Rebecca

Searching for Chicagohenge

I set my alarm for 4:30 am on a Sunday in March. It was 9:30 pm on a Saturday and I was already in bed, praying that insomnia didn’t pay me a visit. I was meeting a new photography friend downtown the next morning at 6:00 am to photograph Chicagohenge.

Chicagohenge is a phenomenom that happens twice a year. During the days before and after the spring and fall equinoxes, when the sun rises and sets, it lines up perfectly with the east-west streets in the Loop and you can see it framed between the buildings.

When my alarm went off at 4:30 am, I reluctantly pulled myself out of my warm bed and asked Alexa for the weather report. It was 19 degrees and windy. I must have still been asleep when I got dressed. It’s the only explanation I can come up with for choosing a thin pair of leggings, my running shoes and a long sleeve shirt.

By the time my friend and I picked our location I was quite cold. The wait for sunrise felt interminable. We took pictures as we waited and chatted about our mutual love of street photography. 6:25 am came and went. It was still pretty dark out, but we were pleasantly surprised that there were cars, buses, trains and people around so early on a Sunday morning. Surely in another 15-20 minutes, we’d see the sun, take our photographs and I could go home and crawl back into my warm bed. I was uncomfortably cold. My legs stung from the cold and my toes were numb. I wondered how long it would take for my toes to get frostbite and if they’d have to be amputated. Can a person walk without toes?

6:40 am. We can see the light of the sun as it starts to peek over the horizon.

Twenty-five minutes passes and we can see a little bit of light appearing over the horizon, but I’m getting impatient and my anxiety of the possible amputation of my toes is nearing panic attack levels. I start pacing and walking on my tip toes hoping that will keep the frostbite at bay. I can’t remember ever being this cold.

By 7:20 am, we should definitely have seen the sun. I’m disappointed. Did we pick a bad spot? We decided wander a few blocks to see if there’s a better spot. It hurt to walk and I mentally berated myself for not wearing my boots and warmer pants. The wind has died down a bit so the walk helped to warm my legs a little. I was positive my toes were going to be amputated and I made peace with it. I couldn’t feel them anyway.

We made it one block south to Monroe Street and my fears were confirmed. We were not going to see Chicagohenge. The light from the sun was bouncing off the south facing side of the buildings. I could see the glow of the sun hiding behind the buildings on the south side of Monroe Street.

We weren’t alone in our disappointment. We had run into a few others who were downtown to photograph the event as well. After comparing notes, I suspected we were a few days too early. I’ll try again in September. It’ll be warmer then too.

Cheers,
Bec

P.S. I’m happy to report I still have all of my toes.

I’m Back, Baby!

A few weeks ago I had the misfortune of working during a weekend that I was meant to be spending with my family following the death of my mom’s husband. I was bitter and vowed (not for the first time and definitely not the last) that I was going to quit my job and more importantly, I was going to quit law all together. For what it’s worth, that’s still the plan. However, I also have the misfortune of being a rather practical person. As much as I would dearly love to quit, I can’t do so without another source of income. I’m working on that.

In the weeks since that weekend, I’ve managed to find a silver lining or two (can there be two silver linings?). First of all, I got my vacation days back. I’ve added those days to my trip to England this summer. I’m so excited to be going back to London that I could throw up. But more importantly, I made some extra moolah working overtime. That extra money bought me…….drumroll please…..A NEW CAMERA!

Meet Louise. Isn’t she cute? She’s a Nikon Zfc. I’ve spent the last year avoiding taking my current camera, a Nikon D750, anywhere with me. It’s bulky, heavy and a pain in the you-know-what to travel with. What good is a nice camera if you’re not going to use it? I sorely miss my little entry level D3400.

I knew I didn’t want to take the D750 to England, but I also didn’t want to rely on my iPhone for pictures either. Plus I miss taking my camera with me where ever I go. I started researching lightweight cameras with interchangeable lens. I was curious about the mirrorless cameras because they are nearly silent (helpful in street photography).

Louis is small, extremely lightweight and silent. She’s not fancy, but she is super stylish. Her vintage look is based on Nikon’s old FE and FM film cameras. I’ve taken her out a few times already and had so much fun shooting. She’s just my speed.

I can’t wait to start sharing my photos with you again!

xoxo,

Bec

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! What did everyone do for NYE? I ordered pizza, drank a bottle of champagne and sat on the couch watching true crime documentaries with my cats.

