Photo of the Week: the hose knows

This week's photo is a minimalist take on spring, or "almost spring" as we like to call it here in Chicago.  There's still nothing truly spring like to photograph, but hopefully that's coming soon.

This photos was featured on Gapers Block on 03/23/11.

Photo Details: Nikon D7000 w/ 105mm Micro Nikkor, 1/800sec at f8, ISO400.

Photo of the Week: the holidays, unplugged

I'd love to claim I shot this on January 2nd, but I'm not that vigilant about taking down my Christmas lights.  This is from December.  I don't get a lot of sun in my apartment, especially during the winter, but on this day a bright crevice of light sliced through a dining room window and into my living room, lasting no more than half an hour.  It was just enough time to throw the macro lens on my camera and take some photos lying around on the floor.  A fine way to spend a winter afternoon.

Photo Details: Nikon D7000 with Micro Nikkor 105mm lens, 1/25sec at f6.3, and ISO800.  The lens' VR helped a bit to keep this sharp, but I really should have been using a tripod for this shot.

Liars at the Bottom Lounge 7/16/10

Nikon D90 with 35mm lens, 1/50sec at f1.8, ISO1000

Although I've dabbled in live music photography in the past, I consider this show at the Bottom Lounge to be one of my first serious attempts at the craft.  By "serious", I mean, a) this wasn't one of my friend's bands, b) I had the correct gear with me, and c) most importantly, someone besides me wanted to see the photos.  In this case, I was photographing the show for the venue.

All in all, I think these turned out okay.  The lighting for this show was pretty poor, and I lost a lot of photos because of that.  Liars are an exiting, visceral live band, but apparently they like to play in the dark, draped mostly in red.  Or at least that's what the lighting guy must have thought.

In retrospect I should have jacked up the ISO higher and not been so worried about noise-- which I've always considered the devil, but a noisy photo is still better than a massively underexposed one.


Nikon D90 with 105mm lens, 1/50sec at f2.8, ISO1000


Nikon D90 with 105mm lens, 1/50sec at f2.8, ISO1000


Nikon D90 with 35mm lens, 1/50sec at f1.8, ISO1000


Nikon D90 with 105mm lens, 1/60sec at f2.8, ISO1000

As an aside, I should note that the Bottom Lounge is an excellent and I'd argue under appreciated venue.  Friendly staff, great room to watch and listen to music in, and although I didn't try their food, they have a large bar/restaurant area if you're hungry.  Also, if you drive, parking around the venue is a breeze.

Pitchfork (in and out of focus)

The view south from near the Connector Stage at the Pitchfork Music Festival on Friday night.  Although I've been known to intentionally put scenes out of focus from time to time, the top image was actually the result of a massive focusing error.  I like how it turned out.

I attended all three days of Pitchfork this year, which was an absolute blast (if a bit hot).  If you're interested, you can see more of my photos from the weekend in my Pitchfork set on flickr. 

Photo details: Nikon D90 with 105mm AF-S VR Micro-NIKKOR lens, 1/500sec and f2.8, ISO200.