2024 Archives

I’m honored to interview Lance Long. He is an accomplished dance photographer, & his skill at capturing dance and movement in the studio and on the stage is exceptional. Lance’s ability to anticipate the movement & then capturing it has always impressed me, and I look forward to talking with Lance about dance, photography, and art.

CF5213 240629 132727

CF5187 240629 132446

CF5167 240629 132126

Since many of the cars were crowded or muddy, I had to come up with a different strategy for photographing at Sonny Acres Farm. So I turned to the iconic nameplates that showed up, including the embossed Porsche on this 928.

CF5178 240629 132331

ChiTown Exotic Car Club hosted a car show at Sonny Acres Farm. It may have been the oddest site that I’ve been to for a car show; and it had been rainy recently, so it was very muddy. Overall, I did see quite a few rare cars, but it was very difficult to capture interesting photos due to the large crowd and the fact that the cars were so tightly packed.

 

CF5981 240714 111645

CF5974 240714 111531

I looked inside of this car and thought, “Did he have to pay someone to paint the engine parts to match the car? Or maybe he painted it all himself?”

CF5956 240714 111405

CF5951 240714 111349

CF5944 240714 111253

 

I love the fact that this car’s owner has chosen red accents for his engine but left the dipstick blue. It’s perfect.

CF5881 240714 105225

 

This engine sits flat underneath the Corvair’s “pickup” bed; making it even more of an oddity, not simply because it’s a van front end with a pickup back end.

BQ2748 220612 092556

 

I tend to capture the outside of cars at car shows; I’d say only 5% of my photos are of under the hood or inside the cabin. However, sometimes an engine is visually interesting – this engine is from a Cars & Coffee back in 2022.

 

BW3175 221104 210648

CE4355 240708 072844

CF6821 240721 091117

Keith was the first Elgin photographer that I met. He’s a full time professional photographer, president of the Elgin Area Camera Club, & on the Board of Directors for Horses & Heroes. He has been a friend for more than 10 years, & I’m excited to talk about running a photo business and still enjoying photography.

CF6773 240721 090402

CF6806 240721 090747

CE4297 240706 185946

 

During her interview, Lauri Novak showed us her photo project where she photographed shadows around the house – this photo is an homage to her project!

BW1888 221015 083705

When we visited St Louis with the marching band in 2022, this was the view out of our hotel room. The night before, I wandered around near the Arch, and captured some fantastic photos, but in the morning this was our view – absolutely spectacular!

 

CF6873 240721 091635

CF6788 240721 090606

CF6628 240721 084835

CF6588 240721 084350

CF6573 240721 084211

CF6533 240721 083633

CF6529 240721 083314

 

“Automotive Perfection”

August 3rd, 2024

Sure, if you go to a classic car show, the mid-50’s Chevy BelAirs are almost as popular as the late 60’s Mustangs, but it’s for a reason. The BelAirs are simply rolling works of art … absolutely stunning, eye catching, and head turning.

CF5916 240714 110815

Sure, if you go to a classic car show, the mid-50’s Chevy BelAirs are almost as popular as the late 60’s Mustangs, but it’s for a reason. The BelAirs are simply rolling works of art … absolutely stunning, eye catching, and head turning.

CF5901 240714 112203

CF5911 240714 110723

Another wonderful photo from the Elgin History Museum’s annual Classic Car Show. Everyone knows what a 1957 Chevy Belair looks like, so it’s always challenging to find a unique take on this incredibly classic of the classic cars. But, if there’s a late 60’s muscle car with awesome rims next to it? Well, now that’s kinda unique.

July 2024

July 31st, 2024

         

         

CF5846 240714 103654

My Photo Friends: Doug Hanson Interview

July 30th, 2024

Doug Hanson: Portraits & Analogue Photography

I’m excited to interview Doug Hanson about his photography. Doug specializes in antique photography methods, and his enthusiasm and friendliness has helped many others learn about the history and techniques of analogue photography. Doug has presented his art at exhibitions throughout the Chicago area and around the world.

CF5851 240714 103738

…someday I will learn to take a photo of the entire car, or at least of the tag with the car’s information at car shows, but the day that I photographed this car was not that day…

CF5836 240715 191921

 

If you attend too many car shows, you may begin to get bored of all of the late 60’s Mustangs. Don’t get me wrong, their a beautiful car, but after you’ve seen the 400th, you may want to photograph literally anything else.
Unless you see the perfect shade of blue with perfect chrome accents… In that case, it may rekindle your joy in photographing Ford’s wonderful muscle car.

CF5766 240714 102326

Earlier in the morning, before the Elgin History Museum’s Classic Car Show technically started, there were a few showers that rolled through. While most of the cars arrived after the rain or their owners cleaned the cars off, this dripping wet Thunderbird lent itself to some unique photos.

 

CF6255 240720 125543