Nikon D800E...

The wait continues to continue.

May Is National Photography Month...

...because a Day just wasn't enough.
Proclaimed by President Reagan in 1984.

Go hug your camera today.

We won...(2nd place!)

I am happy to announce a video project I worked on won 2nd place out over 2900 entries. In July of 2011, Mary Katherine Krause (Associate Vice President, University Relations, Rush University) and I were discussing a new special Rush University project. I thought it should be a studio based video project. So over 2 days last August, our team of 4 created Introducing Rush Students . I did all the still photos, lighting and a bit of the video footage. The playful tone was also my idea. Below is the press release from the competion organization:

Winners have been announced for the 27^th annual Educational Advertising Awards sponsored by the Higher Education Marketing Report and Rush university has received the 2012 Silver award for its “Introducing Rush University Students” video in the graduate school “video viewbook” category.

The Educational Advertising Awards program is the largest educational advertising awards competition in the country. This year, over 2,900 entries were received from more than one-thousand colleges, universities and secondary schools from all fifty states and several foreign countries. Judges for the Educational Advertising Awards consisted of national panel of higher education marketers, advertising creative directors, marketing and advertising professionals and the editorial board of Higher Education Marketing Report.


We shot the video with a Canon 5D Mark II. We shot the stills with a Nikon D700. We used 3 LED flat panels and a tungsten light for some color fill. It was edited by a Wisconsin company.

As a photographer...

in a major Chicago medical center, the first thing new acquaintances ask is what exactly do I do? Then they ask, "Do you shoot xrays?"

So for the last time-NO-I do not shoot xrays.
But I have photographed some rather unexpected things, such as:

Ringling Bros Circus

salads

soups

autopsy in the morgue

Chicago Cubs games

Chicago White Sox games

Chicago Fire soccer

Charles “Peanut” Tilman (Chicago Bears)

Greg Olson (former Chicago Bears)

Joakim Noah (Chicago Bulls)

Bobby Jenks (former Chicago White Sox)

Ozzie Guillen (former Chicago White Sox)

Rod Steiger (actor-On The Waterfront, Amityville Horror)

donuts

an official Indy car (and driver)

teddy bear health clinic

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin

...should I go on?

D800E...The Wait Continues

Yes, I have a Nikon D800E on order. I stayed up late and ordered it late night on February 6th as soon as it was posted as a pre-order.

Now, I wait...along with many thousands (millions?) of other photographers worldwide.

Music, Music, Music!

As a staff photographer at Rush University Medical Center, I see it all. Here is a video I recently completed along with my colleague, Lauren. It is a promo piece for the April 26th, 2012 Staff & Faculty Music Celebration put on by the University. We used a couple Canon 5D MarkII cameras. I did the lighting with flat panel LEDs and a tungsten light for a bit of fill. We both did camera work. Lauren did most of the editing with Adobe Premiere Pro 5. I also did a series of still portraits with similar lighting.

A Prairie Road Trip

I am going to drive out to Nachusa Grasslands in the next couple of days. I have never been there before, but I know it is a few thousand acres in size administered by the Nature Conservancy. It is a little bit west of Rockford, IL. I want to build up my collection of winter prairie photographs a bit more.

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things...To Photograph

1. Water
2. Native Midwest prairies

3. Weathered wood from old manmade construction
4. Chicago skyline in the blue hour (after sunset light)
5. Did I mention water?

Eye See

It's time to give blogging a go.

My mom fell yesterday.
She is in her mid 80's and unfortunately, falls can be fairly common among seniors. She is a little bruised up, but mostly o.k. The main thing is a bit of right eye injury. Her vision in that eye is a little blurry. The doctor said the cornea was roughed up some, but will heal. One of those times people say, "One day at a time." Which brings me to the flipside of the coin.

I am in my 40's and my vision is still very good. That works out well because I make my living with my eyes. I am a professional photographer.
I have 3 sisters, and they all wear glasses. They have since they were kids.  Mom and dad also wear glasses. So somehow, I just got the "good eyes" gene. And I am the only photographer in the family. And yes...of course I feel fortunate. Not saying photographers have to have good vision, but it sure helps. For instance, when working with DSLR (digital single lens reflex) cameras, glasses can interfere with focus. Diopter lenses built into many DSLRs can combat vision problems, but I know that determining image focus can still be problematic.
To see how I use my vision-please view my gallery.