The Adventure Begins

The event booked in January as a treat and Christmas gift to myself had finally arrived. I set my alarm for 5:00 AM, which is still the middle of the night (in reality it's about the time for my nightly get up to pee) for one who likes to sleep until at least 7:00 AM (or later), drove to the train station, lined up with all the others with sleep filled eyes to begin my journey to the Out of Chicago Photography Event. For a brief moment I actually considered staying at home, only for an instance tho, because we so rarely have fog in our area. What great opportunities I would be missing, and then I hit myself on my forehead, brought myself back to the moment, and thought "what the heck are you thinking??" Miss this great event for fog?? So I snapped a couple of foggy train images and boarded the train for a 4 day adventure.

The event didn't officially begin until Friday evening, however we were given the opportunity to register for workshops Thursday and Friday.  My workshop for the day was with the iconic Bryan Peterson, author of  the #1 selling photography book on Amazon, "Understanding Exposure", which btw he was quick to mention. Our class was small in size, only about 14 or so, which made it easy to stay together and hear Bryan point out various spots that we needed to try with new eyes and new settings on our cameras. Not new, but different than what I was used to.

This is Bryan's settings to bring everything in focus from front to back (altho my front focus was a bit fuzzy probably because if I had put my camera any lower it would have been in the puddle)....in manual mode set your meter at 1, use a wide angle lens with a setting at 16mm, set your F stop at 22, and your ISO around 100 or adjust accordingly. As you can see, the fog was still hanging around, especially around the Willis (aka Sears) Tower.

After struggling to stand back up (you know I am at that age where getting down is one thing, getting back up is quite another undertaking). We stopped by a pillar that was loaded with posts, graffiti, old posters etc and stood there for a good 10 minutes. I won't bore you with pictures of torn pieces of paper. Instead I shot the L train which had a beautiful blue building as the background....

Next, our challenge was to capture interesting backgrounds with shots of Bryan.  I chose his finger instead of his face, thought the background for his finger was more colorful than what was behind his face from where I was standing.

Moving on, our next challenge was to capture stop motion with high shutter speeds.  And being the shy, unassertive (wink wink) person that he is, Bryan became our model for a "windy" city illustration.

With that same challenge we walked down to Millennium Park to the Crown Fountain. A unique concept which combines tradition with urban pop-art. The fountain is composed of two huge LED screens which project the faces of ordinary Chicagoans. The water spouts from their digital mouths, creating a playful water feature for the enjoyment, albeit wet, playground for all.

After class concluded, Christine (who I met in Bryan's class) and I walked to Panera for dinner. Christine became a fast friend, she and I seemed to be of the same mindset. She was quite a few years younger than me, but when you share a passion like photography, age is irrelevant.  We met up for different classes and at mealtimes. She lives in the Chicago area so hopefully we will see each other again sometime in the future.

I managed to arrive at the train station in time for an express train, 35 minutes as opposed to an hour, bringing me home around 6:00 PM.  Friday's adventure was a one-on-one session with Matt Kloskowski to critique my photography and the Opening Night speaker with Rick Sammon.  Stay tuned for more notes, photos, and adventures from Out of Chicago.

"And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it."  ~  Roald Dahl

Until next time......

Home Again & The Photo Walk

Feeling much better today so drove to my daughter's to pick up my sweet Toby.  I sure did miss him.  My brother has a dog, A J, a golden retriever, beautiful.  So calm, most of the time you are not even aware he is around except when he wants a little lovin'. The whole week I was there I never heard him bark, not once.  We took him to Santa Fe with us and while Gwen and I were strolling the streets my brother would have him on a leash walking around the Promenade   He became an instant magnet, attracting women, children & men.  Everyone wanted to pet A J, he is so gentle and so tolerant.  Toby, on the other hand is well, how do I say this, not calm, not quiet, you always know he's around and barks at just about everything.  I keep telling myself that the barking is good, makes for a fine watch-dog, but if anybody came after him he would run with his tail between his legs.  He sounds mighty, but he is really a woose (sp??) He was so happy to see me today he couldn't stop wagging his tail, jumping up on my lap, kissing me (I know those who aren't dog lovers are probably going yuck), and a few barks along the way.  Isn't it nice to be loved like that, so unconditional, so happy.  A J gives quiet love, Toby is a little more demonstrative. 

Wouldn't you say he was a happy camper to be home again??!! 

Thought I would post a few pics from the Scott Kelby Photo Walk I went on Saturday, Oct 1st.  Just a few days before I left for Colorado.  My buddy, Catherine and I joined a group that was to meet at Graceland Cemetery on North Clark St. in Chicago.  It was established in 1860 and is a haven in the city with massive oaks, elms and maples that stand in testament to the architecturally significant monuments and markers that cover 119 acres of land.  Chicago "giants" are buried here, early settlers, developers, railroad car manufactures, inventors, civic planners & builders, newspapers publishers, lumber merchants.  This cemetary is filled with those who made Chicago the great city it is today. 

There were many mausoleums that had beautiful workmanship on the doorways.  Because of their age they had this wonderful patina finish. 

And my goodness there were many, many tall pedestals marking the gravesites.

This was the gravesite of the Burnham Family, early developers of the city.  Very simple rock gravestone, but he had a small island that was all his. 

Was that ever a surprise (shock) to be walking along and this runs in front of us. The Cemetary had a coyote that made his home there.  One of the fellow photographers found his den beneath a tombstone, almost stuck his hand in but decided he best not. (a wise man does not stick hand in coyote den.....an Indian lore)

This small site belonged to the Honore Family, a big developer.  (Carried on thru death looks like)

And my friend, Marshall Field.  I call him my friend because of how many times I went to his place of business to shop.  He always sent me a thank-you in the form of my monthly bill.  Very sad in this city when Marshall Field was sold to Macy's.  It took me almost 4 years before I would even step foot inside Macy's.  I was in protest. 

Suppose he belonged to the Pope family and just stopping by to pay his respects?  They did have quite a few small headstones.  They were not all super sized. 

Oops spoke too soon.  This is another LARGE tribute, this one belongs to the Palmer Family.  Another developer of our fair city and also the owner of the Palmer House Hotel.  Mr. Palmer is laid to rest in that large above ground marble grave on the left, while Mrs. Palmer is on the right.  Do you see the man on the left?, that gives you some idea as to the size of this. 

The last one was a small gravesite that had this statue of a young man playing a flute made from bronze sitting atop the grave.  Apparently he was in his early 40's when he died after completing his medical schooling and had barely started his practice when he passed away.  This was my entry for my "best shot" of the day.  I just liked how serene and simple and that lovely bokeh.

It was a wonderful day strolling thru this piece of Chicago history.  I will definitely join a group next year. After the walk we all met at a local restuarant and bar just a couple of blocks away to enjoy a meal and talk about the coyote. 

"That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet."  ~  Emily Dickinson

Until next time.........