88 Photo of the Day 31 March 2011 -- Douglas Park Auditorium

Chicago has a rich architectural tradition. The Douglas Park Auditorium is a lovely old building that was build around 1910, as far as I can tell. I searched the internet but was unable to identify the architect. However the place has a great history. Apparently  it was variously a multipurpose Jewish institutional building that housed the Workmen's Circle, Jewish labor unions, and the Yiddish Theater. Later it was renamed Labor Lyceum. On September 6, 1919 it was the site of a Communist Party mass meeting. The building is not far from the start of Route 66. 

Now the Douglas Park Auditorium houses the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith. It's address is officially 3202 West Ogden Ave, Chicago. But it is located at the Northwest corner of Kedzie and Ogden Avenues.

I love this building. It still has the grandeur of that American Edwardian period. 

f5  1/500 sec  ISO 80  FL=30mm Panasonic Lumix

87 Photo of the Day 29 March 2011 -- Tulips

We know spring is here when the tulips arrive.

Here I present a bunch of potted tulips. To shoot this picture, I located the pot by a bright east window after the sun had moved south. The bright natural light gave these yellow flower a very natural look. In addition, to provide contrast and texture, I placed a dark blue sweatshirt on a chair behind the flowers to serve as a backdrop. Having read about taking shots of flowers in natural light, I used the suggestions to employ a very small aperture of f22 to assure a strong depth of field.  It seemed to work.

f22  (aperture priority) 1/0.3sec  ISO 1000  FL75mm  Nikon D 200

86 Photo of the Day 28 March 2011 -- Dribbling

This image represents a photo that completely went sour. 


I had the idea to catch some of the basketball players at my health club with  shutter priority to capture and still the movement. When I started I realized that the natural light reflection on the gym floor could provide a nice compliment to the action photos. Unfortunately I used the wrong camera. Never believe that one of these point and shoot cameras (like my Panasonic Lumix), no matter what the quality (and mine is good) can come close to capturing an image taken with a pro camera like my Nikon D200. The lens and the internal software as well as the image sensor are just not of the quality of the Nikon.


So here we see a cropped example of my efforts. There is a lot of noise. I did increase the size of the image, then despeckled and reduced the noise as well, followed by resizing down. But as you can see this was to little avail.  However, I do like the shot and I will likely try to reproduce this photo using the Nikon at some point over the next 9 months. 


Oh my lord, 9 more months of this project? Yikes!  :) 

f4  1/250 sec (shutter priority)  ISO 400  FL 63mm Panasonic Lumix

85 Photo of the Day March 27 2011 -- Hunting, with compassion

Our cats get excited when Spring arrives. The birds, squirrels and chipmunks make great targets for their hunting dreams. Sadly for them, our cats never leave the house. But that does not stop them from their fantasy games. And the dreams become even more hopeful as they observe the chipmunk that lives just below our front stoop. It was hibernating all winter, but as soon as things began to warm up the little devil appeared. So did the sudden attention paid by our two girls. 


Here we see them, completely undaunted by the peaceful and benevolent Budda with right hand raised for "reassurance" (Abhaya Mudra) and left hand open in "charity" (Varada Mudra). Sad to say that such reassurance and charity was useless to the girls.


This photo was taken with flash and then in edited in Photoshop CS5 to bring out the colors.

f4.3  1/60sec  ISO 400  FL 90mm  Panasonic Lumix

84 Photo of the Day 26 March 2011 -- Which way is up?

"You never know where a photo will strike you."  I read that recently on a blog that I follow.  That quote hit home as I was going to a bar with Pat to watch some basketball before a dinner date with friends. It was cold on the 26th and everyone was bundled up, wishing that Spring would really arrive.  Pat was freezing and rushed into the Marriott where we knew there was a bar with good TVs. I was a step behind when I noticed the reflection of cars and traffic on the canopy over the entrance to the hotel.  Grabbed a couple of shots. This one turned out to be the best of those and the most interesting of the shots I took yesterday. (Hmmm, that's another interesting blog..."the shots I didn't use". Ha! Who would care?)

I rotated this image so that the reflection runs horizontally. Seeing the buildings laying horizontal inspired today's title: "Which way is up?" I also masked and then slightly increased the light intensity of the canopy.

