They say in a democracy we get the leaders we deserve. If you don't vote you shouldn't be allowed to complain about the people making the decisions that impact your life and the lives of your family.
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Some times you just need a cheeseburger and a beer or two...
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This little guy and his friends come by to visit every afternoon and sun themselves on the screens of our porch. The odd thing is I only see them when I'm in the shade on the porch taking a break from sunning myself.
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This is what 70 degrees on a Saturday looks like in the month of February near Chicago when the norm is around 25 degrees with a howling 40 mile an hour wind and horizontal snow stinging your face.
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Some stories are fun to shoot because they're important to people, and some stories are fun to shoot because they're just fun - like spending a day at a brewery. The challenge in this instance is to make effective photographs with a camera in one hand and a beer in the other. I get paid to do this stuff!
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Sometimes photos ask questions without providing answers
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This is what firefighters mean when they say a fire was "fully involved" when they arrived. Luckily, in this instance a man, a woman and two children were able to climb out of a window before help arrived.
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I hope these mannequins aren't an indication of what I should expect in the new year. They have lips, but no ears and no eyes. They look very alien.
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It's only December, and I'm already questioning why I still live where I live. It is cold, dark, wet and messy, and winter seems to go on forever. It makes for some interesting photographs though.
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It seems that if you're not staring at, talking on, or taking a selfie with your phone you don't exist.
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 It feels great to be outside shooting baseball,at any level,again. It means spring and then summer are definitely on the horizon here in the frozen north.
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That's me atop a ladder on a roof in the rain on a very cold and windy day. You might wonder why I would do this, and the truth is I kind of wonder myself.
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We have been lucky because this winter has been very mild in the mid western USA until now. However Mother Nature has decided to remind us what the "normal" winter is like. The temperature outside now is 6 degrees, but because of the wind it feels like 13 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. Yikes and it's supposed to be even worse tomorrow. There will be some interesting cold weather photos to be made I'm sure. 
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Only two shows left. If you can, stop by and say hello -

Saturday and Sunday, September 13 & 14

10a.m. to 5p.m.

Hidden River Art Festival

Sharon Lynne Center for the Arts

Mitchell Park

Brookfield, Wisconsin

 

Saturday and Sunday, September 20 & 21

Dwight Harvest Days Fine Art & Craft Festival

Historic downtown area

Dwight, Illinois

...
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Ya gotta hate when this happens!

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The number of eagles are supposed to be on the rise in Illinois. During the recent below zero cold spell sixteen of the huge birds were spotted nesting along, and fishing in, the Kankakee River.

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For some reason this photo makes me want ice cream. Maybe it's just ice cream, or maybe it's having nothing more to worry about than when the next spoonful will arrive. Nice hat too!

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One lunar cycle) is 29.53 days. There are about 365.25 days in a solar
year. Therefore, about 12.37 cycles (365.25 days divided by 29.53 days)
occur in a solar year. In the Gregorian calendar, there are 12 months
(derived from the word moon) in a year, and normally there is one full
moon each month. Each calendar year contains roughly 11 days more than the
number of days in 12 lunar cycles. The extra days accumulate, so every two
or three years there is an extra full moon. The extra moon necessaril...
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Some days it's not easy to keep your eye on the ball.

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This morning the Chicago Sun Times fired the entire photo staff of all of their Chicago area
newspapers. Apparently the photographs for the newspapers will now be taken by reporters using
cell phones, and by some freelancers. I'm told there were twenty-eight staffers who were called to a
meeting and told their jobs were gone effective immediately. I know many of these people, and I
know that many of them were born to be photojournalists. Many of them have been photojournalists
all their lives,...
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A long time ago I talked about three things involved in manual exposure. They are your aperture, shutter
speed and ISO, which stands for International Organization for Standardization. Trust me, I am not making this up.
Once upon a time film was sold (actually it still is) in varying speeds. For example you could buy 100, 200
or 400 speed film.
In digital photography ISO is the measurement of the sensitivity of the image sensor in your
camera instead of the film. The higher the ISO the less li...
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Like your aperture, the shutter speed you set on your camera also controls the amount of light
reaching your digital media. Yes, a "faster shutter speed" will freeze the action in your photo, but
it will also allow less light to reach the digital media.
To continue with the metaphor of the room and the window, if you leave the curtains open for an hour you allow more light (cumulatively) into the room than if you leave them open for half an hour. That’s how your camera’s
shutter speed works ...
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Aperture refers to the opening, which is actually located in your lens,
that allows light to enter your camera. To understand how it works,
imagine that you are in a darkened room with a window covered by
curtains. If you open the curtains, light enters the room. The wider you
open the curtains the more light enters the room. If you close the curtains
the room becomes dark again. You are controlling the amount of light entering
the room the same way you adjust your aperture to control the light ...
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Books have been written on the subject. Big books. Heavy books with lots of pages. Some of the pages have 
great photos as illustrations. I'll try a very basic explanation over the next few, or maybe many entries. As always comments and suggestions are always welcome. feel free to contribute.
There are three elements to photographic exposure. They are often referred to as a triangle, and the the three points of
the triangle are aperture, shutter speed and ISO. These three elements are interconn...
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You want a photojournalist who will record your wedding day as it unfolds
without orchestrating the photos. You’ll want to make it clear to your family,
your bridal party, and your guests that the photographer will not be staging
events or posing photos during the day. The photographer will remain in
the background and shoot unobtrusively. This is very difficult for many wedding
photographers. They can’t shoot from a “shoot list” when asked to work this way.

