November 19, 2011 -- At Work Ektachrome 1970s Blue mimic

Here is the result of my trying out different faux color photo styles. Although I have lost many of them, I took hundreds of Ektachrome slide shots during the 1970's of my children when they were growing up. I used Alien Skin Exposure 3 to mimic the Ektachrome look. 

f3.3 | 1/15s | ISO 640 | Lumix

November 18, 2011 -- Manhole

This is exactly what it appears to be: a photo of a manhole cover. I actually tried to carefully compose this image using my iPhone. 

f2.8 | 1/550 | ISO 80 | iPhone

November 17, 2011 -- Where does this Lead

I shot this photo in the 3rd floor hallway, near the ICU waiting room at Trinity Muscatine Hospital. My father-in-law lay in the ICU dying. So I was naturally thinking about where everything lies that is before us. To capture even more the mood and thoughts I was having I did a simple B&W modification to the photo.

f3.3 | 1/30s | ISO 200 | Lumix

November 16, 2011 - Chicago from the Eden's Expressway

I love this approach to the city. Usually it is jam-packed with trucks and cars so that there is no time to think, only to react, otherwise it would be a bumper-car event.  But on this day there were no cars close to me and I was able to capture this shot. 


I would have never thought that I would think about this shot as anything but ordinary. However, when I was reviewing shots from this day the idea of a hyper-real, almost surrealistic view just hit me. I worked on this first in Photoshop CS5 and then more with Nik HDR Pro tone-mapping for single image. 

f4.0 | 1/400 | ISO 80 | Lumix

November 15, 2011 -- Autumn's Low Horizon Light

The sun is so low in the sky during this time of year that it's light offer these wonderfully long shadows in bright light. I love this look. At first I was thinking that this would be a nice B&W photo, but after I saw it, I like the muted colors offsetting the grays of the stone road, the tan pants and off color pavement and the dark gray and black of the shadows. 

f2.8 | 1/620s | ISO 80 | iPhone4

November 14, 2011 -- Waiting for the Train

Following this blog, you've seen several shots taken at this Blue Line stop. On this day I was trying to capture the mood that I perceive in so many of the people. Being as close as it is to Cook County Hospital and the Illinois Medical Center, many of these people are or have been recent patients or have visited inpatients. Others in this "down and out" area of Chicago look discouraged and lacking in hope. I've spoken with several who have described their woes, their poverty and their homelessness. 


The photo was converted to B&W in the digital darkroom and then tone-mapped using HDR Pro to gain the grainy, diffused effect. 

f2.8 | 1/120s | ISO 125 | Lumix

November 13, 2011 -- The Contemplative Guitar

Arthur Zajonc playing a Bach piece at the conclusion of a conference on Contemplative Mind in Higher Education. 

f2.8 | 1/15s | ISO 1000 | iPhone4

November 12, 2011 - Converse Hall Doors

Amherst College is storied. According to Wikipedia, Amherst was "[f]ounded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its President Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher education in Massachusetts. Amherst remained a men's college until becoming coeducational in 1975."  These doors, which are large and imposing, provide the entrance to Converse Hall which was build as a library by Edmund Cogswell Converse in 1917 in honor of his brother James Blanchard Converse, class of 1867. The building now houses faculty offices, classrooms and a large conference room "The Red Room" named for its rich red carpeting.

f3.3 | 1/15s | ISO 1000 | Lumix

November 11, 2011 -- New England Ridge

I spent a weekend in Amherst, Massachusetts. On this first day I was struck by the sky with the clouds hovering over the ridge we seen in this photo. For me, New England and upstate New York have a special visual quality at this time of year. 

f3.9 | 1/60s | ISO 800 | Lumix

November 10, 2011 -- City Tree

I walk past this tree several times each month. It is interesting to see how it changes. This was a real Chicago autumn day and this shot of the tree captures that feeling.

f2.8 | 1/450 | ISO 80 | iPhone

November 9, 2011 -- Departures

Here are two versions of this photo. When I took it I visualized it as a B&W photo. Now, I am not certain that it doesn't play out better in the bare color of the scene and lighting as it was captured in color. What do you think?  Image info: f3.9 | 1/60s | ISO 800 | Panasonic Lumix.  B&W adjustments using HDR Pro and Alien Skin Exposure 3 

November 8, 2011 -- iPhoneography

Now we know its a total phenomenon: the iPhone is a camera and now we find a gallery exhibit composed entirely of iPhone photos.  This exhibit was taking place in Denver. Unfortunately I was unable to view it. 

