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{Explored #1}
I was in Oklahoma City over this past weekend visiting some family. While I was there I got to go on a few photo shoots, including a couple of sunset shoots to this historic dam.
You can read more about this dam and my trip on my blog post here.
I really recommend pressing L or clicking on the image to view large on black.
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From the Easter State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. A prison cell.
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Cathedral Basilica of Saint Peter and Paul in Philadelphia.
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{Explored #20}
This is the magnificent Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park, downtown Chicago. The fountain was built in 1927 and is one of the largest fountains in the world. During the water display the center jet shoots water 150 feet into the air.
I took this shot last night during a blue hour shoot at sunset. The dramatic clouds and incredible light were the most spectacular backdrop to the fountain and the Chicago skyline.
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This is the 3rd shot in a series from my After Dark set featuring the area around Chicago's famous and historic Water Tower. Shot on Michigan Avenue (aka the Magnificent Mile).
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Just another room at the Eastern State Penitentiary filled with stuff.
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The book stacks from the Regenstein Library at the University of Chicago. And yes, that is me taking a book of the shelf. I was having a little bit of fun with my new wireless remote yesterday. The remote was a small present for myself for completing my dissertation and defense. I am posting this picture today in continuation with my academic theme for the week.
The Regenstein Library has been my home, in many ways, for these past several years as I did my research. The library's collection includes over 7.7 million printed works and is increasing their volume at a rate of about 150,000 books per year. The University recently approved an expansion of its capacity by over 3.5 million volumes, making the Regenstein Library one of the nation's largest university collections of materials.
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In the rear gardens of Blenheim Palace. Blenheim Palace is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located close to Oxford. Besides an enormous palace built in the 1700s, the grounds includes immaculate and extensive gardens. Blenheim Palace is also the birthplace of Winston Churchill.
A young teenager in Kolkata, sitting beside the river waiting for the ferry to arrive.
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This is the very famous chair from City Methodist Church in Gary, Indiana. If you do a search for pictures of this church you will probably see hundreds of pictures of this chair. I do not know the history behind it or how it got there, but it is now falling completely apart. Even pictures taken of it from a year ago reveal just how much it has fallen apart in a short period of time.
Also, fyi, this picture is not HDR.
And check out my photo gallery: The Rotten Chairs Collection
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{Explored #10}
An old ghat along the Hooghly river. The banks of the Hooghly River in Kolkata tell the tale of an old, forgotten empire. Kolkata, once the seat of British power in India, and the capital under the British Raj until 1911, Kolkata saw stagnation after India's independence, and everywhere shows the scars of former struggle and imperial rule. It was this river that made it possible for the British to build their economic hub here and that made Kolkata into one of the largest urban areas in the world.
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My favorite shot from the Eastern State Penitentiary last week. This barber chair was sitting in the middle of one of the cells down one of the cell blocks. It was sort of unclear why this chair was in this cell, if it was added later, or what its purpose would have been. It was particularly strange since normal looking cells were on either side of it. In any case, it makes a rather good picture I think.
>>>I strongly recommend you view this large & on black
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One of my favorite bridges in downtown Chicago. It is the Clark Street Bridge crossing the Chicago River and it was built in 1929.
The Clark Street Bridge is one of 20 movable bridges in downtown Chicago and one of more than 40 movable bridges in Chicago, making Chicago the movable bridge capital of the world.
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A landing from the main stairs at St. Mary's Hospital, in Gary, Indiana. This hospital has been closed now for a number of years, as you can probably tell by the peeling paint and trash.
[NB: This building was entered legally with special permission.]
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Another cell from inside of Easter State Penitentiary. This one does not look quite as glamorous as Al Capone's does in the previous picture. But this was also not the worst looking of the cells either. Many had for more trash and decay covering the floor. But one thing that is strange about this cell is that it appears to have been opened up into a larger room from two smaller cells. You can see the former dividing wall down the middle.
This is a very large image, almost 15MB actually. Small does not do it justice so I recommend viewing it large and on black. Press L or click here.
>>>>Also, see my gallery of eerie cell block and prison shots. These are some of the very best photos I found from around Flickr, most of which were also taken at Easter State Penitentiary.
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The famed City Methodist Church in Gary, Indiana.
I spent many hours down in this church yesterday. The ruins are remarkable. You can read my entire blog post on the church and my trip here.
Also I think this image is worth viewing large to see all the detail.
