Mile 8- Chicago Marathon

Mile 8- Chicago Marathon
Originally uploaded by -shawn-

This weekend was the 33rd running of the Chicago Marathon. Personally, I am not a runner, but as of this year, there are many people I know who are. Both those I work with and Maribel and her family.

Although I have not subscribed to this, yet, I have to say, the excitement surrounding the event is amazing. For all the years I lived in Boston, I trekked down to Copley Square but a handful of times to take in the final moments of that great cities race. But the reality is, I didn't know a single person who ran it. Thus, there really wasn't all that much excitment for me beyond that fact of that which came from the free packs of gum or new sport drinks that where being handed out as samples.

This year I attended the 33rd Annual Chicago Marathon. This Marathon is VERY different from that of Boston. First, of all, it's smaller, though not by much. Second, the race itself is confined to a very small area. There's no running 26.2 miles in almost a perfectly straight line. What that translates too is a city filled with excited spectators all during the race. Heck, you can go to Mile 8, see your favorite runner, then jump on the L and head over to mile 16 and see them again.

How cool is that?

Besides all the excitement from the race, for a photographer who likes to shoot people, its like porn. There are people EVERYWHERE doing everything.

Surprisingly, even to myself, I didn't take all that many pictures this weekend. Perhaps it's because I dabbled with video abit using Maribel's little HD Flip... Guess I better go check that out now and see what I got!

Blogpress

I wouldn't exactly call myself a hardcore blogger, but every once in a while I do like to post about photography related subjects. Even better than sitting down in front of a computer at home when I could be doing something relaxing, like say, mowing the lawn,  is the ability to be able to write and post remotely with my brand new shiny iPad.

Now i'll be the first to admit, typing with a on-screen keyboard, no matter the size, is not not normal. After all, how long would you tap your fingers on glass while focusing on a spec of dust? Because that's what it's like. Your staring, near cross-eyed, trying not to miss typing whole word (forget about typo's) while glaring at little black spec of letters. But hey, the fact that you CAN do it is worth something, right?

Oh, and what does this shot have to do with this post? Absolutely nothing! Why? Because I can!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:,Aurora,United States

Walking the Beat

Corner View
Originally uploaded by -shawn-
Maribel and I were talking the other day and she made a comment about how we don't go out and about with our camera's as much as we used too. Even though I do find myself routinely taking pictures, Maribel had a point.

On the particular weekend that this shot was taken though, we did put aside a couple of hours to enjoy the sites in downtown Naperville. Although this downtown lacks the head-turning sight of downtown Chicago, there surely is still enough to take in.

For instance, this shot here. Not only did I get a shot I really liked, but I also met the owner, who I friended on FaceBook and tagged in the picture. Not to mention, the owner happened to be a manager of Jersy Mikes, a Subways like sandwich shop. He provided me with a couple of discount coupons on my next visit.

Well that really made my day!

Eyeing the Apple

Eyeing the Apple
Originally uploaded by -shawn-

For months I have been making regular tips to the Apple store. Several of my friends had been thinking that I was looking to buy a Mac. After all, I am one of the only photographers that I know who does not already use one.

Actually, I am perfectly happy with my windows 7 PC, it's awesome really. What I have been very interested in though is the iPad .

So, this weekend I bought one, the 64gig 3G model. In fact, I am writing this entry one it. The only issue is that I was sharing it with Maribel. Let me just loud and clear, a iPad is not to be shared....

So, today we bought another one.

Mothers Day

Personally, I believe Mothers Day should be everyday, but a guy calls up and tell you that he wants to surprise his wife with a portrait session for a Mothers Day gift, you know he really loves his wife.

Here are some pictures from the Winans photo shoot.

Pig Picking

This past weekend was a first, I went to my very first pig picking. This was hosted by my cousin Joe Costgrove who lives on Atlantic Beach. Joe just turned 50 and to celebrate he threw his own party. Now normally i'm not into the whole birthday thing, but for a big one, like 50, and a pig, you just have to show up. If for nothing else, to see family I don't see very often and to take a few picutures.

So, to display this highly festive event :), I am going to attempt to do so via a slide show.

Let me know whatcha think! Oh, and be sure to click on slideshow to get a Full Screen.

Travel Bug

The last several weeks have been filled with travel. Some has been work related, some personal. From the prior posting,  you can see that Chicago was one of my more recent destinations. With that particuliar trip, I met a lot of people. There was Kristen from Ginger Root, as well as Maribels Aunt Mirna. I met up with Jake, who also works at Hood.

