Blahg, Blahg, Blahg

A cup to go

2010-09-05T19:50:00.000-07:00

September 7, 2010: Coffee around the county

I picked up a few assignments for the McHenry County Magazine shooting coffee around McHenry County this week. I shot the first two in Cary and Marengo on Friday before my high school football game and then another on Tuesday in Woodstock.

I have always enjoyed shooting food because it allows me to break out the lights and have a little creative fun. I also love coffee so it was a good couple days.

These assignments called for shots on a black background as well as an environmental shot of the coffee in the store. I prefer the images with a bit of detail in the background.

Here are three from the shoots.

-Iced Mocha at Flatlander Market in Marengo,
-Autumn Spice Latte at Java Planet in Woodstock.
-Royale at the Cary Coffee Station in Cary.

-john

Week 2

2010-09-03T21:57:00.000-07:00

September 3, 2010: Johnsburg vs. Jacobs

Football season has arrived, for me, and I covered my first game of the season on Friday. It is the second week of high school football but, I was traveling last weekend so I missed out on the fun.

It was one of the cooler nights in a long time with a very little mist, but still really good football weather.

First games are a time to get the bugs out and the biggest challenge is always connecting to the web. I borrowed a wifi card but still had problems connecting at the half to I had to drive home to file. If I was a little further from home I would have to hunt for a Starbucks or a McDonald's that has wifi that actually works.

I only shot the first half since I had to leave to send my photos and did not have anything that really knocked my socks off so here are 3 from the game.

- Jacobs Czar Zyks slips by a tackle by Johnsburg's Justin Seyler.
- Zyks heads for the end zone for the first score of the game as Johnsburg's Dylan McNish chases.
- Johnsburg quarterback George Bielis is upended after being sacked by Jacobs' Ryan Hevrdejs.

-john

Buzzing by the south branch

2010-08-19T12:02:00.001-07:00

August 12, 2010: with Alderman James Balcer

I made a portrait of Chicago 11th Ward Alderman James Balcer along the South Branch of the Chicago River in Bridgeport last week for the Chicago News Cooperative.

The story was on a boat ride the alderman took with reporter Mitch Dumke looking at wildlife and talking about how the area has changed. Because of a little mix up we missed the boat ride so a portrait was my next best option.

Tt was a pretty quick shoot and I enjoy shooting nature and wildlife so I hung out to shoot some bugs and flowers in Origins Park.

-A dragonfly buzzes by the Origin Park.
-Flowers along the river
-Alderman James Balcer looks over the park area along the south branch of the Chicago River.

-john

Back on the field

2010-08-19T11:02:00.000-07:00

August 14, 2010: Richmond-Burton football practice

Football is one of my favorite sports to shoot, I finished last season with the Richmond-Burton vs. Johnsburg playoff game so it was only fitting that my first football assignment of the year is in Richmond.

The practice started at 7am so it was not too hot but, the mosquitoes were out in full force. With a little bug spray assist from the team I was good to go. Most practice shots are pretty basic; guys running, throwing and standing around so I am always looking for something fun or different.

Here are three I liked from the practice.

-Richmond-Burton H.S. head football coach Patrick Elder is surrounded by his team as he takes a passing challenge at the end of practice.
-Wide receiver C.J. Daniel makes a catch during practice.
-Lineman Zachary Boettjer waters some corn during a break.

-john

Neck shots, chukkers and divots

2010-08-19T09:35:00.000-07:00

August 15, 2010: something new

I have covered a lot of different sports over the years and it is always refreshing to cover something new. Last weekend I shot my first polo match for the Courier-News, the Sherman Cup polo match at Dahlwood Farm in Elgin. It took me most of the game to figure out the rules and what was going on but it made some fun photos.

Four players from each team play on a 300 x 160 yard field so long glass is a must. Kind of like soccer and hockey but with horses, on a bigger field and much faster. They play 6 seven and a half minute chukkers and take a half time break after the third chukker.

If you want to learn more about the sport of polo click HERE.

Here are three from the event.

-Anthony Garcia with a neck shot in the first half.
-Alan Martinez and Nicolai Galindo reach for a high ball.
-Spectators help stomp divots after the game.

-john

Summer dresses

2010-08-09T16:39:00.000-07:00

Sunday, August 8, 2010; A few moments with Guin and Amira

Wow time really flies, the last 6 months have been really busy and I will try to do some catching up in the next few weeks. I am still freelancing in the Chicago area and have been doing a lot of editorial work for the Chicago News Cooperative.

My granddaughters came over to visit in their matching summer dresses on Sunday, here are a three photos from our small portrait session.

-john

Bonus round

2010-02-12T09:53:00.000-08:00

November 14, 2009; last football game of the year.

I was pretty convinced football season was over for me last weekend but was happy when I got the call to get one more game in for the Northwest Herald. This was the same weekend of the state volleyball tournament so I shot the Class 4a football quarterfinal game between Richmond-Burton and Johnsburg.

Here are three from the game.

-Johnsburg quarterback Jon Torgersen (6) is tackled by Richmond-Burton's Nicholas Dittmar (52) after a run in the first half.
-Johnsburg's C.J. Fiedorowicz is swamped on an incomplete pass by Richmond-Burton defenders C.J. Daniels (12), Ken Riordan (32) and Kyle Wismer (88) during the second half
-Johnsburg players C.J. Fiedorowicz (left) and Alex Hutchinson on the field after their season ended with a 28-10 loss to Richmond-Burton.

-john

Near miss

2010-02-10T10:48:00.001-08:00

November 9, 2009; dodging pucks at the UC.

Monday night I shot the Blackhawks vs Kings for the Chicago News Cooperative.

Hockey is a challenge to shoot, with a three inch puck traveling at over 100 mph the game moves pretty fast. I have always loved covering the Hawks, they had a great season last year and are playing even better this season.

The 2 main positions to shoot from in hockey are on the glass or up in the stands. The ice level shooting positions make some nice pictures but there are limited positions at that level and some of the glass positions are better than others that only allow a partial view of the ice.

Since one of my assignments was to get features of head coach Joel Quenneville getting one of the prime holes was not a big deal. I shot the first period from an open glass position across from the bench.

The closer you are to the action the more alert you have to be.
All the time! Early in the game I was switching cameras and turned my head for a moment when I heard a loud bang on the glass. When I looked to the ice I saw a fresh mark about a half inch from the open hole where a puck slammed into the glass. Camera up or down if the puck were a half inch to the left I would have been done for the day with a broken camera or worse.

I worked some coach photos from the glass and moved up to the higher position for the next two periods. Access is very limited on game day and coaching shots are really not that exciting so I shot a little action as well. It is easier to cover more of the ice from the high position but some corners are blocked by the nets, glass and fans. You have to be ready for every fan in the stadium to jump up when the Hawks score a goal.

I played with the distortion in the glass but I think there is a better photo there.

Here are three game shots from the high position.

-Jonathan Toews moves the puck around the goal and LA Kings Drew Doughty.
-Andrew Ebbett celebrates his third period goal.
-Brian Campbell moves the puck up the ice.

-john

TNT RAW

2010-02-10T10:36:00.000-08:00

November 8, 2009; first tumbling meet of the year.

No this is not pro wrestling, just a little more trampoline and tumbling. I have wanted to play around and shoot on the RAW camera setting for a while now so I went to a meet Sunday and shot some photos of our 5 Star athletes.

The advantage of RAW is you have way more control over the image when you go on the computer to edit. You can adjust exposure by a few stops and even better you have a lot more control adjusting the color balance of the images. This is especially helpful when lighting constantly changes during a shoot. In a high school gym some spots are daylight balanced and others can be florescent, sodium vapor or tungsten or a mix of all of the above.

The downside is the files take up way more space, it slows your motor drive speed down, and it takes longer to edit.

But the end result can be far better photos. There was a lot of daylight in this gym so

Here are 3 tumbling photos from the meet.

-john

Double duty

2010-02-10T09:35:00.000-08:00

November 7, 2009: High School playoffs

I also picked up a high school playoff football game in Richmond for the Northwest Herald Saturday morning, a good warm up for the Bulls game. I also did not think I was going to get another football game this season having been out of town as the high school and college regular seasons were finishing up.

Richmond-Burton Rockets' were playing the Coal City Coalers in their IHSA class 4A second round playoff game.

It was a perfect day for a football game and felt more like an early September game than November. Richmond-Burton won 44-6 and are set to play Johnsburg in a cross county match up next weekend, a game I was sure would go to a staff shooter.

Here are 3 from the game I liked.

-Justin Russell (22) celebrates after his first quarter touchdown run.
-Kenneth Riordan (32) hops into the end zone after a long touchdown run in the first quarter as Coal City's Kyle Shugart (14) misses the tackle.
-C.J. Daniels (12) breaks up pass intended for Coal City's Anthony Hackey (5) during the third quarter.

With a quick edit and a stop in Panera for a cup of coffee and a side of wifi I was off to the United Center. (see previous post, who said blogs need to be chronological?)

Out of the Jungle

2010-02-09T21:28:00.000-08:00

November 7, 2009; and into the United Center.

Busy, busy, busy. I have really been kicking myself to update my blog, but, I have been busy. I know, no excuse. So once again here is a little catch up on what has been going on in the last few months.

We returned home from Costa Rica on Friday November 6th and I was pretty happy to get to work right away on Saturday night covering a Bulls game for the newly created Chicago News Cooperative (CNC). The CNC is a new media service in Chicago comprised of a group of dedicated journalists on a mission to provide a new news source in Chicago.

Many of the staffers have been around the Chicago scene for some time and I consider myself lucky to be working with some old friends from my Chicago Tribune days.

The CNC provides content for the Friday and Sunday New York Times Chicago pages and all the stories are posted on the CNC website . In a time of shrinking jobs in the news industry this is a really great thing.

With the rolls reversed I now find myself working with former Trib staff photographer José Moré who is the picture editor and main photojournalist for the CNC. I spoke with José a few times before leaving on my trip and we kept in touch on e-mail.

So, out of the jungle and into the UC for the Bulls vs. Bobcats game. I was there to shoot some photos for a sports feature that has not run yet. I have not covered a Bulls game in over a year and it was great to be back on the court again.

Here are three photos from the game that did not go with the story we are working on.

-Joakim Noah chases down a loose ball in the first half
-Benny the Bull has some fun with referee Violet Palmer during a break in the action.
-Luol Deng is all smiles as time winds down in the Bulls 93-90 win.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Twisters

2009-12-07T23:47:00.001-08:00

October 2009: Costa Rica cheer gym

Before heading home we stopped in to visit our friends at Costa Rica Twisters in Sabana Sur. I guess this was our way to transition from jungle life back to work.

We met Chino, the gym owner and head coach, at the Worlds Cheerleading competition a few years ago. He works really hard to promote All-Star cheer in Central America. Chino's kids are very talented and work really hard, we are looking forward to catching up with them again at Worlds in Orlando.

It was a little dark in the gym but I squeezed as much light as could out practice, here are three from our visit.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Morning views

2009-12-07T23:42:00.000-08:00

October 2009: a few details from around the house

I am really not a big morning person but I tried to make a habit of getting up early and shooting a little bit every morning on this trip. Just to watch the clouds roll across the mountains in the morning is an amazing thing. Here are three detail shots from around the house in Tres Rios.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Swim hole

2009-12-07T23:36:00.001-08:00

October 2009: Nature's water park

A short walk from the tilapia farm is a really cool swimming hole along the river. There is a spot you can jump into the rapids and it will shoot you out about 10-20 feet down the river.

Here are a few from the little water park in nature.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Jungle boat

2009-12-07T22:51:00.000-08:00

October 2009: from a few scraps of wood

Some people just see things a little different than everyone else.

After looking at a piece of wood Dave can see what it will be and goes to work. After hand picking a few scraps of wood from around the house he went to work and created a ship at sea. He is one of the most talented people with his hands that I know.

Here are three from a boat that built.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Life's a beach II

2009-12-07T22:47:00.000-08:00

October 2009: A few more pix from the beach

Here are three from a trip to Dominical, one of the bigger surf beaches in the area.

