Loyola Academy vs Simeon - August 25, 2012

This past Saturday I was in attendance at the Loyola Academy versus Simeon high school football game. For anyone who doesn't subscribed to my monthly newsletter, I'm adopting the Loyola Ramblers this season and plan on photographing all of their games. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a huge football fan and this is a great way for me to get closer to the sport and practice my sports photography.

I shot the Chicago Bears training camp a few weeks ago and got some incredible images of Brandon Marshall but with pro sports you need all kinds of press passes to shoot at the games. High school is great because I can get up close to the players and take some "Pro" style images of high school athletes. This past Saturday was hot, like 90+ degrees hot and humid. I remember those days of suiting up when the weather was blistering but today I only had my camera and hat and I was still uncomfortable.

The game was close all throughout the first quarter with a halftime score of 7-0 in favor of Loyola Academy. Loyola dominated the first half with time of possession and yardage but they had a few fumbles and mistakes that kept them from getting in the end zone. Both teams looked great and it was fun to capture a few of the more spectacular plays of the day.

Early in the fourth quarter Loyola Academy scored another touchdown and a few field goals to finish the game with a 20-0 victory. It was my game with the Ramblers and I had a blast taking pictures and routing them on to victory. Check back weekly to see the images I take from each game and to find out about how the season is progressing.

2012 Chicago Air and Water Show

On Saturday August 18th I had the opportunity to experience the Chicago Air and Water Show from the deck of the High Life with Captain Justin and the Just Sailing crew. The Chicago Air and Water Show is a spectacle from any angle but being on the water might get you the best view of the city and the show. We got to North Avenue Beach around 11:30 and got a great spot just a little ways away from the restricted area. We were on an 8 person sailboat so we were able to get nice and close and drop anchor in a great spot.

The Chicago Air and Water show features all sorts of planes and arial acrobatics. The planes range from small trick planes and bi-wings up to the Navy's Blue Angels and cargo planes. All the performers are great but seeing the raw power and agility of the Blue Angels is truly amazing. We were located in a spot where the planes would come directly over us as they made their loops. This gave us an amazing up close view of the planes.

As you can see by the pictures, the weather was crystal clear which made for an excellent show. Last year I watched the show from the John Hancock Observatory which was a totally different experience but an awesome one. Both locations are very different but both are equally amazing. If you are looking for an amazing location for next year's Air and Water show I suggest you give Captain Justin a call at Just Sailing and reserve him and his boat.

2012 Chicago Bears Training Camp

On Friday I decided to take a short road trip down to the campus of Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, IL to watch the Chicago Bears training camp and to practice my Football photography in anticipation of this upcoming fall. In the fall I'm planning on adopting a local high school football team and I'm going to shoot at each of their games. I love sports (especially football) and I think this will be a fun way to help build up my sports portfolio and have some fun at the same time.

I couldn't have gotten a better day to watch football. I believe this was the 2nd practice of training camp and there were a few thousand people that had the same idea. The sidelines were jammed with people with all their Chicago Bears gear on scouting to see how the team will fare this year. There were people that you could tell have been to training camp for the past 20 years and kids that were there for the first time. I got to practice about 20 minutes after it started so there were a lot of people in the prime real estate right along the sidelines. After a few minutes I was able to find a decent spot to stand and with my Nikon 80-200 f2.8 I just needed an unobstructed view to grab a few shots.

It's hard to remember how big these NFL stars are when you watch the games on TV. In person these guys are huge and are really fast. Not too surprising given they are NFL players but on TV everything feels slower and the players look smaller.

I focused my Nikon D90 on the offense most of the afternoon because they were closer to me and I had more opportunities for good photographs. The wide receivers were working on a lot of interesting drills and so there were good opportunities for action shots. I also played wide receiver in high school so I'm a little biased when it comes to the position. Our guys looked really good at practice and I think between Brandon Marshall, Alshon Jeffery, Earl Bennett, and Devin Hester we could have a great receiving core this year.

