The End

Today's image is the last one for this year. Thought is was only fitting and symbolic to feature this long hall with repeating patterns as we move into a brand new year.    Let's hope there is light at the end of this tunnel.  I'm also celebrating completing the whole month of December sharing an image a day. between work,  traveling  and the holidays it was tough but I pulled it off. That's it for today and the year.

Hungry?

Today's image is another of some of my favorite food items.  This was taken in natural light near the ocean. It was lunch time and I was eating light in prep for more disciplined eating habits next year.
That's it for today.

Best Seat

Today's image features the best seats to clear your mind. Add a good book, music, sun glasses, sun block and beverage and you are set.  At least that's all I need.  Gotta go now my seat is getting cold. That's it for today.

Morning Light

Today's image was shot this morning during sun rise in Cancun.  As you can see, the thick cluster of clouds made for an interesting reflection of light dancing from the horizon to shore. I'll get one more beautiful sun rise before heading back to my winter home. That's it for today.

Half Full or Half Empty?

Today's image was taken on day two and a half (or you could say day three) of our five day trip to Cancun.  Sitting after lunch I realized our trip was half over.  We had a choice to make, either get depressed that we were half way on the way back to winter or get busy enjoying the rest of this trip.
I decided to put into action one of my favorite quotes from the movie Dead Poets Society which is "Carpe Deim".  It's a  phrase from a Latin poem by Horse. It translates to "seize the day".  On that note, I gotta go! That's it for today.

White Christmas??

Today's image comes almost live from the beach in Cancun. Do the clouds count as a white Christmas?  It's a beautiful day and it's 80 degrees.  Spending the time enjoying the warm sun and reading the Steve Jobs book. 

Image taken with my G11.  Although I normally travel with my other gear, I decided to try this trip with just the G11.  Lots less equipment to carry and worry about.  I'll admit there are some things here I wish I had my other gear to shoot with, but I'm not disappointed with what I'm getting with this camera.  That's all I can think of (want to) for today's post. Gotta get back to the beach.

Merry Christmas!

 

                         
   Today's image is just to say MERRY CHRISTMAS to all.

Happy Holidays

Today's image is from this years family Christmas shoot minus the parents.  This was actually shot on white seamless paper.  I applied a little  post work to change the background color, added a few snow flakes and the message.  Hope you have a happy and safe holiday season.  That's it for today.

Breakfast of Champions?

Today's image is of my favorite breakfast.  Spent a few days in Las Vegas last weekend and had to have it. Just a quick shot with my G11 before I went to town on this plate.  Taken in natural light straight out of the camera with no post work applied.  That's it for today.

A River Runs Through it

Today's image is of the Chicago river.  Yep, it's pretty green.  The running joke in town used to be that this was the one place you could walk on water.  It was that dirty at one time.  Now it's has become a destination for people to enjoy.  That's it for today.

Twist and Lean

Today's image should make you  lean your head  to the right.  I shot this image of part of the Sears Tower from the river.  The building has been renamed Willis Tower due to new owners, but to me, it will always be the Sears Tower.  You should notice that the camera was turned in addition to pointing straight up in the air. After you get the standard safe shot that everyone else takes,  try a few different
positions and angles.  That's it for today.

Behind The Curtain

Today's image is a glimpse at what happens behind the curtain. This is a client during a studio rental session. Most of the time I just hang around to assist with equipment if needed. I shot a few frames to capture someone else at work.  I'm normally the one behind the camera but I also enjoy watching others at work.  It's interesting to watch how others go about creating their images.  That's it for today.

Reactions

Today's image is another one from the wedding at Navy Pier.  In a previous post I talked about shooting a wedding in a public place.  This is another picture of the bride and one of the total strangers that stopped to take a picture with her. What determines if a stranger displays a kind disposition or a mean one?  On this day most people stopped and smiled at the bride and the wedding party.

This image got me to thinking about the homeless man I shot a few frames of and shared in a previous post.  I remembered how strangers reacted as they passed him.  There were no smiles and no one stopped to take a picture with him.  In fact, most people didn't even acknowledge he was there. Why is that?

