Cubs Vs Astros at Wrigley Field

Beautiful Wrigley Field

The Pitch

The Swing

Another Swing

Point of Impact

(click to see larger image)

"And it's One, Two, Three Strikes You're Out!"

"Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack!"

I have not been to a Cubs game in several years, so going to the game today was a real treat.

My friend Steve treated my brother, another high school friend and me to a day at Wrigley Field and we had a terrific time! The game started out with a lot of action with plenty of homeruns happening between both teams.

But as hard as they tried, the Houston Astros were defeated 7-6 by the Cubs!

Go Cubs!

I shot nearly 150 images. Besides photographing the game (we were seated in aisle 222, several rows behind home plate), I also made sure to photograph some of the “action” happening around us too! The fans are a huge part of the game in my opinion and it would not be complete without photographing them as well.

We all had some hotdogs (can’t go to a Cubs game without having at least one hot dog!) but some fans followed the advice of the song, "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" (“Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack…”)

Going to a ball game with friends is about as American as apple pie!

No More Cake Smashing!

Every now and then, a bride or groom gets a cake "smashed" into their face by their new spouse. But it doesn't happen that often anymore. Most are rather conservative about this tradition of cake feeding.

The funny thing is, I often hear a stern warning from the person being fed to the person doing the feeding to "Be Nice." That often works. But sometimes, it doesn't and then the cake gets smashed into the face anyway. Just remember that retaliation often follows!

Last Saturday's couple decided to do the conservative thing, but they fed each other at the same time. Wonder what would have happened if one did the smash and the other didn't?

Jennifer Keller - Harpist

Ok, if you read my blog regularly, you know that I am a big guitar fan. No secret there.

But given the choice of a guitar, a string quartet, or any other instrument(s) for a wedding ceremony, cocktail hour or reception... my number one choice would be... a HARP!

That's right. A Harp! Even before photographing weddings 17 years ago, I always thought that the harp was the most elegant of instruments. The sound from a harp is so pure and soothing that it makes perfect sense to have this wonderful instrument at weddings.

But unfortunately, very few people hire harpists for weddings! I just don't understand why! Perhaps people don't think about it or they just don't know where to turn.

Well, look no more! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND booking Jennifer Keller for the job! She plays so well and she's got the COOLEST HARP around! It can be played acoustically or plugged-in and amplified! That's so cool!

I've got a story that I must tell you about Jennifer. About ten years ago, I went to the Arlington Heights Guitar Center to look at the latest musical instruments. Being a guitar player since I was ten years old, I love going to music stores! Well, I never forgot about the time I went to Guitar Center and saw this harpist who brought in her harp to try out sound systems! Unbelievable! In all the years I had been going to various music stores, I had NEVER seen anyone bring in a harp! I mean, after all, it's GUITAR Center... not HARP Center! Well, everyone around had to check this out for themselves. In one area of the store, we had the Heavy Metal guitarists who were busy strumming away on the electric guitars making all sorts of noises. Then in another room, there were the drummers all testing out the latest drums. But in the sound reinforcement room, there was Jennifer testing out sound systems! It was the funniest sight to see these long-haired rock 'n rollers standing around checking out the harp player!

I never forgot that in all these years. Then just yesterday at my 7-7-07 wedding, guess who was hired to play the harp? Yes... it was Jennifer! Until yesterday, I did not know Jennifer because we had never been introduced. But she looked so familiar. So I went up to her before the wedding and introduced myself and I asked her if she had played at one of my weddings before, but she said she had not. During the ceremony, I kept thinking to myself, "Where have I seen this lady before?"

It wasn't until the cocktail hour when I saw her playing the harp through a sound system that it dawned on me that she could have been the lady who brought in her harp to Guitar Center many years ago. So I asked her if she had purchased her sound system at Guitar Center and she told me that it was about ten years ago that she did. It was her!

I got such a kick out of it that I had to tell the bride and groom. After I got home from the wedding and was uploading my images to my computer, I told my daughter about Jennifer too. She remembered the story I told her years ago of the "Guitar Center Harpist" and she was happy that I had finally met the lady from the story!

Well, I want to give Jennifer my highest recommendation! She plays wonderfully and I don't know of any other harpists out there who can perform at your wedding and also at your cocktail hour or reception too! Without a sound system, it's very difficult to hear the harp over all the people milling around at a cocktail hour. But with Jennifer's great sound system (she bought a good one), you can hear her easily.

