winter is a great time for shooting, esp after a light snow

have a good labor day y'all

some pics from a friend's show @ the underground lounge. thanks for letting me snap away, guys.

you don't believe me? that's your first mistake.

Long time between posts. Took a lot longer than I thought to get this started again. This pic is from a glider flight I took with my father last Sunday. Trust me, you haven't flown until you've experienced the pilot stopping the engine in mid-flight. After that, you soar, with the wind. It's beautiful. Like being on vacation for 20 minutes. Like you're in the palm of someone's hand, and they're carrying you along. I highly recommend it.

a night out at our favorite neighborhood spot, angelina's. it's nice when the staff knows you by name and the drinks you favor.

Marina City
300 N. State St. at the Chicago River
Chicago, Illinois

Sitting on a three-acre site, the entire Marina City complex consists of the two "corncob" towers, two commercial buildings, a theater, and of course, a marina--a mixed-use urban development unusual for its time.

It offered on-site amenities such as stores, a health club, swimming pool, skating rink, marina, bowling alley, and exhibit space, trying to reassert urban community and amenities in spite of the exodus to the suburbs. It is, by all accounts, robustly successful: it has become a beloved Chicago icon, with superb views from the fishbowl apartment windows.

Wim de Wit, in the AIA Guide to Chicago, says: "More than in any other high-rise apartments, in Marina City one has the feeling of having the whole city at one’s feet." I must add that standing 60 stories tall, with the lower twenty floors for parking, the building from the ground looks like some sort of cement flower with bright, twinkly car petals.

Bertrand Goldberg was both an architect and an engineer, and trained at Harvard and at the Bauhaus. In this unusual design the central core (the cob) is 35 feet in diameter, and houses the services and utilities; it bears 70 percent of the weight. The post and beam cage (the corn) around the perimeter bears the rest.

1st pic on the site using my new canon digital rebel xt. unfortunately i haven't really been able to break it out yet, due to some rainy days, some under the weather days, etc. plus, i still have to get the hang of it. it's a bit more complex than the lomo.

yes it has been a while since i've posted. a much needed break from the daily sameness. this is a bike, from new orleans.

new orleans

jackson square, new orleans

this is a pic from the trip to new orleans last week. it's great to be home, but it's been a bit difficult trying to settle in. this might be because the neighbor who we asked to watch our cat took it upon himself to reorganize and rearrange parts of our apartment.

that's right, he went into our kitchen and bathroom cabinets and reorganized them. he also cleaned our floors, our fridge and our bathtub. then he found some pictures and decided to hang them on the wall. but my favorite is that he went into my wife's closet and had his way with it. hung up all her purses. rearranged all her shoes. cleaned off her dresser and threw everything that was on top into boxes, which he then stacked on top of the dresser. oh, and he also hung up some paintings she had put away in the corner.

imagine coming home from vacation, after your flight has been delayed, to find your home has been "bettered" by your neighbor. all i can say is that this neighbor won't ever watch our cat again.

ah, new orleans. it's where i'll be for the next few days. can't wait. enjoy the cold weather, chicago...mississippi river, here i come.

It was one of those rare days today. Snow was falling, but it was warm enough to walk around without bundling up. Perfect day to head to the lakefront with the camera. But a little thing called Work got in the way of that, and by the time I got home, the snow had melted. Oh well. I can't complain. Spring is right around the corner.

hair, x6

it's such a gorgeous day today, i'd thought i'd post a reminder of a month ago. snow. lots of it. and cold too. thank god spring is on the way.

"graduate student discos for dollars" is what the sign says. this guy dances and dances and dances, and he's good too. new york has a singing cowboy; we have a disco dancing grad student. rock on.

i wouldn't drop anything in this mailbox. no one's home. this car wash closed down last year because the chicago cubs want to build a parking garage on the lot. i love baseball, but i loved this car wash too.

lower wacker drive

i considered myself quite fortunate last night. despite staying in on a saturday night, i was treated to the rarest of events - a pixies show. thanks to channel 56 and a show called austin city limits, i was able to witness my first - and hopefully not my last - pixies concert. to mark the occasion i created the above collage for all to enjoy. here's to staying in on saturday nights!