 

Keep in mind there are...

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Following this summer's drought I think many farmers are
happy to see the growing season come to a close
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Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band perform at Wrigley Field in Chicago in a driving rain.
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Nowadays many people find it hard to tell the difference between film and
digital capture, and photographers will tell you that what they do is best.
You’ll need to trust yourself and go with what you like.

Recently there has been a movement, by some photographers, back to film
because they like the look of it. Most non-photographers, it seems to me, would
be hard pressed to tell the difference.

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A professional photographer is accustomed to dealing with people under stress,
and today’s weddings are the very definition of stressful, especially for the bride.

 

As a bride you don’t want to be standing at the altar ready to exchange vows
with the love of your life only to look out and wonder why ‘’the photographer’’
does not seem to be able to get his camera to work. I have attended a wedding
as a guest and witnessed this.

 

Part of the job of the professional ph...

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We were searching for eagles on the banks of Oil Creek near Titusville, PA when we saw this bird at about the same time it saw us. While we were trying to decide if this was a juvenile eagle it was deciding we were too big for lunch.
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Recently I shot a story for a consumer magazine. It's not the first time, and I hope it won't
be the last, because the pay is pretty good. Non-photographer friends think this, "is cool".
They are impressed, and they think this must be fun. Photographers, on the other hand
ask with some trepidation, "How did that go?". Those who have done this sort of shoot
before know how stressful these can be.

There's a sort of stage fright involved. Thinking that millions of readers will see
your images with...
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Ask permission before taking someone’s photo.

 

I know a photographer who took a photo of a woman and her daughter
walking under an umbrella in the rain. I’m told the images were nicely backlit.
Because it was raining he shot through an open window in his car and when
mom saw him he introduced himself and explained what he was doing.
 She went ballistic. She yelled and screamed and called the police.

 

Legally the mom had no basis to be upset, because she and her daughter
were in a pub...

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I don't know Alex Garcia of the Chicago Tribune. We've met a 
couple times, but I can't imagine anyone could have explained any better 
the photographers you want to avoid than he does here on his blog:

Assignment Chicago

If you're a bride, a groom, a parent, or even a photographer 
you should read this.

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That depends on your wedding and your budget. Many couples want
photos before the ceremony – the bride dressing, the men getting ready,
first look etc. Some couples opt to have formal portraits done before the
ceremony and sometimes the groups with the bridal party, family and friends
are done immediately after the ceremony at the church and/or other locations.
Many photographers prefer to finish with the reception after the cake is cut, the
first dance has been danced and the bouquet and g...

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This will vary from photographer to photographer and taking a
little longer is not necessarily a bad thing. You want your proofs
and final order(s) to be done right. Generally you’re looking at
weeks, maybe 6 weeks, to get your proofs. Most photographers
will tell you that getting your album or book depends on you and
when you place your order. Brides and Grooms get busy after the
wedding and sometimes getting an order placed may require calls
from the photographer or studio. Some studios p...

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Some photographers recommend a second photographer. Often the need
depends on the size of your wedding and on the number of guests. At some
weddings one photographer will concentrate on formal posed photos while a
second photographer will function as a photojournalist, capturing the day as it
unfolds. If that appeals to you go for it. Some studios include a second photographer
or an assistant in their package prices.

If you’re being charged extra for a second photographer be sure to ask a...

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Light is the most important aspect of any photograph, both the quantity
and quality of the light which should appear natural and flattering,
whether it’s available light or created with flash. Incorrect use of on-camera
flash flattens facial features and creates harsh shadows. A professional
should not create photos with red eye under any circumstances.

The colors should look natural and be rich in tone. Black and white images
should contain rich grays and detail in both the darkest and l...

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It can cost $20,000 to outfit a professional photographer. There are also costs
you can’t see like computers, software and insurance. You want to be
absolutely certain the photographer you hire has high quality equipment
and back up equipment. You are paying for expertise which would be hard to
put a price tag on.

Many couples underestimate the cost of photography. It’s not unusual to
spend ten to thirty percent of the entire wedding budget on photography when
it’s all said and done....

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If you want to take your photography to the next level you’ll need to learn
what some of your camera’s manual settings mean, and how to make them
work for you. ISO is a good place to start.

ISO stands for International Standardization Organization and their film
speed ratings are used to indicate the amount of light necessary for a proper
photo exposure. A film, or digital media, rated at ISO 200 requires half as much
light as digital media rated at 100.

This means you can take a...

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I have been busy over the holidays shooting cookies
and home made candy... and eating more than I should.
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Will you be photographing our wedding or will it be someone else?

Because weddings are booked in advance and photographers move around
(and change careers) like everyone else these days, it's not unusual for a
photographer to move on by the time your wedding day rolls around if you're
dealing with a large studio.

There's not much you can do to prevent this other than follow up by asking
when you can meet the photographer who will actually be photographing
your wedding. You should insi...

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