Something different

There’s something about a kidney bean shaped blob of polished steel that attracts attention in a landscape of straight lines and rectangles like Chicago.

It’s not like nobody’s ever taken a picture of the Cloud Gate (also known as “The Bean”) in Chicago’s Millennium Park. People were snapping all around me as I visited there one evening last weekend. So my photos became just a few of the millions that are taken in Millennium Park each year.

But if there is one difference, it’s this. My photos were taken by me and no one will look at the Cloud Gate sculpture in quite the same way I do. And that will make its way into how I approach photographing the structure, whether it’s the angle I shoot from, the exposure setting I use, what I choose to include or leave out, or the combination of real and virtual filters I use.

Some of these shots were taken with a two-stop graduated neutral density filter to even out the tones between the sky and objects on the ground. The twilight photo used a deep blue filter applied in Photoshop to correct the cast of the vapor lights in the scene. Yeah, I know I could have adjusted my white balance at the time, but I didn’t think of it.

A million people at a bean in a park in Chicago. And no two the same.

Click on pictures to enlarge. Photographs © 2007 James Jordan.

Surfing the web

Gotta love the community at Flickr. I posted this photo last night with the rather lame title of "Spidey." One of my Flickr contacts left a comment on the photo that this spider was surfing the web. Instant title change.

If you're looking for greater exposure (no pun intended) for your pictures, it's hard to beat Flickr. You can explore for other great photos via tags, keywords, photo location or "interestingness." You can comment on pictures, receive comments on yours, post to various photo groups and add people as contacts and build a network of photographer friends.

Once your photos reach a certain level of interestingness, Yahoo! (the owner of Flickr) begins to help out and your photos begin to appear on Yahoo! image searches and on various Yahoo! news pages, further increasing view counts. I'm currently getting about 800-1000 views a day on Flickr and have been contacted several times in the past month by publishers looking for photos. I've been fortunate enough to sell a few for publication.

Make like the web surfing spider and head over to Flickr. Wander around. Check it out. The only thing you have to lose is several hours browsing some great photos.

Click on picture to enlarge. Photograph © 2008 James Jordan.

Peekaboo

One of the reasons I selected the Fujifilm S700 digital point and shoot camera several months ago was due to its ability to focus down to 4cm on Super Macro mode. Now, just because the camera can focus that close doesn't necessarily mean that it will. I've spent quite a bit of time becoming frustrated by the camera's tendency to focus just beyond the subject. Seems that trying to focus on a small object in the midst of other small objects confuses the auto focus mechanism. Unfortunately, focusing on small objects in the midst of other small objects is the entire point of macro photography.

So here's a focusing procedure that you won't find in the camera manual. With your camera set on macro (or super macro as the case may be), take an exposure reading of the subject - you don't have to be in focus to do that. Note the reading, then either set that reading in the camera's manual mode, or, with your index finger about a half inch in front of the lens, move the camera around in the light until you get an identical reading, then lock in the focus on your finger.

Remove finger from the front of the lens. The focus is now locked to about a half inch. Now move the camera ever closer to your subject until it becomes sharply focused in your viewfinder or LCD screen. Then snap. Take several shots just to be sure. It's hard to tell from the LCD screen if you're really in tack-sharp focus.

It's trial and error, but when going fully automatic is nothing but error, it's worth a try.

Click on picture to enlarge. Photograph © 2008 James Jordan.

Morning mist

The sun rises over Silver Spring just west of Yorkville, Illinois. The movement and temperature of the spring waters keep it from freezing throughout the winter. This dawn of this late summer day saw the waters adding a slight mist to the morning air.

As the summer prepares to surrender the stage for autumn waiting in the wings, the pace of life slows. The urgency of spring and summer fade and time relaxes a bit. The long sleep is coming.

Click on picture to enlarge. Photograph © 2008 James Jordan.

Preparing for the turn

The changes are barely perceptible, but they are there nonetheless. The days grow shorter, the nights longer. The morning air holds a faint chill. The world prepares to make its turn toward autumn.

A grasshopper clings to a flower head in the early morning light. The plant has prepared its seeds. They will soon scatter to the winds or hitch a ride on a passing animal to a new location to start the cycle anew.