I did take a few minutes while waiting for my pizza to be delivered to review my year and it turns out I accomplished more than I thought I did. I spent nearly every Saturday morning for nine months in a virtual class learning how to edit photos in Lightroom. I experimented with making some self-portraits, still lifes (lives?) and long exposures. I figured out how to make a proper gallery on the blog (you can check-out the gallery from the Women’s March I attended back in October here). My photograph of the Fire Breather was used in a neighborhood newsletter. And last, but not least, my Etsy store accidentally went live on NYE. It was supposed to go live on January 1, but as per usual I don’t really understand the technical aspects of websites and I inadvertently launched it early.

In 2022, I’m gearing up to sharpen my skills in portraiture with my first in-person class since 2019! I’m going to polish up the Etsy store and add more prints and products. And finally get around to writing my About Me section for the blog (I’ve been putting it off for 4 years now) and Etsy store.

Do you make any resolutions or set any goals or intentions for the new year? I’d love know what they are!

Wishing you a happy, healthy and prosperous new year!

Cheers,
Bec

City Slicker Goes to the Country

I spent a couple of days in the country with my mom about a month ago. And by country, I mean there are no street lights, no sidewalks and no one to hear you scream if stumble upon ax murderer kind of country.

I’m a city slicker – the closest I get to nature are the three New Guinea impatiens and coleus plant I have on my deck. The wildlife in the city includes pigeons, rats the size of cats, and the dudes preaching on the street corners.

Being in a new environment had me excited to take a photo walk in the early morning hours. I envisioned a zen walk through the country taking pictures of rolling hills with cows, horses and sheep. I didn’t see any cows or sheep, but I did see some horses on some rolling hills – so not a total bust.

Horses in Pasture, Iowa 2021

Herd of Horses, Iowa 2021

Of course, my walk was anything but zen. I spent the entire time terrified that I’d run into a snake or worse, a crazed hill billy careening down the gravel road in his pick-up truck. I’m fully aware that my fears are ridiculous. If I had any sense, I’d be afraid to walk down dark alleys in a city that has over 400 homicides in 2021. But alas, I find the country infinitely more terrifying than Chicago.

Dock, Iowa 2021

Ridiculous fears aside, I’m pleased with the way the photographs turned out. It’s hard to not like pictures of horses.

Rainy Days

There was a stretch of nearly two weeks in June where it rained EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. in Chicago. I’m not talking a brief afternoon shower, but a steady rain that lasted most the day. Enough rain that I didn’t have to walk the 4 four blocks to Lake Michigan to swim in a lake. I could simply step outside of my condo building and take a dip in the lake that had formed at the end of my street. After a silently cursing Mother Nature, I decided to flip the script and learn to shoot the rain.

Things didn’t quite go as expected. To begin with, I didn’t have any rain gear (other than a janky umbrella) – for me or my camera. I wrapped my camera in plastic grocery store bags and taped them up with painters tape (classy, right?).

99.99% of the photographs I took during those two weeks turned out blurry. Out of the 100+ photos I took, the one below is the only one that didn’t make me want to hurl my camera into the lake at the end of my street. Turns out it’s really hard to get the camera to focus on water droplets. It was also dark and dreary so I really needed a tripod so I could shoot with a slower shutter speed, but of course Murphy’s law dictated that my tripod would break.

So I present to you……. (drumroll please)….

Rainwater on Leaf, Chicago 2021

The only photograph to make it out of my camera during Chicago’s brief monsoon season.

I have since bought little raincoats for my camera, a poncho for me and brand new tripod. I’m looking forward to some more rainy days.

Fireworks

Happy birthday ‘Merica.

I’m super lucky to have a gay husband who lets me schlep my tripod and camera over for a date night. We had planned double date with our friend, Jeremy and his boyfriend Max to watch the fireworks at Navy Pier. Randy hosted since none of wanted to actually be outside in the heat and he has a great view of Navy Pier. While Randy made cocktails, I set up my gear in preparation for the fireworks (I know, I’m a terrible date).

The tripod and remote control were key to getting decent shots of the fireworks. I was able to use a 4 second exposure and if I pressed the shutter release button on the remote when I saw the firework start to ascend, it was just enough time to capture the explosion.

Fireworks, Navy Pier 2021

Grand Finale, Navy Pier 2021

PRIDE

I can’t believe Pride month is almost over. Pre-pandemic, this month was filled with fun events celebrating the LGTBQ+ community. Companies hosted happy hours at the bars in Boystown, Proud to Run was a 5K/10K race that was followed by very boozy brunches in the nearby restaurants, and of course, the parade. This weekend is when the parade would flamboyantly march through the packed streets of Boystown, Lakeview and Uptown.