-A game of soccer on the beach.
-A surfer heads out of the water.
-Checking out some crafts along the beach.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Portraits on the road

2009-12-05T15:06:00.000-08:00

October 2009: A few people I met along the way

Time for a quick trip through the rest of Costa Rica. I grabbed a few portraits of people that I met along the way in Costa Rica. Because of the language barrier it is tough to get too creative but here are three this trip.

-A new owner of the soda by the ferreteria near Ojochal.
-Mother and son who run a tilapia farm and restaurant near Tres Rios.
-William who does a lot of the work around the Tres Rios house.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

[ mah-muh • chee-noh ]

2009-12-05T14:10:00.000-08:00

October 2009: with a little helps from some friends

A few more posts from Costa Rica before I get back to the real world.

There are certain things in life that you would never experience without a little help. I was introduced to a new fruit on this trip, the kids called them momma chinos.

Mamon chino is the mamon's exotic cousin, with a red shell and soft spines with a large tasty grapelike fruit inside.

I have seen people selling bags of these fruits along the roads but never knew what they were. They go for about 7 bucks a pound if you can find them in the US, but in Costa Rica they are about a buck and a half.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Be Back Soon

2009-11-26T09:16:00.000-08:00

I am in the middle of a big edit right now. I will be back to catch up on some posts very soon.

-john

Life's a beach

2009-11-16T09:35:00.000-08:00

October 2009: On the south Pacific coast.

Costa Rica is full of beautiful beaches and the house is only about 2 kilometers from the ocean so there are plenty to choose from. The Costa Rica coastline stretches over 1100 miles and all of the beaches are owned by the government so except for a few rare exceptions you cannot actually own beach property. All of them have beautiful views and there is something for everyone; from rocky shores to gorgeous palm tree lined white sand beaches.

We were in the south Pacific coast where the beaches are more remote with the exception of Playa Dominical which is a very popular surf beach. Some of the most developed beaches are found up north along the Guanacaste coast and the Caribbean coast offers a ‘Rasta’ culture and lush vegetation.

I need to spend a little more time exploring more beaches on our next trip. Here are a few shots from Playa Dominical and a sunset at Playa Tortuga.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

The adventures of super perro

2009-11-16T09:25:00.000-08:00

October 2009: and a few more photos from around the house.

Here are a few shots from around the house in Tres Rios.

-If dog diving were an event in the Olympics Amigo would be right up there with the best of them. Tori watches as he chases the kids into the pool.
-Jake practices a little futbal on our newly mowed soccer field.
-Grant takes a siesta on one of the hammocks.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Rollin', rollin'...

2009-11-16T07:10:00.000-08:00

October 2009: ...rollin' on the river.

We did a little exploring and took a stroll on one of the rivers in Tres Rios. The water was running pretty strong but not too strong to cross. Here are three from the trip.

-Dave and the kids hold hands as they cross the river.
-Vilma hangs out in a rapid.
-Jake takes a turn in a natural water slide.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Tres Rios house

2009-11-15T21:17:00.000-08:00

October 2009: A peek inside.

Here are three photos from the inside of the house. There are 2 bedrooms with AC, a full kitchen with a nice sitting area to read a book or watch a movie at night. The area just got phone service in the last year and is supposed to get high speed internet in the next few months.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

R & R

2009-11-15T20:08:00.000-08:00

October 2009: My favorite getaway.

We just got back from spending a little time recharging our batteries in Costa Rica. This was our first trip in October which is the rainy season in Costa Rica and they usually have more rain than sunshine during the month. For our trip most of the rain on our trip came overnight so we had plenty of time to play outside. The dry season is December through May.

I traveled really light this trip and only brought one camera with a wide zoom and an old manual focus 85 mm f 1.4. I tried to shoot little everyday so the next posts will all be from our trip.

Here are a few exteriors pix of the house we stayed in in Tres Rios. It is in the southwestern part of Costa Rica with a built in pool, a mountain view and it is about 2 kilometers from the ocean. The house is available for rental by the week, I will post a link later or I can hook you up with the folks managing the property.

Not a bad view from any of the hammocks.
Early morning look at the pool and house.
The front of the house is a nice place to have a cup of coffee and enjoy the view.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Leaf malfunction

2009-11-05T10:59:00.001-08:00

October 18, 2009; Watch out for falling leaves

For this portrait we had a nice little back lit location, a small bale of hay and a few pumpkins. We just needed a few leaves to close the deal.

I had a friend toss some loose leaves into the scene and everything went well except for one toss when the leaves are a bit wet and did quite float through the air as planned.

Glad I was not tossing the leaves.**

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

**No children were injured in the making of these photos.

Park portraits part two

2009-11-05T10:53:00.000-08:00

October 18, 2009; A little more fun in the park

I was back out at Veteran's Acres Park in Crystal Lake for a second round of portraits Sunday to shoot a few families that could not make it last weekend. The weather was a bit warmer and the trees a touch less colorful but we had a good time.

Here are three from our morning session.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Here's a story

2009-11-05T10:25:00.000-08:00

October 17, 2009; ...of a mascot named Jammy

I would much rather be working on a good story than shooting general photos so I am always looking for a story to follow.

A lot of cheer companies look for something to set themselves apart from the rest. One of the things Jamfest has is their mascot Jammy. I'm not sure exactly what he is but he hops around the kids in his 7-foot-tall inflatable costume and the kids go wild.

Here is a short triptych essay on Jammy from the Peoria competition.

-Jammy steps onto the stage area to a crowd of cheering cheerleaders.
-He gets ready to hand out the spirit award.
-Cheerleaders from Ultimate Athletics are entertained by one of Jammy's many talents.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Boot camp

2009-11-05T10:16:00.000-08:00

October 17, 2009; Jamfest

I was scheduled to shoot the Maine South football game in Park Ridge Saturday for CoachesAid.com but I got an e-mail on Friday letting me know they did not need the game.

With an open Saturday I had a choice to hang out at home and get ready for an out of town trip or go to Peoria to watch our cheer squads. I am still learning a bit about web design and I try to keep the 5 Star Academy website updated with current photos so I was off to Peoria.

With our first squads hitting the floor at 1 pm I left home at 7am which put me in Peoria just before noon. As I walked in the building I was approached by a photog who was shooting for the event company LightSpeed and he told me that 2 people had not shown up and they were looking for someone to help shoot. I have already been talking to Gil Courson of LightSpeed about helping him out with some upcoming events so I jumped in to help out.

Shooting cheerleading events is my boot camp, I figure if I can survive those days everything else is a little easier. At a big meet the days can be 10-12 hours long, shooting 100 teams or more, every routine is different and trying not to miss a kid with squads of 8 to 30 kids is a lot of work. The time to take a break to grab a bite to eat or hit the can is sometimes filled with award sessions. Oh yeah, did I mention the loud music and screaming fans?

This day was a little longer than I intended but that is a good thing. Here are 3 from the competition.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Secondary game

2009-11-05T06:13:00.000-08:00

October 16, 2009; Prairie Ridge vs. Johnsburg

The big high school football game of the day for the Northwest Herald was Cary Grove vs Crystal Lake South so that gave me a chance to pick up the secondary game for the paper. An added bonus is that it is only 10 minutes from my home.

Shooting football the past few weeks I have been spoiled with no tight deadlines. Tonight I had to get my pix to the paper by 10pm so that meant I would have to cut out before the game was over. If I had a wireless card I could send at the half and shoot the end of the game but right now my freelance gigs do not support the extra expense of a wireless card.

Working as a picture editor for the last 14 years I always tried to make sure all my assignments had complete information including contacts and phone numbers so my photogs were always well informed going into their assignments. I like walking into a game with some idea of who the underdog is so, after a little hunting online, I sent an e-mail to myself with the standout players to watch on both teams.

The storyline had to have something to do with Johnsburg's stud player, C.J. Fiedorowicz, who is expected to go to a division 1 school and their sophomore quarterback brought up to fill in for the starter who was injured last week. That said, both teams were fighting for a playoff position and this looked like it this was Prairie Ridge's game to lose.

Fiedorowicz was the star of the game and dominated on both sides of the ball and Johnsburg pulled off the upset.

Here are three from the game.

-Johnsburg sophomore quarterback Jon Torgerson scrambles to avoid Prairie Ridge defender Corey Peterson.
-Johnsburg running back Justin Peete (21) loses the handle on the ball in the first half.
-Johnsburg's C.J. Fiedorowicz (right) stays focused and makes a catch as Prairie Ridge defender Kyle Peterson hangs on in the second quarter.

-john

Home(coming) again

2009-11-04T10:43:00.000-08:00

October 16, 2009; Hampshire pep rally

Some days you show up to an assignment and just kind of stand around and scratch your head trying to figure out where to start. I shot a homecoming Pep Rally for the Northwest Herald on Friday at Hampshire High School and that is how the day started.

I have shot enough of homecomings over the years to know I need to get football players, the King & Queen, and something offbeat and fun. The key is to find someone who knows what is going on. At this rally a few male teachers were going to be heading out to do a Pom routine, that's a start.

I worked the rally but nothing really great jumped out at me. Here are three from the rally.

-Senior football team members join in with the cheers
-King Ryan Burke (left) and queen Sam Anderson hug after they were introduced.
-Math teacher Dennis Wozniak fires up the students before their routine.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Back to the pitch

2009-11-04T08:18:00.001-08:00

October 13, 2009; Harvard vs. Chicagoland Jewish

I covered the an IHSA regional quarterfinal soccer game between Harvard and Chicagoland Jewish for the Northwest Herald Tuesday night.

It has been a few years since I have covered a soccer game but shooting sports for me is like riding a bike. The challenges lie more in lighting, weather and finding a close WiFi hot spot.

Lighting at many high school fields leaves something to be desired and this field did not disappoint. The first half hour of most night games, before daylight savings time, is crucial because there is still a hint of ambient light to work with. After the sun set my exposures at this field varied from frame to frame about 2-3 stops and the color shifted between frames as well.

The weather was cold and windy but dry so that was good. As far as WiFi, I should have done a little more homework to find a hot spot but I had enough time to drive home and send from there.

Harvard handled the game and advanced to the next round with 6-0 win.

Here are three from the game.

-Harvard's David Martinez kicks the ball past Chicagoland Jewish's Tyler Weber (left) in the second half.
-Harvard's Ivan Pichardo (right) celebrates a second half goal with teammate Alberto Martinez.
-Harvard's Nathan Reckamp (left) and Chicagoland Jewish's Joshua Perry battle for a header in the second half.

-john

Portraits in the park

2009-11-02T19:31:00.000-08:00

October 11, 2009; Ready for their close ups.

I did a portrait session Sunday morning at Veteran's Acres Park in Crystal Lake with some 5 Star & Ultimate Athletics cheerleaders. It was a beautiful morning, the sun was shining, the leaves were colorful and the park was pretty empty.

The only thing we needed was a space heater to take the chill off the mid thirty degree temperatures. The kids gutted it out and we played with some different angles.

Here are three from the morning take. The first and third photos were shot laying in the wet leaves and the middle photo I climbed a tree to try something different.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Something to cheer about

2009-10-29T19:29:00.000-07:00

October 10, 2009: Special needs squad first practice

We have started a special needs cheerleading squad at 5 Star Elite, it is something we have wanted to do for a long time.

The team is called Shooting Stars and we have 3 cheerleaders working with each kid on the squad, it is really great to see these kids having a great time.

Here are a few photos from their first practice.

-john

All photo © John Konstantaras 2009

Party girl

2009-10-29T19:24:00.000-07:00

October 10, 2009: Guinevere's third birthday

Here are a few photos of Guin at her third birthday party, wow how time flies.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Dead on

2009-10-28T20:12:00.000-07:00

October 9, 2009: Bolingbrook vs. Lincoln Way East

I covered a high school football game down in Bolingbrook for CoachesAid.com on Friday night. It was over an hour drive but the game was worth it. Every now and then everything seems to be dead on, this was one of those days and the rain even held off.

