Look at the birdie

September 13, 2009: testing out a new camera

One of my dad's favorite trips was always his annual hunting outing, a chance to hang with the boys and shoot their guns. We still have a pair of geese and a pheasant in my mom's basement that she want's us to post on Craig's List so I shot a few photos.

I just got a 5D Mark II and I am working on learning all the new bells a whistles so here are a few detail shots.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Feature and a pair of actions

September 18, 2009: WWS vs NC

I was back on the sidelines Friday night shooting another high school football game for CoachesAid.com. This week I covered the Wheaton Warrenville South vs Naperville Central.

The last time I covered the Tigers was about 20 years ago when they were Wheaton Central. They were a dominant team back then and still are today.

Here is a feature and a few action photos from the ball game.

-Wheaton players are introduced before the game. Usually the cheerleaders hold the banner with the words facing out but for some reason the banner was turned the other way so I shot them from a little different angle.
-Wheaton Warrenville South's Greg McAndrew (bottom) celebrates in the end zone with Mack Tracey (8) catching a pass and running it in for a touchdown in the second quarter.
-Joseph Krob (bottom) breaks up a pass intended for Naperville Central's Cameron Brate (8) in the fourth quarter.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Liz & Joe

September 20, 2008: Looking back at their wedding day

Almost a year ago I had the honor of shooting Liz and Joe on their very special day. Here are a three images from their wedding in Lake Geneva.

-A little lighting help from above at St. Benedict Catholic Church in Fontana.
-Sitting in the bar at Kirsch's, Liz watches the Cubs pull off a win.
-Liz and Joe on Lake Como.

Thanks for letting me be a part of your special day.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2008

Back to school

September 11, 2009: Glenbard North vs Naperville North

Friday I took a ride out to Carol Stream to shoot a football game for a new high school sports website getting started in Illinois called CoachesAid.com.

I could not have asked for a better night to shoot a football game and since I did not have a tight deadline I was able to leave the MacBook behind and shoot the whole game.

I have always loved shooting high school sports. When I started my first job at the Northwest Herald back in the '80's I remember my goal was to try to bring Sports Illustrated style photos, great action and creative portraits, to the newspaper sports pages.

It has been at least 5-6 years since I have shot any high school ball and the big x-factor is always the light. Today it was good.

My favorite photos have always been sports features. Action is all about focus, timing and being in the right place at the right time. Features are all about being able to see moments.

Since it was the anniversary of the World Trade Center terrorist attack there was a ceremony before the game with local police officers and firefighters. I worked that but just did not pull off anything I really liked. I need to work a little more to get my features edge back.

Glenbard North dominated the game on both offense and defense cruising to a 21-0 win. Here are three of the Glenbard North defense in action.

-Glenbard North's Chris Wahrman (9) celebrates his interception late in the game.
-Nick Abbate (42) and the Glenbard North defense pick up Naperville North quarterback Matt Lacosse for no gain on a keeper in the first half.
-Naperville North quarterback Matt Lacosse (10) loses the ball as he is sacked by Glenbard North defender Nick Abbate (42) for an 8-yard loss in the first half.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

One...

September 6, 2009: Amira

Sunday was Amira's first birthday party. Here are three photos of her from the day and three more triptych's of the other kids at the party.

-Getting ready for cake with dad.
-Mom hold Amira as she watches the cake get cut.
-All dressed up a ready to go out.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

...two...

September 6, 2009: Guinevere

Here are three of Guin from Amira's first birthday party.

-Trying to climb the wall in the inflatable play center.
-Checking out Amira's new gift as she plays with one of the toys.
-Munchin' on a little apple sauce.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

...three...

September 6, 2009: Lyric

Here are three of Lyric from Amira's birthday party.

-Jumping in an inflatable play center
-Watching Amira open her presents.
-Giving dad a hug.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

...four

September 6, 2009: Quest

Here are three of Quest from Amira's first birthday party.

-Riding a toy car on the deck.
-Rocking on the Baby Einstein caterpillar.
-Hanging out with Uncle Adam.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Last rides

September 5, 2009: Taking a trip on Chicago's smallest rail line

I could not resist, here is one more look at Kiddieland.

On the corner of the ticket window at Kiddieland Amusement Park in Melrose Park, IL a small sign reads:

"The following attractions will be
closed today:
Polyp
Volcano Ball Crawl"

At the end of the month an 81-year tradition on Chicago's west side will close it's doors to the public for good. Everyone has their favorite parts of the park and the owners are letting people bid to be the last to ride their favorites during their closing ceremony Sunday, October 4.