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Tulips and fading daffodils around a fountain in Chicago. I took this blue-hour shot last night over on the far west side of Chicago in a neighborhood that might be considered a little rough. I had been wanting to shoot it all spring but just never had the time to drive over there at sunset or else not been able to because of the grey rain. Last night was our frist really clear and pleasant sunset in a while.
>>>>Also, check out my Gallery of Fountains
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{Explored #31}
This is downtown Chicago over Columbus Drive on the BP Pedestrian Bridge. In the top right corer you can see the Modern Wing of the Art Institute.
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I took this at the annual Printer's Row Book Fair the weekend before last.
You can read more about my thoughts on this on my blog post.
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Where is this? Edit: Its the Temple Church in London. Congrats to Smiksmak for recognizing it. :)
I thought I would leave off the place and location info this time to see if anyone recognizes the building. If you have been there, then there is a good chance you know this place.
I do love this structure, but the architectural elements made it very hard to take this symmetrically. You will notice that at the top and bottom the center line curves to the same side! That was very frustrating.
In any case, once someone guesses it I will say a bit more about the location and history of the structure.
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Well, tomorrow I graduate after so many years. It is hard to believe that it is finally here. I will be receiving my second MA degree as well as a PhD. The latter has been a long time coming but it was worth it and I am so excited to face the next chapter of my life.
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Taken in downtown Chicago on a very cold night shoot back in the middle of winter. I had a hard time getting this building and road framed properly because the road is actually slightly sloped but the building is not, so now matter how I framed it either the building looked crooked or the road looked bad.
I really recommend pressing L or clicking on the image to view large on black.
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From the upper floors in the old school at City Methodist Church in Gary
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So I really love how this picture turned out. I was wandering around on Saturday downtown in the Loop enjoying the snow. I have always wanted to take a picture of these statues in the snow but just never been able to do it. So that was the day. I intentionally used a slow shutter because I wanted to overexpose the background giving the appearance that it was much snowier than it actually was. I also wanted to capture the falling snow. Afterwords I bumped up the contrast on the statues in post to create the effect.
Now, as for the statues, they are a set of 106 headless and armless iron sculptures. Each one stands at 9 feet tall (2.74m) and weighs over 1,800lbs. They were made by Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz in Poland and then brought to Chicago on permanent loan from the Polish Ministry of Culture in 2006.
It was a hot, blistering day when I traveled down from London to Brighton last summer. The beach was particularly crowded that day.
Check out my blog for the entire blog post on this trip.
This image has a lot of detail you won't see unless you view it large. Press L or click on the image to view it large on black.
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The ceiling from one of the cell blocks at Eastern State Penitentiary. This famous prison is one rather remarkable place, with its crumbling walls, ceilings and floors. The light seeps in the broken windows and small openings, giving the place a real sinister feel, and making one realize just what an awful place it was once upon a time to be in prison here.
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In Millenium Park, downtown Chicago. The Pritzker Pavilion, designed by Frank Gehry.
This exposure was 30seconds long so that I could capture the richness of the color as it shines off of the Pavilion. The colors are constantly changing which makes for a very beautiful display!
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I strongly recommend you view this large on black, press L or click here.
From one of the cell blocks at Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia.
I am back from my vacation in Philadelphia to see my new nephew. While there I was able to do a little sight-seeing including the amazing ESP. The prison operated from 1829 until the 1970s and was famous not only for some of its former inmates, e.g. Al Capone, but also for its experimental methods in prisoner reform.
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Out on the Hooghly River in Kolkata, the 160mile long distributary of the Ganges River. Last year during my trip to Kolkata I took a boat ride down the Hooghly and saw first hand the life of the river. People fishing, like these men here. Others transporting goods, and many other boats ferrying people back and forth across the massive river. We began our boat ride at the ghats of Dakshineswar and traveled down to the Belur Math.
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>>>>> Check out my Friday the 13th Gallery!!
So today's picture is not quite so sunny and cheery as yesterday's. It is Friday the 13th and so I thought I would share something appropriate for the day.
I took this at an abandoned hospital in Gary, Indiana while on a photoshoot with my friend Chris Nitz. (The premises were entered legally with permission from the city.) This was one scary place as you can probably tell from the picture. The windows were filled with bullet holes, the walls and ceilings were torn apart, and at times you needed a flashlight just to see what was on the floor in front of you. This room in particular was super dark, since it had no windows and no access to any ambient light.
I was fascinated by the scene in this room. Not only was the wall torn apart and the wallpaper peeling, but the floor was littered with interesting debris that seemed to tell a story, in particular the fire hose that was partially unwound. We will probably never know what happened here!