It was great to see Brandon Marshall in a Chicago Bears jersey. This guy is the real deal. I was looking for him with all the other wide receivers and I turned to the guy next to me and asked him which number he was and he responded with "he's the biggest one of the group". The statement was very true. Brandon is probably a head taller than most of the wide receivers on the Bears and he is built like a tank. I can't wait to see Jay Cutler throwing the ball to him.

It was a fun day to get out and experience the energy of the Chicago Bears training camp. The facilities at Olivet Nazarene University are very nice and the students from the college working at the training camp were very helpful. It was a lot of fun to see these NFL athletes up close and in person. This was also a great warm up for this fall's football season. It's easy to shoot outside in the middle of the day but at night under the lights might be a different story. I'll have to wait and see.

2012 Chicago Rock and Roll Half Marathon

Today I set out to capture shots of the 2012 Chicago Rock and Roll Half Marathon as runners made their way around Chicago and through the South Loop. This has become a fun Chicago tradition where the organizers set up stages at various locations along the course and up and coming bands show off their talent. This year's headliner was Cobra Starship and there were plenty of other bands that helped keep the runners motivated throughout the 13.1 mile race. I was made aware that the race was underway when the bands started playing at 7:15 AM and my windows started rattling. The course winds all around the city and shows some of the best views of Chicago. Below is a picture I took of the runners heading onto Lake Shore Drive and down the home stretch with Trump Tower in the distance.

I had a few friends running the race so I spent a good amount of time trying to look for them but as you can see below it was a sea of sneakers and running bibs. I managed to locate one of my friends thanks to Google Latitude but when I was searching for him at a later point in the race I missed him in the sea of runners. I was quite impressed by the diversity of the runners. I'm pretty sure every age group was well represented in the race and since the temperature was supposed to hit 85 degrees, I hope everyone crossed the finish line safely.

The Chicago Firefighters never cease to amaze me with their courage and commitment but watching this firefighter run 13.1 miles with all his gear on is down right impressive. Fighting 85 degree heat with multiple layers of clothing on and a full blown oxygen tank on his back, this firefighter made good time heading through the course.

And of course it's not the Rock and Roll Half Marathon without live music. Here is one of the bands at 18th Street right across from Soldier Field. I didn't catch their name but they were providing the runners with high energy music to keep them going from mile 12 to the finish line.

Even though I wasn't running in the 2012 Rock and Roll Half Marathon, it was good to be out in the crowd cheering on my friends and all the runners. I've been to a few of the races in Chicago and it's really great to see the community come out to support all the people running for their favorite causes. Who knows, maybe next year I'll put down my camera and pick up my running shoes.

John Hancock Observatory - Lightning Photography Attempt #1

Lately I've been searching for fun places to experience these prairie storms that roll through Chicago and try to get some more lightning pictures. There are plenty of amazing rooftops and I have a few friends that are on some pretty high floors but I figured I would start with one of the biggest buildings in Chicago. Saturday was starting to look like one of those stormy days. It was a very hot day and the weather forecast was calling for a large storm most of the afternoon. As I headed out to catch the bus I could see a storm brewing just south of Chicago. Of course the Taste of Chicago was going on and this mixed with the normal Saturday traffic kept my bus crawling at a slow pace on Michigan avenue. I had my trusty iPhone out with my Weather Channel app launched and refreshing constantly. The red blob (a highly technical meteorological term) was moving way faster than my bus! And then the rain started. Slowly at first and then a full downpour. I was hoping to get some shots of the storm rolling in but that was out the window at this point. I was just hoping to get a lightning storm like we saw the day before.

When I finally got off the bus the rain was still coming down but I had yet to see one flash of lightning. At this point I wasn't as upset at missing the rainstorm since there was not a single strike of lightning. I finally got up to the John Hancock Observatory and I think the rain had deterred most of the tourists from staying because they were all heading downstairs by the dozens. What I saw in the observatory was a pretty hazy view of the city. But since I was playing weatherman for the day, I knew that the storm was getting ready to clear and I might get some interesting clouds. This was not what I was originally planning but whenever you are out shooting you just have to roll with the punches.

