Waiting for a Pastoral Moment

While visiting Cantigny Gardens in Wheaton, IL, I saw this scene and just knew I had to grab a photo. It felt both promising and lonely...and so for me it felt full of story.

Bloom Portrait

It would seem I've been full of flowery goodness of late because here's another one.

The story: my wife and I spent a truly marvelous afternoon at Cantigny Gardens in Wheaton, IL where we were fortunate enough to experience so much of the beauty of spring. When I saw the way this magnolia bloom peeked out from behind the branch, I found the right angle, opened up the aperture, and snapped away.

Bloom Portrait

Rhinoceros Contemplation

While on a visit to Brookfield Zoo (Brookfield, IL), I had an opportunity to make an afternoon's worth of photos.

Here, I managed to catch this Black Rhinoceros in a contemplative moment.

Rhinoceros Contemplation

Stoic

Even though I see this fellow every day, I only occasionally think to photograph him. With diffused winter light, patches of snow, and dead tendrils all around it was a perfect day to make a shot.

Stoic

Eye Contact

I was on a photo shoot for a good friend of mine, Megan Owdom-Weitz, who is a designer and fabric printer. The shoot was to document her new collection and fashion show at a local gallery. In between photographing the models, I happened to notice this model, Michele, preparing for her shots by using the natural light streaming in through the window. I grabbed my second camera and managed to make a few frames before I had to return to the business at hand.

Some Angels Have Their Secrets

The cabalistic House on the Rock in Spring Green, WI is a mind boggling assemblage of collections, a tour through a dreamworld made manifest. This is but one of the myriad visions one stumbles upon while navigating the experience that is The House on the Rock.

The ceiling of the House's carousel room (the carousel is billed as the world's largest, boasting 269 handcrafted carousel animals and not one of them a horse, 20,000 lights and 182 chandeliers. And people are not allowed to ride it) is littered with mannequins-turned-angels. This was achieved by draping them in diaphanous wraps and securing huge wings to their backs. Most of them have hair (wigs) but some do not.

Kitchen Towel

I was heading out of the house to make some photographs. Before I left, I was packing up my cameras and lenses. On a whim, I thought I'd grab a photo of the kitchen towel hanging on our oven. As luck would have it, this ended up being the photo I liked best of all I took during the day.

Ice Fishing

While driving around I took a momentary detour into a forest preserve to see if I could find any interesting photo subjects. As I walked toward a frozen lake, I noticed this fellow ice fishing...and he was wearing a great, red jacket. So I put camera to eye and made this photograph.

When Dreams Play Uncomfortable Lullabies

Reclining Gnome and Concrete Morel

When my wife and I put up a new fence in our yard, a little corner where a bush used to be ended up being empty. We decided to make a little gnome village there, and so we are always on the lookout for gnomes. While in Spring Green, WI recently, we stopped at a roadside stand that sold statuary. We found this guy and the mushroom, and so he made it into this spot.

Mannequin Eyes

During a recent visit to the House on the Rock in Spring Green, WI, it seemed as if my camera was clicking non-stop.

I saw this mannequin in the Circus Room and just loved the way she was lit. I approached this shot as if I was taking a portrait. That seemed all too perfect given the fact that her eyes seemed all too life-like, particularly with the catch-light in them.

Pulling Out All the Stops

The cabalistic House on the Rock in Spring Green, WI is a mind boggling assemblage of collections, a tour through a dreamworld made manifest. One of my all-time favorite rooms at the House is the Organ Room. It features three of the greatest theatre organ consoles ever built, surrounded by walkways, bridges and spiral staircases. Interestingly enough, it also sports a full-sized submarine engine that one doesn't even notice at first. THAT'S how overwhelming this room really is.

On Halloween weekend 2010, Karen and I had the distinct pleasure to attend the Gathering of the American Gods at the House on the Rock. It was a weekend-long celebration of Neil Gaiman's novel, "American Gods," in which a pivotal scene takes place at the aforementioned House on the Rock, (specifically this self-same carousel). Neil was in attendance giving a book reading, book signings, serving as judge for the costume contest, and having a general good time with the rest of us attendees.

Eastern Still Life

The afternoon sun was streaming in "just so" and, since I had camera in hand, I wanted to make an exposure.