That's in for today.

Real Friends

Today's image is of a couple of friends out for a morning stroll.  It got me to thinking about real friends.  How many of us can say we really have a true friend?  I think you are lucky if you can actually say you have one. So think about your definition of a true friend and then determine how many you really have. That's it for today.

Character

Today's image is of an elderly man from Romania. He was here visiting his daughter and I photographed them. I made a few large prints from them, but this is my favorite. The character lines in his face were just calling for a black and white image. This was taken in natural light.  I enjoy a good black and white image just as much as I enjoy colors that pop.  This was taken with a 50mm prime lens.  That's it for today.

Freedom Part 2

Today's image is a closer look at what each of those flags represented from yesterdays post.  While each one had one name on it, it represented countless family members left behind that lost a loved one.  Each of them was someones father, mother, son, daughter, cousin, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece. None of their relatives lives will ever be the same.  I'd like to just say thank you to all the men and women who served our country and their families. That's it for today.

Freedom Part 1

Today's image is a shot honoring our fallen soldiers. I was driving by this park on the way to something else and happened to see this field of flags. I was lucky I had my gear in the car on this day. I doubled back and spent an hour walking this field and taking a few images.  Thanks to our current president there will be no more flags from the current wars being added to this field.  Each one represents a life lost. I'll share another image from this event tomorrow. That's it for today.

Things Change

Today 's image is of a homeless man I came across during a walk along the Chicago river one morning.  I was out shooting some landscape and architecture shots for my port.  I asked permission to shoot a few frames of him and he said it was alright.  He didn't ask but I gave him a few dollars.  This is the holiday season and there are a lot of people in need. Please keep them in mind as you go about your daily activities.  That's it for today.

Stormy Weather

Today's image was taken late in the fall. Colors and light always draw my attention if you remember from some of my other posts.  I enhanced the colors in photoshop a little to make it pop more, but this image could have stood on it's own straight out of the camera also.  I was feeling a little creative that day and played with some framing also.  A cloudy day like this is one of my favorite times to shoot outside.  It was raining off and on.  Warning, if you are going to go shoot in the rain, make sure you have a plastic bag to cover your gear or keep in under you coat or jacket. That's it for today.

I'll take a lite!

Bet you weren't thinking of this kind of light were you? Today's image might make you thirsty.  I was shooting an event and just noticed how natural light was hitting these bottles and couldn't resist taking this shot.  It was  shot with a Nikon D200 with a prime 50mm lens.  This lens is great for capturing images in natural light.  I enjoy using it for the detailed shots I take at weddings.  If you want a great lens for these kind of shots pick one up.  That's it for today
image.

Today's image is a shot of the area being set up prior to a wedding on a farm.  The day was perfect, not a cloud in the sky, and a very slight breeze.  Again I was there a few hours before the event to make some test exposures before show time.  I use this time and the shots to check for the best ISO, white balance, shutter speeds, apertures , etc..  This is important because you won't have time to be trying out settings during the event.

In addition to testing settings, I'm also checking the sight lines and views looking for distracting elements to try and keep out of the images during the event. I'll be posting more images from this event
and thoughts in future posts.  That's all for today.

Today's image was actually shot today.  It's one of my favorite views of the city.  I was aboard the Spirit of Chicago, a floating brunch, lunch and dinner boat. This view is a lot more fun when it's warm outside.  Today it was a nice brisk and windy 14 degrees.  Needless to say not the kind of weather to have bare fingers working a camera.  This was one of those perfect times to use automatic settings on a camera.  Now, I almost never use this, but today for some reason I stepped out on the deck of this boat without my coat so I just went with auto.  I shoot 99% of the time in manual mode. I got lucky and my trusty G11 nailed the shot in auto mode.  I mentioned in an earlier post that I try and keep this camera with me at all times for occasions such as this. That's it for today.