I know this is not the greatest shot, but it was an interesting experiment for me. Also, this photo does remind me that there are photos to be taken everywhere.

f3.7 1/60sec ISO 200 FL: 44mm  Panasonic Lumix

83 Photo of the Day 25 March 2011 -- Simple Self Portrait

Nothing more to add. Just playing around. 

f3.5  1/13 sec  ISO 1000  FL 36mm

82 Photo of the Day 24 March 2011 -- Ghandhi Walking

There is a wonderful sculpture park along a canal in Evanston, Illlinois.  The park runs for about a mile along a major street. As I was returning from a meeting I stopped and took shots of several of the sculptures. 

In the post shooting process I was caught between a modernistic, minimalist female nude and a wonderful, detailed and realistic sculpture of Gandhi striding into the future. The sculpture was made more realistic by the placement of a real garland around his neck and flowing down his left side. Of the seven shots I took of this sculpture, I liked this one best because it seemed to capture what I felt: that Gandhi was there and was striding past me with purpose.

We need more people like Gandhi who have vision, purpose and a stride toward those beliefs.

I modified this photo slightly by lightening Gandhi's face and arms in Camera Raw and bringing out texture and contrast in the clouds and sky using Color Range and Levels in Photoshop CS5.

f5.6  1/640sec  ISO 125  FL 25mm  Panasonic Lumix

81 March 23 2011 -- Going to Work

I was in the loop, downtown Chicago, shortly before 7AM.  It was overcast and raining as I came out of the subway. 

Before me was the gold version of the "Winged Victory" which you can see in the window. Yet trudging by was this guy lost in his thoughts as he made his way to work.  

The photo is one of a couple that I shot. In two were this guy, which I really wanted. This one was best because his movement is blurred. I also wanted the statue to be clearly focused. To enhance the picture I worked on it in Photoshop CS5 with Alien Skin Exposure 2 for color photos. I increased the sharpness of the overall picture and then used another Alien Skin color print process to give the overall picture a somewhat cool look to enhance the mood that I thought this guy might be having.

f3.3  1/15 sec  ISO 1000  FL 25mm

80 Photo of the Day March 22 2011 -- My Friend Ed

Ed is a fellow photographer. He has a great eye. Tonight at a semi-irregular social/picture sharing gathering of a group of photographers, Ed was excitedly discussing something. I don't remember what. But what I do remember is thinking, "this guy has a great face and he's really smart." 

So I quickly pulled out my "ever-ready, trusty Lumix" and shot this photo. Although originally in color, I modified the photo -- which I had taken in very low light -- using a couple of different programs ending up finally with this bright light over Ed's head and showing the animation of his face. The image is meant to mimic a form of infrared black and white film processed to show extreme heat (light)...in this case the heat coming from Ed's active brain!

f3.3 1/5 sec ISO 400 (aperture priority) FL 25mm  Panasonic Lumix

79 Photo of the Day 20 March 2011 -- Central Coast at Sunrise

We were traveling from San Luis Obispo to Los Angeles on Highway 101S. The weather had been quite stormy the night before. Close to sunrise we came upon this small village that is so typical of what I think of as "surfer villages" that dominate along the coast from LA  north.

I took five shots (left to right) to make up this panorama. Frankly, I thought that the second frame, with the lovely billowing clouds could have served for the photo of the day. However, I really wanted to show the beach in its entirety. So lovely.  Enjoy it vicariously.

f4  1/320 sec (avg)  ISO 125  FL 25mm  Panasonic Lumix

78 Photo of the Day 20 March 2011 -- Pansey

Spring flowers. Spring flowers with raindrops. Nice!  
These were captured in Paso Robles, California where spring had sprung.  

f 3.3 1/30 sec  ISO 125  FL: 25mm Panasonic Lumix

77 Photo of the Day 19 March 2011 -- Roman Pool Heart Castle

Opulence. The word that immediately came to my mind as we began our tour of the William Randolf Hearst Castle in San Simeon California.  But opulence does not come close. This was wanton spending. But all was not bad. Recalling that a good deal of Hearst structure was built during the 1930s, the construction provided work for many builders and craftsmen who otherwise would have been without work.  


Hearst and his architect collaborator Julia Morgan located artifacts from 14th century and later Europe and the Middle East.  Although I captured about 80 photos during our tour of the upper rooms and private suites, I thought that this six photo composite panorama of the Roman Pool depicts the beauty, splendor, and yes, opulence of the place.


I composited these six photos using Photoshop CS5 photo-merge subroutine.

(Avg settings) f4  1/15sec ISO 1000 (no flash)  FL 27 mm  Nikon D200 

76 Photo of the Day 18 March 2011 -- Early morning tasting at Saxum Wines Paso Robles California

I was floored. Not only did our friends know Justin Smith and his wife and family very well, but they arranged for Pat and me to join them to meet the Smiths. Justin Smith is the Winemaker-owner of Saxum Wines. Saxum received 98 points and the top rated wine of the year award by Wine Spectator magazine for his 2007 James Berry Vineyard Rhone style wine: a big deal.

