Archive for Event Photography
A few from Chicago – Holiday Train and night shots
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Here comes the Holiday Train!!!
I was pretty sure thse guys next to us were purposely waiting for the Holiday Train, which only came by at certain times and on certain days. Well….we had planned our evening around the Holiday Train, so I can’t blame them.
Dancing Guy. Note Matt pretending to pose for a picture. We were trying to be sneaky.
This guy was dancing to the music while he was on his cell. It was SO FUNNY!!! He had this look on his face like he was just totally enjoying himself and everything was normal. But he was kind of hanging onto the poles and swaying to the beat. He was my favorite. So I took a picture. Check out the lights – all red and green! And the poles and garland. And the seats, which you can’t see, were covered in Christmas upholstery. This train was seriously decked out. I didn’t want to use flaash and annoy other people, or make it obvious that I was photographing them! All that and the fact that he kept moving too fast for my shutter speed made for some interesting exposure and editing techniques…hah! But I think the grungy look to the picture fits for a subway car!
Cat watching Dancing Guy
Matt smirking about Dancing Guy
Cat & Matt laughing about Dancing Guy
Cat and the CTA Elf
The CTA Elf lady gave us little candy canes when we sat down!! How fun! I ate mine right away. Then I proceeded to watch her while she sassed at her boys, who were riding on her car for a bit. This was Cat right before we got off the train. (I believe that was leftover Uno’s deep-dish pizza in that box.) You can see Dancing Guy getting off at that station, too. There were some other people who were as excited as we were to be riding the holiday train, and they were taking pictures with their cell hpone. I felt a common bond with them and their excitement, all because of the Holiday Train. After we got off, we transferred and took another train right back to where we came from. Yes, we spent $2 apiece just to ride the train to Nowhere and Back. But it was so worth it!!
Santa on the Holiday Train!I snapped this as Santa and the Holiday Train rolled away. An open air car! Pretty cool!
The view near Cat's apartment. Really cool!
Sears Tower at night
Michigan Avenue at dusk with lights!
That’s all for now! Later this week I will try to put up some ballet pictures from a class I photographed at Cat’s college, and then some people in the city shots. Meanwhile, I’ll be posting restaurant reviews over on our food blog, so you may pick up some tips for places to eat if you’re ever in Chicago!
Photographic Thoughts
Posted by: | CommentsThis isn’t so much a picture post, but just some thoughts about cameras.
Japanese Fall Festival
Posted by: | CommentsIf you haven’t been to the Japanese Stroll Gardens in Springfield, you are missing out on the prettiest place in town. It’s worth the five bucks (now there’s something I don’t say often). Saturday they had their annual Fall Festival, and we hadn’t been in a while, so we went. It was really crowded, which was the only thing of the whole day that I didn’t like so much. I prefer quiet parks. But we had a picnic dinner, watched some drummers and a sword guy, and strolled around the gardens twice. One stroll was lit by torches and candles, which was gorgeous! It would have been very romantic if not for the gobs of people around. They also nearly defeated my goal of getting some candlelit landscape photography, although some “ghost” images look pretty interesting. Unfortunately, I had switched bags and forgot my tripod head, although I did have the tripod. That was an interesting experience. It’s too bad they don’t let you do weddings there – I would have tried to get ours there! But for future reference, it would be a great place to go for engagement or couples’ pictures, bridal portraits, romantic bride & groom pictures, or a trash-the-dress session!
Carson’s Fireworks
Posted by: | CommentsI am about to head out to Rolla for some puppy picstures. It is a surprise birthday gift for someone’s husband. I hope it doesn’t rain in Rolla like it’s raining here! I’m also getting started on a new book. I had just the right size book board left over from the last album I made to make a small gift/parent album. I’m thinking black, white, silver, and classy.
Meanwhile, here are some pictures from Carson’s Late Fourth of July Extravaganza (I made that title up). Enjoy!
I like the short depth of field with all the Christmas trees lined up and the kids running around. Good job, Matt.
Honey locust flower with some nice light (Matt took this one, too):
Had to have a reeeeeally slow shutter speed on this one, but the light on their faces from the sparkler is awesome:
This looks really cool in the big version. I love the little dots all around it. It’s like glitter in the sky!
This is my favorite fireworks shot:. I like the blue sky and how the smoke is even lit up.
This was a really hard shot! People’s faces lit up from only the fireworks….oh man. What timing!
People hanging out:
Here’s Matt in the bug light. I kind of like how night-y it is, and you can tell what kind of light he’s standing by!
Kids Against Hunger
Posted by: | CommentsLast week, Matt & I volunteered with our small group at Kids Against Hunger, an organization with a branch in Springfield that packages and distributes food to hungry people around the world. They send it nationally and internationally, like to places in Africa, and Haiti. It got its name because it is a volunteer thing that a lot of kids are able to do to help others out around the world. Here is what Kids Against Hunger does behind the scenes:
First, my big strong husband dumped huge bags of rice into containers.
Next, people scooped rice into baggies.
Then they added spices (top) and vitamin/mineral tablets (bottom), the essential part of the meal.
Bags were sealed (I did this! It was fun!)….
…Counted…
…Boxed…
…and packaged for shipping!
Check out the Kids Against Hunger website for the volunteer schedule.