Please book Jennifer for your wedding! She's very reasonably priced for her services and she's a pro. If you have not yet decided on an instrumentalist for your ceremony or for your cocktail hour or reception, consider hiring Jennifer. I don't give many vendors this kind of recommendation, but I will for her. She left a very favorable impression on me ten years ago which I had never forgotten. If you want your guests to remember your wedding... hire her! They will be talking about it for years too! Here's her website: http://www.elegantharp.com/

Fireworks

Here's a shot from the wedding of June 23. Navy Pier has fireworks displays in the evening and we were lucky to get a few shots while we were at the Adler Planetarium. We were hoping for some larger fireworks displays, but we were lucky to get what we got. I'll bet they did a bigger display on July 4 though!

Happy Fourth of July!

Wishing you all a great Fourth of July!

Another Taylor

This is a Taylor GS8-E Custom.

Last year, I owned a Taylor GS-MSe (Maple sides and back with a Sitka Spruce top with the Expression pickup system installed) and ended up selling it. So this year, I decided to get the new GS8-E Custom which is a guitar with Indian Rosewood sides and back with a Sitka Spruce top. It also has the Expression pickup installed but is considered a "custom" guitar because it has a cutaway. Taylor doesn't make the GS with a cutaway unless it is ordered as a custom guitar.

The Rosewood version of the GS should make the guitar a little warmer sounding than the maple version. Plus the cutaway should make it easier for me to reach the upper frets.

The 2007 version also includes the new 9 Volt Expression system as opposed to the older (2) AA battery sytem. Body sensors can be turned on and off too. And, the new headstock joint makes the neck so much nicer as well! But I'll be removing the pickguard on the guitar like I have done on all the other Taylor guitars I've owned.

_____________________________

By the way, I also picked up a new Taylor DN3 guitar too and will install a K&K Pure Western Mini pickup in it. The DN3 is a dreadnought design with a gloss Sitka Spruce top and satin finished Sapele back and sides. Essentially this new 2007 model replaces the older 310 model. Photos at another time...

The Brady Bunch

When I was growing up, "The Brady Bunch" was one of my favorite shows. It still is.

Recently, I purchased the complete series on DVD to share with my daughter. Now she's hooked on the show! It seems the 70's family appeals to today's kids just as much as it did back when it first came out!

The show ran for 5 seasons, so there's a lot of episodes to watch! Believe it or not, I've seen every episode - even before having this DVD set!

The DVD set comes complete with a shag carpeted cover and 21 discs. We'll be watching for a long time. These shows are "Far Out," "Heavy," "Groovy," and "Outta Sight!"

Who's your favorite Brady?

Chicago Skyline

It's hard to beat the Chicago Skyline at night.

This past Saturday's wedding was a long one, but well worth it! We were all over downtown Chicago taking photos but this one late at night is one of my favorites. We shot this one around 10:10 PM.

A time exposured shot filled-in with flash on a hazy summer's night created this almost surreal look for the skyline. The dark brown / sepia tones really sets this image apart. A fun bride and groom helps too!

No Photoshop trickery on this shot... it's virtually straight out of the camera. Just a little exposure compensation and color balancing and that's it. This new Fuji camera is just incredible! Of course, knowing how to create a shot like this helps too...

Do You Have What It Takes?

I'm often stopped by other photographers asking what it's like to be a pro photographer.

It seems everyone with a new camera wants to be considered a "pro" photographer. I was told by one of my former clients that she had heard of a person who received a new digital camera as a gift and now thinks she's a pro photographer. Really?

There's more to being a pro than just owning a digital SLR camera! Putting your camera on "Program" mode and taking random photos does not make you a pro. Getting paid for your work doesn't make you a pro either... at least in my opinion. Anyone can pay someone to take a photo, but that doesn't mean his/her photos are going to look good.

To be a real pro, you need to understand photography. You need to have an eye for it. You need to be able to work under pressure and to handle any lighting situation thrown at you. Just owning a digital camera does not make you a pro.

It's easy to photograph a wedding where the lighting is perfect and everyone is cooperative. But what about the weddings that have terrible backlighting or very dim lighting and nobody wants to cooperate? How easy is that?

Being a pro photographer means being able to adapt to situations. You need to know how to work with people, work with lighting, and work with your camera. And, if you get paid to do it, then that's great. But many pros keep working on their skills long after they have learned the craft. That's why so many continue to go to seminars, read various publications, and continuing their education in photography. And, they PRACTICE too!

So if you want to be a pro photographer, it takes more than just owning a nice camera. It takes hard work and dedication as well.

A Day of Music

Forensicguy

(photo courtesy of Dale Janzen)

Algonquin

Marshall

Rollie

Chicago Sandy

Astrummer and JJFields

Alicia and Uncle Dizzy 60

DJanzen

Uncle Dizzy 60

Jim

I spent nine hours yesterday just hanging out with friends from the Acoustic Guitar Forum playing guitar and electric bass!