Here are a few photos from the game.

-Bolingbrook wide receiver Dan Fisher catches a pass for a touchdown in front of Lincoln Way East defender Jimmy Wilson (right) in the fourth quarter.
-Bolingbrook's Maurice Armstead (right) pulls in an interception in front of Lincoln Way East's Brandyn Jackson (5).
-Marcus Lee celebrates a Bolingbrook fumble recovery.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Walking small

2009-10-28T20:06:00.000-07:00

October 5, 2009: Amira takes a few steps

Here is one for the family, we went over to visit Sue and the kids and all of a sudden Amira is walking just before her first birthday.

A few photos from our visit.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Cheer is here

2009-10-28T19:56:00.000-07:00

October 4, 2009: First meet of the year

I am catching up on some of my older event as so I can get to some photos from Costa Rica. Here are some photos from a few weeks ago.

The 2009/2010 cheer season is officially here. This year a handful of our 5 Star Elite cheerleaders have joined forces with Ultimate Athletics. Here are a few photos from our first competition in Bartlett.

I will also be the official photographer for National Cheer Stars so there are a lot more cheer photos coming.

Cheers (heh heh)

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Shooting a little Thunder in Chicago

2009-10-12T21:30:00.000-07:00

October 3, 2009: North Park University vs. Wheaton College

I covered the North Park Vikings homecoming game against the Wheaton Thunder in Chicago Saturday to help out a good friend, Steve Woltmann, and it was a real treat to be able to shoot football at an ASA below 1250.

There was a chance of rain in Saturday's forecast but it was so nice as I walked up to the field I left my umbrella in the car and hoped for the best. I made it to about the middle of the second quarter when the rain drops started to fall so I did a quick gaffer tape garbage bag wrap on my cameras and finished the quarter.

At halftime I darted to my car and grabbed my rain gear only to have the rain stop just as I got back to the field. Sometimes just having your rain gear close by holds the weather back.

I was looking for a little of everything on Saturday; pregame, cheerleaders, coaches, fans and action.

Here are three I liked from the game.

-North Park defender Calvin Gant breaks up a pass on the goal line intended for Wheaton receiver Charlie Antal in the second half.
-Viking's fans cheer on their team from the stands.
-Wheaton College's Dan Shear is upended by North Park's Calvin Gant after a complete pass.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Rain, rain go away...

2009-10-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

October 2, 2009: Huntley vs. Cary Grove

Friday night I was out at Huntley High School covering their football game against Cary Grove for CoachesAid.com.

This was my first cold rainy football game of the year and boy I miss the warm weather already. The key to shooting in bad weather is to pack light and be prepared, today I was ready for the rain.

I grabbed a couple of Bogen Super Clamps and piggy backed them together so I could clamp an umbrella to my monopod, if umbrella's are allowed on the sidelines this is my favorite setup. I have not found a waterproof bag that protects my gear from the rain and is easy to use but I am still looking.

Back in college I shot a season and it rained every weekend. It was a soak, dry, repeat season before cameras and lenses were loaded with electronics. We would wrap ourselves in plastic garbage bags, shoot the game, take my gear apart to let it dry out for a few days and do it again the next weekend. It was a long season.

When the rain comes down hard you do not expect the quarterbacks to air the ball out but both teams tried and they both gave up interceptions. Cary Grove shut out Huntley 23-0 to stay undefeated in the Fox Valley Conference.

Here are three from the game.

-Brandon Luczak, center, celebrates his interception in the first half.
-Cary Grove Alex Hembry breaks free for a touchdown in the third quarter.
-Huntley quarterback Brett Kleckner is stopped in his tracks by Cary Grove's Kyle Leibforth (44) after a bobbled snap in the second quarter.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Imagine

2009-10-11T15:36:00.000-07:00

October 2, 2009: 2016 dream comes to an end

Friday I took a trip downtown to meet a friend for lunch and check out the 2016 Olympic Rally in Daley Plaza.

Like many Chicagoans I figured we would at least make it past the first round and had a pretty good chance of getting the bid so I did not kill myself getting downtown. Just before 10:30 am, as I was sitting in traffic on the Kennedy, the first round of voting in Copenhagen started. I listened as the radio reporters painted a picture of the stunned crowd and Chicago was eliminated. The once overflowing Daley Plaza crowd thinned out and the seven year party was off.

Since the winning city was still to be announced just before noon I took a walk to check out what was left of the rally. There were still a fair amount of people hanging out still stunned from the announcement, waiting in line to get free t-shirts and waiting to see who would get the bid.

I ran into a bunch of old friends from the Chicago media waiting patiently with a small group of Rio supporters. By this time the media far outnumbered the subjects. I have been stuck in these photo gang bangs before and was pretty happy I did not have to fight to get to the front of this pack.

One of my pet peeves has always been having to battle for a shooting position with a people using cell phones or someone working on their portfolio so I stepped back, shot a few over the top and stayed out of the way.

To top this situation off about 5 minutes before the bid city was named a television crew stepped in front of everyone and planned to interview the fans when the announcement was made. Luckily they were told to step aside by the Rio supporters.

Here are three from Daley Plaza.

-A man in a patriotic hat stands alone and watches from the back of Daley Plaza.
-After Chicago was eliminated, a man with a group of paralympic supporters talks on his cell phone.
-Surrounded by a pack of media, Rio supporters celebrate as the announcement is made.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Shooting from the strip

2009-10-11T14:50:00.000-07:00

September 26, 2009: Taking a walk on the wild side

Vegas is the most visually rich city I have ever visited. This trip I spent a little more time inside shooting tumbling and could have used an extra day or two just to shoot more photos on the strip. After checking out of our hotel and before flying home Sunday I spent a few hours walking with the strip.

Here are three from the strip that I shot from the hip.

-A shot from the hip looking toward New York New York from the M&M store.
-The card flippers are not around early in the day but the remnants from the night before litter the street.
-A worker cleans up in a mall on the strip.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Trampoline, Tumbling, Double Mini

2009-10-11T13:53:00.000-07:00

September 26, 2009: Final Selection

We were out in Vegas with two of our 5 Star athletes for the USAG Final Selection Trampoline and Tumbling Meet to compete against the best in the nation and qualify for a trip to compete St. Petersburg, Russia in November.

Here are a few action photos from the weekend.

-Senior Elite trampolinist Logan Dooley of World Elite in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA sets a new US difficultly record with his 17.1 routine in the finals.
-Austin Nacey of Dyna-Mite Trampoline and Tumbling in Highland, IN qualifies on Level 10 tumbling.
-James Lichtenstein of 5 Star Academy in Crystal Lake, IL qualifies on Level 10 Double Mini Trampoline.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Look at the birdie

2009-09-21T17:08:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-21T16:35:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-21T08:28:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-12T09:12:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-09-10T12:02:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-09-10T11:58:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-09-10T11:50:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-10T11:32:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-09T11:34:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-09T10:46:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-08T08:26:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-01T10:21:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-01T09:45:00.000-07:00

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

Joey's momma

2009-08-31T10:18:00.000-07:00

March 22, 2009: Hanging out in the Kentucky Outback

I am always looking for a nice slice of life or a picture story, it is just the journalist in my blood. On our way home from a weekend camping trip we ran into Shannon and Paco at Kentucky Down Under in Horse Cave, KY. Shannon let me hang out with them for a few hours so I could put together a story proposal for the Tribune. Unfortunately instead of getting the okay to follow up the story I was asked to use a few photos from my proposal and write a short story for the Travel section.

I was happy that they liked the photos but never made it back to Kentucky to chase down any real moments. I parted ways with the Tribune before this ever made it in the paper but, here is the story that was written to go with the photos.

Six hours south of Chicago Shannon Sharpensteen, an animal crew member at Kentucky Down Under, goes about her daily routine giving cave tours and taking care of animals with her 11-month-old baby Paco at her side. As she walks though the gift shop Paco pokes his head out of his pouch and a small crowd gathers to check out the baby.

Paco is a red kangaroo and Shannon is Paco’s “joey momma.” At Kentucky Down Under joey's move in with an adoptive momma when they are about 6-months-old and they are hand raised for 15 months before moving to the outback with the adult kangaroos.

“Most people are very curious, the first thing they want to know is what he is." Shannon says, "I've had questions like ‘Is it a donkey?’ ‘Is it a rabbit?’ Just about everyone gives us a second look.”

Michelle McGuire, marketing director at Kentucky Down Under says, generally we choose a “full time staffer that is willing to make the time and emotional investment into being a joey mommy." Since it is just like being a real momma they really need to have a nurturing personality. Joey mommas feed around the clock, toilet train and do all the other things you would for a real baby."

Shannon has two boys of her own but this is her first Joey. “Paco stands about as tall as my boys and when we first got him Paco decided he was going to be the boss and dominate them. The boys did get kicked a few times but after that he was fine and loved them ever since,” Shannon says, “My oldest son considers Paco to be his ‘other’ brother.”

"How many people can say that they have a roo hanging from their bedpost?" Shannon says, "Paco is a delight to have around the house and we will never be the same without him, we are just a little sad though because we know that our time with him is very short and we know that he will be leaving us very soon."

Kentucky Down Under has 8 handlers trained to raise joey’s and they have averaged about four joeys a year for the last 19 years. They currently have four joeys with mommas, two in the outback and one in pouch. There are 15 kangaroos and 8 wallabies at Kentucky Down Under but that number can change since kangaroos are sold or traded with other zoos from time to time.

Aside from kangaroos visitors to Kentucky Down Under can learn about life in the outback, feed nectar to a rainbow lorikeets, see turtles, lizards, wallabies, emus, white ibis, camel, watch border collies in action herding sheep and play a didgeridoo.

Here are three of the images that I included with my story proposal.

-Shannon Sharpensteen, left, says hi to Paco after gift shop manager, Courtney Eaton babysat Paco for a bit.
-Paco gets out of his pouch and gets a little exercise in the outback.
-After a cave tour kids look to get a closer peak at Paco.

-john

To see a few more photos from my Kentucky Down Under trip click HERE.

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Family portrait

2009-08-29T16:18:00.000-07:00

June 29, 2009: Quick & dirty

I was hangin' out working on the blog and Paulette got a call from my step daughter Sue that they were going to be at a wedding in McHenry with the kids and they were all dressed up so I ran out to shoot a few photos.

We always referred to getting to a job making a good photo and getting out real fast as quick and dirty, here are a few photos from our 11 minute portrait session.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Lake Effect

2009-08-29T12:20:00.000-07:00

August, 28, 2009: Great night, great cause

I am still trying to figure out how it is that even though I am not working I am still crazy busy. I guess some things never change, I would rather be runnin' than sitting around waiting for something to do. I have been shooting a lot in the past couple months and I hope to do a little catching up on the blog this weekend.

Friday night the Plain White T's from Villa Park performed at the Palmer House for a benefit for Rainbow Hospice's Good Mourning Bereavement program. It was a great night for a great cause. My sister Angie works for Rainbow and this was a night for fun but I did bring one camera with.

Yeah, I am starting to admit that I think there is something wrong with me, I think in pictures and am way more comfortable at any event behind a camera. Trying to travel light, I only brought a wide angle zoom so I shot a little around the front of the stage. I am always looking for something a little different, here are a few I liked from the night.

Cheers,

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Wes & Kate

2009-06-26T16:48:00.001-07:00

June 7, 2009: Good wine, good friends, good times.

I have been running to tumbling tournaments for the last 2 weeks first a week in Amarillo, Texas and now I am in San Jose, California for a week. I will pull together some photos from these trips soon.

Here are some photos from earlier in the month at Wes & Kate's wedding reception in Chicago at the Columbia Yacht Club. It was great to see a bunch of good friends from my Tribune days.

- Jose Osorio peaking from behind his wine glass.
- Chuck Cherney always able to generate a laugh.
- Laura Garcia shooting as Wes Pope packs up the lights before heading to the Goat for one more round.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Rock Stars

2009-06-11T14:55:00.000-07:00

Saturday June 6, 2009; Lola Balatro’s CD release party

"Forged in the still-smoldering ashes of turn-of-the-90s cock-rock and grunge,
Lola Balatro has begun its riveting ascent up the sacred mountain of rocklore."