Bids start at $50 and as of September 9, 2009 the highest bid for a ride was $500 for one of the 36 seats on the Gas Train. The most bids are 26 for one of the 34 seats on the Steam Train. You can check out current bids HERE.

According to the Kiddieland website portions of the proceeds will be donated to various charities and organizations dedicated to the preservation of Amusement Park history and memorabilia.

The Steam Train is one of the classic rides and was added to the attractions by the late 1940's. Here are three photos of the Steam Train.

-Stopping traffic in an already crowded parking lot the Pioneer Limited takes another load of passengers on a journey around the park.
-Guinevere checks out the view from her seat on the train.
-With cars marked for all the Chicago train stops, a child prepares to get of the Melrose Park car.

-john

Check out a few more pix HERE.

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

First & last

September 5, 2009: A trip to Kiddieland

Riverview, Old Chicago, Santa's Village and now Kiddieland. I wish I could remember Riverview but the other three amusement parks hold special place in my childhood memories.

On Saturday we took our granddaughter Guin to Melrose Park for her first visit to Kiddieland as the park prepares to close in a few weeks after 81 years of operation. If we lived a little closer I would spend more time documenting the final weeks of the park.

As I made a few photos of our visit I tried not let myself get pulled to far away from enjoying the experience of taking my granddaughter to the park. There were tons of great moments on Saturday, here are three from our visit.

-Children three and under are still free so for forty bucks we were in.
-Located right across the street from Maywood Park there were a lot of cameras trying to capture those last memories in the park.
-As the sun goes down the park lights up. Riders enjoy a spin on the Tilt-A-Whirl.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Friday night sights

September 4, 2009: Lingerie Football League is off in Chicago

Friday night I covered the inaugural Lingerie Football League game between the Chicago Bliss and the Miami Caliente for the Daily Herald. It was great to be working on deadline again, I really missed the adrenaline rush I get when covering a live event.

I got to the Sears Centre just before 7pm for the 9pm scheduled kickoff and worked the tailgaters a bit before heading into the arena. At a 6pm presser, "Da Coach" announced an ownership stake in the Chicago franchise so I also wanted to make sure a found Ditka during the game.

At most professional sporting events there is a media room where you can get rosters, snacks, water, find a PR person to answer questions and hook into the internet. Give me wifi, a set of rosters and a bottle of water and I am good to go at just about any sporting event. With the help of freelance photographer David Banks I was able to hook into two of the three. David let me copy the only rosters I saw at the game and helped me get into the wireless network.

I have shot pro, prep, peewee, college and arena football and have seen sidelines and shooting positions shrink a lot over the years. At the Sears Centre they let the photographers shoot from one end zone and the teams did not change directions at the half so we never had the Bliss offense driving toward us.

I wandered out of the shooters zone to shoot the pregame coin flip with Ditka and worked my way back to shoot the players getting ready to take the field before I was told that area was off limits to the media. Unfortunately that was right before the team ran onto the field so I did not get them running out with all the pyrotechnics going off but at least I got something a little different back stage. I always encouraged photographers working for me to try something different, it is worth the risk to try a new angle to get a shot no one else has.

The teams played a competitive game but I do not think many fans came to watch the game.

I filed about 9 photos by my 10:30pm deadline and another 10 photos after the game. Here are 3 frames from the night.

-As the Caliente players take the field Chicago Bliss players get ready for their introductions.
-The shot almost everyone came to the game to see but you will never see it in the newspaper; Chicago QB Ellie Cartabiano is almost stripped but hangs onto the ball.
-Bliss player Danielle Moenay celebrates with fans after their 29-19 win.

-john

To see more photos check out the Daily Herald gallery HERE or check out my SportsShooter gallery HERE.

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Bingo Bango

July 7, 2009: Following up with 80's Clown

Here are a few photos I made in July to follow up to my Jodie Evenson, 80's Clown story. He was performing at Bingo Bango at Silvies in Chicago. Once again the lighting was nothing to write home about but that is more the norm when you are shooting in small clubs.

I am always looking for something a little different away from the stage, this time I found a mirror that worked well for me.

cheers,

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Passive Aggressor

July 25, 2009: Rockin' out at Reggies

We went down to Chicago to catch Passive Aggressor playing at Reggies. I usually prefer to shoot available light during concerts but the lighting was pretty bad and I had to break out the flash for a few frames.

The bar was very cool, the food was good and the band was great. Here are a three frames that I liked from the night.

To view more photos from the show click HERE.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009