Sunset Service

With school starting back up soon and the four of us going our separate ways, Dad thought it would be a good idea to take the family on a surprise trip. We rolled into Eagle Ridge resort on Sunday evening and explored the grounds. Tonight was spent on the deck outside the restaurant, I stole Dad's camera (a Nikon D40, and yes, I might have had something to do with that :) and snapped this as we were chillin out there. The diners probably thought I was pretty creepy.... Goofy lookin dude with a camera and a pipe hanging out his mouth taking their picture. O well.

Early Morning Workout

Well, not for me at least, but for about 2,200 triathletes from around the country it was. Naperville held its annual sprint triathlon on Sunday morning and I went out there to cover it for the Naperville Sun. A few of these got published but some didn't but I just thought I would share them anyway. To see the story go HERE.








Right as I was about to leave I saw this guy standing off to the side of the finish line with a banner all rolled up and a cutout of a silver bell. I struck up a conversation to hopefully confirm my suspicions that he was proposing and low and behold it was his brother that was going to pop the question.

His brother and his soon to be fiance were both running in the race and they were going to string the banner up so she could run through it at the end where he would then be waiting on one knee. How cute :) So needless to stay I didn't leave and she said yes.... inbetween gasps as she tried to catch her breath.

Post from the PA

Jordan and I spent last week visiting her sister in Lock Haven, PA. We had a blast, hiked a lot up some really cool trails and I did my fair share of plastic sword fighting with her 5 year old nephew.

Detroit has one of the goofiest airports I have ever been in. It is basically two really long hallways with a tram to take you from end to end.

The walkway that connects the two buildings though is possibly the coolest walkway ever.
Meet Archie. Jordan's two year old niece.

And Jordan looking very chic at the airport after we found out our 1 hour layover had been turned into an all day affair that only ended after 5 gate changes, 4 delayed flights, and one canceled one.

Fire Jrs. Soccer

The Chicago Fire Juniors played in the 2009 World Sport International Cup which gave area teams the chance to play other soccer clubs from around the world. The Juniors played a team from South Africa and won the match 2-0 to take third in the tournament.

Obviously, this has nothing to do with the game. I just got there to early and got bored :)

Classic Car Cruise

There was a classic car cruise down Route 66 on Saturday morning and it was starting at a restaurant in town. Cool cars on a nice day.... I am so there. Unfortunatly I could not join them on their 1 hour long cruise down to Pontiac, Ill. and back as I had a wedding to shoot that night but Oh do I wish I could have.

The Traveling Post

Only because the first two have something to do with traveling. We spent last weekend moving into a new house at school so I spent Thursday and Monday traveling through the lovely state of Indiana.

I love truck stops. I would stop at every one on my way to and from school if I had the time to waste.

When I go to see Jordan I usually end up leaving after work, so around 6 ish. This is both good and bad.... Bad- Traffic. Terrible, awful Chicago traffic..... Good- Light. Beautiful golden washes of light. Which leads back to a bad- shooting while driving. :)
This really has nothing to do with traveling but it was on the same roll as the previous so here it is. This is a wine shop on Roscoe street with one of the coolest signs ever.

Passing time at the great past time.

For Julie's graduation we went to her very first White Sox game at Comiskey park (I refuse to use the name you see on the scoreboard below.) Coming off an ugly win the night before against the Tampa Bay Rays I was holding out hope we would see a win but alas.... it was not to be.



Bobby Jenks, a man we Sox fans have quite the love/hate relationship with came in after getting the save the night before and blew the great game that started Clayton Richard had thrown.

But all is well that ends well, We may have lost, but..... Julie found the ice cream.... in a tiny helmet none the less! "I'm going to use it to hold my bobby pins!" she said.

O well, I tried..... :)

Chi-rish fest

I went to go check out The Tossers play at the Irish American Heritage fest on Friday. Hailing from the south side of Chicago they play some sweet tunes that mix equal parts of punk and traditional Irish sounds with a heavy splash of alcohol.... as usually it was a great show.

More of the lady

We went down to the old fishing hole to bum around for a bit the other day. And then.... the best wings in town.

To color or not to color?

I couldn't decide. Thoughts?

Remember when this was fun?

A few grabs from the past few weeks. Remembering why I love this magic box.


Grandma with her boys.

More drive by shootings.

Jordan waiting for the El. She will get used to it one day :)

The best camera...

... is the one you have with you. And as hard as it try, there are some times the big fancy camera has to stay home. After seeing some work by St. Petersburg Times photographer Melissa Lyttle and her trusty iPhone, I got to experimenting with the camera on my phone that I had long thought off as useless. But now...

.... who actually talks on a phone anyway anymore?

State of the Industry?

Papers collect in the entrance to a long boarded up business on Roscoe street.

As Promised

More from the weekend down in Pana with the Powers family. This a portrait taken of them circa a long time ago. The other object is Grandma and Grandpa's original wedding topper from 50 years again.
Dad and Grandpa on the golf course.


The lovely Tiffany....

and Julie checking to make sure she is still alive.

Like father like son

Or at least we can hope not. :) It's always a party when the Powers come to town and we had the whole family down at the lake to celebrate Grandma and Grandpa's 50th anniversary. Preston loved the camera, Mike...... not so much. There is much more from the weekend and I promise more updates. Really...... I swear.