The season of play is not yet over, but in those moments of stillness, you can feel the faint twinges of fatigue beginning to settle in. The time for a winter nap is coming.

Click on picture to enlarge. Photograph © 2008 James Jordan.

Somewhat after the style of Maxfield Parish

Somewhat.

Click on picture to enlarge. Photograph © 2008 James Jordan.

A few bugs in my studio setup

Hmm … here’s an idea for a photographic niche – studio portraits of insects. Maybe, maybe not.

The north side of my garage has brick halfway up. Where the brick meets siding is a narrow ledge. Placing a black sheet of foam board on that ledge (and using an outdoor light fixture to keep it in place) makes for a dandy little studio for shooting macros. I’ve set it up to shoot various subjects many a time. Being on the north side of the house, the light is always good, no matter what time of day.

I was clearing some brush from my backyard last weekend when I discovered this aging cicada among the twigs and leaves. Cicadas are the bugs that make that eerie whining sound you hear in the trees during July and August here in the Midwest.

Being late August, this guy’s days were numbered, and it was very likely that he had fallen from a tree and was living out his final hours. He stubbornly held on to a decayed branch, and I took several shots from different angles on the ground, but couldn’t quite catch the golden flecks of color on his head and back. Then it hit me – take him to “the studio.”

I set up the black foam board on the ledge and grabbed two cans of spray paint, which I used to hold up the Cicada’s stick. I took a couple of shots on aperture priority (my default) until I found a setting that produced a good exposure. I then switched to manual and locked the camera onto that setting so the black background wouldn’t fool the camera’s meter and I shot away.

The setup allows me to get great pictures and the occasional stare of a neighbor, but really, I think they’re used to seeing me do some strange-looking things with a camera in my hand.

Click on picture to enlarge. Photograph © 2008 James Jordan.

On balance

I did some more rock (and brick) balancing over the weekend. It’s a great way to relax. Here’s a good quote from a rock stacker in California:

“The beauty of rockstacking is working with objects that are entirely different from each other and seeing the beauty in each and discovering how they work well together.” - Jim Needham

If you can do that with dumb rocks, think about what you can do if you applied that kind of thinking to people.

Click on pictures to enlarge. Photographs © 2008 James Jordan

Gold in the backyard

This is for Wanda, who got stressed over the spider photo in yesterday's post. Here's something with a little less "eww factor." This goldfinch was visiting a feeder in my backyard. The late afternoon sun sent a shaft of light through the trees in just the right spot. I noticed it while passing by my kitchen window. I grabbed my camera from the other room, focused through the kitchen window and got one good shot before the finch flew off.

Click on picture to enlarge (much more pleasant than enlarging the spider photo). Photograph © 2008 James Jordan.

Things I'm thankful for - #482

On this Monday morning, I am thankful that I am not a bug.

Click on picture to enlarge - makes a great screen saver! Photograph © 2008 James Jordan

Stackin' by the river

... Tyler Creek in Elgin, Illinois to be exact. I built a balancing rock stack and photographed it.

Hope you find some much needed balance this weekend.

Click on picture to enlarge. Photograph © 2008 James Jordan.

Island in the stream

Actually a rocky outcropping on the Fox River in East Dundee, Illinois. Taken this morning while the mist still hung over the water.

I love fog.

Click on picture to enlarge. Photograph © 2008 James Jordan.

Bee knows how to work it

Late afternoon. Walking through Dundee, Illinois. Pass a house with lots of colorful coneflowers in front. Note that most of the blooms have been eaten by Japanese Beetles. Notice that one bloom has a large bee on it. Watch bee work. Set camera on Super Macro using Aperture priority on widest opening for shallow depth of field. Move camera lens within a half inch of bee. Notice that bee is ignoring camera and focusing on its work. Cool. Note that ISO 200 is forcing slow shutter speed. Bump ISO up to 400.

Take several shots, noting that bright, out of focus background is creating a nice effect while color of bee and flower is coming out nicely saturated. Time shots to keep the bee in profile, separated from the mass of the coneflower. Succeed. Process images. Post a couple here and at Flickr.

Photographer knows how to work it, too.

Click on picture to enlarge. Photograph © 2008 James Jordan.