So this morning we arrived on the dot at the appointed time, 10:00AM at the winery/home for the Smiths. We were greeted by his two dogs and then Justin. What a nice guy. We went into the house and I thought, these are nice folks. We chatted about the kids and their St. Patricks Day dinner they hosted for another couple the night before. We told them about ourselves and I thought, "well thats really nice. I guess we'll go now."  But just then Justin said,"so let's taste a little."  And he proceeded to open first a bottle of 2008 Broken Stones Vineyard -- still a bit tight, but clear and deep and dry and bursting with potential. And then a second bottle, Justin's personal favorite, as it turns out, which was a 2008 Booker Vineyard. This one I thought was even better than the first if it was possible: big but delicate. Dark dark color. (I didn't know it was his favorite until after I had made my decision about the wine.)

Justin grows all his own grapes and the wines are named for the various 50 acres of vineyards he farms and owns. Later, he also took a sample from a barrel: a 2010 James Berry Vineyard Bone Rock. A very small block of the vineyard of old vines.  It was already amazing. I cannot guess what it will be like in a couple of years. 

This photo was taken in his barrel and tank shed. It smelled like wine had been fermenting there for years...the place was homey and messy. I felt immediately at home. 

f18 1/60 sec  ISO 400  FL 34mm  Nikon D200

75 Photo of the Day 17 March 2011 Tasting Room

What is special about going for wine in California is the location of so many of the tasting rooms.  Rolling hills with acres of vineyards as far as you can see. Almond and olive trees, and meadows with sheep and cattle. When the weather is good, the scene is often spectacular. And often the rooms themselves are lovely.


In this photo I was able to capture a scene which was lovely inside and out. I wish I could say that this particular tasting room was up to par compared with other wines we had tasted at that point: it wasn't. However, we had a nice time trying it out.

f4  1/125 sec  ISO 125  FL  25mm Panasonic Lumix

74 Photo of the day 16 March 2011 -- Redondo Beach, California

Here is a shot taken around 1 PM from the Pier at Redondo Beach California. Just an absolutely gorgeous day, as you can see. 

People were on the beach sunbathing. Lots of folks on bikes, roller-blades and walking along the beach walk. That is just what we did for almost 2 hours. 

f13 1/500 sec  ISO 100  FL 27mm   Nikon D200

Mark 

Happiness is the inner abundance that enables us to be generous in a world that might not proffer thanks. -- Sharon Salzberg

73 Photo of the Day March 15 2011 -- Barn Window

I love barns. The right barn looks great in color and in B&W. They help me recall a time when so much more of our country, even as I knew it as a student in upstate New York, was open fields, farms with few housing tracts.


A friend and I were seeking to take photos of trains at a Railroad Museum. Unfortunately neither of us did adequate homework: the museum is closed until April. But we both saw several great barns on our way into the rural farming country of McHenry County in NW Illinois where the museum is located. So we made the best of our "shooting day" and shot lots of photos of several barns and their associated buildings. 


This portion is of a barn which we thought was old, but turns out to have been built in the 1960s.  Still it presented lots of color, angles and shapes for us.


I like this photo because I was able to frame the side of the barn with an edge of the pasture beyond and still get the window within the shot as well.  


The image you see is an HDR photo, which means, in this case, that I took five shots at +2, +1, 0, -1 and -2 exposure value so that I got five photos some of which were underexposed and others were overexposed. Merging these individual photos allows all the shadows and all the light to be present in the final image in a way that resembles how our eye would have seen the scene.

HDR varying f20 (Aperture priority) Varying shutter speeds FL 36mm  Nikon D200  

72 Photo of the Day March 14 2011 -- Matrix

A matrix is defined by Merriam-Webster (online) as "something (as a surrounding or pervading substance or element) within which something else originates or takes form or develops."  I think that adequately describes what I was seeing when I took this shot (one of 4 that I took).


These are buildings on the Chicago River, west of the Loop in Chicago. 

f3.9  1/60sec  ISO 80  FL 55mm   Panasonic Lumix

71 Photo of the Day March 13 2011 -- Picture in a picture

I've been watching a commercial in which the actor holds a picture frame. We see the entire scene and then move into the frame where we see another image.  I was intrigued by that idea and thought I would work on it. 


