Chicago Faces Silhouette

Three young men (brothers maybe?) enjoying the cool water on a hot Chicago summer night. I could shoot silhouettes here all night. The background is the Faces display in Millennium Park, near the Bean.

Radisson Aqu Blue Chicago

Beautiful building, a Radisson Hotel, tucked away behind Michigan Avenue between Lake and Randolph.

Faces in Chicago Millennium Park in Silhouette

I love shooting silhouettes into the Faces display in Millennium Park, especially on a hot summer evening with kids running around and playing in the water pool. This kid gave a great wondering mood in his body and stance as he looked up at the display.

Portfolio at 60

My portfolio at 60--including my mom (so only part of her portfolio). Everybody is healthy, thank god and the kids threw me a wonderful party. Total surprise. Thanks to Sam and Jono for organizing. To Nina and Stephanie and families for keeping the secret and helping out and to Michael to flying in as another surprise for 24 hours. Thanks to Cheryl for this wonderful family. I think the ying and yang made for a great combination. Thanks to the extended family members who were able to make it out at last minute and to all the birthday wishes. Love to you all.

Hat Shop in Chicago?

I saw a shot where I fit right in. Optima is a hat shop in downtown Chicago at 51 W Jackson. I have never been there but it looks like I have to go one day. It was closed, but I still got a shot. Today's shot of the day is in honor of Levi Sim, a photographer out of Portland who has a hat for every occasion.

Faces Chicago Silhouette Millennium Park

The Faces in Millennium Park are just wonderful to photograph on a warm summer night. I was trying to get these kids in silhouette and not overlapping each other so that they can have an individual shadow. Tough when they are running around in the water along with lots of others. I love this shot as their heights almost perfectly line up. A bit creepy Cheryl says with the mouth reflection from one of the faces but this is one of my new favorites.

Seattle End-to-End

This is a shot of Seattle from Puget Sound as we take a ferry into Elliot Bay on the way back from Olympic National Park last month.

A Chicago Doggie Food Truck

A doggie food truck. Not something you see everyday, especially on Lake Street, right in the Loop in downtown Chicago. Not many dogs in the offices around where I work, but I suppose there are a lot of people working who have dogs, so....why not?

Lake Crescent, Olympic National Park, Washington

Early morning gave me a mirror view over Lake Crescent a few feet outside our cabin at Log Cabin Lodge Resort inside Washington's Olympic National Park.  Love it when you get a glass steady water view.

Happy Father's Day

Getting Dad to smile is too tough to do at times so I will have to go with this as my Shot of the Day. You have to catch Dad looking but before he sees that you have a camera or the tongue will come out or he will make some other expression. I will keep working on him to get one good shot some day. For now, Happy Father's Day dad!!!

Olympic National Park Pansies

Last weekend was beautiful from beginning to end. This weekend looks overcast and rainy, at least to start. So, here are some pansies to brighten your day from Michael Jr and my Olympic National Park trip last month.

Chicago In Pencil Sketch

No, I don't draw but the computer does. Shooting in harsh mid-day sun makes for a blah picture. Sometimes you can improve it with a little bit of computer magic. Shooting the Chicago Theater sign is always a treat.

Eckhart and Anthony

Eckhart and Anthony enjoying our beautiful weather over the weekend in the backyard.

Washington's Mount Rainer

Mount Rainer is a common sight to locals in Seattle but to us flatlanders in the midwest, it is a treat to see such a great mountain seemingly so close to a major US city.

Michael pointing the way

At the end of our Olympic National Park trip we headed back to Seattle by ferry to catch plane rides back home. That got us an early morning ride to catch a view of the city from the bay. Nice ending to a wonderful trip. 

Throwback Thursday--Mattheissan State Park

This is my top shot on View Bug, the photo contest website. I got something like 152 "awards", 292 "likes" and was selected as a featured shot back in May 2016. So, a nice shot with some interesting features. I shot it with a 10-stop neutral density filter in full daylight. The filter slows the amount of light that reaches the disk and allows the water to move. So you get this soft water and the view of the "whirlpool" effect in the foreground below the falls. You don't see this swirl visually as it takes 30 seconds for these bubbles and small leaves to rotate, but the whirlpool is there. You just have to drag the shutter to see it.

Lily, with attitude

This is from a couple of weeks ago. I asked Lily, my granddaughter, to give me a little attitude and she came through big time. Not hard to get attitude from her when I have the camera. Only turning 9 and she is already tired of the camera. Hopefully, I can get a natural smile one day. Still, I like the attitude--its the key to the shot--sorry had to go there.

Trees are not out to get us, but if they were.....

If they were going after us, this is how I imagine it would look. O got a spooky feeling looking up when I took this shot. Still see it when I look on the computer. From Olympic National Park hike.

Sea of Green in Olympic Rain Forest

The Quinault Rain Forest is one of the wettest places in the United States and its biomass one of the largest in the world. You can see why in this shot with Michael looking at all the moss and ferns growing on this Red Ceder. The Hoh and Quinault Rainforests run at about a 60 mile stretch near the coast in the Olympic National Park and are something to see.

Rainbow around Soleduck Falls

Right place, right time to get a rainbow over Soleduck Falls in the Olympic National Forest. Lucky I was the only one there to get the shot.....