Tired Me

Here's a self portrait shot at Powell's Technical Books in Portland, OR last July. The day I shot this I had been walking all over Portland in the midst of a horrible heat wave, and by the time I wandered into the bookstore, I was pretty exhausted.

Pink Flowers

This was shot as a digital infrared shot, but I like it better as a color image. The long shutter speed gives it a bit of blur from the flowers moving in the wind, which combines with the pink color to give the photo a dreamy, impressionistic feel.

Japantown

It's been a while since I posted a photo from my four lens Nishika camera. This one was shot in October, 2007 in San Francisco's Japantown.

Longway

This is the dome of the Longway Planetarium in Flint, MI, shot with my toy Holga camera. The light leaks (a characteristic of the Holga) are perfect here. They look a little like aurora borealis, and give an appealing surreal feeling to the photo.

Hyde Park

I shot this in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood on on a sweltering day last August. I wanted to see what the ivy covered building would look like shot in infrared, so gave it a shot.  After shooting this photo, I continued a couple of blocks down the street to a small cafe and had a gelato to beat the heat.

Fence

This Holga camera shot was made in Blue Island, Illinois this past summer. I was going to title it "Homage to Paul Strand", but decided that was kind of stupid.

I shot this about a year ago on a rainy Friday night in Chinatown. I need to go do some more shooting there, I think.

Multnomah Falls

This is a view from the top of Multnomah Falls in Oregon. From the top of the falls, it's 620 feet to the ground below.  It's a beautiful, if heavily tourist infested place.

Desolate Beauty

I shot this photo on Maui a few yeas ago. This is in the remote upland on the southeastern part of the island, far away from the throngs of tourists (or anything else).

Another Bean Shot

My last post (which was a few days ago-I've been busy) was a photo of the Cloud Gate sculpture shot with my Holga camera. I wrote that it was shot a couple of weeks ago, but it was actually shot last February (I've also been distracted). Here's another photo of the Bean, shot in digital infrared. And yes, this one actually was shot just a couple of weeks ago. I like this one quite a bit. I especially like the slight blur in the people.

Blue Bean

This is a photo of the sculpture titled Cloud Gate (better known as The Bean) in Chicago's Millennium Park.  I shot this a couple of weeks ago with my toy Holga camera. The fading light at the end of the day combined with the odd color caused by shooting with expired film to give the strong blue color.

Happy Tooth

The weather was beautiful and sunny last Sunday, so I put my camera in my bike bag and want for a long ride. I found this on the window of a dentist's office and had to take a photo.

Caged Dummy

Here's an oldie, shot sometime in the late 1980's. The dummy belonged to my cousin. I can't remember where the cage came from.

The Street I Grew Up On

This is the street in front of my Mom's house in Michigan, shot in digital infrared last July. As you can see, I grew up in a rural area.

Mom's House

I kind of like this one. I shot it while at my Mom's in Michigan last summer. I had stepped outside with my camera (I think I was trying to shoot photos of the moon), and looking through the window, saw my sister sitting at the computer. All of the black is part of the photo, by the way. It's very dark at night in rural mid Michigan, and what you can't see there is the outside of the house. I like all of the negative space in the composition.

Under The El

I took this a few weeks ago in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood. Uptown has been gentrifying in recent years, but that hasn't spread under the el tracks yet.

Mossy Rock

I shot this photo in the Japanese Gardens in Portland this past summer. I love the way the light plays on the water and leaves white spots on the rock.

Infrared Eye

This is a photo of the giant eye sculpture that's currently in Chicago's Pritzker park. The infrared increases the surreal feeling quite a bit.

ゴジラ

私は先週のハーレーダビッドソンのディーラーの前で撮影。私は実際にそれがゴジラか否かをだと確信していないんだけど、私はそれだと思います。

This might help.

Hotel Men Only

Beautiful weather the last few days in Chicago, so I caught a train downtown on Friday to do some shooting. I found this flophouse right across the street from the Metropolitan Correctional Center on Clark St. I was shooting a couple photos, and thinking about the despair that must be present in a run down hotel across the street from a prison, when someone struck up an interesting conversation:

"That's just a hotel for men to stay at. It's not a gay place."
"Yeah, I know."
"Are you a reporter?"
"No."
"I thought you were a reporter doing a story on gay places."
"No, I just think the sign is interesting."
"Oh."

There's something about carrying around a somewhat complicated looking camera that makes people curious. I was asked if I was a professional three times on Friday by random people on the street. I don't think my camera is professional looking, actually. It's red, not serious black! I had two other cameras with me as well, a Holga covered in gaffer's tape, and a very '50's looking Kodak Brownie Hawkeye, and those look even less professional than my 'real' camera. And that's not even addressing the 'professional' issue. I consider myself an artist, not a photographer, so how do I answer that question?

63rd St. Infrared

Here's the infrared version of the photo I posted yesterday.

63rd. Street Beach

I shot this photo in the beach house at the 63rd St. beach in Chicago last month. I had my infrared filter on the camera. I like how the color turned out, but it also looks good converted to grayscale so that the infrared effect is apparent. I'll post that one tomorrow.

Mirror Lake Fog

This photo was shot along the trail to Mirror Lake near Mt. Hood in Oregon this past July. The rainy, foggy weather made for a pleasant hike, but the views of Mt. Hood reflected in the surface of the lake were lost.