One More Glass

Every year, my wife and I host a "big table sauce party" where we invite about 20 of our friends and family to come over and sit down at one big table. I make a huge cauldron of homemade spaghetti sauce and a mountain of pasta and we all just sit around and enjoy the evening.

As the night wore on, the wine was flowing very nicely. Here, our friend Charmaine reaches for a bottle to pour one more glass of holiday cheer.

Selling the Holiday

My wife and I were out and about during a snow storm when we saw a x-mas tree lot on the far north-west side of Chicago. I just knew it was ripe for photographing so we went around the block and as I got a view of the other side of the lot, I saw this trailer and the string of lights. Immediately we knew it would make for a great shot.

Hancock Holiday Train 1

A few years ago, I did a photo shoot for the John Hancock tower's holiday display. This is one of the shots from that day which I liked.

Hancock Holiday Train 2

A few years ago, I did a photo shoot for the John Hancock tower's holiday display. This is one of the shots from that day which I liked.

Hancock Holiday Display

A few years ago, I did a photo shoot for the John Hancock tower's holiday display. This is one of the shots from that day which I liked.

Dexter's Stare

The snow started falling and Dex was on the back porch. I grabbed my camera and started snapping away. He's such a ham...he's always ready to pose when he sees the camera come out.

Candle in Hand

I was passing some time, thinking about the holiday and how so much of winter celebrations center upon bringing light into the darkness of winter. I began playing with my iPhone and an LED candle. This was one of the images I came up with.

I continued to experiment by applying an effect recipe I saved in Nik Color Efex.

I don't normally like to do a lot of excessive post-processsing, but for this particular image I was having some fun with it.

A River Returns What Has Fallen

I was walking along the banks of a river and noticed these leafs floating across the surface. I moved from side to side to find an interesting angle and, as I did so, the reflection of the bare trees on the far bank came into play. I couldn't help but notice the visual trick of replacing the fallen leafs back upon the trees. I made a few shots but wasn't very happy with the outcome. At that point, I deliberately underexposed and, voila, I was much happier.

Now Boarding

I was on a photo shoot at Union Station in Chicago. Conveniently, I hopped on the train to get there. After the shoot was completed, I had to catch a train to head out. On my way down the platform, I paused to take one final shot for the day.

Crosswalk Abstract

I was walking through the arts district in Oak Park, IL when I came to a corner. I saw this crosswalk and just knew I had to grab the shot. Happily I had my compact camera with me so I fired it up and clicked the shutter. I was so happy with the colors and the textures, not to mention the patterns.