Luckily my wife was kind enough to hang out with me for a little while to see what I could capture. We sat through another passing storm and then the clouds began to part. To be honest, I lucked out that it didn't storm that day because I wouldn't have focused on some of the other shots that I ended up with. Instead of focusing on lightning, I was able to work with my Nikon 80-200 f2.8 and see what patterns and interesting details I could pick up from the city. I was able to get a pretty fun shot of the Allerton Hotel as well as the boats over in the playpen near Ohio Street beach. I also took one of my favorite shots of the city with the Willis Tower, Trump Tower, and Aon Center all in the frame (taken with my Tokina 11-16). I'm strongly considering blowing the shot up to a 30x45 inch print and hanging it in my living room.

Happy Birthday America!

Ahh the Fourth of July is upon us again. Time to fire up that grill, throw on some hot dogs and crack open a beer. What a great time of year with hot weather, sun, and people laying by the pool. It's also our favorite Lady Liberty's birthday today which is why it's such a great holiday to celebrate. I took the picture below on the 4th of July last year so I thought it fitting to share it today. The picture was taken with a 45mm Nikon tilt shift lens. This was my first time shooting with a tilt shift lens and I managed to get the shot below for my portfolio. Usually tilt shift lenses are used to shoot architecture so that you can keep all the lines from converging, but they also have the ability to make objects look miniature. For more details see this link.

If you have the luxury of being on a boat today I'm jealous. It's hot here in Chicago and the weather looks like it is going to be amazing. Unfortunately, I won't be on a boat today but I will be at some point this weekend. The shot below was taken at dawn while the sun was rising and an early bird boater was out on the water. It's one of those "classic summer" shots that makes you think of all the things that you do on the 4th of July.

It's not the 4th of July without Fireworks. Below is a shot I took from the Adler Planetarium of the Chicago fireworks. The weekly shows are great but something tells me that tonight's show will be even better. I'm looking forward to seeing the show tonight. I'm sure Navy Pier will be packed and there will be plenty of boats out in Lake Michigan.

Chicago Zombie March 2012

I finally had a chance to check out the annual Chicago Zombie March a few weeks ago and I was impressed by the creativity, organization, and downright playfulness of the zombies. I talked with a few of the participants and apparently there were more than 2,000 people that RSVPd for the event.

The event had all kinds of zombies and the amount of time and thought that went into the costumes was really cool. The zombies started at The Bean at Millenium Park and marched through the city. I only stayed for the main congregation and saw off the crowd. For some reason I love everything to do with zombies and this was a fun way for me to live out my own Walking Dead without worrying about being bitten or ambushed by a bunch of infected dead. Kind of fun if you ask me.

The zombies weren't just kids either. There were whole zombie families, zombie husbands and wives, and even naughty zombies. I'm thinking that next year I might have to participate :). I'm not sure that I have the time or patience to put on all that blood and to get dressed up. Maybe I'll just photograph it again. :)

Of course this whole march took place in the middle of one of the busiest places in Chicago for tourists and weddings. While the zombies were congregating, a wedding party showed up to take pictures by The Bean. I'm not sure if the bride was amused or horrified but they took a few pictures with the zombies and The Bean in the background. Pretty funny if you ask me. I'm sure those pictures are going to go right on the cover of the wedding album.

It was a lot of fun to see the excitement and all the people who came out to participate in the event. Apparently there is group that puts on more than a few events per year (who knew). You can visit http://chicagozombie.com/ for more information. If you get a chance to check out the 2013 march I highly recommend it. It's one of those things that you only get to experience in a big city.

Chicago Fireworks from the Adler Planetarium

About 3 years ago I headed over to Navy Pier to shoot the Saturday night fireworks. The shots came out good, but since that night I've been thinking of other interesting locations where I can shoot the weekly fireworks show. One of the places that came to mind was shooting from the Adler Planetarium. If you are not familiar with this location it provides one of the best views of the Chicago skyline and it's right on the lake. From this vantage point I was able to capture the skyline and the fireworks from Navy Pier using my Tokina 11-16 lens.

