Happy Halloween!

Mr. Skullhead

I really wanted to post a link to Mr. Skullhead Boneyhands from Animaniacs, but couldn't find one anywhere. You'll have to use your imagination.

Skulls

These are pistachio shells painted to look like skulls. They were in my Mom’s studio when I was visiting there about a year ago. I'm not sure what she was making with them, but thought they were cool and spooky.

Spooky!

I shot this while wandering around my neighborhood last Fall. I like this as a Halloween decoration. It's much better than those polyester spider webs.

Creepy

This is an accidental double exposure, taken with my Holga camera and a close up filter I bought for it. It turned out pretty cool, and a little creepy, definitely a happy accident. I'll see if I can find some more creepy photos to post, now that it's Halloween week.

Animal

I shot this with my modified Brownie Hawkeye a few weeks ago. It's a large statue in a local cemetery.

Leaf

Here's another photo from my shooting excursion to Hyde Park yesterday. I shot this leaf right where I found it, it wasn't moved to improve the shot.

Fall In Hyde Park

The heavy rains forecast for today turned out to be a fairly brief morning shower, so I grabbed some cameras and headed to Hyde Park, one of my favorite Chicago neighborhoods. Spent a couple of hours wandering around the University of Chicago campus, shooting colorful leaves against gray neo-Gothic architecture. Beautiful.

Beautiful Fall Day

It was beautiful today, and possibly the last nice day in a while-rain is forecast for the next four days. I spent a couple hours wandering around the Dan Ryan Woods, a forest preserve very close to where I live.

Aquincum

I shot this photo in the Aquincum ruins in Budapest in 2007.

Wear Purple Day!

Wednesday, Oct. 20 is wear purple day, to honor the memories of the recent teenage suicides due to anti-gay bullying. It's also a way to show the LGBT youth who face pressures and bullying that there is a vast community of people who support them. I'll be wearing purple. Will you?

If you are, or know someone who is a LGBT teen in need of help, please contact The Trevor Project.

Look Ma, No Hand!

This is another shot taken with my reversed lens Kodak Hawkeye camera. This one was shot in a cemetary using that silly Kodak film that puts B&W emulsion on a color film base. I scanned it as color film, and the result was the nice sepia look.

Double Bean

This is two photos of the Cloud Gate sculpture (better known as The Bean) in Chicago's Millennium Park. I shot these last February, using my toy Holga camera. I didn't wind the film enough between shots, so the two photos ran together. The resulting image is pretty interesting, a fortunate happy accident. I like the red coloration at the top, caused by the light leaks ever present in photos taken with Holga cameras.

Infrared in Chinatown

I shot this late last spring in Chinatown. The photos I shot that day were the first infrared shots I attempted with my then new digital camera. It turns out it does infrared shots pretty well, something that can't be said for all digital cameras. I don't shoot a lot of digital infrared, mainly because the types of subjects that look good with it are kind of limited. Some things look great shot this way, however, so I'm glad I can make it work pretty easily.

The Train Don't Stop Here Anymore

Here's a photo mosaic of a small train station about a 15 minute walk from my house in Chicago. I'm guessing it's no longer in use because a couple of blocks from this site there's a beautiful, fully restored station that serves the same commuter rail line.

Peace Tower

This is a photo of the Peace Tower in San Francisco's Japantown, shot with my 4-lens Nishika camera. I should have a lenticular print made of this. It would look pretty good in 3D.

Green Car

I shot this a couple of weeks ago with a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye camera with a reversed lens. I like the green and orange colors.

Posters

Posters in a Chinatown shop window, shot last Spring.

Graffiti

Here's one last abstract photo (for now). This one was shot a couple of years ago in Hyde Park, the Chicago neighborhood that's home to president Obama. It's graffiti on the side of a dumpster in an alley.

Cheese Holes

Another abstract photo, this one was shot with my four lens Nishika camera. The photo is of the side of a banquet hall in Chicago's Beverly neighborhood. I don't think the building is a Morris Lapidus, but it does have a very '50's look, right down to the Lapidusesque 'cheeseholes' seen in the photo. I love mid-century architecture, which you may have figured out by now.

Ugly Carpet

Today's abstract photo is a shot of some really ugly carpeting in the airport on Maui. Carpeting aside, it's actually not that unpleasant, as airports go. It's not a huge one, and there are several open air areas that take advantage of the Hawaiian climate.

Unfocused

I have kind of an odd habit. If I've been shooting in my studio, and my camera is sitting out on a table, I'll sometimes reach over and take a quick photo without allowing the camera time to focus, capturing a blurred image of whatever happens to be sitting in front of the lens. This started by accident, but the results are sometimes interesting, so now I find myself doing it on purpose.
This photo was one of the deliberate ones. It's actually an eraser and a spiral bound notebook that were on the table next to the camera. I think it looks a little like a Gerhard Richter painting.

Wall

Todays abstract photo is actually a photo of a retaining wall in a park in San Francisco. I shot this last summer.

Abstract Lights

I like this one. It's lights shot with a long exposure, purposefully moving the camera to make streaks.

Abstract

For the next few days (assuming I remember), I'll post abstract photos. This one was shot too long ago for me to actually remember what the subject was. That might be the Chicago skyline in the background, but I can't be sure.

Rusty

I grabbed my camera and went for a walk today. Shot this a few blocks from home.

Crappy

This is a pretty good representation of most of my day today.

Atop Russian Hill

A view of downtown San Francisco, as seen from a park on top of Russian Hill. Shot in July, 2009.