Here is one of my first attempts.  I had to shoot the image at ISO 800 because I wanted as much depth of field as I could manage. I chose not to use a tripod because I wanted to "feel" the photo which I often do not when using one. Also, I did not want to use a flash because I am not comfortable that I would have gotten the right color balance. Why not take a shot completely outside or completely inside?  Because I wanted the contrasts which we see.


Thanks to my wife who willingly held the frame. 

f 20  1/10sec  ISO 800  FL 43mm  Nikon D200

70 Photo of the Day March 12 2011 -- Watching Basketball with Wine and Seeta

This photo is a default shot. I really wanted to produce a multiple exposure or overlay shot. But the technology and I did not work together on this event. So I defaulted to one of the single photos.


The shot was taken with my camera on a tripod, set to timer function. But, actually the photo is an accident because Seeta was not supposed to be in it. But, like all cats, or at least the cats that have been a part of our family, she was adamant about remaining where she was. So, we gave up.


The image mimics Fuji Provia 100F film. This is a slide film used by many professional photographers. It is really good for situations like this one, where there are mellow colors that have some red within. But I like the blue tones here as well. Based on what I've seen from photos using this film, this is a pretty good rendition. It was created using AlienSkin Exposure 2.0 as a plug-in with Photoshop CS5.


The wine is a nice bottle of  2008 Malbec from Mendoza in Argentina. 


The cat is an alley cat. But of a great vintage. Her sister was sleeping, not to be roused. 

f4  1/60 sec  ISO 400 Flash Fired  FL 43mm  Nikon D200

69 Photo of the Day March 11 2011 -- Loving Hands

Here is a photo of my wife holding hands with her mother. I have already documented her mother who is living in an long-term care facility for people with dementia and Alzheimer's "disease". 


I was somewhat participating in a conversation with the two of them, but more observing the love that exists between them. I thought at the time that this photo might capture that love. I still think it does.

f5.6  1/30sec  ISO 400  (no flash)  FL  135mm  Nikon D200

68 Photo of the Day 10 March 2011 Floating Numbers

The Alumni Center at the University of Illinois College of Medicine was being decorated for an event. These balloons were intended to spell out a date. As you can see the "2" at the top looked like an "S" making the scene quite confusing. I later found out that more letters and numbers were on the way.

f3.3  1/15sec  ISO 1000  FL 25mm Panasonic Lumix

67 Photo of the Day 9 March 2011 Waiting

Today's post is a theme post. 


People hurry and then wait. Or they just wait. Waiting can be a lonely enterprise for many people and I think some of that is evident in these photos. There are many ways to think about waiting. I am certain I will be posting more on this theme. Here are three, all taken within the context of the Chicago "El" on the Blue and Pink lines.


I converted these photos to B&W because I like the emotion of loneliness and apartness that it helps to convey. They each mimic Kodak T-Max 100 film. The conversion was done in Photoshop CS5 using the Alien Skin Exposure 2 plug-in software.  


I am interested in which you like best. Please comment and tell me why.

f3.5 1/50 sec ISO 400 FL: 25mm Manual Settings Panasonic Lumix

f3.7 1/25 sec ISO 400  FL: 44mm Manual Settings Panasonic Lumix

f3.5 1/100 sec ISO 400  FL: 25mm Manual Settings Panasonic Lumix

66 Photo of the Day 8 March 2011 Busy on the train

A shot on the Blue Line train to the Medical District. This is a great train. I can get downtown to my university office in about 50 minutes. Often it is busy with people who got on at Ohare Airport (two stops from mine).
Tuesday March 8 was one of those days.


This shot is not an accident: I wanted this motion. Trying to get the right exposure and have the motion was a trick with the "lightweight" Panasonic Lumix. But I like the result. 

f56.3  0.5sec (Aperature priority)  ISO 400  FL48 mm (Panasonic Lumix)

65 Photo of the Day 7 March 2011 TV from a cat's perspective

This photo is from my iPhone 4G. The camera in this phone is amazing: producing large-size images (this one is equivalent to 8x10 inches) with excellent detail and focus and little grain or noise. It is also very handy. Last evening I intended to post a shot taken while my car was being diagnosed. I was going to call the shot "On the rack". But I changed my mind for two reasons: 

1. Seeta, one of the two cats we have, was upset that her sister starred in a photo the previous day and she had no such credit;
2. I had the opportunity to grabthis shot which I thought of as watching TV from Seeta's perspective. Fortunately it worked out because she was really settled on my lap. This cat does watch TV and often walks over to it and sits watching the movement. 