I was curious as to the number of iPhone photos there might be on Flickr. At the time of this posting there were 509,842 "Photos taken with an Apple iPhone" in the Flickr group with that same name. This does not include the other hundreds of thousands that have been posted within other Flickr groups. 

f2.8 | 1/2000 | ISO 80 | iPhone

November 7, 2011 -- Happy couple

Here is KCee with her husband Rich. Two nicer people you could not meet. 

f6.7 | 1/30s (TTL flash) | ISO 400 | Nikon D200

November 6, 2011 -- Homeless in Denver

The concentration of homeless men and women in downtown Denver appears to be large. I met Bill as Pat and I were investigating restaurants in the area called LoDo.  Bill was pushing a shopping cart with what appeared to be his belongings and other "stuff" he must have picked up for sale.  He was most helpful to me, telling me which bars and restaurants were open and which were good. I'm not certain how he obtained the latter information, but he was very pleasant and personable. It's a shame that homelessness is so rampant in our country.

f3.5 | 1/4000s | ISO 400 | Nikon D200 | Tamron 18-270mm lens

November 5, 2011 -- Vietnam Vets at Veterans Day March Denver

I met these two guys. We chatted for a few minutes. They didn't want to give their names. The fellow on the left made certain to tell me that he was Native American and served in the Army in "Nam".

f3.8 | 1/1500s | ISO 400 | Nikon D200 | Tamron 18-270mm lens

November 4, 2011 -- Concrete Image

I have a friend who watches the sidewalk for money. Claims he finds $100 total in one year. I don't believe him, but that's all right because he is a great guy beyond his confabulations. 


I too look at the sidewalk, mostly because I am very near-sighted and need the occasional reassurance that I am comfortably on terra-firma. On this day I noticed what looked like a cave drawing, but embedded into the sidewalk. What is it? A dog? A whale? A prairie dog? A rat? I'll be interested in your projections.

f2.8 | 1/120s | ISO 100 | iPhone

November 3, 2011 -- My mother

She is the matriarch of the family. At 92 she is vibrant, interesting, interested in many things, has a good memory and gets around "fairly" well.  But she has a habit of always thinking that every photo taken of her has to be posed with her conception of the perfect smile.  So I was very happy to grab this shot with my iPhone. I like it because it shows her in action with her walker, and without the set smile. I like the profile shot as a natural view of her. 
We were at a delicatessen, where she ordered a chicken salad sandwich, large as a watermelon, and ate it all only leaving the chips: I got the fries and pickles. :)

f2.8 | 1/15s | ISO 400 | iPhone

November 2, 2011 -- Train Coupling

I have this fascination for trains. As you have been (if you have been) following this blog over the year you've seen photos of trains and train tracks. On this day I was unable to cross the street because the train had stopped disgorging all the passengers. I was standing just in front of the coupling of two cars and this shot just presented itself. 


Originally in color, I visualized it in B&W when I took it with my Panasonic Lumix. I thought the gray tones would give it the mechanical flavor that I felt as I looked at the image before I took it. In the digital darkroom, in addition to the modification from color to B&W, I also modified the shot by cropping it and straightening it.

f3.3 | 1/30s | ISO 200 | no flash | Panasonic Lumix

November 1, 2011 -- Rural Western Illinois

Driving through western Illinois in the autumn offers new vistas of familiar sights. We have driven to Iowa hundreds of times along this route. I always enjoy revisiting the "former" corn fields, like this, harvested and laid to breathe, to rest and be ready for the next crop. 


As Pat was driving, I took three quick photos, shooting quickly left to right, intended to be a panorama. I used my iPhone . Never did I think I would have three good shots, but it worked! My iPhone is the 4G, not the new 4GS with the 8mp camera. Still, it gets good images.

October 31, 2011 -- Dorothy Prepared for Halloween

I don't know Dorothy. We were both at the salad bar at Whole Foods. But she looked sweet and cute in her witches hat so, camera always handy, I asked her if I could take her photo. People are nice and most, like Dorothy, consent.

f3.3 | 1/30s | ISO 400 | Lumix

October 30, 2011 -- Death on the Kennedy Expressway

This was horrible. It was Sunday morning. I had gone to UIC to get some important papers that I wanted to read when Pat and I were to be in Des Moines. I spotted some smoke that was spontaneously occuring a few hundred yards in front of me. As I approached I saw a horrible scene. A car had completely rolled over. It had just happened. I pulled over and ran to the car along with 3-4 other people. On the side of the road sat and stood about 5 or 6 bloody and dazed, moaning and crying children and teens. Someone said that there was still a person in the car. We considered trying to right the car but in the moment of that thought, a physician appeared, located the person in the car and attempted to feel for pulses. He said it was a woman and she had expired. He left. I was distraught, "how could he leave? Something had to be done. How did he know for certain that she had died?" 