Happy Tunes

Today's image is of a street performer.  If you've been following this blog at all you know what got my attention.  All together now......it was the colors of course.  I stopped and listened to him for a while and also asked for permission to photograph him.  He was very good, people gathered around and dropped money at his feet. I took this image with my cannon G11 which I try to carry with me everywhere. It's for those times when I want to be able to adjust settings like a DSLR but not have to carry my main cameras or lens around.  It's a great sub. for none action shots.  That's it for today.

Old Man Winter

Thought I'd just share a beautiful summer like day at the beach image today. It was actually taken in December in Florida.  If you are in Chicago today, you know winter is almost here and today is the first snow's eve (Yeah, I just made that term up).  It's cold !!!!!!!!  Tomorrow will be the first measurable snow on the ground, so get ready to drive defensive for the crazy people who forget how to drive every year for the first snow fall.  You know the ones, they speed around curves and corners like the streets are still dry and they can stop on a dine.  There will be accidents during the rush hours so give yourself extra time to get where you are going.  That means leave earlier.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot about the photography.  I picked this image because of the contrasting color of the bathing suite against the sand and the water.  The sun provided beautiful contrasting hard light. The deep shadows just added to it and made the  colors pop.  That's it for today, bundle up.

Looking Up

This image was taken in the fall and as you can see this tree had already lost all it's leaves.  This was not a planned shot.  I was actually in the woods shooting a portrait session and was using this tree to brace myself to prevent camera shake for a different shot.  I just happened to look straight up for some reason and noticed the texture of the tree bark.  I turned around pretty much kissing the tree (no comments please) to get this shot.  Now I don't know, I could be the only person that likes this image but I thought it was worth sharing.  My final thought on this is just always keep your mind and eyes open for everyday things.

A Little Paint Never Hurts

Talk about cool? This is one of my daughters friends on her birthday.  They all had a ball.  Something about face paint and someone who knows how to apply it.  If it was me doing the painting this would not look so cool.  Photographing kids can be rewarding and frustrating all at the same time.  Rewarding when you get that great capture.   I think I'm successful 95% of the time getting a great shot, it's that 5% percent that make me swear I'll never shoot another kid.  Just kidding, I really enjoy it.  Every now and then you get an uncooperative subject.  A lot of times it's the well meaning parents that stress the kids out during a portrait session and cause it not to be fun for them.  When that happens it's hard to recover and you need a little luck to come away with something good.

My tips for shooting kids is just let them be themselves and keep the camera ready to shoot.  The images look more natural when they aren't putting on the manufactured smile that often comes from a parent telling them to smile.  Also, get down  to their eye level or lower vs. standing up and aiming down at them.  Try and catch them just being kids in some kind of activity. Last thing is don't be afraid to fill the frame with a close up look.   Capturing their facial expressions make wonderful images to enlarge,  frame and hang on the wall.  That's it for today image.

Corp. Head Shot

Today's image is an on location corporate portrait for a client I do work for in Chicago.  The setup for this type of image is always the same for this client.  That means I have to be able to get the same look every time even though I may shoot these images on different days.  I shoot it with two different backgrounds for each person. One with the buildings in the background and another with a portable background.   Adjustments have to be made depending on the time of day as that affects the outside ambient light for the background.  Lighting and color has to be the same all the time for a repeatable consistent look for their website.  The people I shoot for this client have very busy schedules and normally are only available for 10 to 15 minutes tops.  I've done this so often that I can pretty much setup the the lighting and be ready in 15 minutes. The key is knowing my gear.

The first time I shot this work I took more gear then I needed, not knowing what the environment would be, I had to be ready for anything.  I always take backups of everything (cameras, lights, strobes, stands).  Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.  I'm happy to say I haven't needed the backup gear yet.  Stay tuned to future posts for the other background examples.
That's it for today.

Our American Girl

American Girl is big business.  My daughter models in the fashion show each year. The details and the marketing for this line of products is amazing.  Break a doll and it's not sent back for repair it's sent to the American Girl hospital.  Tangle up the hair and you can make an appointment at the American Girl beauty shop to have it shampooed conditioned and styled.