The official CD release party for Lola Balatro, a rock/alternative/comedy band, was Saturday June 6, 2009 at Goose Island in Wrigleyville. There were a number of warm up acts, characters from the bands first music video Rock Star and the release of their new video "Questionable Beef."

I was at the party to shoot photos for a story about 80's Clown that I am working on and got to enjoy a really great event. The night was a lot of fun topped off with Lola Balatro performing the songs from their new CD.

Lola Balatro is Jeff Madden, Paul Thomas and Cork Kangas. You can check them out at their website HERE, on MySpace or become a fan on Facebook.

There next show is June 13th, 2009 at Montrose Station at 7pm, check ‘em out.

Here are a few from the show.

TOP: Jeff, Paul and Cork (left to right) belt out one of their songs on the new CD.

MIDDLE: Paul at the microphone.

BOTTOM: The show girl puts on a little extra for the final song of the night, "Rock Star."

-john

To see more photos from the night click HERE.

all images © John Konstantaras

80's Clown in Wrigleyville

2009-06-11T09:18:00.000-07:00

Saturday, June 6, 2009; all dressed up.

This was my second night with 80’s Clown, Jodie Evenson, as he made an appearance at an the CD release party for the band Lola Balatro. Jodie and a bunch of other characters from the band’s first video Rock Star were on hand for this fun little get together at Goose Island in Wrigleyville in Chicago.

Jodie did not do any stand up, but here are a few images of Jodie from the night, I will post Lola Balatro in the next blog.

TOP: Kate helps Jodie with his bow tie at home before heading out to the show. Jodie left the Fiero jacket at home and added gold makeup, a bow tie and a tuxedo shirt for this special event.

MIDDLE: Jodie hangs out backstage with some of the other characters from the Rock Star video; banana guy Fuzzy Gerdes, leprechaun Richard Cotovsky, tuxedo guy and a coke dealer Mike Sheehan.

BOTTOM: Jodie grabs a smoke at Clark and Addison, walking down the street in clown make up you get some strange looks from the drunks in Wrigleyville. I looked for that interaction but it was to quick and dark and people reacted moments after he already passed by.

-john

To see more photos of 80’s Clown click HERE.

all photos © John Konstantaras

5 Star pix

2009-06-10T13:57:00.001-07:00

Friday, June 5, 2009; tumble team photo day

Friday was 5 Star Elite tumbling team photo day. We got together to shoot our 2008-2009 team photo. I also set up a backdrop and shot individual portraits of the kids as well.

Here are three fun moments I like.

TOP: After the formal team portrait I had everyone show me their guns.

MIDDLE: Looking for something different at the end of the shoot I shot Ryan and Josh wide with their best tough guy look leaving the background stands in the photo.

BOTTOM: To keep the individual portraits fun I let all the kids show me their best jumps.

-john

5 Star team member can check out more tumble team pix click HERE. (Gallery is password protected.)

all photos © John Konstantaras

Kick, walk and run

2009-06-10T13:40:00.000-07:00

Saturday, May 30, 2009; Stop two part two

The light was really nice at the Walk for Life so I shot a few photos of the event while our cheerleaders were having fun so here are a few more frames.

TOP: Martial Arts demonstration.

MIDDLE: Walkers on the track.

BOTTOM: A scene setter from Mundelein High School.

I am headed to another Walk For Life in Crystal Lake in a few days , I will shoot a little there and see if I have anything fresh to add.

-john

all photos © John Konstantaras

Cheerleders at the walk

2009-06-10T13:20:00.000-07:00

Saturday, May 30, 2009; Stop two part one

After the birthday party, stop two today was supposed to be a graduation party but since it was an hour away in the opposite direction and we would have had time to say hi and leave right away to make it to our next event we had to skip it.

So we were off to Mundelein where our 5 Star Elite and Ultimate Athletics level 5 cheerleaders were schedule to perform their first public exhibition at the Mundelein Walk For Life. The merger of cheer teams is a pretty big deal for both of our gyms because we are taking the best of both gyms, tumbling and cheerleading, to make a couple of really killer squads.

Here are a few frames of them practicing, playing a water balloon toss game and having fun.

-john

all photos © John Konstantaras

Run 'n Gun

2009-06-10T13:17:00.000-07:00

Saturday, May 30, 2009; first stop

Saturday was a busy day, in fact it was more than we could fit in. We started with a family birthday party for Caitlyn who turned 3-years-old. Unfortunately we had to make it a quick stop and only got to hang out for about an hour or so.

Here are a few photos of Caitlyn, Matthew and a friend blowing bubbles at the party. How do you go wrong with kids and bubbles?

I think I had at least a half bottle of bubbles in my hair when I was done, fun times.

-john

all photos © John Konstantaras

Hanging out

2009-06-10T11:29:00.000-07:00

Friday, May 29, 2009: With the grand kids

My step daughter, Sue, has 2 children Guinevere and Amira, I am still trying to get used to being called grandpa but I really do love it. I love to hang out and shoot photos of them. In fact I have so many photos I really need to lose a few more hours of sleep and start catching up on my editing. I am not even going to ponder how I am going to handle all the baby photos from my kids who are now 20 & 21-years-old.

When Guinevere was born in 2006 I started my first photo blog and documented the first year of her life. You can view Guinevere's blog HERE. At the end of the year Paulette and I designed a photo book and it came out great.

The second child always seems to get the short end of the stick as far as attention and photos go but when Amira was born last year I wanted to make sure I kept shooting and plan to have a book ready for her first year as well. Amira has a photo blog as well but I have a lot of catching up to do on hers. You can view Amira's blog HERE.

Here is a triptych for each kid from one of our recent visits.

Guinevere is getting to be a big girl and loves to have her picture taken by grandpa.

Amira is teething and having second thoughts about some of her baby food these days.

-john

all photos © John Konstantaras

Standing tall

2009-06-10T10:11:00.000-07:00

Sunday, May 17, 2009: Bradley Jordan

I have been shooting sports for over 25 years and covered athletes at all levels from NBA finals to pee wee soccer. I love to shoot great action photos but telling stories and actually getting to know people is so much more of a rewarding experience. I am always looking for something special and every once in a while I run into a someone that just stops me in my tracks. A few weeks ago I was reunited with someone who has been on my "someday" story list for years.

I have been shooting tumbling and trampoline meets for almost 10 years and more than 5 years ago I saw Bradley Jordan at an AAU Junior Olympics, Brad is like greased lightening, flipping and twisting his way through his routine.

Brad has Majewski osteodysplastic primordial dwarfism type II, he is 15-years-old, 38 inches tall, weighs about 30 pounds. This is a really really rare form of dwarfism but what is even more rare is that Brad’s older sister Bridgette also has the same form or dwarfism, she is 17-years-old, 28 inches tall and weighs 19 pounds. You can learn more about Brad and Bridgette at their website HERE.

On Sunday at the AAU Trampoline and Tumbling State meet in Normal, IL I was with my wife’s team 5 Star Elite when Brad stepped onto the tumbling floor with the advanced level tumblers. Everyone who has been around tumbling knows Brad and cheers him on. If you have not seen him you cannot help but be amazed as he works his pass down the floor.

I made some photos as Brad competed and I found his mom Christy with him after he was done as they were buying flowers for Brad’s sister who was graduating from high school. I introduced myself and told her I would like shoot more photos of Brad.

Christy told me that they were currently working with a former Tribune photographer on a video documentary project. As it turns out Tom Van Dyke who was let go from the Tribune with me in April was shooting the video. I called Tom and we talked about Brad a bit and Tom told me about a good friend of his, Gary Parker, who has been shooting photos for the Little People of America Organization for years. Gary’s work is amazing and after looking at his images I do not know that I could do it any better. You can visit Gary’s website and check out his work HERE.

The Jordan’s have had many stories done on them and I am sure the last thing they need is a freelance photojournalist hanging out especially when they have a great shooter already documenting their lives.

I think there are different ways to achieve greatness in sports. One way is to be physically better than everyone; to run faster, to jump higher, to throw a ball faster and farther. Another comes deep down in the soul and it has to do with overcoming obstacles in your life and doing things that many would never think possible. To me Brad is really someone special.

Hopefully I will get to meet Gary in the future and look forward to seeing Brad at many AAU competitions in the years to come.

-john

all photos © John Konstantaras

Play or Pose

2009-05-27T08:14:00.000-07:00

Sunday, May 24, 2009; Back to the 80's again

Back in the 80's I shot some portraits for a few Outnumbered records and on Sunday I went down to see them at the Play or Pose reunion concert at the Highdive in Champaign. The Outnumbered are Jonno Peltz, Tim McKeage, Jon Ginoli (Pansy Division), Ken Golub and Paul Budin and they have not played together in almost 20 years.

I pulled into town early so I could shoot the sound check and get a feel for the stage and the lighting. As I was standing in the parking lot talking on the phone when I hooked up with the band, the sound check was pushed back so we went out and grabbed a little lunch at Papa Del's, now I can check that stop off my to do list.

My nephew, Kyle Betts, is in journalism grad school at U of I and there are a lot of people I want to visit in Champaign but this was a pretty quick trip.

At the sound check I found out Highdive is a long skinny venue with a nice lighting setup. I played with some different angles during the sound checks and shot a few things off stage to get a feel for where I wanted to shoot from during the show.

Most concerts are in places that are either to small to use a 300mm lens or you are so far back you need a 300mm just to get a shot of the stage. I could move wherever I wanted so I brought my long glass, my favorite shooting setup is a 300mm and a wide angle with a 70-200 in my bag.

I ran into some friends at the show, Robert Loerzel who writes the Underground Bee, a website dedicated to the music scene, and he was shooting and has some photos posted on his site as well.

As usual it was a little darker during the show but there was a pretty big crowd and the place was hoppin'. I hung out and shot a little of Lonely Trailer but had to get back to Chicago so I missed the last 2 bands Cowboy X and Poster Children. All the bands sounded great and it was fun shooting stage side again.

Here are a three of Outnumbered from the show. Tim tunes up after the sound check. Tim and Jon during the show. Jon and Paul blow flower pedals into the crowd after their final song, Flowers.

-john

To see more photos of the Outnumbered CLICK HERE and a few photos of Cowboy X and Lonley Trailer CLICK HERE.

all photos © John Konstantaras

My next picture

2009-05-22T08:25:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, May 19, 2009; Funnin' Roun' in Clownytown

In the early 80's I remember going to a photo conference and listening to former Time Magazine and (at the time) current New York Times photo editor John Durniak speak. One quote from that day has stuck in my head through all these years; "You are only as good as your next picture."

Don't get me wrong, I am proud of my work over the years and I love to look back at my old images but you have to look forward in this business and always be working to improve and make yourself better.

I have always chased every assignment and story as hard as I can, but one of the great things about being your own boss is that you have more time to work on your own stories. For the past 30 years I have been taking notes on people, places and things I might to do stories on. Now I am putting those ideas in order and starting that journey.

So back to the 80's. A few years ago I went out to see my nephew John Leadley perform a stand up comedy act as Jodie Evenson the 80's Clown at a small club in Chicago. John has been doing stand up for a while and created an 80's Clown MySpace page for fun in 2006. It evolved into a real character when someone asked him to do a show in 2007.

I loved his show but spectator seating is not something I am comfortable with, I am always thinking of photo stories and 80's Clown was now on the list.

Tuesday I went down to Martyrs' in Chicago to start a new project and spend a little time with 80's Clown. He performed as part of the variety show "Night of the Living Entertainers" and only had a 5 minute performance but I got there early and hung out as he waited to step on stage. Here are three from the night.

By the way, Jodies's next show is going to be June 30th with Chicago Underground Comedy at the Beat Kitchen in Chicago. I will have more photos later.

