Travel

Streets of Chicago

October 30, 2010

This weekend, I’m up in Naperville to cover the state soccer tournament. The team I’m here for, Peoria Christian, won last night and will play for the championship in a couple hours from now. Since I had the entire day to kill, I drove into downtown Chicago and wandered around with my digital camera, a 35 mm lens and a Holga for most of the day. I didn’t have any specific plans so I kind of drifted around looking for things that caught my eye. I even shot a few photos at a Richard Daley press conference (third photo) when I crossed paths with his entourage in Daley Plaza. My inspiration for the day came from one of my favorite blogs: Shooting from the Hip, by Chicago Tribune staffer Scott Strazzante. Like the blog’s author, I tried to make photos on the fly in a free-flowing manner.

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Multiple exposures from Europe

September 22, 2010

Dachau Concentration Camp - Dachau, Germany

Holga in the heartland

September 8, 2010

Here’s the latest installment in my occasional toy camera musings. These are a few frames I took while I was home in Indiana between my internships in Austin and Peoria, Ill. I haven’t had a chance to shoot any film yet in Peoria, but with the harvest season approaching, I’ll have to make an effort to do so.

Texas through a plastic lens

August 28, 2010

During my summer internship in Austin, I carried a loaded Holga with me in my car to most of my assignments. Whenever I saw something weird or interesting, I shot a few frames with the plastic camera. I also used it whenever I had the urge to take touristy photos while I was in Texas. Today I picked up the last roll from my trip after having it processed here in Peoria. I know the Holga is thought of as a trendy hipster camera, but I like to use it to get back to basics. You can’t chimp on a Holga, and you have to understand exposures to use the thing. It’s the photographic equivalent of recording an album on a 4-track.

The Alamo (again)

August 8, 2010

I went to the Alamo on Saturday for the second time during my summer in Texas. This time I went with a couple of the newsroom interns who wanted to see the sights in San Antonio. Unlike my previous trip, I didn’t shoot many frames this time. Despite this, I did capture an interesting moment between a few re-enactors who were playing 1830’s era Mexican soldiers behind the Alamo. (As a side note, check out their huge hats.)