Celebrations have been more subdued as Chicago muddles its way through re-opening. The parade has been pushed to October, but Chicago and its residents are still showing their support.

Buckingham Fountain Pride, Chicago 2021

I went to the Buckingham Fountain at 10:00 pm on a Saturday night to take photographs. I couldn’t tell you why I was so adamant on capturing it at night. I’m rarely downtown these days and almost never at night so it was a very happy surprise to see the buildings dressed in their Pride colors.

Rainbow House, Chicago (Andersonville) 2021

This house is a 10-minute walk from my condo. Here’s a link to an article about couple who live here.

Magnolia Avenue, Chicago (Andersonville) 2021

Each year, the residents of Magnolia Ave wrap their trees with the Pride colors.

Happy Father’s Day

Happy Father’s Day to all the dad’s out there! Cubs are playing today so for all the dad Cubs fans, I hope your kids leave you alone this afternoon long enough to drinks some beers and watch the game in peace.

I made this photograph from Randy’s home. Being the 49th floor of a high rise, he has an amazing view of the city. The view of Wrigley Field tucked up in the middle of the city is one of my favorites. It never ceases to amaze me that there are ball fields and cemeteries and federal prisons in the middle of neighborhoods. Chicago is wild like that.

For the Birds

Joel Meyerowitz got the idea for his book Wild Flowers when going through his archive, he noticed that he had dozens of photographs about flowers. Women carrying flowers, tables with floral centerpieces, gardens, people in gardens. He has encouraged photographers to look through their own photographs to see if they can find any recurring themes.

My “archive” is quite small so it’s easy for me go through my photographs. Though, I really didn’t need to do so to find a recurring motif in my work. I’ve submitted at least four photographs of birds for my class assignments in the past three weeks. I’ve never considered myself a bird person (it’s a well known fact that I am a cat lady). I don’t go birding. I don’t buy bird figurines or bird books or pictures of birds and yet I seem to like to photograph them. Perhaps I should take up birding. (My 20-something self is rolling her eyes so hard right now and getting ready to go day drink in an effort to make up for how lame her future self is turning out.)

The Birds, Chicago 2021

There’s corridor in the Loop where every single pigeon in the city of Chicago comes flying down at 5:00 pm. It’s like they know it’s quittin’ time and are heading to their little pigeon happy hour to squawk about how hard their day of pigeoning was.

Pigeon, Chicago 2021

I watched his guy strut around the platform while I was waiting for the train. He had such a confident little strut. His colors were so beautiful to me on what was a pretty gray and rainy day. The pigeons in Chicago are not afraid of humans so I was able to get pretty close to him to make a photograph before he strutted away.

Robin, Chicago 2021

I was working in my home office when I heard a bunch of scraping sounds on my deck and Gladys was chirping at the windows. I peeked outside and saw this distinguished gentlemen sitting on my deck railing. I was a bit surprised because I’ve never seen a bird on my deck and he was completely unfazed by the cat trying to get through the windows. He hung out long enough for me to make a few photographs and taunt the cat. Such arrogance!

Cardinal, Chicago 2020

During quarantine I would take walks around my neighborhood in the morning to stretch my legs and escape the prison my condo had become. I was surprised the first time I saw a cardinal darting about. I had only ever associated them with winter. I started taking my camera on my morning walks in hopes of getting a picture. Unlike the pigeons, they do not seem to like to pose for photographs. I followed this bird from tree to tree and house to house before he stayed still enough for me make a photograph.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend

I hope everyone has something fun planned. I’m looking forward to meeting up with a friend that I haven’t seen in over a year! We’re having lunch at a little cafe on the beach on Monday to celebrate being vaccinated (yay science!).

I took this photo at Rosehill Cemetery earlier this year. I’ve spent quite a bit of time in this cemetery over the past year, partly because it’s so close to my home (10 min. walk) and partly because it’s one of the oldest cemeteries in Chicago so there are quite a few famous/important people buried here. It’s really a cool place to explore.

The graves in this photo belong to Civil War soldiers. Curious about the graves, I did the tiniest amount of research. In addition to soldiers, there are 14 Union Generals and 6 drummer boys (that makes me incredibly sad) buried here. I’m embarrassed to admit that I don’t much about the Civil War beyond the very basics, but I think it’s cool that members of the regiment that fired the first shots at Gettysburg are also buried here.

It’s shaping up to be a pretty nice weekend so I may mosey on over to the cemetery this weekend to say thank you in person to these men who fought for the soul of our country so long ago. And while I’m at it, thank you to all of the other women and men who have served and continue to serve.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!