-john

To see more photos of 80's Clown CLICK HERE or more from the "Night of the Living Entertainers " event CLICK HERE.

all photos © John Konstantaras

Story hunting

2009-05-10T23:43:00.000-07:00

Saturday, May 2, 2009; A morning in the Uvita Market

I have spent the last 3 days in front of computers editing images from a recent tumbling tournament so it is time to take a mental break and dip into some images from my recent trip to Costa Rica.

Uvita is a small town about 20 minutes north of where we stay in southwestern Costa Rica. On Saturday we took our first trip to the weekly market, or the Feria as the locals call it, where people from the area sell everything from orchids and organic groceries to native masks and wildlife photos.

It was a toasty morning with temps in the upper 80’s when I noticed a dog planted in front of a fan, he had the right idea. As I was shooting a few frames of Joe Cool I noticed a man sitting by a table full of wildlife photos.

I have always loved being on the streets because it gave me a reason to walk up to random people and strike up a conversation looking for a good story idea. Brian Nice is the developer of the property where the market is held but he is also a bird lover and it shows in his photos.

Generally I will not stop unless I really like the work and Brian's images are tight, colorful, well composed and he knew everything about each of his subjects. I wandered over and struck up a conversation with wildlife photographer. I have not run into a lot of people with long glass down there and I knew Brian was using at least a 600. We talked a bit about the variety of bird species in the area and how the numbers are dropping, he knows because he keeps a count.

Brian told me a story about how he invited someone to go bird watching with him and they showed up in their gear and climbing boots ready to hit the jungle. Take a seat he told them, he does all his bird watching from his home. He pointed to one of his photos he told me, “This one was taken about 10 meters from where I sleep, that one there about 2 meters.”

At another table a couple was looking over a mask among the homemade made crafts displayed by a Boruca n man. The Boruca tribe are known for their art and craftwork, especially weaving and their distinctive painted balsa wood masks. The village is just over an hour drive south up in the mountains.

Many of the pictures I have made on this trip are reminders of stories that I want to follow up on in upcoming adventures. I hope to hang with Brian in the morning birdwatching, work on a story on Costa Rican dogs and spend a little time in the village of Boruca during their annual Danza de los Diablitos ceremony.

-john

all photos © John Konstantaras

Herman Yoder

2009-05-07T13:24:00.000-07:00

Friday, May 1, 2009; Dealing treats on the side of the road.

I went light on this trip for the first time, one camera and one lens. I kicked myself a few times when I wanted to back up and shoot a little tighter but this was just a quick getaway trip for us.

Friday morning along the main road in Ojochal we ran into Herman Yoder, a Mennonite from Georgia, with his small table, umbrella and baked goods. Every Friday he travels about an hour and a half north to sell his goods.

Fifty-year-old Yoder has been in Costa Rica for 40 years. “I am not sure if I am a Costa Rican or an American,” he says, “I guess I am both.” He came to the country on a missionary trip and never went back.

Yoder had a few sales while I was hanging out but he says business has been slow lately. With tourism down in the area he says he is feeling the trickle down effect of the slower economy and he has to decide whether he will continue making the trip.

On his table are assorted breads, cookies, pies and cinnamon rolls. We picked up some cinnamon rolls 2500 colones, just under $5.00.

The cinnamon rolls were excellent and I am hoping his is still out there on our next trip.

-john

On the road

2009-05-07T13:00:00.000-07:00

Thursday, May 30, 2009; headed down south

Paulette and I made a stop at the HiperMas for groceries and we left San Jose about 6pm to head down south but we got hung up in traffic. There are people selling everything along the roads in Costa Rica, almost anywhere traffic slows down you can buy anything from phone cases and phone chargers to juice and fresh fruit.

Piña? No gracias. Teléfono caso, cargador? No gracias. Chances (lottery ticket)? No gracias? Cigarro? No gracias.

Driving can be rough in Costa Rica and you have 2 choices getting out of the city when heading down south; mountains or ocean.

Along mountain route the roads are winding, driving through the cloud forests the visibility can be bad on a good day and it is easy to get caught behind slow moving trucks.

Along the ocean route, after you pass by a couple big tourist towns, Jaco Beach and Quepos, the next 30 miles along the Costanera Highway are unpaved and can get a bit rough, dusty and slow. Many of the bridges are being replaced but every now and then you run into an "Oh my God Bridge." The roads also have improved but you still need to take it slow on a good part of that trip.

On the upside, during the day the view on the mountain route is breath taking and along the ocean route you can swing by the beach, pick up some KFC and you pass through some pretty cool old towns. Unless you are terrified of heights both routes are worth taking.

My best advice is take your time, drive during the day and enjoy the sites. On that note, I do not always follow my own advice; we took the mountain route at night. Since we got out of town at about 6pm as the light as we were stuck in traffic was sweet, in a half hour we were in the dark and clouds. For most of the next 4 hours it was white knuckle driving.

All gas stations in Costa Rica are full service. Just a few years ago no matter where you stopped they would check your oil and wash your windows. Now that is very spotty, if you ask they will clean your windows.

After a stop in San Isidro for fuel and McDonald's we rolled into Tres Rios at about 10:30 pm.

-john

Hey Amigo

2009-05-07T12:53:00.000-07:00

Thursday, April 29, 2009; Dave's new puppy

A few pix of Dave's new puppy Amigo. I think he is part Beagle, part Dachsund, part Tico. The dog has just a little more energy than me. Likes beer. And has a favorite corner on the couch.

-john

Running into news

2009-05-04T09:36:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, April 29, 2009; Out in the free world

I shot my first gig last weekend, filled out all my official paperwork for unemployment and now Paulette and I are off to Costa Rica. I guess this is one of the upsides of getting laid off, when we planned this trip a few months ago I could not go because I had to work. By coincidence my good friend Warren Skalski was heading out to Mexico for a getaway on the same day but they had to cancel their trip the night before because of the swine flu outbreak in Mexico.

As we waited for our connecting flight in Miami I started to notice the masks. Anthony Carroll of West Palm Beach, Florida was the first person I saw. He was traveling with his family to Costa Rica and was peaking around the corner checking his flight when he caught my eye.

For journalists airports are a tough place to cover these days. With increased security only ticked passengers are allowed beyond security checkpoints in most cities so I decided to work the situation a little. The swine flu is huge news worldwide and if I could make a few nice frames I could try to send something back to one of the editors I know at AP in Chicago.

I made a few photos of Anthony and his family waiting to board our flight, a few more of other people using scarves to cover their faces and one of a flight attendant wearing a mask but I liked the moment of the family the best.

Since I no longer have my Blackberry and have not transferred the data over to a new device yet I now needed to track down my AP contacts in Chicago. Warren did some legwork for me to get the general e-mail address and I left a voice mail for Keith Swinden, my sports picture editor brother from the Tribune who is also out on the street with me.

Our flight was delayed and as we waited for the airline to remove a few bags from the plane belonging to passengers that did not show up for the flight so I walked over to Anthony and I got his information for a caption. I made a quick in camera edit, knocked out a quick caption I could use later and settled in for the flight.

At San Jose International Airport most of the workers and a handful of passengers wore masks. I knocked off a few frames of people walking through the airport and workers in the Immigration line, something I would never try in the US these days since I would certainly be detained and most likely arrested. As we picked up our bags the one with all my clothes was left behind in Miami. We made our way out of the airport and time clock was ticking for getting a photo sent out.

In the news business if you cannot turn your photos around right away they are not usable. First thing I had to do was download the card, edit and caption a few photos. Unfortunately, I could not get my card reader to work; everyday is a lesson in problem solving.

We tracked down an Office Depot and I picked up a new reader for about 6,000 colones (about 12 bucks.) The card popped up on my computer but the files would not copy, more errors. Next the card was showing no photos. I had to run Photo Rescue software on the card but was still not having a lot of luck. I managed to pull off about a half dozen photos but another 122 would not copy, 6 will do.

Finally, I was able to get online and the contact info from Keith was there. It was late in the day, we had not slept all night getting ready for the trip and by this time I am sure the wires were overloaded with images of people in masks from all over so I decided to chalk this one up as a learning experience for the freelance news business.

The next day Paulette had a bit of a cough so we went to a pharmacy to get her some cough medicine. They were pretty busy selling masks and their first worry is if you have the swine flu. How many days have you been sick and do you have a fever were the two questions they wanted to know. After giving Paulette some cough medicine the pharmacist asked, “How many masks do you want?” We figured we would join the hip crowd so we grabbed 5 masks, more on that later.

Here are 3 from the start of our trip.

Note to self; get your contacts in orders, get a wireless card and carry a spare card reader.

john

Back in the saddle

2009-05-04T09:21:00.000-07:00

Sunday, June 24, 2009: USTA Northern Illinois State

I started writing this post and ended up on a completely different topic and about dreaming that I will get back to in a few posts after I track down a few photos I can use with it.

So here is where we are today. It is 6:45am and I am sitting in the quiet on my hotel lobby in Romeoville, IL with a cup of coffee and a head full of thoughts. Sleep has not come easy this week. I have not gone to sleep in the same calendar day I woke up since Wednesday. Wednesday night I went to bed at 11am Thursday morning for a few hours, Thursday I fell asleep for about 5 hours from 5am to 10am and Friday I crashed for about 3 hours before heading out on my weekend.

Now I am not clearing out my liquor cabinet or sitting around all depressed I am just moving forward and I have a lot on my plate. I have always been a night person but working on the sports picture desk for the last 6 years mornings have not been something I have seen a lot of. This too will change.

Leaving the Tribune was a sad day for me but in many ways I am really excited about the journey ahead of me. I better stop here or I will be writing a completely different blog again and lose this moment.

This weekend is the Northern Illinois USTA Trampoline and Tumbling state meet. My wife and kids have been involved with the sport for a long time and I have been shooting photos at meets for about 10 years now. TNT tournaments consist of 3 events; Trampoline, Tumbling and Double Mini-Trampoline.

Saturday I worked about a 13-hour day of running and shooting. We got to the venue at 7:40am and went to grab dinner at about 8pm. As we were leaving Romeovile High School last night I was relieved that it was such a short day. You see if it were not for the events on Wednesday I would have shot till 3pm, jumped in my car to be at the Tower by 4pm and worked till 1am. So my 13-hour day would have been more like an 18-hour day, not including the drive time.

I began shooting tumbling and trampoline tourneys to keep in photo shape, refining my timing and focusing skills; shoot tight and shoot sharp. Making a few photos to use on the 5-Star Academy website now I am working it a little harder to shoot all the teams. Like all other sports I shoot getting a great action shot under poor lighting conditions is the goal but my favorites are usually the little moments on the side. I will do more on TNT in the future.

So I am off to races again. Tumbling starts at 8:30am and I will be at the venue by 8am. Since I still have to look though a few thousand photos to pick 3 for this post tumbling will be over by the time I get this posted. I will have to work on setting aside a few moments during the day so I can post faster in the future.

Three photogs over 2 days we shot about 26226 frames, now I have to look through the files, create thumbnails and upload them to the web. That is a bout three or four very long days with very little sleep, fits my schedule perfectly.

Here are a few I liked from the weekend.

john

It's a new day...

2009-04-23T21:07:00.001-07:00

Thursday, April 23, 2009; ...and it's looking good

I never though I would find myself in this situation at this point in my career but for the first time in over 20 years I am joining the ranks of the unemployed.

April 22, 2009 was Black Wednesday at the Chicago Tribune. It started out a normal day for me, I rolled out of bed, checked my Blackberry no big news overnight. My grandkids stopped by, I played a little house with Guin, shot some photos of the kids and made my dinner for work. At about 12:30 I took a peak at my Blackberry again only to see and e-mail titled "Organizing for the future...and today's actions" from Tribune editor Gerry Kern.

The e-mail started:

"Today we begin a reorganization of the Chicago Tribune newsroom that will focus us more clearly on our core mission and prepare us for the economic recovery when it comes."

and continued:

"This process comes with pain: 53 of our friends and colleagues will be leaving the Chicago Tribune as a consequence of changing priorities."

I went online to check the Tribune website and there it was again on the bottom right side of the main page, "Tribune announces 53 job cuts." No names, but the news was out.