Our gracious hosts, Jim and Alicia opened up their home once again for a day of guitar fun and food. Like last year's gathering, Jim was slaving over a hot grill and offering us such goodies as Salmon, Filet Mignon, Pork Chops and more. Alicia made all the other non-grillable foods in the kitchen. Chicago Sandy brought her coffee machine and offered up her specialty coffees.

As for music, I got to play electric bass most of the time and that was just fine with me. Uncle Dizzy 60 brought his Fender Precision Bass and I jumped at the chance to play it. JJFields brought his Ultrasound AG-30 amplifier for me to use with my Taylor DDSM guitar. Wow, I've got to get myself one of these! For such a small amplifier, it packs an incredible sound!

To see more images from this year's get together, click here. To see images from last year's gathering, see the June 2006 posts in the archive section of this blog.

Two Similar Lenses - What's the Difference?

This past week, my daughter was using a Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 XR Di II LD lens while I was using the more expensive Nikon 17-55mm f2.8 G ED-IF AFS-DX lens to photograph Navy Pier. We both had the lenses mounted on similar Fuji S5 Pro camera bodies set for the identical setting.

Our goal was to capture Navy Pier artisitically and to see how our shots compared. Overall, she did very well for someone who has had little formal training. She has a pretty good eye. Perhaps that's from seeing all the photos I shoot every week and hearing me describe which images are good and which are not. Anyway, while comparing our shots, I noticed that all of my images seemed to have a slightly richer color quality to them than hers. Although the images seemed almost equally as sharp, the Nikon lens did appear slightly sharper as well.

This is not to say that the Tamron lens did not do a good job. I'd say without images to do a direct comparison against, I think it would be very hard for anyone to tell the difference. It's very close. And for the price difference, I think the average person would have to agree that the Tamron offers a lot for the money.

Doing a quick search for current prices, the Tamron lens sells for approximately $439 whereas the Nikon lens sells for $1200. That's a big price difference. Is it worth it? For the pro, yes. For the average consumer, perhaps not.

I had purchased the Tamron as a backup lens to use whenever I did not want to lug around the big heavy Nikon. For the most part, I'd say it's one of the best lenses for the money. It compares favorably to the big Nikon lens at a fraction of the cost. But if I had to do critical work in which I needed the absolute best quality image, I'd be grabbing for the Nikon lens to do that work.

If you want a high quality lens at a lower price, buy the Tamron lens. Buy the Nikon if you need a sharper image with better contrast and better color and price is no object. You can't go wrong with either lens, however.

Segway on Patrol at Navy Pier - Chicago, IL

The Chicago Police Department patrols Navy Pier on a "police" version of the Segway Human Transporter! This officer was surprised to catch me photographing her twice... once in a store and then another time later while patroling the common areas.

Last year, my family got to try out the Segway while visiting downtown Chicago and we all loved it. It's such a blast to ride that I highly recommend everyone who visits downtown to try it. (Check out the April 2, 2006 post on this blog.) If the prices of these ever come down, I'd be tempted to buy one. What can I say, I'm a gadgets freak!! I think the police officer looks cooler than I do though, don't you? I look kind of "nerdy" with the stuff that the tour group company required us to wear: a reflective vest and helmet - not to mention the thin wheels with the cheap looking hub caps that are standard on "civilian" Segways. I wonder if she'd let me try her vehicle if I told her I was former law enforcement... LOL

Wedding Crashed by Little People

On the way to their own wedding, my client's wedding got crashed by these little people!

ISO 1600 Low Light Images - Fuji S5 Pro

These were taken in very low light during this past Saturday's wedding.

As you can see, shooting without a flash maintains the intimacy of the performance and adds a little "drama" to the shot at the same time.

Since having the Fuji S5 Pro's, there's just so much more I can do even with very little light!

Brookfield Zoo Outing - Lots of Fun

Yesterday was a great day to be at the Zoo! A bunch of local photographers joined my daughter and me for a day at Brookfield Zoo to do a little shooting.

So where are all the animal shots? Well, believe it or not, it was more fun shooting the wild antics of the photographers than the animals!

We were a serious looking bunch... lots of pro gear in tow. Our huge 70-200mm f2.8 lenses dominated the scene as we just blew away all those "tourists" with their little point and shoot cameras! Everywhere we went, I could see the other zoo guests looking at us.

At one point, we saw a sign for someone who was having a wedding shower at the zoo. One of us suggested we go crash it just for fun to see if they might need a wedding photographer!! That would have been a hoot since most of us were professional wedding photographers!

