LIGHTS

Recently I was contacted by a representative of http://www.thelashop.com/ to review one of their photography products. Vanessa graciously offered to send me lights that are to be used for taking portraits. Most of my photographic pursuits involve architecture, cemeteries or whatever is around me when I am waiting for the bus or the train. 

However, last summer I developed a sincere interest in the art of portraiture; therefore it is with sincere gratitude that this opportunity has been brought to my attention. It might take a few days for me to figure out exactly the best way to use these lights (and some subtle arm twisting from friends willing to pose) but I am super excited to practice this new craft. 

In the meantime, Vanessa has kindly asked me to extend an offer to anyone that might be reading this, in the form of a 10% discount on any of their products. Along with photography related items, they stock a wide array of things that may interest you (I have my eye on the tattoo kit). Check out their website and let me know how my new art direction turns out. 

Thanks,

Justin

P.S. I forgot to mention that in order to receive the 10% discount, you must enter the code "BLOGGERS".

SUNDAY AFTERNOON RANDOMNESS

Today marks the third Easter Sunday in a row that I worked (but got cut super early) and haven't spent time with my family. Sigh. So I wandered around and took pictures with my iPhone (via the Top Camera App). It's positively lovely outside and as a result, took my time walking from place to place.

That last image is far and away my favorite single image I have snapped in the last 3, or maybe 6 months. And it happened by mistake, as I was waiting to cross the street. My only regret is that I didn't have my real camera on me to capture it. Oh well. Popcorn/movie night with the boyfriend will more than suffice!

FALL IN(TO) THE CITY

Montrose (my Digital SLR) and I have resumed our on/off again torrid affair. We had a hot date last night, and although I'm a bit rusty, I like these images, in particular the 4th one. Lots more to come!

LOOP DA LOOP

Somewhere buried in my DNA is a predilection to buy jeans from H&M; it never works out. Keep in mind, I like my skinny-ish jeans, but whatever reason the crotch is either way too tight or curiously, way too long. Whatever. So I woke up on this beautiful Spring day to return the stupid jeans I bought last week - BUT - that was merely an excuse to be outside and take pictures.

Out of the hundred or so I took, below are a few I like.

OH, and I had a photo shoot with my Roommate, or rather, of her. I'm trying to improve shooting people (you know what I mean) as opposed to inanimate objects. I know I am rusty when it comes to the technical aspect(s) of photography, and I feel like I am starting all over again. It's fun though!

SHOOTING THE SHIT...

...in my 'hood tonight. Keep in mind, these are very raw/unprocessed images I took without the proper equipment, and I was shooting on the fly and trying NOT to arouse the suspicion of Chicago's finest, who kept eye fucking the guy (me) using buildings and signposts as tripods.

If anyone knows a better way to display images on blogger, I'm all ears. Perhaps I'll link to a flickr account or something. That being said, the simple fact of going out alone, on a beautifully Spring night and crouching in dirty alleys with my prized possession, well, I'd be lying if I said I didn't come home without a slight boner.

I HAVEN'T SEEN AN OCEAN IN YEARS

Technically, I last saw a large body of water when I went to New York City...and Fire Island 2 summers ago. But the Atlantic, as grand as it is, has never really done it for me. It's always seemed flat and gray to me, even when I was a child visiting my Grandparents in Florida.

I've always looked west, towards the Pacific. It took me about an hour to remember the last time I dipped my toe in that ocean; I was in Cabo San Lucas, with my Mom. And now that I think about it more, I cannot believe how lucky I've been to have done so, not only in Mexico, but Hawaii and Alaska too. Vancouver? Check. Fucking LOVE that city and want to die there happy.

For the time being, I'm mostly happy being in Chicago...but when my mind wanders...thoughts of that impossibly vast ocean wake me up at 4AM; somewhere around here is a picture I took standing on an uninhabited beach north of Santa Cruz.

Why my unchecked wanderlust is rearing it's head is a direct result of my current predicament. I literally have not left the city of Chicago proper since September, and although the Mississippi River has it's charms, Galena hardly counts. No, that won't do.

Weird as it sounds, I want to feel that pull of undertow, I want to see stars and wonder accordingly. I want to stand on another melting glacier; I want to climb a mountain and sip a beer at the peak...again. Or be surrounded by whales while I kayak. I've done that shit. And smoking pot with gutter punks near Stanley Park? Please. And yes.

It's been too long that I've trapped myself in this wonderful, yet limited cage of urbanity. But for now my resources and responsibilities keep me from doing such things, and it fucking SUCKS. I can die happy never visiting Vegas ever again, or New York for that matter, but I won't rest in peace until I can feel that particular smell of salt that only the Pacific can produce.