I had my lunch ready and bags at the door when my phone rang in the other room. I missed the call and with my heart in my hand I checked my voice mail. "John...I need you to call me before you come to work today. It is very important." I had another message on my personal phone from earlier in the morning. I wanted to remember all the details of the call but it is still very hazy.

For the past few years I have watched as friends have left the Tribune and the staff went from 600 plus to about 430. The photo staff stands at about 18 with about 12 picture editors surviving. Some have been moved to design pages and work in different areas. I documented a bit of staff leaving over the years so I figured I would bring a camera with me when I went in to pack my belongings.

I was downtown around 6pm but I could not bring myself to going into a full newsroom. I am good with my future but I did not feel like a ride on the emotional roller coaster.

I popped into the office around 11:30pm to clean out my desk and say goodbye to a few people still working to close the last few editions. One good friend was cleaning out her desk, it was a very sad moment.

I packed up my ten years into a half dozen boxes, shared a few stories with friends and zeroed out my e-mail account. I sent my farewell e-mail to the staff at 4:09am and I dropped off my employee tag other company property.

There was one person left in the newsroom working and one coming in to start his day. I am grateful again for the quiet moments with friends, not having a security guard hanging over me and not being forced to come in earlier in the day. It could have been much worse.

I made it through the night with a few hugs and a few watery eyes. With my desk clean a few boxes to carry down I left one last entry on my desk calendar for Wednesday, April 22, 2009.

-30-

This is the traditional symbol used by journalists to indicate the end of a story. Starting Wednesday the Tribune has decided they do not need a picture editor to work in the sports section. Two guys worked that desk and we were both layed off, end of story

As I drove home the sky started to brighten up. It reminded me of my intern days back in the 80's in Boca Raton, FL when we used to work till 1am, pick up a 6 pack and sit in the park and drink till the sun came up.

I did not have a 6 pack but I stopped at a park along the Fox River on the way home to watch the sun come up.

It's a new day and it doesn't look that bad.

Here are the three frames I start the next chapter with.

-john

Below is a partial list of the 53 journalists let go from the Tribune as of Wednesday. I do not know of an official list.

DeVona Alleyne, Newsdesk
Alan Artner, Art Critic, A&E
William L. Avorio, Multi-Media Imaging Technician
Terry Bannon, Illinois Basketball/Football Reporter, Sports
Eric Benderoff, Technology Reporter, Financial News
Geoff Black, Photo Editor, Features
Joshua Boak, Business Reporter
Beth Botts, Garden Writer, House & Homes
Brenda Butler, Assistant Editor, Chicago Tribune Magazine
Thomas Carkeek, Associate Subject Editor, Sports

Lou Carlozo, Reporter, Smart
Ed Cavanaugh, Assistant Copy Editor, Sports
Charles Cherney, Staff Photographer
Suzanne Cosgrove, Assistant Editor, House & Homes
Candice Cusic, Staff Photographer
Mary L. Dedinsky, Web Editor, Metro
Susan Diesenhouse, Real Estate Feature Writer
Robert K. Elder, Reporter, Live
Marty Fischer, Assistant Subject Editor, Metro Copy Desk
William Grady, Deputy Bureau Chief, Schaumburg Bureau

Timothy J. Horneman, Assistant Subject Editor, Metro
Lucy Hoy, Assistant Subject Editor, Metro Copy Desk
Tom Hundley, Reporter, Chicago Tribune Magazine
Melissa Isaacson, Specialist Reporter, Sports
John Konstantaras, Picture Editor, Sports
Susan Kuczka, General Assignment Reporter/Writer, Vernon Hills Bureau
Lilah Lohr, Assistant Books Editor
Elaine Matsushita, Editor, House & Homes
James P. Miller, Corporate Strategy and Manufacturing Reporter, Financial News
Kristin Morris, Assistant Design Editor, Sports

John Mullin, Reporter, Sports
Josephine Napolitano, General Assignment Reporter/Writer, Tinley Park Bureau.
Robert Ohap, Assistant Subject Editor, News Editing
Min Pak, Imaging Technician
Bradley Piper, Senior Producer, Editorial Multimedia
Jessica Reaves, Reporter
Patrick Reardon, Reporter, Live!Jessica Reaves, Reporter, Chicago Tribune Magazine
Richard Rothschild, Assistant Copy Editor, Sports
Storer Rowley, National Editor
Bob Sakamoto, High School Sports Reporter

John Smierciak, Staff Photographer
Carolyn Starks, General Assignment Reporter/Writer, Crystal Lake Bureau
Keith Swinden, Picture Editor, Sports
Dimitry Tetin, Assistant Subject Editor, Presentation
Bonnie Trafelet, Staff Photographer
David Trotman-Wilkins, Staff Photographer
Bob Vanderberg, Assistant High School Sports Editor
Thomas Van Dyke, Staff Photographer
Russell Working, General Assignment Reporter/Writer, Oak Brook Bureau

Also on the list and no longer with the Tribune

Paul Salopek, Foreign correspondent
Kim Barker, Foreign correspondent
Laurie Goering, Foreign correspondent

Slice of life

2009-04-05T23:48:00.000-07:00

Streets scenes: March 25, 2009

It has been far too long since I have posted anything but, if there is anyone out there, I am going to try to swing into catch up mode starting with current photos. I am still packing my camera with me where ever I go and have shot a lot of photos over the last, yikes, 5 months.

I got downtown a little early last week and took my time walking to the office. As I was walking I started thinking about how much the city has changed since I grew up and what would still be around in the next five or ten years. I enjoys just trying to capture a little slice of life as I see it everyday.

These are just a few moments from my walk to work.

john

El Wally World part dos

2008-11-13T21:58:00.000-08:00

29 October 2008: Dia de Muertos part 1

I was pretty excited when I found out that we were going to be in Mexico during Dia de Muertos or Day of the Dead as we call it here.

In Cancun there were a few Halloween costumes and decorations in the store but Dia de Muertos is the big holiday there. The holiday falls on Nov. 1st & 2nd and it is a time for people to remember family and friends who have died. The first day is traditionally to honor children and the second day for adults.

People decorate altars in the homes, cemeteries and businesses to honor those who have passes away.

I first learned of the holiday in about 13 years ago when one of my photographers in Waukegan, Jeffrey Brown, would cover the event locally every year for the paper. I will take a look at this a bit more in a few days but here are a few more shots from Walmart.

The seasonal isle was much like what you might find in the US with a tented area with a giant dragon, inside you could find skeletons and other day of the dead items people could buy for their altars.

Pan de muerto is special bread traditionally prepared and eaten on the holiday.

We ran into a couple in the store and they told us about the sugar skulls. People buy a sugar skull with a child's name on it and give it to the children at a special dinner during the first day of the holiday.

I will follow up more on the traditions in a few days.

john

El Wally World

2008-11-05T21:52:00.000-08:00

29 October 2008: I really am easily amused

Day two, we had to attend a breakfast meeting in the morning and after last night Paulette and I decided to pick up a few supplies at Walmart in downtown Cancun. It is about a half hour from our hotel so it only took us about an hour with a 20-30 minute tour of the neighborhoods.

I get a kick out of visiting stores in foreign countries to see what different stuff they have, especially if it is a US chain. This provided us, well more me, with a few hours of entertainment. Plus they are not as anal as stores in the US about taking photos.

The first thing that hit me was we are coming up on Dia de Muertos or Day of the Dead, more on that topic later.

In my hunt for for the odd we came across some choice items. Platanitos Sun Chips were pretty darn good, they were plantain banana chips and came in chile and regular flavor. Nestles Freskas are malted milk balls in Pineapple and other flavors. Bubu Lubu candies are pretty tasty too; chocolate, marshmallow and strawberry. Pepsi Retro was just a retro can the pop tasted the same. Milch is a candy bar that we have not tried yet but the name is great and of course there is teh candy bar Mr. Big.

They treat food a lot of food in Central America. In one area they were cooking chicken on a gyros spike for tacos, you can get taco meal for about a buck. In the bakery you grab a tray and tongues and pick what you want. We grabbed some queso bread, ham & cheese bread and an apple pastry did not try things we were not sure about.

Paulette needed some hair spray so we wandered into the cosmetic side of the store. This may have been the best find; moco de Gorila Gel. Or as the bottle says Snott Gorilla Gel.

There really were too many fun moments but here are three; the stuff, the bakery and the snot.

john

Hola

2008-10-30T13:41:00.000-07:00

28 Ocotober 2008: OOT for the week

We are out of town down in Cancun for a week at the AAU National Convention. Tough job but someone has to do it.

After checking in on Tuesday and getting settled we decided to take a cab down to the restaurant district to check out a little nightlife. Everywhere you go there are people on the street trying to pull you into their establishments and they all want to make a deal.

It is a little slow in Cancun right now so I am not sure if they are as aggressive in the busy season. As soon as we stepped out of the cab 2-3 guys wanted to sell us tickets to Congo Bongo, some kind of a show that boasts quotes from NYT, LAT and others about how great the show is.

Forty-five dollas a ticket, but we make you a deal. Forty for the women...thirty five...but the guys are still forty-five...forty. We decline but they still hover. I am sure the show is good but not today, so we crossed the street where we were pulled in by more of the bar rip tide.

It did not take long and a buy one get one free deal got us in the door. That turned out to be the last stop of the night for us. We hung out, had some drink, had some dance and a few shots but I learned one lesson. It is best to pay as you go when drinking down here. At the end of the night the tab seemed a bit higher than we thought but we were stuck.

Ah I am rambling and do not want to go down that path. Here are a few pix from the bar.

The beers came in buckets and we used the same bucket to keep the margaritas cold we did not have to take a chance with the ice, so far so good.

From time to time everyone in the bar got in a congo line and danced out of the bar into the street and back into the bar again. After coming back into the bar everyone crammed onto the stage where the wait staff poured tequila for the patrons, no glasses needed.

With everyone dancing on the stage they shot the crowd with a can of CO2.

More tomorrow.

salute,

john

Underwater football

2008-10-22T21:15:00.000-07:00

13 September 2008: North-wet-stern

It has been a busy month in our house. Paulette was on the road again this weekend so instead of sleeping in I went in the opposite direction. We did not have a staffer to shoot the Northwestern game so I grabbed a credential and some long glass on Friday night and figured I would polish up on my football, I just did not realize I would need a boat to shoot the game.

When I woke up Saturday it was raining and I briefly thought, "I can sleep in and use a wire photo," but I did not want to wimp out so I rolled. I gave myself 2 hours to get to the game but that was not enough, I missed the whole first quarter of the game because traffic was so bad.

With the Edens Expressway flooded all the side roads were gridlocked. When the game started I was about two miles from the stadium and traffic was still so bad it was going to take another hour to get to the game. Being the genius I am, I figured I could save some time on the side streets and my GPS would guide me right to the game. What I did not know was that half the streets in Evanston were underwater. It still took me about 25 minutes to get there and I almost washed out my car in a few puddlakes.

I had rain gear for my long glass but it rained so hard I never bothered to shoot action with my 70-200, by the time I could find the camera in all the plastic and vinyl I would have missed the play. When the action got to the goal line I just backed up as far as I could and shot it with the 400mm. No great shakes on the action I lost a lot of images because of my rain covered lens.

I worked a few rainy features of miserable looking fans and puddles but did not want to get to brave with my cameras.

This game reminded me of a season of Illini games I shot during college in the 80's. I was stringing for AP and was always the guy who stayed on the field while the staffer went in to process and transmit. Every week I shot a game and had to take my gear apart and let it sit for a couple days to dry out. That does not work so well with cameras these days.

Once again a dry set of clothes saved me for my editing shift.

-john

The family photojournalist

2008-10-22T21:07:00.000-07:00

11 September 2008: Amira at home

At one time I thought about just doing a blog and calling it the family photojournalist since most of the photos I make these days are of family. Here are a few more.

This was our first visit to see Sue and the baby after they got out of the hospital. Sue needed a hand so she could go to the store. So this is Amira at home and her first trip to the Walmart.

Still working on the Amira blog, I created the blog but I am toning the photos.