TECHNICAL EDIT: Many people have asked me about this so I thought I would share. The light and color are not something that I did in post-processing. The room was completely dark, so I added in my own stationary light source into a hole in the wall and that is what created the effect. I didn't move it around or do any light painting. It is a 3-image HDR composite which helps give it a nice depth, and then I darkened it up a bit in Photoshop.
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Life along the Hooghly River in the vicinity around Kolkata is striking. As you ride down the river, you will see many ghats like this one here. A ghat is a series of steps going down to a holy river and can be found throughout Southeast Asia. In addition to the grand ghats at Dakshineswar and Belur Math, on a trip along the Hooghly you will also see many old ones like this one which are crumbling and falling down and appear to be aging signs of a period years ago. People will go down the ghat to the river for ritual cleaning and prayers. This old man was the only person at this particular place as he went down for some solitary cleansing time.
Another shot from the abandoned St. Mary's Hospital in Gary, IN. This is from one of the front reception area rooms on the first floor. The ceiling was dripping water in multiple places and there also seemed to be a few lights that still had power so I had to step around carefully to avoid any stray wires. The water must have been leaking in the room for a while because, as you can see in the bottom left corner, there was moss growing on the floor.
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In downtown Chicago, one of the many movable bridges that cross the Chicago River. It is by far one of my favorite bridges, the Clark Street Bridge.
Worth viewing on Black
I am off for a few days to Philadelphia. Be back soon!
Another shot from Oxford today from inside one of the colleges. I am continuing with my "academic" theme this week celebrating the end of my graduate program!
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From the old St. Mary's Hospital, in Gary, Indiana.
This image has a lot of detail you won't see unless you view it large. Press L or click on the image to view it large on black.
New on the Blog: My Review of the new photo editing app for the iPad from Nik Software: Snapseed.
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Lake Michigan at sunset on the Southside of Chicago. The rocky shore here quickly turns into the sands of 57th Street Beach, across from Lake Shore Drive and the Museum of Science & Industry. Going the opposite direction the rocks turn into Promontory Point, the man-made peninsula known by residents simply as "The Point".
When I went out last night to shoot along the lake at blue hour I was quickly frozen by the harsh winds coming in off of the lake. The surf was very rough and constantly send sprays of icy water through the air. I didn't get too wet, but I did have to constantly wipe my lens.
An exterior shot of the Nakhoda Mosque in Kolkata. The historic architecture in contrast to the modern wires provided a very interesting and contradictory visual.
You can read more about this place in my latest blog post.
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The rose window over the North entrance of Westminster Abbey. Just another photo, together with yesterday's, in honor of the royal wedding.
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{Explored #39}
This is Hull Gate at the University of Chicago in Hyde Park. Hull Gate stands at the North end of the main quadrangles. You can see the Regenstein Library behind whose bookstacks I featured in this picture.
The famous UChicago gargoyles sit atop the gate.
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{Explored #59}
Another photo from my trip down to Gary, IN with Chris Nitz. The old hospital had some amazing scenes, like this one, where the irony of what the place once was in contrast to what it was now really came through. This sign in particular jumped out at me in relation to the surrounding wall.
Also, in other news, you can now find my pictures at my new Blog!
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The Philadelphia City Hall in downtown Philadelphia. I took this a few weeks ago while visiting Philly during a blue hour photo walk I went on.
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I love this pattern of shadows that I found just by chance. I was walked around the incredible estate of Blenheim Palace in the town of Woodstock, just a little ways away from Oxford in the UK. Blenheim Palace is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the birthplace to Winston Churchill.
A few of you may recognize this image. I had a different color version of it up earlier in a gallery but decided that I preferred it in b&w.
The Logan Monument in Grant Park in Chicago along Michigan Avenue. The monument commemorates General John Logan, a general for the Union Army in the American Civil War. He is also the namesake of Logan Square in Chicago and one of only 3 people mentioned by name in the Illinois state song.
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The Philadelphia City Hall.
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A view from the base of the Chase Tower on West Madison Street is downtown Chicago. This is a really incredible building to stand underneath when you see its curves and the way the parallel lines rise up into the air.
{Explored #3}
I have always loved flamingos. I am not really sure why. When you look closely at them they are a very funny looking bird. The shape of the neck, head, and beak look like someone with a sock puppet on, and when you start to see that it becomes very hard to take this bird seriously. Still, something about them is very beautiful to me.
You can read more about this picture on my blog...
I really recommend pressing L or clicking on the image to view large on black.
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{Explored #33}
From the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial...
You can read more about this memorial on my blog...
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