Out of the blue, I had the opportunity to do a small shoot at a local yoga studio, Living Yoga in Aurora, IL. There I met a cousin of Maribel, Claudine. Now, I have shot several gym related activities, including BodyFlow, which is similiar to yoga. This however was very different. Perhaps it was the studio lighting, with the many large windows. Perhaps it was the fact the those in attendance really are into hard-core yoga.
Either way, i'm very happy with the shots. If you would like to see more of them, they will soon be posted to Candid Captures

The Definition of an Artist

The last couple of weeks have been filled with travel, New York, Boston and Cincinatti. Unfortunatly, I have not really taken all that many pictures  along the way. So, in an effort to change that, on this most recent to Chicago I have managed to snap off a few.

Maribel has been meeting up at night with some old school friends that she has reconnected with via Facebook. In fact that reminds me, I need to blog about FaceBook sometime. Anyway, one of Maribels friends, Kirsten, offered to give her a haircut at her salon in Geneva, IL. The salon, Ginger Root, is a very cool place. Lots of light, plenty of chairs and a great looking staff.

Anyway, while Maribel was getting her hair done, I figured I might as well document it. In doing so, I was watching Kirsten as she interacted with Maribel. At first, I kind of thought she was running her fingers through her hair while they chatted as a way of keeping busy. Then I realized that she wasn't making small talk after all. Some of the question she was asking, which seemed at first like questions directed to someone to play catch up , where actually specific enough to find out who Maribel is as a person. I'm fully convinced Kirsten was "getting to know" Maribel in an effort to envision a style that would "fit" her personality.

 

In the end, the result was fantastic. I never thought watching someone get their hair done could be so much fun. I guess it may not have been had I been just standing around twidling my thumbs. Having a camera in hand and taking a shot all along the way really made for a wonderful experience. In the end, I feel I ended up with just a few more pretty good pictures to add to FaceBook. :)

Any Place, Any Time

Back when I first fell in love with photography I was as guilty as most everyone else in thinking that the more "stuff" you buy would end up making you a better photographer. Fortunatly, like everyone else that has half a brain, I learned that skill in NO WAY equates to more lighting, backdrops or props. In fact, I can say with a certain, the shots I've taken that are near and dear end up lacking the use of all of the above.

Case in point is the shot taken here. I took this last week in the gym for David, a friend of mine who is a Personal Trainer. David is probably one of THE most popular PT's I know. His passion for helping other become fit is as strong as mine about photographing people I know and care about.

This shot was taken in the Group Fitness room under very difficult lighting. There was no backdrop, no flash used and certainly no props. To pull this off, I only used the black-mats in the room and covered the floor with them. The lighting "effect" was done with Nik Color Efex Pro 3, a wonderful Photoshop plug-in.

Even without the Photoshop, this shot was still pretty decent. So, lesson learned, don't worry about the next purchase and focus on practice.

Spring Has Sprung

The last two weekends for me, have probably been two of the most least stressful in a while. It's not that anything external has changed, more that I was concious not to jam more than I could actually handle into two very short days.

There is one thing though that I did commit myself too. In fact, not only did I challenge myself, I challeged all my FaceBook friends with this; take more pictures. Not just snapshots, but rather pictures that reflect not only what you did over our precious weekend, but who you did it with.

So, here are a few of the shot that I took. On the right is Maribel,  and on the left is a picture of a very interesting women who worked at Urban Outfitters in Durham. We walked all through the store attempting to burn off all the calories from the sushi we had just consumed. Dam that was good!

Catch-Up

Lifes been much too busy lately, or, perhaps we just allow it to be. Recently I started to reflect a little bit on the things that I really enjoy doing and I realized how little I actually do them. Why is that anyway?

So, yesterday I spent some time looking at some photography I had shot over the last two months. Most of it, I hadn't even seen, nevermind process or post for viewing.  This weekend I'm going to fix that. I'm even at the point were I going to blog about the things I've done.

Thus, yet another commitment to myself to keep this blog up to date. If for noone else, for myself...

So working backward.

After not pulling my camera out of the bag for about a week, I pulled it out so as to take a picture of my youngest friend, Isabella. As she patiently waited for her sister to return, I grabbed this shot of her. Right after going click, I knew my focus was not perfect as I was going for the "S" and the eyes. Regardless, I like it.