The Chicago Skyline

Chicago at Sunset

The Chicago Skyline from the Adler Planetarium.  Since I am spending this day shooting with friends in Chicago, I thought I’d share an image I took the last time was there last August.  I was there for the Trey Ratcliff Tour Across the USA photo walk along with a couple hundred of my closest friends.…… Continue reading The Chicago Skyline

Man in the Mirror

Man in the Mirror

“Life is a mirror and will reflect back to the thinker what he thinks into it.” –Ernest Holmes This is the view of my desk I see almost everyday.  I sit down here to jot down crazy ideas and thoughts, create to-do lists, and sometimes (or a lot of the time!) stare at blank sheets…… Continue reading Man in the Mirror

The Ideal Space

The Ideal Space

On a long holiday weekend, is there better place to be than right here?  As architect Luis Barragán once said, “I think that the ideal space must contain elements of magic, serenity, sorcery and mystery.”  Yep, I think we have all four of those here. Taken on the beach along the Seven Bridges Trail in Grant Park,…… Continue reading The Ideal Space

Quiet Stream

Quiet Stream

This quiet stream is at the Shalom Wildlife Sanctuary in West Bend, Wisconsin.  My family and I spent the day there exploring and enjoying the quiet of a crowd-free weekday visit.  The menagerie of animals included a wide variety of deer and elk, bison, a cougar, bobcats, foxes, raccoons, bear, mountain goats, emu, camels, llamas,…… Continue reading Quiet Stream

Raindrops on Green

Raindrops on Green

A line of tiny raindrops sit atop a green leaf against a backdrop of vibrant, verdant green after an early May rain shower. What a way to start the month.  Now it is Wisconsin – so it wasn’t warm by any means when I shot this macro image.  If fact, with the humidity, it was the…… Continue reading Raindrops on Green

Moonrise on the Water

Moonrise on the Water

I call this image “Moonrise on the Water” for obvious reasons.  However, what you may not realize, is this image started out as a colorful sunset over a small stream in the Kettle Moraine State Forest in southeast Wisconsin.   Really?  Yep.  Really.  I was intrigued with the RAW file enough to play around with…… Continue reading Moonrise on the Water

Sunset at Ottawa Lake

Sunset at Ottawa Lake

I went camping at Ottawa Lake this past weekend.  The sky was cloudless on both days and nights I was there which made for some not so stellar photographs during the day and mostly boring sunrises and sunsets.  However, on this particular evening, the colors in the sky just after the sun went down and the…… Continue reading Sunset at Ottawa Lake

The Crazy Photographer at Work

The Crazy Photographer at Work

This shot involves one camera, one tripod, a cell phone light, one set of extension tubes, two lenses and one crazy photographer (me).   In between 3D animation jobs and a quick trip out to the in-laws, I set my Nikon D700 with my 50mm 1.8 and extension tubes up on my tripod.  The subject…… Continue reading The Crazy Photographer at Work

Rotunda 4-Ways

Rotunda 4-Ways

This is riff on the shot from yesterday of the Rotunda in the lobby of the Milwaukee Public Library downtown location.  I will often finish processing a shot and then see what crazy off-the-wall things I can do with it.  This is the dome from the foyer simply repeated 4 times in Photoshop.  Since I…… Continue reading Rotunda 4-Ways

3-Way Mirror Selfie

3-way Mirrored Selfie

There is a cool wall of convex mirrors at Discovery World along the lakefront in Milwaukee.  I was there with the family (we have an annual pass, SO worth it).   Anyway, the mirror wall.  I’d love to set up my camera with a tripod and get a cool HDR pano of the whole thing…… Continue reading 3-Way Mirror Selfie

Pickup Lines

Pickup Lines

The front pickup of my vintage 1968 Bartell-Hohner Fretless f-hole hollow body bass guitar.  It was designed by former Rickenbacker employee Paul Barth of Bartell of California.  I have to admit that I’ve had this for about 30 years now and have barley played it.  It mostly just sits in its case and collects dust…… Continue reading Pickup Lines

Let There Be Bass

Let There Be Bass

“Let there be bass.” –Leo Fender This is my 1968 Hohner fretless f-hole bass guitar.  I’ve been saying since I bought this from a friend sometime way back in 1985 or so, that I am going to learn to play it well.  I’m still saying that.  But practice makes perfect, right?  Now I guess I…… Continue reading Let There Be Bass