fall.” - Thomas Fuller

The Dead Reach Out

Broke my lens that day, but before I did, I looked for a different take on the gross green film on the water. The dead tree sorta reaching out to the live ones did the trick for me.

A Path

This year I climbed a rather steep hill at a forest preserve I had never visited to find this solitary tree on top. It was an gloomy day. For the next hour or so, I sought to squeeze how I felt into several shots. This is one of them.

Our favorite Chocolate Chip

Yesterday my daughter asked me to enlarge her favorite photo of our recently-passed cat, Chip. I shot hundreds in the course of his life and he meant a lot to us. Especially her because it was principally her cat. This is the picture. She likes it because it's as though he is thinking hard about something as the sun sets. He thought a lot. We miss him. :*(

Starved Rock

Visited Starved Rock State Park in Utica Illinois last weekend. Lots of people but tried to stay focused on finding expression for how it made me feel. Not quite done.

Sit 'n wonder

The drizzle had started when I arrived so I started packing up. Then, I thought, oh what the heck, I'm here and probably won't be back for another year. I took it. Haven't been back in over a year.

Waves of Time

[caption id="attachment_19" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Waves of Time[/caption]

I was captivated by the rush of the water in the very small stream and surprised how much time and nature had changed the shoreline.

The Tower

[caption id="attachment_5" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Chicago's Water Tower[/caption]