That right there is my ideal version of a perfect beach; I took that picture about 8 years ago and I bet it looks the same way right now. North coast of Douglas Island. I guess this post exists to remind me of how lucky I have been to seen such places. I want to go back to how things were, a common thought that comes with age. Powerful nonetheless.

For now, I shall dream.

UNTITLED - 2011

WELLINGTON 'L' STOP

POPE YES

MIDWEST "ACTION"

Montrose (The New Camera) and are getting along well!

I'M A PROUD PAPA!

That right there is Montrose's first baby. It may not look like much...but holy hell, the bullshit I endured to produce that image. First off, I bought the wrong memory card, so it was an extra week of being sullen and staring forlornly at the new camera/Montrose.

But shit happens and my new $30 CF card arrived! Happy was I. Unfortunately I soon realized that my "new" camera came sans an operating manual. I found a PDF of it online today and printed it out...140 fucking pages. UGHx10! Oh and then I had to find the driver to print shit out.

BUT I DID IT!

I GRANTED MYSELF A WISH TODAY

For the last 2-3 years I have annoyed my friends, chattering on about how I wish I could meld my Canon EOS Rebel 35mm camera with my Sony PowerShot; digital SLR cameras are certainly nothing new, but I just couldn't justify spending close to a $1K on one. I still cannot, although I found a work-around.

First, let me just state that although I probably should have been more conservative with my limited funds, I only have a few hobbies, which include writing, shooting pool and photography (one day when I'm rich and famous I'll indulge my inner race car driver). So I've made due with iPhone camera apps, and the results have been...most disappointing.

So now that I'm working again I have been able to quietly put aside some cash in the last month. I've also been cutting every expense I can, for example I'll walk the 1.5 miles to and from my gym to save on fucking bus fare. I roll my own smokes. I only eat at home. I drink PBR. With the end goal being I can buy a new AWESOME camera.

And I fucking did it. I did it.

PS - I named it "Montrose". I'll be wagging my imaginary Golden Retriever tail for the next 7-10 days until it arrives!

SLIDE-SHOW TIME!

Although I feel compelled to post something today, I don't feel particularly clever. Perhaps it's because I'm freaking exhausted from work late, late last night, and also finding out the bar I'm working is closing, but then also being offered a part-time manager position at the new bar, or freaking out about the FUCKED up picture I got texted from Pablo last night, in which he posed the question "like my new shoes?" and said picture was of his hard cock residing within a 3" lace strewn heel shoe thing, OMG fucking UGH.

Whew. So yeah, I figured a fun post with pictures is in order, especially since reader Alex requested it.

Seriously, OK - Wilco puts on a GREAT show. Really, they are all accomplished musicians and ROCK the FUCK out live. But if you ever chance to see them, 2 weeks after you've broken you're collarbone, DO NOT GO! Holy Shit, these middle aged women go fucking nuts. I almost left early because so many of these drunk suburban ladies kept banging into to me, which is why/how I ended up at this particular vantage point (far, far away of the angry swarm of horny ladies - I had no idea Jeff Tweedy has this effect on people).

THIS, my friends, is an actual totally vintage 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder, the very same, and extremely rare model that ended none other than James Dean's life. This particular example spent 3 hours outside of the bar I work at, with me hovering over/breathing on it. I'll be blunt: this car gives me a boner - and I'm more than willing to part with a testicle to obtain it.

This here is my buddy's dog Blackjack. And yes, he's wearing underwear, specifically MINE. Why might a dog be wearing a pair of my boxer briefs? Glad you asked! This was from an afternoon when I took my laundry over to said buddy's house (Ex-Roomie was an accomplish, and somehow, probably after smoking too much pot) we decided the dog needed to "cover up" his junk. Needless to say, this particular garment was promptly disposed of 5 minutes after this picture was taken.

WHOA dude? Smoke much? My other good buddy decided to create the longest cigarette the world has ever seen, by combining a rolled Bali Shag along with a fucking Camel Light. I'm still not sure why, or why and how he smoked the entire thing. It seriously took about 15 minutes to get through, which should be more nicotine than anything living thing should ever consume in one sitting.

You might have to squint to see it, but the name of the random corner store is called "Santa Fe Sup", which I somehow interpreted as "Santa Face-Up", which lead to 10 minutes of lame and very immature sexual jokes. It's my go-to-thing when I'm stuck in traffic. Being slightly idiotic, that is.

GRAVEYARD! I recently spent a lovely fall afternoon (dare I say, it was CRISP!") in Rosehill cemetery. Peaceful? You bet! Kinda way too quiet and fearing a random Zombie attack? Bah-leave-dat! Seriously though, this is one of my favorite places in Chicago, and one in particular that I feel at peace at.

What the WHAT? Walking down Montrose avenue one afternoon, I peeped this in a store front window of a dollar store. I regret having NOT bought it. Props to the submissive ring bearing pigeon - I should have bought that shit too.