-john

Strike three

2008-10-20T11:16:00.000-07:00

05 September 2008: Walking the line

On this Monday Paulette was out of town with the USTA national team and I told the office if they needed any help out my way to give me a shout. Turned out the Huntley area teachers went on strike and they needed a photo for the metro section. Woohoo, a news assignment.

With the flooding in the city and a depleted suburban staff this was not a real big story and Huntley was a long way from the city but not to far from me.

The teachers were in a few different locations and our reporter was at the school district office and trying to talk to families in some of the neighborhoods. I called her and told her if she was able to talk to some of the families to give me a call and I would swing by.

So the first place I went was the high school that is out a way, surround by farmland.

When I walked up on the scene the first person that spoke with me had to tell me no one could talk to me and give me the phone number of the official spokesperson. I told them I was not writing the story and just need to get names and basic information but of course to the minority I was the evil media.

It puzzles me why some of these people wonder why media coverage seems one sided but they will not even give their names to a photographer. I did talk to several of the teachers who were very nice and I even told one of them who’s son is a journalism student that I would be happy to show his son around the newsroom when he is in Chicago.

As I was leaving the high school the same teacher approached me when I showed up yelled out to the group, “Did anyone even ask for an I.D. from that guy? How do we even know he works for a newspaper?”

I walked back and presented my id to the first person I saw.

Two days later the strike was over.

We used a pretty generic group of teachers walking with signs shot in the paper but I like these three better.

I shot a lot on long lens pix because all the wide stuff looked busy until I found a low angle with a nice puffy cloud background.

After shooting at the high school for a while I swung by the school district office and trying to get anything different I used a the reflection in a puddle to make a photo.

At the high school I recognized one of the teachers who used to coach cheer at McHenry High School when Kati was there. He was taking his turn keeping count of motorist’s opinion with notches on his sign. No response was the leader with positive reaction running a distant second.

-john

Cheerios and TV

2008-10-20T11:10:00.000-07:00

01 September 2008: TV time

With Sue and Aran at the hospital Paulette and I stayed with Guin at her house. Guin does not watch a lot of TV but those kids shows grab her attention.

Here are a few fames of Guin enjoying her breakfast and watching TV. Later we brought her to the hospital to visit her new sister Amira who was born while we were sleeping.

-john

Hey goat, say hi to your motha for me

2008-10-19T08:59:00.000-07:00

24 August 2008: Milwaukee Zoo

I could not resist. If you have not been following SNL your have to check out the skit Mark Walberg Talks to Animals by Andy Samberg.

Okay, back to the pix. Sue is ready to deliver the baby so we took Guin to the zoo to walk it out. Since I just don't know when to put down m camera I put in two triptychs; family and animals.

This was Guin’s first trip to the Zoo so she got to feed the goats, walk with mom and hang with mom and dad.

Here are my 3 fav animal shots.

A flamingo with a cigarette butt in it’s mouth, a bored ape and a peacock family eating popcorn.

-john

More flowers

2008-10-19T08:55:00.000-07:00

11 August 2008: Flower power

Visiting Sue in Bartlett I was shooting some flowers when Jude popped in for a peek.

Flowers.

Jude.

Leaves munched on by Japanese beatles.

-john

Catchupalooza

2008-10-19T08:24:00.000-07:00

01 August 2008: Lolla

It has been way too busy this summer but I see a light. I have been trying to get this blog fired back up but if it is not one thing it is another.

USTA nationals...Done. Olympics...Done. Cubs & Sox...Done. Bears...not done yet. Trib redesign...Done. Summer...Done. Bears & Blackhawks...not done. Bulls...getting started. Basement...working on it. Adoption...still waiting.

I have caught up on everything that happened over the summer so here goes.

Lollapalooza was in town at the beginning of August and I always wanted to get out there and see what that was all about. So before my editing shift I bounce out to Grant Park to help Red Eye editor Chase Daniels cover a stage and look for a few features. We also had a request in to shoot people wearing fedora hats for the At-Play section so I was looking for that in the mix.

It was smoking hot out there so I brought a change of clothes to work in since I knew I would be drenched by the time I was finished. My personal goal was to find a couple nice features but it was early and the crowds were still pretty sparse.

I shot the band Yeasayers from New Jersey on the AT&T stage. The music was fun but they were pretty typical concert photos, nothing to blog home about. Most of the crowd were there waiting to see Radiohead play one of the headline shows at night.

I ran my ass off for about 3 hours before I had to cut bait and walk back to the office and jump on the sports picture desk.

I was just starting to get warmed up but here are three okay features, no real moments but just trying to make something out of nothing. My card with hot weather features that I downloaded to a laptop at the event is still out there. I waited so long even the edits are no longer in our archive because we did not run one in the paper. If I get the images I will do a hot weather tryptich later.

After wandering though the crowds looking for some fan photos I came across a guy who lives near Grant Park and had been to every Lollapalooza framing up a show in his camera. I used a 300 and stopped down to f14 to get maximum depth of field to just make out the Lollapalooza banner on the stage behind him.

My second of this day was a fedora shot of a guy from NY another photo that I used a stage banner as my background.

Finally a shot of Yeasayer on stage. Usually you get to shoot the first two or three songs at concerts before getting the boot so you have to figure out what you want to shoot and git er done. I usually like to back off and shoot bands with longer lenses and I shot both here but this wide worked out.

A few photos were used in our web gallery and I could have stayed and shot all night, but the desk called.

Rock on!

john

Fiesta parade

2008-09-05T22:39:00.000-07:00

July 20, 2008: Everyone loves a parade

Just another event from the summer. We took our tumblers and cheerleaders from 5 Star to march in McHenry’s Fiesta Day’s parade Sunday July 20. It is one of the bigger parades in the area and the kids had a lot of fun.

We have been in parades before but this was the first time all the parents got together and built a float.

Tumblers taped their fingers to protect them from the rough streets, cheerleaders were tossed in the air and Joe in his party hat showed off his Diablo skills as we marched the route.

John

Baby Two

2008-09-04T16:08:00.000-07:00

September 01, 2008: Run, Run Run, stop

I have never been accused of standing in one place too long. Many moons ago as a senior in high school I managed to compete in 5 sports (cross country, gymnastics, indoor track, wrestling and outdoor track) in one year, I’m still not to sure how I pulled that off.

This summer has been no different. Between the Olympics, White Sox, Cubs, Bears, and all the departures at work. National tourneys, parades, running a website and remodeling at 5 Star. And cleaning up after the dog, helping the kids get back to college and trying to finish our basement at home I have fallen a bit behind on this blog

I have been shooting a bit over the summer and managed to squeeze a few hours of Lollapalooza in before working a couple weeks ago but most of my pictures have been of family.

It has been a run, run, run summer. Last weekend was more of the same getting up early to help build a new cheer floor at the gym before work. Monday afternoon rolled around and we took a ride up to Wisconsin to visit our new granddaughter and time stopped, what a beautiful thing!

Monday at 4:15am my stepdaughter, Suzy, and her fiancé, Aran, had their second baby, Amira Athena. We watched Guinevere the night before and after about 5 hours of working on the cheer floor we took her to see her baby sister for the first time. I edited the afternoon down to about 80 pix but here is a triptych of big sister’s first visit.

Guinevere is almost 2-years-old now and she kept saying “baby,” “touch ‘em,” “hug “em,” “kiss ‘em” and that was the first thing she did. We got Guin a big sister t-shirt and she is handling it pretty well, so far. Another of my favorite moments was when Aran and Guin were sitting on the bed with mom drinking milk shakes.

Tuesday it was back to run, run, run again. Up early to finish the cheer floor and back to work.

Next on the list…build a first year blog for Amira.

Cheers,

John

Ode to an All-Star Game

2008-07-15T23:53:00.000-07:00

July 15, 2003: All-Star Game at U.S. Cellular Field

FROM THE ARCHIVES.

With the 79th All-Star game at Yankee Stadium ending here is my ode to an All-Star Game.

Boy the All Star game has changed a bit over the years. I remember covering it when it was more of a social hour when all of the top players from around the league came together to hang out and have fun.

Tuesday's game was completely the opposite, 15 innings and 4 hours and 50 minutes and the American League once again prevailed with a 4-3 win in the Midsummer Classic.

We had Phil Velasquez, one of our baseball aces, covering the game for us but he was solo and they did not allow laptops on the field. If the game had started at noon I would have liked it a lot more but because of the late finish I feel like I could not get the best of Phil's images in the paper.

We have been using a new piece of technology to send photos directly from the camera to the office and if that had worked we would have been golden. But alas we have not gotten it to work at any big sporting events yet. It crapped out last week during the LifeLock 400 at the Chicagoland Speedway but luckily it started working after the race and we were able to get the celebration in the paper. When it is working right we can get a photo from camera onto the web in about five minutes. When it is not it is like the old analog wire transmitters minus the high pitch transmission tone.

Enough of now, here are a few photos from the last All-Star game in Chicago in 2003 at U.S. Cellular Field. I was covering it for the Tribune and we had a crew of about 3 shooters and 1 editor. We were set up in one of the hallways under the stands and before the Futures game Phil made a frame of Giants mascot Lou Seal giving me a few picture editing tips. I wish he would have been around to run cards for me later during the All Star game we could have used the help.

The slowest time editing on the road is always the beginning of the game when you are waiting for cards to roll in, so I went to the upper level where we did not have a photog to shoot an overall of the field. I did not want to have an empty aisle in the middle of my frame I worked my way to an empty seat. As the national anthem was finishing up the U.S. Navy Blue Angels roared overhead and much to my delight the guy in front of me raised his fist in the air. I made the photo grabbed my gear and ran down to edit the first batch of images coming in.

One editor on 3 photogs at a big event is a bit much and I was pretty swamped trying to keep on top of the game and get key photos back to the Tower. It was not till after the game was over and Scott Strazzante was looking at the back of my camera did he see this frame and told me I should move it.

Though I still love to make photos I know what my job is editing at an event and I always edit my photogs images before I even look at my own photos. I will head out to shoot some features or pick up a ball game here and there is we do not have a staffer to cover. I like to keep my shooting skills as sharp as I can because if you left your skills fall off to far it is hard to get them back.

The photo of Oakland's Keith Foulke was from Monday workouts.

-jk

Movin' on

2008-07-14T10:14:00.000-07:00

July 12, 2008: Wes B-Q

In newspapers and I guess in every field of work, if you are lucky, there is a time when you get to work with really talented people who care deeply about what they do. When you can surround yourself with those people you are really in a great place.

I always want to be around people who are as or more talented and motivated than me because it makes me take my game to the next level. My few year editing at Copley Northern Illinois Newspapers (Waukegan, Elgin, Aurora, Joliet, Naperville and a bunch of zip code weeklies) were pretty amazing. The bar was always set high, the talent was even higher and the work and stories were amazing.

At the Tribune we have some incredibly talented photojournalists as well and over the past few years I have seen a bunch move on to other opportunities. This week was Wes Pope's turn, he is heading to the Rocky Mountain News as their multi media photographer. Wes' last day at the Tribune was the Fourth of July and he starts his new gig in Colorado July 28th.

I have known Wes for almost 10 years from his first tour of duty at the Tribune as a 1-year. I have always been impressed with Wes' images from the lake front series, his photos outside Wrigley during the Cubs playoff run years ago, his Guinea worm story in Ghana to his pop can pinhole series from Route 66 and many more great stories. He has always brought back fresh images with his unique point of view. Now, Wes has taken the next step in newspapers and taken the lead in multimedia from slide shows with music to video he is still taking his work to the next level.

Saturday I got to hang out with Wes at a little BBQ in Forest Park before heading into work. The hour I got to hang out was definitely not enough time but here are a few frames from the afternoon.

Good luck at the Rocky Mountain News Wes. I am sure you will continue to kick ass out there.

Here are a few moments from the BBQ.

-john

A quick fix

2008-07-14T08:38:00.000-07:00

July 12, 2008: More lights in the sky

Wow, am I in need of a good photo fix, it is like I am going through photo withdrawals. At the end of last week I was really feeling it bad. It has been a couple weeks since I posted anything on the blog and I have not shot a photo let alone three that I would even think about posting.