We drove over to the Adler Planetarium about 9:00 PM in anticipation for the 9:30 start and apparently I wasn't the only photographer that wanted to get this shot. There were a handful of people already set up there with their tripods and everything from point and shoots to DSLRs. It took me a few minutes to find the spot I wanted to shoot from but I finally stopped pretty far east near the side of the Planetarium. From this angle I was able to keep the Willis Tower in the left hand side of the frame and still get the fireworks.

Overall I'm happy with the shots that I got. The weather was beautiful and the fireworks show as always was amazing. I have a few more locations that I'm looking into that also provide unique perspectives of the fireworks and the city. I'm trying to find access to some balconies or roof tops on high floors so that I can look down or be at the same level of the fireworks. More to come soon.

Chicago Botanic Garden

A few weeks ago I decided I was going to take a photo adventure outside of the city of Chicago. With all the great places and events in the city it's hard to remember that there are other very cool places just an hour outside of the city. For this adventure me and my friend headed over to the Chicago Botanic Garden. The Chicago Botanic Garden is about 40 minutes outside of the city and at 7 am on a Saturday, it takes even less time. The park opened at 8 am and we were there ready to explore. Neither of us had been to the garden before but we had done a little research in the days before the trip so we had a pretty good idea of what we wanted to see. As we were leaving the city there were huge storms all around us. We decided to roll the dice and head out anyway. As we got to the garden the rain was just finishing up and even though it was 8 am we got a great soft light through the cloud cover.

The Chicago Botanic Garden is an amazing place to explore. They have one of the most finely manicured properties that I've ever seen. The property includes all sorts of plants and trees. They even have multiple different orchards you can walk through. Because of the rain, all the plants had perfect drops of water all over them. The rain drops made the close up shots of all the flowers and plants look perfect and there was no faking these drops (some people will bring water bottles with them when they shoot in locations like this).

For the first 30 minutes I tried using my Tokina 11-16mm lens and it just didn't do the scenery justice. So I switched to my Nikon 50mm 1.8 lens and that enabled me to capture the flowers and plants and produce shots with beautiful bokeh. Most of the shots in this post were shot with my Nikon 50mm 1.8. That lens is quickly becoming my go to lens. It is sharp and produces beautiful images. The shot below was the one shot that I took with my Tokina 11-16 that I really liked. The garden has a waterfall section with multiple waterfalls. This was the largest waterfall of the group and there was a little bridge right in front of the fall. I was able to squeeze in to the right and snap a pic of the fall. I didn't bring my tripod due to laziness and not knowing what we would discover. Good thing my friend was prepared with his.

After I got this shot I tried a few more with the Tokina 11-16 but I really wasn't happy with the other shots. This place has such scale but the wide angle lens just wasn't doing it justice. After a few more attempts with the Tokina I headed back to my trusty Nikon 50mm lens. This final image is one that I'm really happy turned out because when I saw this bed of flowers I knew that this would be an amazing photo if I could capture it. I'm considering having this one printed and hung up in my house.

Adventures in Napa Valley

I recently had the pleasure of traveling to Napa Valley and San Francisco for a week and I was extremely impressed with the beautiful scenery, amazing food, and wine. One of my favorite vineyards on our tour was Beaulieu Vineyard and Provenance Vineyard. Jeff and the crew at Beaulieu were superb hosts and their wine is top notch. He did a great job of educating our group on what to look for in good wine and a twirl that could make a sommelier nervous. Provenance also had amazing wine and plush grounds to match.

During our entire trip mother nature was very cooperative - we had almost no rain and several days of bright blue skies. One morning in Napa I managed to get up at dawn and get a few shots of the sunrise over the mountains. It was an amazing experience and one that I will never forget. Every picture and view has mountainous back drops and plush rolling hills. This was my first trip to the valley but I'm already planning a trip back.

After Napa Valley we headed back to San Francisco taking the "scenic route" with stops at Muir Woods and Muir Beach. At Muir Beach we discovered a path that led up the mountain to a picturesque view of the beach and coastline. The over 30 minute trek was well worth it. And of course no trip to San Francisco is complete without a taste of some of its great restaurants - one of our favorites was lunch at Delarosa for pizza and Italian tapas.