it's been beautiful here for the past couple of days. sun shining brightly, warm temperatures, loads of snow.

the snow here has been incredible over the past day. 10" as of noon today, with 6-8" more to come tonight. ah, gotta love that lake effect snow. i have my cup o' coco sittin here beside me, watching the events outside unroll from the inside. happy winter everyone.

this and the last shot are what happens when you're running back and forth to the laundry room in 5 degree weather...you're just too damn cold to stand still. i like how they turned out though. it's fun finding these unexpected shots that work. they work for me at least.

on the road, 6am.

my very own easter island

winter has a way of lulling me into hibernation, hence the long while between posts. laundry room is nice and warm though.

these photos are of the former jane addams hull house, a community center, located at belmont and broadway. it is in the process of being transformed into a fitness center. the first photo lists the types of services and activities that were offered.

happy new year everyone. here's to a happy and healthy one. thanks to all of you who visited the site in 04.

have a safe and happy new year everyone. and if you're in chicago, get out and enjoy the weather...55 doesn't come around all that often this time of year.

this week's photo friday entry, a grocery store parking lot after dark. lots of post-processing. usually it's nothing more than a bit of contrast and some saturation. went all the way tonight. i've found that the blurry shots are the best ones to mess around with.

my photo friday submission

been a while since the last pic, been pretty busy. feels good to have some time away...keeps things fresh..for me at least. i just wish i had a scanner that treated b&w's a bit better...too much distortion. guess a dell scanner will only take you so far.

a section of a wall of a chicago public library on belmont.

just messing around in my living room tonight. tomorrow should be a good day to head out and shoot.

more archive shots tonight. taken at graceland cemetary.

haven't posted in a while, going into the archives tonight. with all the rain and the steadily decreasing hours of sunlight, it's been difficult getting out. come to think of it, i haven't seen the sun in about a week.

notification from the resident mannequin at the local brown elephant

taken last winter. the ice froze along the wall right outside our apartment. nice contrast between...good and evil? happy and sad? the beauty of nature and man's unconquerable dominance over the earth? hard to tell.

today's the day. get out and vote. no excuses.

update 11/3/04: ever see that film, "the day after"? it's not a pretty scenario. something went wrong yesterday. why does the majority want bush in office? i can't explain it. i would have updated earlier, but i've been in shock all day.

another lomo pic. the strip of newspaper along the bottom reads "Chicago could use more lunatics like...". not quite sure what was next, but i can speak from experience, we don't need any more lunatics. please, stay where you are.

this is one of the few film pics on the site. the lomo 35f i bought on ebay finally took some pics that i'm happy with. the last roll only had 8 out of 24 turn out. this one is a bit dark, but it's up here because the reflection looks alright. i'm pretty happy though with how clear the rest of the pics turned out. looks like i have a new toy!

this shot was taken at sunset, which is coming a lot earlier these days. the building is facing north and the sun is to the right, which causes the brightness in the balconies. i played with the contrast a bit to bring out the colors i originally saw.

funny how the pictures can just sneak up on you. i was thinking this morning about how i needed to go out shoot a bit today. then my wife saw our cat, lilly, lounging on the kitchen floor in the sunlight, not in her bed, but next to it. this is the last shot i took...mostly because she was done with it. you can even see the hairs in mid-air.

rows of red @ the jay pritzker pavilion, millenium park.

my ode to the fine officers of chicago. early this morning, 5am, the phone rings. the officer on the other end tells me that they caught someone trying to break into my car...someone saw the guy and called the cops. i signed a few court papers and went back to bed. this theif was pretty stupid, trying this only a block and 1/2 away from the police station.

strange how i picked this pic though, which shows the squad car parked in a tow zone, in front of a pastry shop. go figure.

marathon pics #3: wasn't sure which one of these pics i liked more, the difference is so slim. she was eating her apple as the race started and raised it up when everyone cheered the runners passing by. she probably had no idea what was happening, but i could tell she felt the excitement.

marathon pic #2. for me, this photo really shows the spirit of the marathon. this girl was standing there, giving out high fives to whoever ran by. runners would see her up ahead and change their speed and path just to run by her. she put a lot of smiles on a lot of people's faces. i could have had better DOF on this, but i'm sort of glad i didn't. i like that you can see the various faces and poses of the people behind her.

