fourpointedstar

Sarah and I have traveled to see the Foo Fighters multiple times, so this trip was easy; just a quick trip up to Milwaukee for the weekend (we saw Green Day on the second night of the festival!). What stands out about this concert is that Josh Freese was on the drums; he was later let go, but we saw him again because he also tours with Nine Inch Nails.
This festival seemed to be more relaxed on security, so I brought my Sony in to capture a few photos of our favorite band!

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A good Independence Day Parade is full of red, white, and blue – clothing, bunting, streamers, balloons, and so many American flags large and small. So in keeping with this week’s theme, here are a few flags from my hometown’s Fourth of July parade.

I’ve captured this style of image of an American flag multiple times; a single long exposure of a flag as it waves in a breeze. The trick is the breeze can’t be too strong or you don’t get variations in the waving, but … that means that you might encounter a night like last night, where you stand outside for an hour because the wind just isn’t blowing most of the time.

Let’s call this image a work-in-progress, ok? As photographers if we’re honest with ourselves, none of our images turn out EXACTLY how we want them to, especially when we’re trying something new. However, I am very happy with this composite. I wanted to do another multiple exposure this week, but this time with a lot more images – 50 is a lot, right?

I captured the same flag at roughly 1 second intervals for 2 minutes for this creation, and each flagpole is rotated exactly 1/50th of the circle. While the blending/opacity did not turn out with the effect that I wanted, I am exceedingly happy with the happy accidental bushes around the edge!

p.s. I’ll let you guys figure out why I chose 50 images. 😉

I enjoy the rotating art displays in the courtyard between the Tribune Tower and the Apple Store on Michigan Avenue. Seeing “hope” in such a central point of the city is a wonderful reminder of something that we have to work at, to hope for a better future.
And of course, I had to shoot some light trails on any walk through Chicago!

The day was rainy, but the soldiers still stood guard. With the rainy concrete and the interior lights providing a warm glow, the entrance to The Wrigley Building looked perfectly festive and the marble facade added to the grandeur.

There’s something magical about the hustle and bustle of early December. The busyness but excitement for the celebrations to come; spending time with family, fewer work obligations, and parties. Watching the joy of the people skating in Millennium Park still brings a smile over a month later.

This might be my most serendipitous shot from our Seattle trip in October. Sarah and I were walking back to our VRBO that evening; Sarah wanted to look at a chocolate shop, but as we passed Union Street, the moon caught my eye. My feet were tired and I didn’t have my tripod with me, so this was taken with my Sony propped on top of a circular railing over the 3 story drop onto Post Alley. I probably took more than a dozen photos in my attempt to capture the scene; the ferris wheel would stop rotating, someone else would bump the railing, or I wasn’t standing perfectly still … but in the end I captured this 4 second exposure and only later discovered that it included Venus!

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

The first week of October last year, I took an epic trip to visit waterfalls in Northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan; over the course of the week, I visited and photographed around 60 waterfalls (depending on how you segment certain falls). I’ve wanted to make it up there for years but had never taken the time to plan that trip; then Rich from Chicago Streets and Beyond photography group announced that he would be hosting a waterfall trip over the first week of October which coincides with my birthday … what a perfect birthday present to me!

Over the next 4 months, I’ll be posting a photo from each waterfall in the order that I visited them as well as a video of the falls, and I hope you enjoy taking the trip with me.

For this abstracted image, I tried a new technique. In the past, I have used a 50mm lens and swung my camera around, or I have adjusted the zoom or focus while the shutter was open. But I had the idea to hold the lens still using the zoom ring, and then rotate the camera body. I tried this a few times with an all white lights Christmas display, and then a few days later I found this solitary Christmas Tree to photograph. This technique has the potential to be one of my favorite abstract processes.

I remember the first time I heard “My Hero”. I was already a Nirvana fan, and I remember the radio DJ explaining that this song was written by the Nirvana drummer about Kurt.

I’ve been a Foo Fighters fan ever since, and Sarah’s level of love for the Foo Fighters eclipses mine. So, to attend Taylor’s tribute was a simple way to say thank you for 25 years of amazing music.

I figured that Dave (and the rest of the Foo) would play My Hero, and that I would cry. But instead, Taylor’s 16 year old son, Shane, played drums for My Hero. And honestly, Shane killed it: to hear thousands of people sing with Dave while Shane crushed the drums – it was a feeling of pure joy.

And then Dave sang “Everlong” alone. And I cried.
Thanks Taylor for 25 and many more years of great music.

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In late 2010, I started posting images to this site – a photo for each day. The first photo was of star trails – a photo that I’m proud of even today. As I ran out of photos that I had taken before, the daily photo became a challenge because I needed to shoot fresh images that I would be proud to post on my site.

Over the past 10 years, I’ve learned numerous lessons about photography, met many great friends, and shared my images with others. I’ve always shot photos for my own enjoyment as a way for me to relax, enjoy the moment later, and “create” something. My website became another way for me to create and remember the moments, and going out photographing with my friends became an enjoyable way to relax.

There are now almost 3,800 images on the site, from some of my first images in 2003 up to now. Even though there are mistakes and images that I no longer care for, I’m proud of the end result and I’m excited about adding more photos and making it better over the next years.

If you’d like to take a peek at the photos, choose one of the “Calendars” on the lower left – you’ll find at least 365 photos. 🙂