Woodridge Red Sox 2008

There is something comforting about little league baseball. So much of it is intangible. Not like a major league park with the smell of the fresh cut grass and hot dogs, or the sounds of the organ playing with the vendors yelling "beer here". But things like seeing parents working as first base coaches or scorekeepers. And trying to find a spot in the parking lot where you don't think your car will get hit by a foul ball. Or, cheering for that kid who is just awful and seeing him finally get that first hit after 30 strikeouts.

Both of my kids have played little league ball, and Joey was the last to play in 2008. I think it was Bronco league for Woodridge. The season starts in the spring with evening games where the temperatures drop into the 40's by the end of the game, and by the time the season wraps up temps are in the mid 80's. For as much as you have to deal with, these were some of my favorite nights of the year.

I wanted to try to get some nice shots at one of his games. but I didn't want the typical wide shot. It sounds funny, but composing a good shot for sports is really tough. So I asked my sister in law if I could borrow her 70-300mm zoom to get some nice close-up shots. This was my favorite from this game. I love the action in this shot, especially the dirt and stones spraying up from under the base runners legs. Neither of these children are mine. Joey didn't like to slide.

This was made with my Canon Rebel XT and a 70-300mm zoom.

Cloudgate - April 2010

I decided to spend sometime by myself in the city (Chicago) the other day. Just me and my camera... and a few million other people. It was a beautiful day. Temps were in the mid-sixties and not a cloud to be seen. So late in the morning I decided to head downtown. I left my truck at my parents house in Westmont and took the Burlington Northern Metra line in. I haven't been on a train in close to twenty years and wasn't sure what to expect in prices. Surprisingly cheap. The first thing everyone does when they leave union station is look straight up. The Willis Tower looms over the Chicago River like a giant about to take a drink. It's Chicago's biggest celebrity and people like up to take pictures of it. Including me. I walked down Jackson St. heading toward the lake, taking pictures along the way. Interesting architecture, people, or even an occasional store sign. When I got to Michigan Ave. I turned north toward Millennium Park. There was a large crowd assembling at Millennium Park so I stood around for a while to see what was up. A scene for the upcoming movie "Source Code" was being filmed and a portion of the park was closed to the public. After a while I took the long way over to "the bean" to grab some nice reflection shots. Unfortunately they had just shut down that exhibit. So I positioned my self as close as I could get and shot the picture you see here. It didn't occur to me until later that a shot of the sculpture with no one around it is pretty rare. Seems to be a blessing in disguise.

This was shot with my Canon 50D and the 28-135mm is lens at 1/640 sec, f/8, ISO 200 in aperture priority mode. Converted to black and white in Photoshop CS4. Minor adjustments for contrast. Seagull atop removed with clone stamp. Darn seagull!