marathon pic #1: my shots from the chicago marathon finally came back and i'll be posting them over the next few days. this is one of my favs. he still has over 1/2 the marathon left, yet he's still all smiles, no doubt helped by the people who've gathered along the route to cheer on the runners. it gets pretty emotional watching these runners and feeling their struggles and their determination all at once.

this is the front window of one of the better vintage/antique stores in my area. i've always wanted one of these neon clocks..their glow is beautiful. the red clock is approximately the same size as the blue, only it's on the back wall. the small red writing in the blue clock is a reflection of the sign from twisted spoke, a restaurant across the street. great burgers.

this is also my photo friday 2x4 entry. 2 blocks south, 4 blocks west, from my apartment.

this strange site was in the alley of the building behind our apt. not every day that i see bathroom appliances left out alone like this. it's a shame.

this place has good chicken pitas.

tomorrow this street will be filled with 40,000 runners from the chicago marathon. if i'm lucky, i'll be able to get myself out of bed early enough to get down to the starting line and take some pics. if not, i'll have to settle for watching it from my 3rd floor window. maybe i'll have a pita while enjoying the view.

these were taken right around the corner from each other, somehow that worked out right

the church down the street decided to make some repairs, which is a good thing, but in the meantime it looks like a tower of hell.

this pic, from the archives, has a delicate feel to it. nothing technically special about it, but that's fine with me.

walking along the lakefront on the last day of summer and playing around with the light setting on the fuji finepix came up with this pic.

isla verde, puerto rico. looking out the window from 21 stories up when i noticed all of these air conditioners lined up in rows.

these blue-grey bricks, originally ballast from Spanish Armada ships, line many of the streets of old san juan, puerto rico. quite a difference from the city streets i'm used to.

of course, i have to post one of these....our new cat, lilly. first day home from the shelter.

lights of puerto rico, taken in the evening, with a bit of motion

outline of my wife in the hallway of her grandmother's house in puerto rico.

from puerto rico to chicago

another shot of 'el morro'. since today is the 1 month anniversary of this site, i figured i'd post 2 pics.

taken yesterday from a 21st floor balcony in puerto rico

back from puerto rico, where my wife and i spent the past few days visiting her family. this shot is from 'el morro', one of the largest forts built by the Spaniards in the Caribbean.

buildings along michigan avenue in the morning light

building on michigan avenue in the morning light

crown fountain, millenium park, chicago

parking garage, early morning, downtown chicago

randolph and clinton, downtown chicago

driving on randolph into downtown chicago

ann sathers restaurant on broadway. their cinnamon rolls are heaven. knowing how busy it gets lets me appreciate the quiet.

ivy is everywhere in chicago. this parking garage window is barely keeping it out.

that's the hancock building in the center. this pic was taken near navy pier.

lake shore drive at night, looking north. long exposure.

don't really have an explanation for this one..any volunteers?

i love the solitary feel of this one. it was taken the same day as the last entry. lake michigan would normally be in this pic, but the fog keeps it hidden from view.

taken a couple of months ago. the cloud formation was one i have never seen before due to the turbulent weather that day. looked like marshmellows. feels a bit more ominous than that though.

not my drug of choice, but my wife sometimes partakes in the pleasure

doorway down bourbon, new orleans. a bit washed out, but that's ok. reminds me of an album cover.

another pic from millenium park, chicago

taken yesterday. it wasn't hard catching the kids, they were everywhere. this fountain consists of 2 towers, displaying faces and various colors, with water cascading down the sides. separating the two towers is a shallow pool of water, approx 1/2" deep. millenium park, chicago.

affectionately referred to as "the bean" by the citizens, millenium park, chicago. hopefully you can see the storms coming in, other shots taken a few minutes later show everyone huddled underneath..shots to display another day...

i love her stillness

directions, clock tower, chicago

you know what they say about one-legged geese

down the street from home, chicago

theater lights, chicago

street vendor equipment, jackson square, new orleans

taken along lake michigan, chicago.

looking thru the window on a rainy night, source of light is a streetlight