Ok, on the photography end, I always get to the shows early and make a few test shots to check the lighting level and white balance etc.. Notice the pattern here from a previous blog this week?  I normally try and shoot shows with  kids in them without flash as it tends to spook the younger kids.  They get that deer in the headlights look which is not good.   Notice the pattern here?????  In general
almost anytime you shoot people performing, flash is a distraction so I try and avoid it when possible.

Weddings and Public Places

You just have not had fun until you shoot a wedding at Chicago's busiest tourist attraction on one of the hottest days of the year.  I'm talking about none other then Navy Pier in late August.  There's nothing like the reaction from strangers.  The looks vary from smiles to why would anyone want to do that.  For the most part people were friendly and tried to honor space for us to get the shots we wanted.  Several complete strangers like the couple in this shot jumped in to pose with the bride.  There will be more posts and thoughts from this wedding in the future.

Whew, almost didn't make this post in time.

This was the location of a wedding I shot this past year.  One thing I always try to do for every wedding  is visit the location prior to the big event.  In this case I visited this church a week before the wedding at the same time as it was scheduled. This was important because of all the natural light from the windows.  As you can also see I would be shooting directly into the windows which meant my subjects would be back lit.  You don't want to see this for the first time during the real wedding. I spent no more then half hour walking around the church and shooting test shots.

Now of course on the the day of the wedding the lighting would not be the same but at least I had an idea already of what to expect and a ballpark idea of camera settings to start with.  Also  there would be mixed lighting from the church lights being turned on.   The big day came and I'm happy to say it went off without a hitch. 

Yes, I know part of  the title says an image a day, but I just had to show the second one. I also used this time to see what wide angle and fish eye shots would look like.

All in Sync

Wow, it's December 1st already and another year is almost over. It's officially the holiday season.  This image was taken as part of the series I shoot every year for my own family Christmas cards.  I do this for my clients also.  These are fun shoots and the results have always been great thus far.  This years shoot is coming up soon.  These sessions take anywhere from half hour to an hour.  While the end results are always great cards, the challenge is always getting everyone in the shot looking their best.  Sure they are all smiling now, but give or take a few seconds
prior to this instant and they may have been.... lets just say not smiling. 

I usually use a simple one light off camera flash setup with a softbox or white shoot thru umbrella to make the lighting softer.  Setup is pretty quick and easy.

Colors Got Me

Today's image was taken during my assignment in India.  What caught my attention was the contrast of colors against the wall.  I didn't notice until after I'd shot it, that the man had an artificial leg. I was so focused on the color and the texture in the wall that I didn't notice.  The lighting was perfect as he was sitting in open shade.  In spite of that the colors were still pretty vibrant. I took this image from my car while stopped at a light, so I only had seconds to compose it and check camera settings. I got lucky.
(Shot with  Nikon D100, ISO 200,  1/90 sec. at f/5 at 35mm focal length )

As Simple as Black and White

This is one of my favorite images.  It was shot in a studio during a shoot out.  That means there were several other photographers  there and we were all taking turns shooting several different models.  These can be fun and also a big challenge. These work best with experienced models, as they are used to  posing and need very little direction.   Even with this, if  you are the last one shooting you may still be hard pressed to come up with something different from the other photographers that have gone before you.  I decided to have her lay on the floor for a few frames sense no one else had shot her that way.  The colors she was wearing were bright pink and white.  During a little post work I decided to see what it would look like after a black and white conversion.  Needless to say I liked it better.  Over the years I've also learned if you are shooting in jpeg mode and blow the white balance setting and/or exposure to give the conversion a try before tossing out the image. You may get lucky.
Give it a try.

A Little Competition

At a recent wedding I shot, I had to contend with a little competition (pun intended). Needless to say the pressure was on to make sure I came away with better pictures then he did. It was actually fun shooting with him. He followed me around for several shots during the day. While a lot of photographers would have been upset with the kid following them around I had fun with him. Who knows, he may grow up and become a photographer. This wedding was shot on a farm. It was a fun, interesting and challenging day. Stay tuned for other images from this day.