Wading through the sky

A fisherman tries his hand in the Fox River in Dundee, Illinois. I don't think he caught anything worth keeping. But I did with my camera.

Click on picture to enlarge. Photograph © 2008 James Jordan.

Towering clouds

I was out on Saturday afternoon scouting locations for an upcoming photo shoot that I have with an area Christian rock band. They’re looking for a gritty urban feeling for their backdrops, so I started close to home in the Chicago suburb of Elgin, Illinois. While the downtown area has been undergoing development over the past several years and a lot of progress has been made, there are still many pockets of nitty-grittiness to be had.

This particular shot was taken from Walton Islands on the Fox River that runs through the downtown area. The building is the Elgin Tower building, dwarfed by the roiling cumulonimbus clouds that overshadowed the area all day. Sort of a “nature is bigger than we are” type of shot.

Photo blogging: Another pro shooter blogging from the Olympics in Beijing. Fascinating stuff. And check out the equipment he took with him … he says it took months to pack it all. I believe him.

Click on picture to enlarge. Photograph © 2008 James Jordan.

Enchanted

I could post something about finding and following your path, but ... Oops, I just did.

Have a great weekend.

Photo blogging: Mark Rebilas is a professional photographer who is currently covering the Olympic Games in Beijing. During his assignment, he is finding time to blog about his experiences and post photos. Should be an interesting blog to follow over the next couple of weeks. Mark J. Rebilas blog.

Photo: Wooded path, Cave Point County Park, Door County, Wisconsin. Click on picture to enlarge. Photograph © 2008 James Jordan.

Why I (heart) rock balancing

There is something about seeing a rock balanced on top of another that commands attention. Maybe it’s something about the inner balance that we all crave. Or perhaps the fact that it’s just not … natural … to see something like that in nature. It’s a surprise. Something bigger than the rocks was at work to make them stand.

Rock balancing is a form of relaxation. For those few moments when my fingers place one rock on top of another, analytic thought is replaced by the sense of touch. I feel around for the point of balance, getting closer and closer, the movements of the stone getting smaller and smaller until I hit the sweet spot. Sometimes it takes a few seconds to find it. Sometime I labor for several minutes. Most often I can feel the stone hit its balancing point and I withdraw my hands immediately. Sometimes I tentatively remove one finger at a time until I’m satisfied that the rock will not move.

It’s ephemeral art. As soon as the rock is balanced, it is subjected to forces that threaten to knock it down. Wind. Waves. Time.

Life itself is a complex balancing act of chemicals and processes in perfect balance, battling forces that threaten to tear it down. In our physical life, those forces will eventually win. But until then, we have the opportunity to stand and call attention to something bigger than ourselves.

Click on pictures to enlarge. Photographs © 2008 James Jordan.

Late bloomer

The false dragon (Physostegia virginiana) head shows off its rosy pink blossoms. A friend gave a few of these plants to me several years ago and I planted them at the side of my garage. They have now grown and spread along the garage and around a corner.

The plant grows to about three feet in height and the tube shaped flowers bloom from a four sided spike. It’s one of the few garden plants that bloom in August.

The plant has several names, among them Obedient Plant and Accommodation Flower. This is taken from the fact that if the growing stalk gets bent or twisted, the plant will continue to grow while retaining the shape it was given. I’ve accidentally nicked a stalk or two while mowing the lawn, resulting in L-shaped plants which are now beginning to blossom.

Click on picture to enlarge. Photograph © 2008 James Jordan.

Monday morning 'Awww!' factor

This little guy has been nosing around my backyard and occasionally even taking a tour of my garage for the past couple of weeks when I leave the back door open. I even wound up nearly stepping on him as I was exiting the back door at the same time he wanted to enter yesterday afternoon. He didn’t run off very far, and I was surprised at how close I could get to him with my camera.

And, after reading about the heroic exploits of a house rabbit in Australia a couple of weeks ago, it may not be a bad idea to let this guy stick around.

Click on pictures to enlarge. Photographs © 2008 James Jordan.

Times two

Simple pleasures are doubled by sharing.

Have a great weekend.

Photo: Sunset Park, Fish Creek, Wisconsin. Graduated tobacco filter and 2-stop grad ND. Orton effect added in post processing. Click on picture to enlarge. Photograph © 2008 James Jordan.

