fourpointedstar

I ended up taking more than a handful of photos of the derelict (and possibly being refurbished?) Congress Theater, but of all of the images, I love this one the most.  The old run down theater locked behind a pad lock and gate, held back from the public and waiting for someone to find the right key.

About 10 minutes earlier, another bus passed by and as it passed I noticed the reflection of the brickwork and the trees.  I understand why this happens, but it kinda hurts my brain to realize that the bus has a bit of motion blur, but the reflection does not – making it a fantastic canvas.

I’ve taken this type of photo so many times – a building’s reflection distorted in the windows of another building.  The rough idea of the reflection is visible, but only at a conceptual level; almost like a third grader was tasked with cutting 50 straight lines as fast as they can without using a ruler.

As I stood waiting for fellow photo walkers to arrive, I could see the corner of the McDonald’s sign reflected in the triangular building across the street.  Moving to the left allowed the entire sign to be displayed in their windows; a great way to start a street photography photo walk.

Once you start looking around ECC, you’ll find many beautiful scenes to photograph, and since the campus has been built over decades, there are many different architectural styles to take advantage of.

It gets harder and harder to capture different or unique angles of cars at car shows.  I have hundreds of photos of antique car details and thousands of photos of cars; so at each show that I attend now, I am looking for something different, a new sight – like photographing a classic through a hood.

I first saw this car at the Elgin History Museum Classic Car Show; it wasn’t in a great spot to capture a photo of the entire car, but I captured a very minimalist photo of the hood ornament (“Sleek Lines”, July 26, 2025).  The owner was sitting directly behind the car at the South Elgin show and explained that the “hood ornament” is also the hood handle.  This was such a cool car to photograph. 🙂

This is the “classic car” – the 55 to 57 Chevy Belair, a true work of art.  Its very interesting to see the style and design change each year; a 1955 Belair shows what the new style will be, but the details are more reserved, and by the time the “57 Chevy” came out, “reserved” was not the word you would use for the car at all.

I tried this photo a week before with a tree in the background, and it just didn’t work.  I posted the photo simple because it was unique, but now that I have this image?  I like that other photo even less! LOL. I love the balance of color and detail and the overall saturation as well! 

I’m not even sure where the puddles came from that day – it was over 90°F / 32.2°C out – but the puddles made for fun reflections.  A couple of other photographers on the walk really used them to their advantage, I just used them as an abstract framing device.

When we started our photo walk, I wanted to capture images that I may not normally see or look for. The stop light shadow immediately grabbed my attention, but I will admit that my second photo, the reflection, is the type of photo that I have taken many times over.

I love looking for interesting reflections in windows; the window offers a perfect frame and typically distorts the view. Recently though, I’ve been drawn to photos of reflections in puddles; a very similar concept, but a different and less predictable frame and outcome.

This Packard was sitting next to the 1955 Chevy, and while I took my photos of the Chevy, I was continuously drawn to the unique hood ornament and the unique color – a cream with a hint of yellow. I love the graceful pose of the hood ornament – a swan landing in the water – absolutely gorgeous.

Let’s just assume at this point that I won’t tire of hood ornaments. (Spoiler… there’s another photo of one this week too!) This is the same 1955 Chevy that I used for my 24 photo challenge as well, so if you want to see 20+ more images of this car, click here.

I will never admit how many photos it took to get this particular image: the bee would fly off, the bee’s face would be too dark or too light, the focus wouldn’t be correct, etc. As it is, there are still elements that I wish I could fix; I dislike that the center is so out of focus, and I wish that the bee’s were just a little more in the sunlight. But I love that the image implies that the bees are circumnavigating the flower, an insect Juan Elcano if you will.

Any photographer knows that there are acceptable photos, there are good photos, and then there are photos that you feel lucky to capture; and you have to display all three types.  Bees rarely stay on a flower for longer than a few seconds, and this image took advantage of a flower’s askew petals; lining the two up wasn’t skill, it was luck.  But a good photographer knows that the more often you go out to take photos, the more likely you are to get lucky. 

Of course there is a joke about the Golden Arches on the River Point building, but honestly, this construction was a wonderful addition to the Chicago River split.  In 2008 and 2009, I visited this exact spot, but there was no building, only traintracks.  Now, there’s a beautiful park, wonderful art, and the space has been utilized.

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

I love a photo that doesn’t have a lot of visual clutter, and I love a photo that has a strong point of focus.  For this photo, I love that the subtle colors work so well together, and that the lines are so strong throughout.

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

Well, I did mention that there are so many red cars at car shows, but there are also so many mid-50’s Chevy coupes. And while I love their style and beauty, it is definitely harder and harder to find that original and create photo.

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

My goodness, there are so many red cars at car shows, so this Purple Plymouth stood out from the crowd. In my ongoing effort to capture unique views at auto shows, I love this off balance scowling headlight, grill, and bumper.

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

Sometimes it’s just the simplicity of the photo.

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

This wasn’t my favorite photo to capture. The railings on the staircase are glass and that just gives me the heebie-jeebies (is that how you spell that phrase?); moving my feet out of the way while trying to hold my camera over the edge.

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

As I moved around the lobby in the Hemmens, these lights moved with me creating patterns and shapes. A centimeter this way or that and the entire frame would change; it’s one of the reasons that I love architecture photography, it really does embody that statement of “right place, right time”. The colors, angles, lighting are all impacted by exactly when and where you are standing.

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

Each week has a theme, and so each week there are 1 or 2 photos that are left over. Or in the case of this week’s windows theme, I needed an extra photo, so I reached into those extras and found this fun photo from 2018.

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

One of my favorite things to do in the winter in Chicago is to visit one of the conservatories to see the plants and blossoms. The splash of color does wonders to invigorate my spirit.
But then I tend to create monochrome images out of my trips because I love the textures.

It probably goes without saying, but you can’t go very far in Seattle without seeing Mount Ranier. When we took the tour of the harbor the sun was setting and illuminating the snow cap.

As I looked over the other side of the bridge (from the previous photo), the colors and detail in the shoreline struck me. The water was so clear that it felt like you could see dozens of feet into the river. I love the balance of shoreline, saturated colors, underwater cliff, and the reflection of the forest in this image.

Sarah pointed out this view. We passed by this vantage point on the way west that day, so when we returned east, she asked me to photograph this portion of the river. I wish that I could have captured a train on the bridge, but that would almost ruin the view.

I love the warble of reflected lines in glass, but it brought a smile to my face to discover the same thing happens with metals. The straight lines of the fantastic red-ish hues stand out against the reflected copper lines. I’ve photographed this exact phenomena in many windows but finding it present in steel was simply wonderful.