Because I Can, XLV

Because I Can, XLIV

Doing It For Myself

I wish I could remember the number of times a photojournalist has told me to not focus on shooting for the office, for the paper and instead shoot what I want to shoot. I'm okay at this, not great, but okay.

So recently I acquired a phone with a camera and text messaging (my previous phone I bought around 99' and at that point was fancy because it was digital. This new phone will hereafter be referred to as the "iWife".) This has resulted in me texting all day long. It's like swapping notes in class.

Somehow in the mix of all this I got to talking to a friend who lives in the desert these days about fall colors, and started sending photos taken with my iWife of fall colors, and now other random things, mostly with greenery. Reminders of leaves.

The funny thing is about this, I tend to like more of the photos I take with my iWife than with my other cameras. There is something about doing it for someone, doing it for fun, doing it for myself which makes it more rewarding.

At first when I made those images I didn't put much work into them, point the iWife and push the button. As I've done it more I've started putting more effort into the images, why make a crappy image when I don't have to? Why isn't this photo for a friend as important as any other photo? Why isn't it more important?

It's fun. It's really out of my norm. It's not the kind of camera I like. It doesn't give me the control I like. No shutter speed, no ISO, no white balance, no place for me to decide, for me to decide anything and while that encourages laziness, there is no reason I need to be lazy about the images. No room to crop later. Just shoot it, and send it right from the phone. Imperfect everytime and the better for it.

Now, mind you, the photos don't have to fit a story or purpose like my stuff for the paper so they tend to be more "pretty pictures". They tend to be images that will mean something to me and my friend, nothing more, but in that, I think they mean more than a lot of the other images I make.

Kind of sad that all my work can't mean as much, but I'm proud that some of it does.

Because I Can, XLIII

Because I Can, XLII

Because I Can, XLI

Ongoing Flooding

Locally we have had to deal with some flooding and now the aftermath of it for the last week or two. It's been long and involved work. Ranging from being thigh deep in a river while standing in the middle of the street to having mold covered drywall rain down on me. Yummy mold.

I do have to say, it's amazing, it's why I love people, the good spirits these people who have lost so much can have.

Because I Can, XL

Because I Can, XXXIX

Because I Can, XXXVIII

Laughing Yoga

This is Jeremy Chapman, laughing yoga instructor, and head of the Chicago Laughmore Club (I think that's the name, but as with all organizations like this, it's a little loose and hard to get a handle on some basics.) They meet every once and a while, and laugh. No purpose, no point, except the physical, mental and emotional health benefits of laughter. Yes, I'm going to go back and just do this instead of covering hopefully in the future.


Special thanks to my cuz Jackie who spotted this one while she was visiting Chicago. I, alas, totally walked by it without even noting it. I've become too hardened to seeing the strange of this universe.

Goodbye Weekend Plans

So I had plans for this weekend, mostly work plans, but plans. Basically Saturday morning survived and Saturday night, which was indoors, the rest of the weekend was thrown away. Such is the life of flooding and constant rain.

Instead I spent all day Sunday, half of which was supposed to be shooting a magazine cover on the Chicago River (ahh...the irony), standing in the Des Plaines River watching people sandbag and surveying damage. I don't if I've ever treasured dry socks as much as when I got home. 6 hours of wading through a river is really plenty. But I do have to say in the world of problems, at least I have a dry home to go home to, and for that, I am thankful tonight.

Because I Can, XXXVII

This is one of my favorite little hideouts in the city, the Thorn Garden on the south side of the Art Institute.

Because I Can, XXXVI

Because I Can, XXXV

Because I Can, XXXIV

Because I Can, XXXIII