Eclipse? Not totally.

I thought I’d publish the first photo of the solar eclipse that will occur on August 1. Nah. Not really. The eclipse will occur first in extreme northeast North America (read the wilderness of Canada and Greenland) then travel into northern Asia. No chance of me seeing it here in northern Illinois. Nope. Not even a tiny bit.

So it looks like Photoshop will have to do.

Original photo: Sunset, Egg Harbor, Wisconsin. Eclipse created with elliptical selection tool and clone stamp. Click on picture to enlarge. Photograph © 2008 James Jordan.

Now this is the type of beetle I can tolerate around here ...

... as opposed to Japanese beetles, which are currently eating my trees and shrubs (see yesterday's post).

Click on picture to enlarge. Photograph © 2008 James Jordan.

Meet the beetles

This damage was caused by the iridescent, metallic green Japanese beetle. The population of these pests has grown unchecked since they arrived in the state of Illinois several decades ago.

The adults eat the leaves of birch, linden, fruit trees, roses and purple-leaved shrubs, of which I have several in my yard. Check that – had – in my yard. A purple leaved sand cherry bush is now mostly twigs. The roses were history weeks ago - discovered when we returned home from vacation. A birch tree in my front yard has shed several lawn bags of leaves rendered useless by the beetles’ feeding, despite regular sprayings of insecticide. Dead beetles rain from the tree after each spraying, but are soon replaced by new beetles from elsewhere. A neighbor with a fruit tree has beetles by the hundreds infesting his yard.

If you have a Japanese beetle problem the best thing to do is to spray affected plants with chemical products available at most home stores, such as Sevin, Bayer Advanced Multi-Insect Killer Concentrate and Ortho Bug-B-Gone. Pheromone-activated beetle traps can be used to good effect – a neighbor has captured and disposed of several plastic bags full of the insects over the past week or so.

This is also the time to treat your lawn to kill the grubby offspring that the bugs are producing. Milky spore powder will kill grubs and eggs before they become a problem next year.

Click on pictures to enlarge. Photographs © 2008 James Jordan.

Running with the brides

So my daughter, who is getting married in a year and who has decided to do nearly everything by her(our)self(ves) - and cheap - had a plan for obtaining her wedding gown. The plan involved getting up at four in the morning and driving to Chicago to participate in the Running of the Brides at Filene's Basement.

So a team of seven (including dad), waited outside the store on Friday morning for our chance to grab, bargain and barter with 1200 other people for a chance at one of 275 wedding gowns - many of them priced at just $249. Firmly positioned in the middle of the pack (the frontrunners had arrived the night before to camp out on the street), we discovered that the racks were cleared out probably before we even got to the door.

Two hours later, we had begged and bartered our way to "the gown."

I had often seen news clips of the mayhem that is the Running of the Brides on TV, but never dreamed that I would actually participate in one. I actually got to take some photos and shot enough video to put together a five-minute clip of our adventure.

One more item for the bucket list, I guess.

So what did you do this weekend?

Note: My apologies to those who have commented on this post - an editing accident wiped out all of the comments. Bad Blogspot! Bad!

A later note: The comments are now back. Good Blogspot. Good!

Grace notes

I saw a gracefully soaring visual symphony in the simple shapes of a daylily. The stamen appeared as a musical staff, the anthers as notes sitting on that staff and the pistol as a conductor’s baton.

A professional freelance photographer that I hired often in my days as a photo editor/buyer had a tag phrase on his promotional materials: “Simple pictures are best!”

I still agree.

Click on picture to enlarge. Photograph © 2008 James Jordan.

Fire over the meadow

This is a filter-aided attempt at capturing a dramatic sunset. The sky just wasn’t happening the way I anticipated, so I pulled out the 2-stop graduated tobacco filter and played around with it.

It livened up the sky considerably, turning a fairly blah photo into a better photo (picture without the filter is shown below). Every camera kit should include some filters - a circular polarizer, an 81b warming filter, a 2-stop graduated neutral density filter and the 2-stop graduated tobacco are a good start. Just sayin.'

Ah well. At least I was able to get a couple of moon pics out of the trip (see the posts from the last two days).

Click on pictures to enlarge. Photographs © 2008 James Jordan.

