Rain Tree

The weather here in Chicago has looked a lot like this photo for the past few days. This wasn't taken recently, however, nor was it taken in Chicago. It was taken in Michigan, sometime in early Spring a couple of years ago, while I was riding in a car going somewhere I can't recall now.

Happy Anniversary!

A Photo A Day is one year old. My first post here was April 29, 2008.

I wrote in my first post, "as anyone who works in the photographic medium knows, there’s a big drop-off between the photos you shoot and the photos you end up using. For every photograph that gets used there are several that never get seen, and exist only as an unprinted negative stuck in a binder or a digital file on a hard drive".

My goal over the past year has been sharing photos that would otherwise never be seen. They're not all great photos, they don't all show perfect photographic technique (I'm way too fond of chance and happy accidents to always aim for perfection). They are all interesting, I hope (your milage may vary).

My other reason for starting this blog is to keep me actively posting. Lightbender, my other blog, is where I post my 'serious' work. I don't post there nearly as frequently (especially at times like this, when I have a lot of things I'm thinking about, but I'm not really making anything).

While it's been an interesting year, it hasn't always been enjoyable. There have been times where my interest in maintaining the blog lags (I just recently came out of one). Other times, I can't seem to find any photos I'm interested in posting. Joining Facebook changed things as well. While I haven't posted a lot of photos there, I've received a decent amount of feedback on the ones I have (I have a Facebook fan page, where you can see many examples of mostly older work. I don't think you need to be a Facebook user to see it).

So, while not always fun, I'm keeping the blog, at least I have no immediate plans to end it. The occasional comment would be nice, however (hint, hint!).

About today's photo: Its a Holgarama (panorama of Holga camera images) taken at the intersection of Haight and Ashbury in San Francisco. Note the Ben & Jerry's shop right on the corner (it's the store with the blue awning). Every tine I'm in San Francisco, I think about going in there and asking them if they sell more Cherry Garcia there then at other locations.

Garage

I shot this with my Holga camera a couple of weeks ago. I thought the red garage door and the fake fieldstone would look good shot through the Holga. I got a huge light leak, typical for a Holga camera, even though I had taped the camera up after loading it with film.

Not A Through Street

I took this photo a couple of years ago in North Beach, San Francisco. I like that cute little street.

Devil On My Shoulder

One more of these, my next post will be something else. I like this one quite a bit, the 2D photo and the 3D devil work well together.

Army Guy

This is basically the same idea as yesterday's photo. Small toy, magazine page, macro lens.

Buddha Face

This is a pretty simple idea, but one that works well. It's a small plastic Buddha on top of a magazine photo, shot with a macro lens.

No Smoking

I shot this last weekend in one of the underground el stations in Chicago (for those not from Chicago, yes, it's called the 'el' because it's on elevated tracks, but a couple of the lines drop underground around the downtown area).
This really isn't the best quality photo. It was dark in the station, so I had my digital camera set at a high ISO, which made the photo grainy. The grain works well here, I think, so maybe it's not so bad after all.

Brothers

I shot this photo last weekend at the ape house in Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. I like how the reflections in the glass blend the people and the gorilla together.

Train Train

I shot this photo with my toy Holga camera while on spring break a few weeks ago. It's a double exposure of the 111th St. train station in Chicago with a Metra commuter train pulling into the station. I like the double exposed train, but wish the rest of the photo were clearer. I may have to shoot there again using a tripod.

Red Shutters

A cool building covered in red shutters. In Utrecht, Netherlands.

Road To Nowhere

This photo was taken in Maui, in the desolate upcountry along the southern end of the island. It's a beautiful, stark landscape rarely visited by tourists (many are scared off by the clause in their rental car contract telling them not to drive past the town of Hana).

Bryce Canyon

This photo was taken in beautiful Bryce Canyon National Park in 2001. Bryce Canyon is amazing, there are rock formations there that are unlike anywhere else.

Forgotten But Not Gone

I shot this photo just a few blocks from my house a couple of weeks ago. My neighborhood has, so far, seemed to have avoided most of the foreclosure mess that's affected much of the country. It's not completely immune, however. This house sits on a street of large homes, most of which have been carefully restored. I drive along that street on my way to work, and I noticed that the house had been boarded up a few weeks ago. I hope someone takes care of this one before it's too late.

More Abstracts

Here's a few more abstract photos. These were shot in various locations over the past couple of years.


As I mentioned in yestarday's post, I'm going to visit family in Michigan over the weekend, and likely will not be posting again until Monday at the soonest.

Abstract

Ugh. Tired. Busy week. Here's a couple of abstract photos I used to put together a Powerpoint presentation for my students.


I'm going to be going out of town for the weekend. I'll try to remember to post a few more of these before I go.