The woman you see in this photo appeared. She started to try to enter the car. I said, "What are you doing? Are you a physician or a nurse?" She said, "I'm a firefighter," and proceeded to squeezer her way into the mess that was that car. Locating the woman's chest she began chest compression. By that time another woman, an EMT (both these persons were off duty), also entered the car and traded off with the firefighter. They both agreed the victim was most likely dead. By this time the ambulance and fire engines had arrived and I was told to leave the scene. You can see the fireman's leg on the side. At this moment they were trying to pry the doors open.


You may wonder how I could take photos in this horrible situation -- I am a photographer. I document all the elements of life as I see them. As horrible as this was, it is a part of the life we live. Although I have photos of the likely dead person, I will not share them. 


I was upset by this event for the rest of the day. By the way, the accident occurred because someone cut across the car causing this deceased driver to loose control. I feel so sad for those children who have lost their mother, aunt, grandmother, friend, protector. 

f2.8 | 1/25s | ISO 80 | Lumix

October 29, 2011 -- Autumn Leaves

This is one of those spectacular, vivid autumn trees in the height of color. Taken with my iPhone and tone modified with HDR Efex Pro.

f2.8 | 1/20s | ISO 100 | iPhone 

October 28, 2011 -- Victorian House

While visiting Des Moines, Iowa I took a walk through an old neighborhood. This house stood out for me. I liked all the angles and the contrasts, and it really looked like a spectacular Victorian relic. I thought it would be a good B&W photo. Special for pre-Halloween. 

f11 | HDR | ISO 100 | Nikon D200 | 

October 27, 2011 -- Walker Problems

Visiting my father-in-law who uses a walker, we were faced with a dilemma: where to put his walker when were traveling with him on this day. The trunk of the car was filled with boxes from his old home, which is being sold. Pat had the idea that she could sit in the back with the walker on her lap. This was the result. We really laughed. Dealing with the aged can sometimes be funny.

f2.8 | 1/17s | ISO 80 | Panasonic Lumix 

October 26, 2011 -- 16%

The US Census indicates that 16.2% of Americans are now over 65. As I visit my mother-in-law, father-in-law, and my mother, each living in assisted living facilities, it seems to me that the numbers are deflated. I hope we can find better ways to live in our generation and those to come than the institutionalized settings we have our parents living in. Although I believe it will be very difficult to turn around, I wish for the extended family setting that we used to have and still see in other countries. 

f3.3 | 1/15 | ISO 1250 (no flash) | Lumix

October 25, 2011 -- Wet night

The scene was one right out of a Raymond Chandler novel. Just imagine sitting behind the steering wheel, casing some joint and waiting for the "John" to make a mess. I had to grab this shot.

f3.3 | 1/15s | ISO 1000 | Panasonic Lumix

October 24, 2011 -- The Watcher

As so often happens, interesting photos just happen.  I felt like I was being watched. Looking around I saw who it was: "The Watcher".

f4.5 | 1/30s | ISO 1600 | Panasonic Lumix on Auto

October 23, 2011 -- Zinnia

Gorgeous late summer flowers, these zinnia are the perfect blossom this time of year. I know the image looks as if this is not real or is over saturated, but what you see is what you get. When I first saw this blossom, I thought it was plastic!

f2.8 | 1/640s | ISO 80 | iPhone | HDR Pro app photo

October 22, 2011 -- Realtor Building with Reflection

Here is another "magnificent mile" (Michigan Avenue) building reflection. You can see what a gorgeous day this was. Hardly any way not to have a lovely picture.

f6.7 | 1/350s | ISO 320 | Nikon D200

October 21, 2011 -- Inside-out

Visiting my son, who with his wife is a Halloween fanatic, I notice the strange shadows coming in through the shade in his living room. These shapes were caused by some of the Halloween decorations in the front of the house. Intrigued by the shadows and shapes, I shot three photos to create an HDR image. Later I added shadow detail and tone mapped it to make the entire thing more surreal. Did it work?

f3.8 | Panasonic Lumix

October 20, 2011 -- Real life mirrored

First I want to apologize for being so behind. We have some family illness and that needed to be attended to first and foremost. 


Here is a photo I took on the evening of the 20th with my iPhone using an app called HDR Pro. I modified it a bit to bleach the whole thing and to soften it.


Although this is an "HDR" photo, it really is not so. The HDR Pro software adjusts the shot to mimic what HDR might look like. Therefore I have a single aperture setting and shutter speed. Kitchen light. No flash.

f2.8 | 1/15s | ISO 125