Just a Florida Sunset

Just a Florida sunset over the Gulf of Mexico from the Bradenton area. I was looking for a green flash which you sometimes get when the sun just dips below the horizon, but not this time. Probably too many clouds on the horizon. Have you ever seen a green flash? I have seen 4 of them, one of which was a spectacularly brilliant, bright emerald green. Still, this red sunset was beautiful all on its own.

I-80 Out West

I've got no road trips planned this year but the west is calling. I love heading out west and seeing the country. Even the major interstate highways can be interesting but it is even more fun to get off the main roads and seeing the small towns that time has past.  These shots were taken on a trip to Portland last year to bring Michael home. For some reason that I can't fully explain, I am just not up for a big trip this year. Did a bunch of traveling last year. This year I will likely stay in the midwest. But the west is always calling my name....

A new season

A new season begins. A clean slate. Everyone starts at zero. High expectations for one team. Low expectations for the other. Both would taste great right now. Go White Sox.

You never know when a shot will appear

You never know when a photographic opportunity will pop up at you. Crossing the street in downtown Chicago near the Berghoff Cafe back last August, I saw these huge shadow bands stretching across the street and grabbed a quick shot as I walking. Happened to have my camera with me but a cell phone shot would have worked just a well. I loved the shadow bands and, as I looked at the picture on my computer, I got a painterly feeling coming off of the shot. So, I pulled out the filters and gave a bit of a painterly finish. I love these random, almost throwaway shots that turn into something with a little finish.

Mars on Earth or too much The Martian?

While I was sick with the flu this weekend, I actually watched The Martian (the one with Matt Damon) twice. I love that movie. That's my favorite si-fi movie made to date. So, I saw this scene in my photo stream and I had to turn it into a Martian landscape. It was not as red in real life. But the shot screamed Martian landscape, so I added some red to it. Obviously, a shot taken while flying near the Grand Canyon. Not sure exactly where, but close to Vegas.

Here is the shot I took right before the one above, without the Martian red layer added on. Sort of blah coloring but still otherworldly.

Today's goal: Walk a bit of the Riverwalk

The sun will be shinning today, although still a bit chilly. Even so, time to give the Riverwalk along the Chicago River a try. Welcome to spring.

They don't make churches like this anymore

Walked by this wonderful church heading to meet the family at a coffee shop on the north side and stopped in to take a peak at this wonderful old church, St. Alphonsus. The nave reminded me of our old parish, St. Basil's on 55th and Wood. That church is long gone, but this one remains. Going to be hard to keep these old churches open but this one is still going. Beautiful building inside and out.

Playing in a bubble

Sometimes it must feel like you are playing in a bubble, if you are an IRT Pro. This is Rocky Carson, Ladera Ranch, Ca, the tournament number 2 seed, in the backcourt, against his doubles partner for the week, Adam Manilla of Centennial, Co. Rocky took the match in two games, although Adam did push Rocky in the first. I was playing with a fisheye lens to get this effect. Fun shot. I will be shooting all day Saturday and the finals on Sunday as well. Lots of racquetball and photography ahead of me this weekend. If you are in the area, check out the Glass Court in Lombard, Illinois where the tournament is playing. If not, check out the live tournament feed at the irtnetwork.com.

Hudson, Ohio--A Tower and Two Spires

Hudson, Ohio is the reason why I travel. Actually, the reason why I travel is for work, but I never in a thousand years would have happened on Hudson, Ohio if not for work. Hudson is a suburb of Cleveland, located to the south and east and about 40 minutes or so from the city. Besides the scene you see here it has a collection of bars and restaurants and wonderfully old, large homes along with increasingly, teardown, which can't be avoided, I suppose. A charming city with a great bookstore and coffee shop and I hope you all get to visit it some day. This is a cell phone shot from the quant town square.

The Igloo

Wow. Nature created an igloo!!! Saw this at the Red Rocks Conservation Area outside of Las Vegas. Pretty cool structure and not one that you would expect to see in nature. Below are a wide shot and a close up. Strange formation.

Sunday Funday

Sunday Funday is all about the sliders. Had some fun cleaning up this shot of the Hancock Basin on Chicago's lakefront from a sunrise trip back in 2008. Was shooting my Nikon D200 at the time, my first digital camera. This has been in my favorites file from way back. Over the years, as new favorites come in, you have to purge old shots as your standards and the quality of your shooting has changed. Used Topaz Studio to sharpen the details and put on a filter to enhance the colors. Then I toned the colors back down in Lightroom towards what I remember the scene looked like when I took the shot. Chicago looks beautiful this time in the morning.

Sunshine Saturday's

As I am new to Instagram, I am giving myself permission to go through my catalog and repost some of my favorite shots. I will use a theme of Sunshine shots to post on Saturday's (Sunshine Saturday's) to highlight a portion of my catalog, now 75,500+ shots and growing. This is from way, way back in 2009, taken with the wonderful Nikon D200, my first digital camera. I had just started shooting raw at this point and was up before the sun, shooting the sunrise along Chicago's lakefront. As it was summer, it was a 4am woke up call as I remember. Ouch. But worth it to get shots like this.  

No Red Slider Needed

When I looked at this shot I had to go back to my computer to see if I moved the red slider up as it looked way to red---but no, I did not move the red or the saturation slider up. The Red Rocks in Vegas are so red that you don't think they are real. Wonderful area to visit.

Sand Dunes exposed

A black and white showing the texture on the rock. These formations were originally sand dunes that got covered and turned into stone. Taken at the Red Rocks area near Las Vegas.

Red Rocks moody valley view

Wonderful muted colors as dusk approached and a storm started to come in the Red Rock Valley near Las Vegas. Love the color band on the mountain in the distance. Those are younger rocks trapped between two older rock layers.

Jared Platt...living on the edge

Had a fantastic time hiking the Red Rocks area with professional photographers Jared Platt and Cabel Noteboom. (Calbel and his partner and wife, Kim, are destination wedding photographers from Billings, Montana). Jared gave me some excellent tips (try the black and white settings while still shooting in Raw—on a mirrorless camera, like my wonderful Nikon Z6, you see the shot in the viewfinder as a black and white...helps nail the composition but you still retain all the color information....) and just had an amazing afternoon shooting. I’ve said it before but if you go to Vegas and don’t visit the Red Rocks area (only a half hour away) you are missing out on some amazing views and easy to challenging hikes. As a flat-lander, I can see the difference between Jared and Cabel and someone like myself. They don’t mind the heights and “living on the edge”. I’m taking the shot and telling them to step away from the edge. There was a 50 drop behind Jared and he is saying, “we have to get a model up here”. I'm thinking, "no way that is going to happen".  LOL

Here are some shots of Cabel and Jared on top of a ridge. I wasn't going up there, although it turns out there is an easy path up there.

Stratosphere on approach

A second shot o of the Las Vegas Stratosphere on approach to Vegas.

Las Vegas Stratosphere on approach

Never "touristed" to the Stratosphere. Have to do that one day.