Beauty and Brains

Kelly pretty much has it all. 5' 10", alabaster skin (which I think means white), red hair, green eyes, and is wicked smart (she told me what she did but honestly, it went right over my head. . . . . has to do with curing disease or robots or something). We had a great time shooting and she's super cool! She was also an Irish dancer, which inevitably brings up my first high school dance experience where this Irish dancer asked this skinny dork (who shall remain nameless) to the dance.  A few weeks later she was dancing on the Tonight Show and in the movie Backdraft and yadda yadda yadda I never heard from her again! But thats all water near a bridge.

And Seriously,

can she have a more perfect smile???

An Island Off The Coast Of Chicago?

Yes. What once was an airport, is now a wildflower sanctuary that is a stones throw from my family home in Chicago. Notice the stone slabs Blaine is sitting on? Yeah, that was once the runway. Pretty cool if you ask me. Big thanks to our mayor for giving us such a convenient, beautiful and interesting location to shoot at in Chicago! Now back to the shoot. This was Blaine's first test ever! And I must say she rocked! It was freezing cold near the lake yesterday, and she endured the cold and gave me exactly what I was looking for and then some. Some are just naturals in front of the camera. Blaine is one of them.

Calling Me Home

Chicago is. Ever since the aviation gods canceled my flight I've been finding it harder and harder to leave. "Just when I think I'm out, they pull me back in." Quick, name that movie. . . . . My extended stay in Chicago has been filled with work, an interview, play, family and more work. Tonight I'm taking the niece and nephews to a classical music concert in Millennium Park featuring music inspired by classic children's stories. And Friday I hope to shoot a story at Northerly island which I discovered during my bike adventures with Katie pictured in this post. Although, it looks like my travels outside NYC will be coming to a close soon. I have to get back to work on an editorial for this magazine from Argentina, and take care of some business before, yes, I come back to Chicago in August. (You can only stay away for so long). . . . . . . oh, and the answer is "The Godfather".

Karl Karma

So I'm all scheduled to fly back to NYC yesterday, when I get an offer to stick around a few more days to work here in Chicago. I was on the fence about it because I started looking at flights back to NYC around the 4th and they were crazy expensive, not to mention the change of flight fee! So I slept on it, emailed a few people, and decided I couldn't pass up the opportunity even if I wound up breaking even. As I went to change my flight, I saw an email from Jet Blue stating they were canceling my flight, thus no increase in fare cost as well as no cancellation fee. Looks like someone out there made up my mind for me, and saved me $500 in the process! This allowed me to take my niece and nephews to see Transformers today, and the circle of karma continues. . . . . . Above is an out-take from a story I'm workin' on that I shot at the lily pond from the previous post. What a perfect day, with an amazing location and a fantastic team!

Back to Reality, Back To Life

Now that my "staycation" is over, it's time to get to back to reality, which means work, work, and more work, (someones got to pay for those lattes I drink and those kimono's I wear!) I'm shooting a story for this cool pair of stylists who started their own online retail store. I scouted the location on Friday, and we are having a fitting today at 2pm, (that is of course if I'm still awake, see I've been up since 2am, not a great way to start out the week). I wish I could say I'm still jet-lagged from LA, but if you think about it, that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, so I won't even mention it. The location for our shoot is great! This great lily pond up on the northside, above you will find some snapshots. . . . . . . . I never thought that all those hours wandering the streets of Chicago by myself as a child would one day pay off! Unfortunately, many of the coolest spots I know to shoot at in various cities would probably require police protection. Like I told a girl the other day, "Wanna find the seediest parts of any city? Find the nearest photographer and just ask them where the best places are to shoot. You'll get your answer."

Adios Amigos

Today is the day I say goodbye to LA. I've spent a good deal of time at the beach, drinking coffee, and seeing old friends. . . . . . . . oh yeah, and working a bit too. Now it's off to sweet home Chicago, for some family time, a few neighborhood festivals. . . . . . oh yeah, and more work. A huge thank you to my friend Courtney for letting me stay at her apt in Santa Monica!!! What a sweetheart. Here are a few random pictures from my trip. A few notes, the palm tree one is the park I walked thru everyday to get my morning cup of coffee. The rose bush one was just a shot to show how weeds grow out here. The coffee pic is my morning cup from Urth Cafe. The last one is from poolside at The Roosevelt Hotel.