Moon over the meadow

Night settles. The moon rises. The world is at rest.

Photograph © 2008 James Jordan.

Mirror image

When water stands still, it has the ability to capture the sky.

Taken near Huntley, Illinois last week during the rise of the full moon. I had gone out that evening intending to capture the sunset, which promised to be spectacular following a day of stormy skies and billowing clouds. The sunset did not deliver as expected as the skies quieted ahead of the disappearance of the sun. One final glance around as I decided to leave revealed that I had missed the memo about the time of the moonrise that evening. I quickly reset and got into position to make a couple of moon shots.

So instead of colorful turbulence, I got deep tranquility. Not a bad trade-off.

The other moonrise pic will be posted tomorrow.

Side note: This is post number 1,000 at Points of Light. Thanks for coming along with me on this ride.

Click on picture to enlarge. Photograph © 2008 James Jordan.

Twilight time

It’s Friday and the sun will soon slip below the horizon on yet another work week. Hope yours was a good one.

Have a great weekend.

Photo: Twilight, Egg Harbor, Wisconsin. Click on picture to enlarge. Photograph © 2008 James Jordan.

Native

This coreopsis was located near Baileys Harbor, Wisconsin along with several hundred others. The coreopsis, also known as longstalk tickseed, is a common occupant of sandy open woods near Lake Michigan throughout Wisconsin. While mostly considered in the wild to be an escapee from cultivated gardens, some botanists believe the plant to be native to Door County, Wisconsin.

For nearly a decade, my wife and I have escaped the cultivated confines of the Chicago suburbs to make our way to Door County for times of rest and relaxation. The slower pace, narrow roads and rugged beauty of the place appeals to us. I’ve run into many residents there who, after life in the Chicago area, decided to make their escapes permanent – the operator of a golf course, the owner of a quilting shop, the manager of a motel.

Some would say that if you weren’t born and bred somewhere, you can’t rightly invoke the title of “native.” But I think becoming aligned with the spirit and nature of a place comes a very close second.

Click on picture to enlarge. Photograph © 2008 James Jordan.

Cave Point

The Niagara Escarpment is a shelf of rock that stretches more than 650 miles across North America. Thousands of years ago, the Great Lakes, St. Lawrence Seaway, Niagara Falls and countless hills, valleys and waterways were carved out of the escarpment by glaciers.

Cave Point in the Door County peninsula of Wisconsin is one of my favorite places on earth. Shelves of limestone rock rise from the waters of Lake Michigan. The waters perform a dance with the rocks that has continued for centuries.

And yes, it seemed like an ideal place to build a balancing rock stack. Evidence of a visit by someone moved by the other-worliness of the place. Primeval forces continuing their drama for yet another Act in a show at once ancient and new.

I was here to watch for a while and participate.

Video © 2008 James Jordan. Music: Pilot Island, a composition by Steve Wick. More about Steve's music can be found at his web site.

Those of you who visit Points of Light by RSS reader may not see the video. If that is the case, click here.

I was here

Rocks do not tend to pile themselves, at least not in an orderly sort of way. There is the occasional natural balanced rock, but it’s more a side effect of erosion than placement.

That’s what makes a pile of balanced rocks such an eye-catcher. It’s rare and intentional. I first stumbled upon rock balancing through the pictures of a West Coast rock balancer named Bill Dan on Flickr. His creations seem to defy gravity as his balanced rock towers stand in a silent, frozen dance.

The first stop on a recent vacation for my wife and me was a rocky beach between Manitowoc and Two Rivers, Wisconsin. While we stopped to rest and take in the Lake Michigan view, without really thinking about it, I picked up a fist-sized rock worn round by the waves and tried to balance it on a large boulder nearby. It took a few minutes of fussing with it, but I managed to get it to stand on end, and took a couple of photos of my achievement. We then continued our trip into Door County.

Throughout the week, I attempted more ambitious rock stacks. Two rocks. Three rocks. Even four-rock towers, like the one pictured above. Door County provided plenty of material to work with, and I got better at it as I went. I would stack rocks, then hang back as people came upon them just to gauge their reactions. They ranged from total indifference to wide-eyed wonder, picture taking and pointing them out to friends.

