Passing Trains

Lights of a passing train, mixed with the reflection of the inside of another train.

Flares Are Good

A passing view of the Sears Tower.

More Experiments With Grain

Here, you can see patterns of the chip in the camera due to the low light.

Millennium Birthday

Part of Babette's Birthday included a trip to Millennium Park. Here, the Birthday Girl looks for Spacialle, who is on her way.

Calder Under Construction

The Flamingo, with construction fence in the foreground.

Courtside

On break, with the lovely opponent Babette in the background.

Lamp

I like the video grain produced in low light conditions.

Early Evening Tennis

As we were wrapping up, a photo of the next court.

Last Minute Lomograph

Almost forgot to take a photo today.

Another Delicious Lomograph, I mean Lunch

From left to right: Duck Sausage with Cheddar Cheese, Duck Fat Fries, and Jamaican Jerk Pork Sausage with Tropical Mayonnaise and Fried Plantains.

Another Storm Approaching

Holding the camera upside down, I was able to capture the disappearing top of the Sears Tower.

Impending Storm

Worst. Seats. Ever.

After all of my years going to see the Chicago Cubs, I have to say we sat in the worst seats I have ever been in. Plus, it was in the mid 90's, humid, and no breeze. In the best Comic Book Guy voice, 'Worst. Seats. Ever.'

Down on the Blueberry Farm

A quick stop at a Michigan blueberry farm, and before you know it, Babette makes two blueberry pies. Not one, but two.

Poor Fuel Man

A sad sign of the times. Where is Fuel Man when you need him?

Under the El Tracks

Rush to the Train

With moments to spare before the train left, I fired up the camera to lomograph a train across the tracks.

No Squirrels on this Walk

Unfortunately, MacDuff could not find any squirrels today.

Staying Awake

An incredibly boring session at an Apple Server training. The one session I could have skipped.

Colors in the Storm

A heavy afternoon storm seemed to bring out almost all of the primary and tertiary colors.


The angle and the pose of the following subject places him in Super Hero mode. He will let no dark summer storm be bereft of colors.

Another Day, Another Squirrel Hunt

The end of the week of watching MacDuff. His walks are filled with tracking squirrels, his dreams are filled with catching them.

Teal House

A party at Carmelo and Josef's home, affectionately called Teal House. This fall, Teal House will be demolished to make room for their much larger home. I'll be photographing the demolition.And the view from Teal House...

Alternate Walk to the Train

A couple of humorous pictures from an alternate route to the train.

Through Jackson Canyon

This series is from my daily walk up Jackson to Union Station. More and more, I think of it as a hike through a narrow canyon. All photos are from the hip.





This last image shows the concrete barriers placed in response to the attacks at Glasgow and London airports. Seeing this, the fantasy of the canyon is over.

Squirrel Hunt

Babette attempts to corral MacDuff as he corners a squirrel on a fence.

Picture in Picture

Testing the camera phone after offloading all images from the memory card. It seems to work.

The Problem of the Lomograph

With the camera malfunction in Toronto and presenting at the conference, I took the downtime to reflect on this project.

My original concept was to shoot photos every day; don't think, just shoot. It seemed shooting at least a photo a day would be the hardest part, but since I have the camera almost everywhere I go, it has been quite simple. By far the most difficult part of this project is to not think. The impetus to take a photo comes from seeing a photographic moment. I react, reach for the camera, and shoot. Granted I do not carefully compose the images, but typically I have a good sense of what the composition will look like. I blame my years as a cinematographer for that. Setting the camera up on a tripod, and knowing how the angle will look is part of the cinematic process. Looking through the lens once the camera is set becomes a formality, primarily to block action, dress the set, adjust lighting, and check for distracting compositional elements. Composition is already there.

So the question becomes, how can a photographer make a true lomograph if you constantly think like a photographer. Self-awareness is inherent in the process, and you can only hope that the accident outweighs your own photographic tendencies.

In reviewing the photos on this blog, I see how my instincts tend toward shape and light. A great deal of my other photographs use both to create an image of texture and dramatic impact. Here, the angles are more pronounced, and the limited lighting contrast from the camera frequently changes the use of light into a graphical element. I have always been strongly affected by a graphical sensibility, but now lighting is transformed into that.

So this blog will move forward with the question, when is a lomograph not a lomograph. The name may end up transforming into The Daily Photograph.

Toronto

Traveled to Toronto to present at a conference. This is the first and last image from my trip, as the camera wouldn't save any photos. CN Tower through the shuttle window.