I keep my camera with me most of the time and have knocked off a few frames here and there but they are not even worth downloading to my computer. If I make one more traffic photo from the car I might have to retire the cameras for a while. But driving home Friday we had another thunder storm so I thought I would try again to catch lightening through the windshield on the way home I thought, "maybe the third time will be a charm." ( First try: Painting with light, Second try: Chasing lightening, again )

As I got out of the city I got the usual streaming street lights and a couple neat blurred road sign photos but the bolts were just not big enough and in the right place for this photo to work. The only two really big strikes I was were when I was in light traffic but I do not shoot in traffic or when there are cars around me.

On Route 31 between Crystal Lake and McHenry I was talking to Paulette on the phone and she was not home yet so I pulled over and made a few hand held frames out the window of my car. I probably could have found a better foreground but it was about midnight and I was just experimenting with shutter speeds and aperture settings. When I got home I grabbed my tripod from the garage and shot a little more around the house till Paulette got home.

As far as lightening photos go these are nothing to write home about but here are a few shots from that night.

-jk

A walk on the Pride side

2008-07-01T16:39:00.000-07:00

June 29, 2008: hands on at the Pride Parade

This is the second time Paulette and I wandered down to Lakeview for the annual Pride Parade. This year Kati just moved into the neighborhood so she came with us and we met up with Joe at the end of the parade.

With over two hundred groups participating and about 450,000 people in attendance there is a little bit of everything in this parade. Anything goes out there and if you are offended by shirtless men in underwear it is best you stay home.

I was caught between shooting photos and hanging out, my problem is that when I am working an event I get in a zone and lose track of the people around me. I wandered off a few times but it was good that Kati was there so I was not abandoning Paulette. I really like to sit back with long glass everything was so crowded it was hard to get off much from the street with my 300. As it turns out all three in this triptych are shot wide.

We camped out at Halsted and Brompton for most of the parade. When everything came to a stop for about 45 minutes and the rain rolled in so we retreated to Las Mananitas Mexican Restaurant for a few margaritas and a window seat.

My original goal was to find 3 photos that I could never get published in the paper. I just did not see that much that was crazy over the top or maybe I did not look hard enough or maybe I just was not in the right place.

I always shoot for the best moments and edit for what something unique about the event. The one thing that struck me Sunday was how close the people were to the parade. Every ten minutes or so a police officer would stroll by on a 4-wheeler, a Segway or even on horseback to push the crowd back but as soon as they passed the crowd just moved back into the street.

The crowd is as big a part of the event as the floats and walkers. People run into the street for hugs, beads, condoms or whatever is being handed out. Others run out to take photos with friends and characters in the parade. We even ran across a guy with his leather whip giving everyone a little slap here and there. I shot a couple cards and have a ton of fun photos. These are the three that give me the feel of the blending of the parade and the people.

-jk

Best of the rest

2008-06-25T19:54:00.000-07:00

June 18 & 21, 2008: a few more holders

Here are a few more frames I liked from the Cincinnati trip.

On Thursday night, from our room on the 13th floor of the Millennium Hotel, I noticed the top of the PNC Tower building was lit up. (Meaningless aside: Have you ever noticed most hotels skip the 13th floor? Not here.)

I figured the skyline view might make a nice frame at sunrise so the next morning after my 5:30am wakeup call, I stumbled around, put a lens on and a card in one of my cameras, knocked off this frame and grabbed another 15 minutes of sleep before kicking off the day. When I am in a shooting mode I always look for something different in my hotel rooms. Done.

Jumping back a few days on Wednesday we were having dinner at Cadillac Ranch when someone noticed a Congo African Grey Parrot perched on the handlebars of a Harley parked in front of the restaurant. I talked to the owner who was sitting outside the restaurant enjoying a beer. He said the bird loves to ride on his bike. He can open it up to 70 MHP and she just grips the handlebars a little tighter. The bird has a 400-500 word vocabulary, everything from "polly want a cracker" to a few phrases that might make a hooker blush. He also said the bird is a great chick magnet.

Finally I have to sneak in a beer photo, Tom enjoying a cold one in the Millennium Hotel bar Friday night.

Cheers!

-jk

Take me out

2008-06-25T18:14:00.000-07:00

June 16, 2008: a beautiful day for a ballgame.

We were in Cincinnati last week for the USTA National tournament. After the first day of tumbling competition we got discounted tickets to the Great American Ballpark to see the Reds Dodgers game. I went with the cheap seats, $7, because it was more about checking the park out and having a few drinks than watching the game.

If it were the White Sox or Cubs playing I probably would have kept a scorecard but we just kicked back and enjoyed the night. Armed with my 17-55 I made a few frames between the beers.

I thought the clouds and the stadium lights looked cool as the light got low in the sky.

The batters box caught a shaft of light as Jolbert Cabrera grounded out to third for the third out in the third inning (it's a triptych thing.)

Finally, I like my angle on Sam and Kiylee posing for the roving ballpark photographer better than the straight on shot from down the aisle.

Oh yeah for those keeping score the Reds lost 3-1 and got swept in the series. The ballpark was great, the beer was good but the dogs do not compare to a Chicago Vienna.

-jk

Hanging out in Crystal Lake

2008-06-24T21:57:00.000-07:00

June 14, 2008: Guinevere's first trip to the gym

I have been out of town for a week so I am a little back blogged. Here is one I shot just before heading out of town.

This is Guinevere's first trip to 5 Star, she was there for a while jumping around before I showed up and she was a little worn out by the time I started taking photos. She did not want to jump on the trampolines any more but the big balls were still fun.

After the gym we grabbed lunch at Noodles, I always wanted to make a photo with the ceiling panels in there.

Finally we swung by the AT&T store to pick up a sim card before I had to head downtown for my last day of work before a week of vacation.

-jk

I hate Friday traffic

2008-06-13T21:35:00.000-07:00

June 13, 2008: don't try this at home.

A twofer today, driving is the theme of the day.

A 2005 US Census study said the average American spends more than 100 hours a week commuting to work. I am sure that number has gone up in the past three years. For me it is way up.

I estimate my annual commute time is over 700 hours. That is just over 29 days. Almost a whole month. In my car. Driving to work. Yikes! With gas prices I have considered taking the train but that adds another 2 hours a day, fergitaboudit.

The worst day by far is Friday rush hour and if the weather turns bad or they are working on the roads well, let's not go there.

Here are a quick three from the drive downtown today. I do not make a habit of shooting and driving and it is more like shooting a hail marry. I do not recommend you try this at home.

Today's commute was really not too bad for a Friday. About two and a half hours. Thank God tomorrow is Saturday.

-jk

Chasing lightening, again

2008-06-13T21:10:00.000-07:00

June 13, 2008: maybe next time.

We have had our share of stormy weather this year in the Midwest. Iowa, Missouri and Wisconsin are just a few of our neighboring states that have been hammered pretty bad in the past few weeks.

On the way of from work Thursday night/Friday morning we had more tornado warnings around my home up north. It was pretty clear leaving Chicago but along the Northwest Tollway the light show started. Some how even though I was driving into the storm I missed it.

Following up on my last set of driving long exposures I thought I would try again to catch a lightening bolt. There was not much traffic. I could see the lightening in the distance and the road was covered with leaves and branches from where the storm winds had blown through. In Crystal Lake there were power lines and trees down along the road but the worst I faced was a bit of heavy rain.

I rested the camera on the dashboard and popped off 10-20 second exposures as I drove. There were a few bursts behind the clouds and just off camera but again the most interesting frames were the street lights.

I'm not done chasing this shot yet.

-jk

Painting with light

2008-06-10T18:29:00.000-07:00

June 8, 2008: colors of the night.

This was a pretty slow weekend for photos. I had my camera with me all weekend but really could not get motivated to shoot. We were out in Bartlett on Sunday visiting Rick and Sue and there were plenty of things I should have worked but my long days have been catching up with me and I just wanted caffeine.

With a few clouds in the sky it was a beautiful night. We were hanging out in the driveway when I noticed a little lightening in the north, I knocked off a few frames of the clouds because they looked so peaceful. It was not long before that changed.

About halfway home the lightening started picking up. It was pretty cloudy not too many bolts were visible just flashes behind the clouds. From the passenger seat, I thought I would try to catch a bolt so I stopped down and set the camera on bulb. I captured a few weak photos of flashes behind the clouds but no bolts.

The long exposures did make for some fun images. A few foul balls but here they are, I call it art.

-jk

Remembering Dimebag

2008-06-07T21:30:00.000-07:00

March 2, 2001: Pantera at the UIC Pavillion

One from the Archives.

In March of 2001 I grabbed a Saturday night assignment to shoot the legendary heavy metal band Pantera during the Reinventing the Steel Tour at the UIC Pavilion for a photo essay in the Tribune's Tempo section. The assignment had no takers and we were a bit tight on staff that night so I dusted off my Nikons and took a stab at it.

The assignment was to get some behind the scenes photos of this legendary band before and after the show. Pantera had been around since the early 80's and still had a huge following. I must admit I was not a huge Pantera fan so I went out and bought a few of their CDs to make sure I knew some of their songs and I made sure I knew all the band members names. I figured if they were going to let me hang out with them the least I should do is know a little of their music.

My credential was waiting for me at the venue so I went in and found my contact. I was told wait here and we will take care of you when the band is ready. The waiting is definitely the hardest part because no matter what it says on the assignment you just don't know what you are going to get.

After hanging out for about a half hour or so I was told I could shoot the whole show and would be allowed in the locker room after the performance. The concert standard has always been shoot 3 songs and get out so I thought it was cool I would be able to hang out a little longer. I grabbed my credential and made my way out to the stage area to look around.

LIFE LESSON #63: Always carry earplugs in your camera bag or fanny pack.

Some things you just learn the hard way, thank God for a security guard this was not one of those for me. While I was hanging out I started talking to one of the security guards when he asked me, "Do you have ear plugs?" I did not so he gave me an extra pair he had. This would have been like the sun screen lesson I learned in high school during a spring break trip to Florida when I told a friend, "I never get sun burn." Uh uh.

The show was so loud when it was over my ears were ringing even with ear plugs. Maybe the three song limit was not such a bad idea. To this day I always keep ear plugs in my fanny pack.

After the show I went to my spot backstage and I waited and waited and waited. Standing outside the locker room with all the groupies wondering if I was going to get in, how much time I would have, what these guys were going to be like.

Finally the contact came out pointed at me and motioned for me to come in. Inside they introduced me to the band and these guys were among the nicest people I had ever met. Each band member had their own corner with their cases and belongings. Vinnie was hanging out on a couch with a rebel flag on his lap and a friend sitting close by. Dimebag was in another corner by his case drinking a can of Coors Light with his beard dyed bright red. I was handed a refreshment and just shot as the guys were winding down after the show.

While talking with some of the other people hanging out someone said "hey let me take your photo!" Usually I do not hand people my camera or shoot photos when people say "take my picture" but I said what the heck. Standing behind me was guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, I set the camera and they knocked off a frame. I have never been a big autograph or celebrity hound so I did not really think twice about the photo. The frame was a bit so I skimmed right by it during my edit after the show.

A short time later I noticed one of the guys pouring shots of Crown Royal in plastic cups. It was time for everyone to make a toast. I worked my way in to get a shot of the guys tipping one back as I held my cup in my teeth. I gave up doing shots a long time ago but did not want to insult my hosts so I had one (I think) and it was pretty smooth.

The photos ran, I filed a handful of negs and I tossed the outtakes into an envelope in my drawer and went back to the life of picture editing. On December 8, 2004 I came into work and heard that Dimebag was shot and killed on-stage at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio by an obsessed Pantera fan while performing with his brother's new band, Damageplan.

I dug through my drawer and found the negatives and scanned a few fresh frames to offer with the story. I also came across the frame of Dimebag and me and scanned it in for the first time, it was a smiler and it brings back memories of a good assignment.

-jk