Oh, and if you have not seen any cicadas in your neighborhood and wondered where they were all hiding, I can tell you that they are all hanging out at the zoo! Everywhere we went, we were bombarded by the little bugs! They are huge, but they don't really do anything to you (other than land on you.) We all had a good laugh everytime one landed near Gina! That quick scream was our way of knowing we didn't lose her in the crowd. LOL

Thanks to everyone who attended yesterday. I had a great time and I hope you did as well.

"What's In That Pelican Case?"

I've had a couple of people ask me what is inside my camera case when I go to weddings, so I thought I'd show you.

This is a Pelican 1624 case (basically a 1620 case with padded dividers) which has a pull out handle and dolly wheels for easy rolling. Fully loaded with my equipment, it weighs 62 lbs! Not the easiest case to lift in and out of the trunk of my car!

For destination weddings, I use the Pelican 1514 case (a 1510 case with padded dividers) which is similar to the large case, but sized to fit in the overhead bins of an airplane.

But the 1624 is my main case for most weddings and that's packed from top to bottom. The divider section which holds my small lenses comes out to reveal a lower compartment which holds my larger lens, more flash / battery packs and cameras. The large 70-200mm f2.8 lens stores vertically in the right side of the case.

Overall, the 1624 has enough space to allow me to bring enough equipment to cover the average wedding along with backup gear. Still, I continue to wear my Lowepro belt system to hold many of the needed gear throughout the day. Things I don't need access to as often stays in the case. The case is always locked with padlocks and then secured with a bike cable and padlock to a stationary object at the church or reception hall. So if you are thinking of walking off with my gear when I'm not looking, be ready to carry out a church pew or a reception hall table as well because that's what my case is often locked to!

Haley Dykes In Concert - Silverdale Baptist Church, Chattanooga, TN

This past weekend while I was in Tennessee photographing the wedding of Holli Dykes and Lucas Brown, I decided to spend Sunday with Holli's sister, Haley and her ex-fiance (edit: updated) Joshua instead of doing some more sightseeing before going home. I was satisfied with just having visited Ruby Falls and felt that was enough.

I've known Haley for about 3 years now, having gone to many of the shows that she and her dad, Doyle Dykes holds in the Chicago area. Over these years, I've gotten to see how Haley has grown and matured as a musical artist so it comes as no surprise that she is now in demand for performances of her own.

She was scheduled to play at 9:30 AM, 11:05 AM and 6:30 PM at Silverdale. I go to church on Sundays so it was especially convenient for me that Haley was performing locally in Chattanooga while I was there. It made deciding where to go a lot easier for me!

Although I stayed up late after the wedding of her sister on the night before, I got up early and checked out of my hotel room and headed for the church. Luckily for me, the church was only several minutes from the hotel.

As we were waiting for the 9:30 church service, I had the opportunity to help Haley warm up by playing Joshua's Taylor 915 guitar while Haley played her mandolin and sang. Joshua played Doyle's custom-made Taylor T-5 electric guitar since I was using his guitar. This particular T-5 has the well-known "White Rose for Heidi" on the headstock of the guitar... just like the DDSM guitar.

I stayed for both the 9:30 and 11:05 services and then later we all went out for lunch. At 2:00, we headed back to the church as Haley had asked a drummer and bass player to join in for the 6:30 performance and they needed to practice. Unfortuanately, I had to leave to catch my plane ride home, so I only stayed until 3:30 PM.

During that time though, I continued to photograph the practice session and got to see how Haley worked as she prepared for a gig. I am used to hearing Doyle back up Haley on guitar, so this was the first time I have heard her play with other musicians. Her fiance Joshua is very good on the guitar so Haley still has quality sound even without her dad there! By the way, Joshua meets the "Russ Lowe Seal Of Approval" when it comes to being the future husband for Haley! What a terrific young man! I like him a lot, and yes, they are a cute couple!

Before I left for the airport, I jumped in with the band for one song by playing the nice Yamaha grand piano that the church had on stage. It was a little hard to keep proper time since I didn't have a monitor aimed at me and I could only hear the drums echoing off the walls. Hopefully I did ok...

Ruby Falls - Chattanooga, Tennessee

I'm currently in my hotel room in Chattanooga, Tennessee waiting to go to photograph Holli Dyke's wedding. But since the wedding is not until later in the day, I decided to get up early to go do a little sightseeing!

I went to visit Ruby Falls. This underground natural water fall is in a cave located on Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga. I love caves! I recall going to my first cave with my family when I was young. Ever since then, I've wanted to go back and so I could not pass up this opportunity to do so. Often they light up the caves with dramatic lighting as you can see from the images of the falls itself. So I photographed Ruby Falls with my Fuji S5 set at ISO 3200 and used only the light provided.

I'll have some photos from the wedding soon... so watch out for it on Monday!