2014 Chicago Bears Training Camp

This week I got the chance to attend the Chicago Bears training camp in Bourbonnais Illinois. About this time every year I get excited to see how my team will fare when the season starts and training camp seems to help me get my football fix. The nice thing about training camp is that it's the only place you can get close to all the players and the action without an official NFL media pass. Since I was attending two days of practice, I decided to rent a sports lens so that I could get even closer to the action. I wasn't sure if I should rent the Nikon 300mm f2.8, the Nikon 400mm f2.8 or the Nikon 200-400mm f4.0. Due to the versatility of the length, I decided to go with the Nikon 200-400 f4.0.

The Nikon 200-400mm f4.0 turned out to be perfect for training camp. The length of the lens allowed me to get very close to the players and the speed allowed me to freeze the action without any problem. With the lens I was able to get in close for Jay Cutler's passes to Brandon Marshall and into the backfield during hand offs. Overall, it was a great two days of shooting. Hopefully I can make it back next year and capture images as good as this year. I'm now ready for football season and once again excited to see how my Bears will fare. Bear Down!!

If you want to see the difference between the Nikon 200-400 f4.0 and my Nikon 80-200 f2.8 check out my blog post from the 2012 Chicago Bears training camp to see the difference.

Chicago Lightning Storm - June 30th 2014

On June 30th 2014 a massive lightning storm rolled through the midwest and hit the Chicago area. The storms were so strong that they knocked out power for much of the Chicago southern suburbs. The storms rolled in very quickly and before I realized it the sky was almost black and the rain started pouring down. As I peered out the window of my condo I saw repeated strikes of lightning hitting many of the downtown buildings and then as the storm rolled over the lake, there were massive strikes over Lake Michigan. About 45 minutes into the storm, things calmed down. I was pretty bummed that I didn't get to a good vantage point to watch the storm. Just after the rain started to subside I checked the radar map and there was a second wave of the storm that looked more severe than the first. I was packing my camera bag when my friend texted me a picture of the lightning from his place. He asked if I wanted to come over and shoot and I quickly finished packing my camera bag and headed out.

My friend lives just west of the city so he has a great view of the skyline. From his balcony you can see both the Hancock Building and the Trump Tower. Both act as massive lightning rods during storms like these. I set up my tripod on his balcony and we waited. The storm was still a little while away so I had time to make sure all my settings were correct. I had a disposable rain cover for my camera and lens and it came in handy on that night. At first I set up my camera on the balcony but as the storm rolled in the rain got very intense, so much that you could barely see the skyline. I brought my camera inside for about 10 minutes and reformatted my memory card. I had a remote trigger set up on my Nikon D800 and had the shutter set to a 4-6 second exposure. Once the severe rain subsided I set up my tripod outside and let the camera do the work. As the shutter continued to click away we watched the show from inside.

I've never seen a storm quite like this one. Every few seconds a huge bolt of lightning lit up the Chicago sky. As I captured shots we went out on the balcony to see the images. I'm very happy with the final results. I love storms and the magic of capturing lightning. Hopefully we will get a few more great storms this summer but this one was definitely special.

Limited Edition Sale

It's not often that I discount my prints but I have a few pieces that are on sale for a limited time. All of the prints are numbered and limited editions. This is a great opportunity to get the piece that you've been waiting to order.

The Second City - 40x60 - Canvas - Originally $1,300 now $800
Heracles - 16x20 - Framed - Originally $300 now $250
Manhattan Bridge - 20x30 - Framed - Originally $350 now $300
Eiffel Tower From the Arc - 20x30 - Framed - Originally $350 now $300
Eiffel Tower From the Arc - 14x20 Framed (Contact Me) - Originally $200 now $125
The Louvre - 14x20 Framed (Contact Me) - Originally $200 now $125
A Hike To Vernazza - 16x24 - Framed - Originally $325 now $275
The Port of Vernazza - 16x24 - Framed - Originally $325 now $275
Castles in the Sky - 16x20 - Framed - Originally $300 now $250
Brooklyn Bridge 1 - 20x30 - Framed - Originally $350 now $300
Ghosts of Cloudgate - 40x60 - Canvas - Originally $1,300 now $800
Fields of Napa - 30x45 - Canvas - Originally $900 now $750
Top of The Rock - 30x45 - Aluminum - Originally $1,100 now $900

New York City

If you follow me on social media, you know that I visited New York City in March. It was nice to be able to walk the city with no specific plans or agenda. It gave me the opportunity to explore the city in a way I never have before. I had been to Brooklyn only once before but I decided to start my adventure in the Dumbo area. I explored Water Street and the surrounding area on foot, taking in the great views of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge.

After exploring Dumbo I set off to cross the Brooklyn Bridge by foot. The bridge is a timeless icon and with the Manhattan skyline in the background I couldn't help but shoot images every few steps. The symmetry of the cables paired with the ancient arches and metal skyline created a powerful contrasting subject.

After walking back into Manhattan, I stayed on foot and crossed lower Manhattan to the west side. From there I snaked my way from lower Manhattan to the Flatiron building on 5th Ave and 22nd St. I set up across the street and fired off a few shots. I was trying to get an interesting perspective of such a unique building. I thought I had the shot captured, but something told me to hang out for a few more minutes. The day had become quite cloudy, and suddenly the sun popped out of the clouds just to the right of the building. It looked like the sun was directly behind the building. I quickly fired off a handful of shots to capture the moment. The moving traffic and people made this one of my favorite photos from the trip.

From the Flatiron Building I continued north to the Empire State building, ending at a friend's house in midtown. My Fitbit friends must have wondered where I was that day because I clocked in just under 19 miles and 35,000 steps!

During the rest of my trip in New York I headed back to the Top of the Rock for some night photography. I didn't realize that One World Trade now had a white beacon at the top of the spire. I was very moved and impressed by the image of old New York (the Empire State building) with the new New York (One World Trade) and the history it represents.

On a different night I went to the top of the Empire State Building to try to get a good vantage point of the Chrysler Building. I had never been to the top of the Empire State building before. Being in the middle of Midtown, the views are not as good in my opinion as the Top of the Rock. The redeeming factor is that it's the only public building I know of that has great views of the Chrysler Building. I thought it would take me longer to get to the Empire State Building and through security so I left early. Turns out to get through everything was a breeze so I ended up standing around at the observatory deck for almost an hour in order to capture this photo. The extra time allowed me to test out the composition from different angles and ultimately end up with this shot.

I spent the morning of my final day of shooting in Grand Central Station. I got there after rush hour so the terminal was not super packed. I've read that Grand Central is not too keen on tripods so I found a good rail that I could prop up my camera on. I shot this image with about a half second exposure to capture the motion trails of the people. I really love the couple in the bottom center of the photo. Their slight motion blur and shadow as they walk toward the light created an ethereal feel against the grand architecture.

The rest of the day I spent walking Central Park and Wall Street. The Wall Street area was crowded but Central Park was relaxing. Once again I had never spent a lot of time walking the park and I was very impressed. My favorite part was the Bathesda Fountain area.

I had an amazing time walking and exploring the city. I'm looking forward to the next time I'm in NYC and can get some air time in a helicopter tour.

Chicago Polar Vortex 2014

For anyone who is paying attention to the weather the past month you know about the crazy Polar Vortex that has swept the nation. Here in Chicago we've seen days that the temperature fell to -15 degrees but with that weather I've seen some really interesting images that I've never seen before. I decided to venture out on some of the "warmer" days to capture the city with a fresh snowfall on the ground.

Chicago is going through another cold spell this week but hopefully spring will come early this year to offset all this brutal weather.