Chicago Strings

52Frames - Week 38 - Music

My intent this week was to photograph a record store or music store.  Jeff Yang, owner of Chicago Strings in Evanston, IL was very accommodating and graced me with a short concert & photo ops. Check him out at Chicago Strings.

This is a composite of two photos; the musician and the storefront.

Leica M EV1 @ F2.4 | 40mm | 1/160 sec | ISO 500

Voigtlander VM 40mm F1.4 Nokton Classic

Photographed 9/16/26

Layers Of Shadow And Light

Coming home with my grandson and entering our building lobby, the light, reflections and shadows struck me as an interesting scene.  Now, after the fact, I even have a hard time figuring out the layers. 

Apple iPhone 15 Pro @ f1.8 | 1/60 | 6.76mm (24mm equiv) | ISO 160

Photographed 6/11/26

On The Verge Of Defeat

52 Frames - Week 47 - Sports Photography

I was explaining to a photography friend my dilemma about finding a photo opp for this week's challenge.  He immediately challenged me to an arm wrestling match and compelled me to photograph it.  Thanks, Mike, for the awesome idea and for not tearing my arm off!!

Apple iPhone 15 Pro @ f1.9 | 1/40 | 2.69mm (23mm equiv) | ISO 250

Photographed 11/22/25

Daily Toil

Our African itinerary included a transfer from Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe to Livingston Airport, Zambia to catch a flight back to South Africa.  I was stricken by the stark contrast of this border-crossing scene compared to my life in the US and made a few quick snaps as we made our way through the chaos.  A great reminder about gratitude.

All photos made on 9/13/24 with an Apple iPhone 15 Pro.

Hidden Sunrise

A few photos from a sunrise photo walk at Waukegan Harbor & Marina and the Waukegan Municipal Beach in Waukegan, IL on 6/2/24.  Weather predicted was intermittent clouds at 5:17am sunrise; what we experienced was complete cloud cover until after 8am.  Nonetheless, it was a successful morning of photography.  

Blue Hour Boats

Sony A7IV @ f8 | 1/4 | 28mm | ISO 100

Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G

Golden Hour Boats

Sony A7IV @ f11 | 1/20 | 28mm | ISO 200

Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G

Mast Chaos

Sony A7IV @ f8 | 1/30 | 135mm | ISO 100

Canon 135mm F3.5 (adapted)

Solitude

Sony A7IV @ f11 | 1/1250 | 70mm | ISO 250

Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G

Morning Calm

Sony A7IV @ f11 | 1/1250 | 105mm (equiv) | ISO 160

Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G

All photographed 6/2/24

Pop of Pink

52Frames - Week 37 - Backlit (Alternate)

EC: Rim Light

Shot some last minute alternates for this week's challenge.

Color and B/W; which do you prefer?

Sony A7 IV @ f3.5 1/125 85mm ISO 640

Rokinon AF 85mm F1.4

Photographed 9/17/23

New Year, New Gear

52Frames - Week 1 - Self-Portrait

Here we go with Year 2 of 52Frames.  Last year, I did a street selfie for Week 1 since street photography is my genre of choice.  With Covid surging, that was not an option for me this year.

So instead, I decided to try something I'd never done before with a new tripod, flash and wireless trigger.  Here's the first attempt at a high contrast portrait with off camera flash; #22 of 27 taken.

Sony A6600 @ f4.0 1/60 35mm (52.5mm equiv) ISO100

Sony E 35mm f1.8 OSS

Photographed 12/30/20

The Tradition Continues...

1/1/12
...on New Years with a movie and dinner. This year, we couldn't even stretch it to midnight at a restaurant so closed the evening at a friends house.

Travesty

1/29/11 - Week 5
I thought this stuff is best served warm!  Found this shot while wandering around Goose Island with Frank before taking a black & white conversion class at Calumet Photo.

This image is serving a couple of purposes.  1) last post for this week's Project52 theme of B/W Conversion, and 2) inaugural submission for the Flickr group Frank and I are starting called TrashTalkTuesday (http://www.flickr.com/groups/trashtalktuesday/)

Snow Dunes

2/1/11 - Week 5
Another shot from the Chicago blizzard of 2011.  The wind was howling and swirling, filling in footsteps to look like moon craters.  With more photoshop skills, I could have had some fun with this since there is no scale reference. Converted to b/w using Silver Efex Pro.

Wings of Power

1/29/11 - Week 5
Took this SymmetriCam shot during my photo shoot on Goose Island with Frank.  Converted to b/w in Lightroom.

After the Plow

2/2/11 - Week 5
Part of the ~5' snow drift on my driveway.  I converted the image to b/w in Lightroom but decided to keep the blue bokeh created by a passing car.  Looks like some snow animals are coming to life in the shapes of the chunks.

Another Nutcase

2/1/11 - Week 5
Potentially the biggest snow storm Chicago's seen in over 40 years (coming down at 1.5" per hour with 40mph winds) and I'm out taking pictures after getting off the train.  Apparently, I'm not alone.  Didn't notice this guy until I put the image in the computer.  I was shooting with a 35mm f1.8 so this is a big crop; then converted with Silver Efex Pro.

Lots of Bricks in the Wall

1/31/11 - Week 5
Posted for Daily Shoot assignment #442: "Make a photograph that features repetition."  The difference between this brick wall and every other one is the detail in the jointery.  Not the typical raked joint.

Stump Monster

1/30/11 - Week 5
While this shot was taken earlier in January, I experimented today with b&w conversion.

Up & Over

1/29/11 - Week 5
This shot was taken on the Halsted Street bridge over a branch of the Chicago River.  There has been no sun, and therefore no hard light, but this bridge structure provides some strong shadow for Daily Shoot #441: "Make a photograph using hard light today.  Feature the crisp and strong shadows as a major element of your photograph."  It is a stretch, but I'm submitting it anyway.

Why Eight?

1/29/11 - Week 5
Frank and I took a class today on black & white conversion.  I felt like a kindergarten kid in a high school physics class.  Pretty complicated stuff.  Therefore, before trying any of the techniques provided at the class, thought I'd try Nik Software's Silver Efex Pro plug-in.  This shot is taken on the Halsted Street bridge over a branch of the Chicago River.  I didn't understand the reasoning behind the pattern in the steel plate at the top of the bridge.

Knee Shot

1/10/11 - Week 2
Another walking around shot with the 50mm lens.  This one was a "knee level" shot on the way to the train Monday evening and was processed in Silver Efex Pro.

Hip Shot

1/10/11 - Week 2
Walking around with the 50mm lens this week.  I did some hip shooting on the way to the train this evening and caught the rhythm of the railing for today's Daily Shoot #421: "Create a photograph today that illustrates or shows rhythm."