February: Chicago

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If you know me well, you know I go to Chicago several times a year to indulge in opera. That started, according to my Google calendar, in 2011. But I think it was the very next year, 2012, that I contacted an online acquaintance via the now defunct Google+ social media platform that was so much loved and used by photographers around the world. To make a long story short, he agreed to meet me at “The Bean,” a must site for photogs in Chicago, and today I have a whole bunch of Chi-town friends. Getting together with them to…

January: Backyard Birds

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Once again, a new year calls me to bravely begin my #YearInReview, namely a pilgrimage through my past year’s photographs to pull out one image a month that helps me tell the story of my photographic year. It takes bravery because I don’t always like what I see and I don’t always have much to choose from! Nevertheless, it has been a valuable exercise, so hear goes. I begin by breaking a rule. For January 2024, I will post multiple photos because I love the diversity of birds I sometimes have in my backyard. January is prime time–especially if there’s…

One More for 2023

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My #YearInReview blog posts don’t necessarily feature my “best” photographs. Rather they feature photographs that help me track and tell the story of the year, month by month. I also like to make a PowerPoint of the photographs that went to juried art exhibits a given year. I call it “Invited _(year_” because that’s the language artshows use: You work is “invited” into a show. Does that make these my “best” photos? Well, not necessarily. It just makes them photos that drew the eye of an art-world juror–a person who selects artworks for exhibits as a profession. Interestingly, none of…

December: Birds & Blooms

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I shoot lots of both! It’s a fitting way to end this special edition of #YearInReview, giving you a glimpse of my world for the past two years. December 9, 2022 – The older I get the more I prefer the dead and dying flowers. That’s not at all a morbid thought. Truly, it’s not. I love so much the shapes they take as the petals dry: twisted, crinkled, yet graceful. Their colors reach a peak of intensity. Their age spots dignify them. May I age so beautifully, eloquently. December 26, 2023 – Goal achieved: An American Kestrel (Falco sparvarius)…

November: Chicago

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It’s a good month to go to Chicago: not yet so dreadfully cold as to keep me indoors, and hotel prices have gone down! November 26, 2022 – Downtown Chicago decks out for Christmas. One thing you can always count on is a huge Christmas tree in Water Tower Square. Adam, one of the photog friends I hang out with in Chicago, polished this big silver ball with his sleeve before we took our selfies. Sadly, I didn’t quite manage to get our reflections in focus, but I really like the photo anyway. That’s the Water Tower behind us, a…