Sometimes when I'm leaving work at night, the CTA demands that I do the equivalent of bending over and grabbing my ankles, or more commonly known as having to wait 30+ fucking minutes for the train to show up. To pass the time, I take pictures, which probably places me on some sort of a terrorist watch list. Whatever.

More train pictures! I can't get enough of them. And it's like the easiest thing ever to photograph, especially when you have the Toy Camera app on an iPhone. Instant nostalgia! I swear, just looking at that picture, I'm tele-ported back to some sort of imaginary childhood that resembles a Norman Rockwell painting.

Yeah, I know, another fucking train/lame photo effect picture. Sometimes I just can't help myself. The colors are just so cool though! It's funny though, that had this picture been taken with an Kodak 35mm in the 1950's, the saturated color's, to say nothing of the actual physical environment would not be different. At least not much.

RANDOM B+W PICS TAKEN ON THE GO

24 GOTHAM IS THE SHIT!

When I got home today from running around I spotted an envelop with my name on it sitting on the floor near my mailbox. Since the mailboxes in my place are so old, anything marked "do not bend" is simply left on the floor. Thank Gawd the mail carrier didn't bend this particular envelope, as it contained a crisp 8x10 of the image below:

Devyn is a photographer I've been following for a few years now. He used to be based in Chicago but now resides in the splendor that is NYC. He's also a talented bastard and even better, a really nice guy I had the distinct pleasure of meeting last year. Do yourself a favor and follow his photo-blog HERE. 

Of his many urban-centric subjects are these SICK images of those security grates pulled over store fronts at night, and the interplay between said barrier and the neon lighting behind. The image above was and still is my favorite of this on-going series...and I am STOKED to have a print to hang in my home. THANKS DEV!

In related news, I've decided to re-focus on my long dormant photo-blog, URBS IN HORTO starting tomorrow. This was my first, and rather modest attempt at starting a blog, one which preceded Guy From Chicago. 

This re-found energy is a direct result of St. Louis friend "Cloudy" graciously gifting a digital camera to replace mine that died many months ago. Don't expect anything on the level of Devyn's work; my hope is to create a decent image every so often. At the least, I need to get my "eye" back in the game of visually capturing this city.

FROM ATOP THE TRUMP...

A crane operator working on top of the Trump Tower has been posting pictures of the building's progress. Even if you're not an architecture nerd, you very well might appreciate some SICK skyline photos of the Windy City. At the least, Devyn should get a kick out of these!

To view the entire album, click here.

NEW HEADER...AND MAYBE NEW SHOES

I still might mess around with the new banner a bit as I'm having a lot of fun with pictures as of late. Eventually I'll figure out how to make my banner rotate... perhaps make an automobile that runs on water. Oh, and I'm kinda high so...thus this lame cop out post!

I've been looking at shoes and listening to music and the conclusion that I have just arrived at is this: if anyone else in the Chicagoland area buys these before I do, I'm gonna be pissed.

Roomie just made fun of me again for my burgeoning sneaker fetish. I never thought about it this way before, but I think I just might be "sneaker gay". How would one define such a concept? Like, maybe if everything else I'm wearing is standard issue dude attire but my sneakers are just kinda gay (in a fun, stylish way).

Another thought, T was right...Blitzen Trapper is the SHIT!

Speaking of shit...note the new tag. It might pop up with increasing frequency. Mind you, these are NOT things I need, just some shit I want.

THE NEW NEW YORKER

Man, am I glad that day of work is over. Running around the city, drinking with old friends and and staying up much too late really took it out of me this weekend. Thankfully, there was little work that needed to be done today so the balance of Monday was spent reading blogs and various newspapers. A most pleasant surprise greeted me when I checked in on my favorite Chicago photo blog, Looper.

The supremely talented man behind the blog recently choose to leave Chicago (boo!) to fulfill a lifelong dream of his to move to New York City (yay!). In addition to maintaining Looper he also started up a New York photo blog, 24Gotham and, as I discovered today, yet another blog, The New New Yorker. What does this man eat for breakfast? I barely keep one blog up and running, let alone 3!

Check out his various blogs, they are certainly worth your time.

Now I just have one question: is it really common for New Yorkers to use their ovens for storage? If so, I think I'll stay right here in my spacious 2 bedroom Chicago 6 flat...

Oh, and Happy Birthday man!

Off to see the Simpsons Movie!!! (JR, feel free to make fun of me about my excessive use of the exclamation point)!

REACH FOR THE SKY

In lieu of any salacious details of my life (since there really aren't any to speak of at the moment) I thought I'd post some pictures I took last summer. At 678 feet, the Hyatt Center is not the tallest, but it's one of my favorite new additions to the skyline.