party like the Bloggess

For those of you who don't know, the Bloggess has really bad anxiety and frequently spends large gatherings/parties hiding in the bathroom. I can totally relate.

I was photographing a party last night and it was stressful. Doubly so because I knew about half the people there and was expected to both socialize and magically capture every single moment. At one point, I was so overwhelmed that I went to 'investigate' the bathroom.


Luckily, my mom knows me pretty well. She remembers me hiding in the bathroom during her wedding (which was before the Bloggess started blogging) and so she came in to check on me. Since I had my camera with me, we decided to "party like the Bloggess." Unfortunately, there was no alcohol at this party so we just had to pretend to be drunk. It was still pretty awesome.



And yes, I did photograph the majority of the party. My anxiety is for the most part under control enough these days that I can handle a party as long as I'm behind the camera.

Hopefully I won't end up hiding in the car when I go to her book signing on Thursday!

artsy April [project 12]

Once again, I'm working my way through the monthly challenges. By the time you can see this, I will have finished them. Just know that I started working on this on the first of the month. I gave myself the added challenge of trying to be a little more artistic--instead of just matter-of-fact--with my interpretations of the themes.

Illustrate the following in a photo: Showers/Wet

Droplets of spilled salt water from out Passover Seder

Take a picture using a shallow depth of field

Our reflections in a wine glass, also at the Passover Seder
85mm, f/5.6, about a foot away

Interpret the following in a photo: Blooming

Just some flowers that caught my eye when I was out and about.

I also have these three flowers that I bought and put in glass bottles. They don't really count for this challenge but they are related to the theme. There is never any reason to exclude photos.

Get Low. Lie Down on the ground and shoot above

I struggled with this one because I technically didn't lie down. But I stood my ground and looked up.

catch the light

Sometimes patience pays off. I noticed this little spider building a more adventurous web in a different direction, one that would catch the light. I waited until the web was completed and decided today was the day. But I waited because it wasn't just right. On my way to dinner, during the 'golden hour', I saw that the light caught the web just right. Or more accurately, the web caught the light. It's perfect.

Lincoln Park West

It feels a little weird to use the 'abandoned' tag when Lincoln Park West is still technically open. But many of the storefronts are not. It's nothing like I remembered when I was kid. I used to come here with my grandmother and marvel over all the wonderful things; now I just photograph broken glass and rust.













These photos were also taken on Sunday, right after the abandoned parking garage.

the story of the city is written in the stones

Yesterday we had too much time before a party and were in the neighborhood so I talked my mom into exploring an abandoned parking garage with me. I had never been to this location before and it was pretty amazing.









When I was going in for this shot, I started some pigeons out of their comfortable hiding place and they scared the living daylights out of me. I screamed and flailed a little. I'm not a very good urban explorer.






Many urban explorers employ HDR to enhance the scene and capture all the shadows, highlights, and details as they saw them (or better than they were in real life). I was having issues with the contrasty midday sun and my digital camera's issues capturing decent dynamic range so I decided to try some HDR too. They look artistic but fake. There's a time and a place for HDR and I don't know if the rooftop of this garage was the right place.



There was surprisingly little graffiti or intentional damage. I was both excited and disappointed to note this.

























Back in the day when this place was still open, I came here with my family. It's so strange to see that it's shut up and just decaying, even though everything around it is still open. I feel like I owe it to the building this garage attaches to to tell its story. I just need to get permission to explore.