My wife looked at my rock-piling anonymous art project as a bit silly, and I suppose it is in a way. But it is also a way for me to say “I was here” without resorting to graffiti. And that makes it kinda cool.

Click on pictures to enlarge. Photographs © 2008 James Jordan.

Sunset Park

Back from a week in Door county, Wisconsin. The memory card in my camera and the one in my head are full, so I'll be emptying those out here over the next few days.

Sunset Park in Fish Creek, Wisconsin is aptly named. The main street through Fish Creek will get you there, but it’s better to take the wooded path to the park. The path comes upon a clearing where people gather to gaze westward over Green Bay to bid the day farewell.

This picture was selected as Photo of the Day at the Karma Group on Flickr.

Click on picture to enlarge. Photograph © 2008 James Jordan.

Achieving balance

Taking a few days vacation in the wilds of Door County, Wisconsin this week. One of the things I'm up to is building stacks of balancing rocks on the waterfront at popular gathering sites, then photographing them. I leave them standing as anonymous art projects.

This particular stack was built at the marina in Egg Harbor, Wisconsin just before sunset. A few folks noticed the stack and pointed it out to others while several others took photographs.

More pictures of Door County are posted for now at Flickr. Take a look.

Back in a few days.

Click on picture to enlarge. Photograph and rock stack © 2008 James Jordan.

Fireworks, fireworks and more fireworks

Just because. Off to Door County for a few days.

Click on pictures to enlarge. Photographs © 2008 James Jordan.

Kaboom

A portion of a fantastic fireworks display in Huntley, Illinois.

Exposure: 4 seconds at f5.6, 100 ISO.

Taking off for a few days in Door County, Wisconsin. Back with photos. Have a great week.

Click on picture to enlarge. Photograph © 2008 James Jordan.

Rorschach

There have been some impressive cloud formations over northern Illinois of late as line after line of thunderstorms have moved through. I've been snapping pictures of cumulus clouds for the last couple of weeks with the idea of doing something with them eventually.

Here's one. This photo was taken from the parking lot of a Target store in Lake In The Hills, Illinois. The parking lot full of cars and lampposts was cropped out, the photo was then copied, flipped and pasted under the original picture. A little tweaking of the "reflected" image in Photoshop Elements 6 completed the picture. The whole thing reminded me of a Rorschach ink blot test.

Let me know what you see.

Click on picture to enlarge. Photograph © 2008 James Jordan.

I had read earlier this week that if you sprayed a layer of lacquer on a globe, it would represent the thickness of our atmosphere relative to the mass of the planet. Yet it is within that very thin layer of air that powerful forces flow.

It’s been a weird spring and summer in these here parts. Very cool and wet spring followed by a very mild but wet and stormy summer. My lawn loves it. The mosquitoes love it. Anyone living along the Fox River hates it.

This was taken last weekend as yet another series of storms rolled through northern Illinois. More turbulence in our layer of air is on its way today and tomorrow.

That itty bitty layer of air also makes for some good photography.

Click on picture to enlarge. Photograph © 2008 James Jordan.

Hidden nymph

A katydid nymph trusts its coloration to keep it safe while the humongous camera lens hovers above. I’ve come across katydid nymphs in my garden throughout the spring and early summer. I’m not going to go so far as to say it’s the same one I’ve seen over and over again, but I have only seen one each time. Hmmmm.

This nymph, or one just like it, was captured in this photo. I also have another katydid photo, taken in my dad’s garden about a week after he passed away last fall.

Jeff Clow is a contact of mine at Flickr and has a number of nymph katydid photos taken in his amazing macro style. Check them out.

Photo blogging: I used to feel right at home carrying my camera around in public places, exploring the architectural and human landscape. Nowadays, I feel extremely self conscious. Getting stopped repeatedly by security guards wondering what you could possibly be doing with a camera in a public place can do that to you, I suppose. Even though there are no laws restricting photography in public places, it gets tiring trying to explain that to overzealous Barney Fife types.

The Beyond Robson blog looks at the security situation in Vancouver. Bruce Gilden, a New York City street photographer for Magnum, doesn't give a rip about what people think about photographing people on the streets.

Click here for a larger view of this picture. Photograph © 2008 James Jordan.