I slightly adjusted this photo to bring down the white "burn" from the flash. Otherwise the photo is as taken.

f2.8 1/15sec ISO 320  FL: 3.9mm Flash  Iphone

64 Photo of the Day 6 March 2011 Kali

I have two cats, Kali and Seeta (named for Indian Godesses). 


While it is apparent that I am the "Alpha" that doesn't make taking their photos a simple task. In fact, the act is almost always unsatisfying. Just at the last minute which ever of the two I happen to be shooting will decide that she wants to yawn, or check out something on the floor, to lick her leg, or simply just leave me. Stranded with the camera I have no alternative but to hope for another opportunity.


One came on Sunday evening. Not only did Kali stay where she was, but after several shots during which she moved her head or (yes) yawned (I guess we humans are boring), she actually looked straight down the barrel of the lens and peered into me, presumably challenging me to get this photo and finally to leave her alone. 


I did both.

EXIF f7.1 1/25 sec  ISO 1000 (no flash)  FL 52mm  Nikon D200  Tamron Wide-Angle Lens 19-35mm

63 Photo of the Day March 5 2011 -- Rounding the Curve

I like trains. I am not one of these guys who goes chasing trains, but if I get the opportunity, I love to grab photos of them. So when I visited my friend yesterday, I suggested that we shoot some photos of trains...his miniature HO gauge trains.


Laid out on a 4x9 foot platform, this train set has enumerable switches, sidings, and track permutations and combinations. His trains can go from lowland to the mountains, through tunnels and into small towns -- .  Here we see a Chicago Bears special engine pulling a small load into a siding near the Beecher Meat Company.


I'd have loved to painted-in the wall behind to improve the realism. Time prevented me from doing that. Yet, on a quick glance, I think this photo does mirror an actual scene. Blink and you can see the engine moving toward you. Listen, can you hear that engine growling? Can you hear the horn blasting away?  I can almost smell the diesel fuel.  

f7.1  1/13 sec  (-0.67)  ISO 400 (no flash). FL 52mm (Tamron Wide-angle Lens) Nikon D200

62 March 4 2011 Wine tasting

Every now and then I take some photos that just do not turn out. Despite my best attempts to take indoor photos during a wine tasting last evening, I was foiled by extremely low light. Only too late did I realize that I should have increased the ISO. As a result none of the photos turned out particularly "wonderfully".


None-the-less, in these two photos we see the tools of a wine tasting: wine and glasses and a person to pour. The wine tasting took place at Park Ridge Wine Styles, a lovely small wine store run by a terrific couple who are devoted to moderately priced wines: Tracy and Doug Bell. I am fortunate to periodically work for them at this store. It gives me a chance to enjoy wine, to enjoy people who also enjoy wine, and to increase my fledgling  knowledge of wine,  which is always important. 

f4  0.4/sec  ISO 400 (camera built-in flash) VR on  FL 52mm Nikon D200

f4  0.4/sec  ISO 800 (camera built-in flash) VR on FL 52mm  Nikon D200

61 Photo of the Day March 2 2011 -- Sun Stripes

The sun came out today. First time it was really clear and sunny. Unfortunately it was quite cold out. But I wasn't focusing on the outdoors as I noticed the interesting shadow patterns formed as the sun came through the wide Venetian blinds in my home office. 


Grabbing my Nikon D200, I set up to take a good shot of this pattern as it slowly established itself across my wardrobe.


I considered modifying the photo into black & white, but in the end decided totally against that idea in favor of naturalism.  The result we see here is the best of the lot of eight that I took. 

f14  1/13 sec (+0.33)  ISO 400  FL 63mm  Nikon D200 (Nikkor lens with VR on)

Photo 60 March 1 2011 What's it like to be almost 91?

The elderly have a vast storehouse of experiences and knowledge. Unfortunately they often die without our having had that background shared with us.  Legacy projects offer the opportunity for the elderly to describe and provide anecdotes to family and friends. Most often these projects are audio or video recorded so that current and future generations can become acquainted from and learn from these marvelous experiences. Additionally, the future generations get to hear or to see who "Grandpa" or "Great-grandma" looked and sounded like. 


Of course not everyone gets to have this opportunity. Here comes one of the roles of the hospice volunteer. I am such a person, conducting legacy interviews, or in this case video recording the oldest son of this almost 91 year-old as he interviewed his father. The elder gentleman had a stroke about 6 years ago, but his mind is fairly good and his memory, sometimes with prodding, provided a wonderful series of stories, experiences, and history.

f13  1/15sec (+.33)   ISO 800  (no flash)  FL 36mm  Nikon D200