Best Shot Monday--Happy Father's Day

In honor of Father's Day, which was yesterday, here's a photo of Ted playing the drums at the Rogers Park Artists of the Wall Festival yesterday. What a hottie!

Hey, Lore--How About THIS Wedding Cake?!

Ted's sister Lauren (his only sister of his 4 siblings, I might add) is getting married to her sweet and handsome Bostwanian Swede Douglas in August. She's asked me to be the photographer for the big event, and before you think she's crazy for asking an amateur like me (Let's face it, guys. Y'all are really sweet to me, but that's what I am. Have you ever been on Flickr?), you have to know Lore. She's a simple gal who wants a simple wedding and who prefers things more spontaneous and informal. I think I can handle that.

Don't get me wrong. To some degree, I'm shaking in my crocs. Which is why I'm trying to do as much preparation as possible before the big day. I'm taking this assignment seriously, and I think my first step is going to be to ask beg our sister-in-law Ali in Seattle for help. She's a film photographer with a great eye and so much more experience than me. I think it would be pretty stupid to have just one photographer. Even I had two at my little backyard wedding (Ali and my friend Teal Pheal).

I've actually shot two weddings (as the backup photographer, of course) with my point-and-shoots a while back. The first one was a disaster because it was entirely indoors under artificial lighting, and my camera only went up to an ISO400. DisASTER. Thank GOD they had an AWESOME and PROFESSIONAL REAL photographer (who was probably giggling behind my back at my little coolpix). The 2nd wedding was for my friends Caleb and Kathy, who also had an awesome primary photographer. That wedding was an early wedding with lots of natural light, so I fared better at that one, and if I'd actually had an SLR, I'd have to say the photos would have been kick-ass.

In addition to asking Ali for help, I've taken another step towards being a better faux-real photographer. I got myself another SLR body. Yes, I done gone out and bought me a used D50, just so I could use my 50mm f/1.8 lens without having to manually focus. I suppose I could've put that lens on my film SLR, but do you have any idea what a friggin' nervous wreck I'd be wondering how the photos were coming out? Yeah. Not my cup of tea. Besides. If you're gonna shoot a wedding, you gotta have two bodies so you don't have to keep switching out your lenses. Right? And look at that photo above, which I took w/ the D50 and the 50mm lens. No postprocessing here. That is all natural blur, folks. And dirt. All natural dirt on them footsies.

I'm also actually going to look at books about photographing weddings. In case you didn't know, wedding photography is a huge industry now. Wedding photojournalism has especially gotten popular. People don't want just canned posed photos of their weddings any more. They want flippin' ART. I hear there are a few good books on the subject that may give me ideas and hopefully the technical know-how to execute those ideas.

I plan on shooting in RAW format to be on the safe side so that I can make corrections if need be in post process. I don't do a lot of post processing, considering up until I discovered Picasa, I only used Microsoft Photoeditor for making changes and corrections to my photos. I'm pretty scared of Photoshop. I tried it for a month and just couldn't get comfortable with it. So I've been seeing a lot of Flickrites using Lightroom, which is definitely cheaper than Photoshop, and I'm thinking I might try it out and see if I like it. My friend Lori has been using it a lot, and I love the results she's getting. Of course, she has Photoshop experience, so I may not get the same results…

So yeah. I'm taking this pretty seriously, as I should, it being a once-in-a-lifetime event and all. It's also my wedding present for Lauren and Doug, so I want it to be as good as possible. This is no time to be hiding behind pseudoartistic pride or punk rawk stubbornness, if you know what I mean. I figure I have two months to practice and learn all I can.

Those of you experienced in wedding photography, if you have any pointers, now would be the time to speak up. Even if you've never posted a comment on here before, this would be the time to delurk. I will be most grateful!

One last thing. What shoes should I wear?

Three Thoughts Thursday #5

#1— This has been a beautiful week weatherwise in Chicago (although we could use some rain soon, I'm sure). We live about a mile from the lake, and I've been there with Cadence a few times this past week. I was reminded again just how beautiful it is to live by a big body of water like Lake Michigan. I know I rave about summers in Seattle, but when you think about it, summers in Chicago are pretty damn nice too.

I know that we don't live by the BIGGEST of the Great Lakes, but it still looks like an ocean to me. You can't help but be filled with a sense of awe while looking out on the vast waters beneath a huge endless sky. I just don't get tired of this. Ever.

#2—Something I wonder and worry about every 3 days or so is where, when and how to send Cadence to school. Ted and I have seriously considered homeschooling, cuz let's face it—Chicago Public Schools are not exactly stellar. But lately, Cadence has shown an interest in going to school. She's run into kids from a nearby preschool at a local playground, and she really seems to want to be a part of that whole scene. I guess playing with an entire group of people her own size is more appealing than same old boring mom and dad. So I guess we are open to the idea of sending her to school. Lord knows Ted could probably use the break. And now we have to ask ourselves when we think a good time would be to enroll her. And considering most schools require that you apply a good 6-9 months in advance, we may need to decide WHERE to send her sooner than we'd like.

Part of it will depend on the luck of the draw, literally, as I hear the best public schools in the city have a pretty competitive lottery system of admission. I've thought about packing up the family and moving into the neighborhood of certain schools so that we'd have a better chance of getting in. But I'd hate to go through all that trouble and end up not getting in at all.

I feel like so much of public education in the last decade has focused a ridiculous amount of time on testing, which I think is stupid and a waste of taxpayer dollars. I was surprised to find that an increasing number of schools have done away with recess. I don’t want Cadence to be stuck in a learning environment where she's forced to fill in an endless array of bubbles with a #2 pencil day after day. That's not what I call learning. That's what I call mind-numbing, brain-cell-annihilating exercise in futility.

#3—Lately, I've been thinking that it would be nice to have a large family. I'm actually a big supporter of folks who choose to have only one child. In the U.S., having just one kid has the environmental impact of having maybe 30 kids or more in certain parts of the developing world. This is something I actually have thought about a lot. On the other hand, I've ALWAYS wanted to be in a big family, and I really enjoy the dynamics among Ted and his siblings. Cadence is such a social kid that I think she's really going to give us a hard time if we don't provide her with some siblings. Now don't jump to the conclusion that Ted and I are gonna get busy for a #2 anytime soon. Adding another family member would be a significant change to the current family environment, and we need to think about this more. I know some of you are laughing at me, but dude…Cadence is a flippin' handful…A very cute, sweet and charming handful, but still…Maybe what she needs is a lot of cousins…

No, Really. I'm Here For the Music.

So on Sunday, our little family did something we've never done before--as individuals OR as a family. We went to Chicago's North Center Ribfest. Now, you may not think anything of it, but you have to understand that we're not really a rib-eating family, unless it's Korean Kalbi. Fortunately, there was a lot more than ribs going on at this festival.

Some people were apparently there for the free goodies.

Some people were there to sit around and enjoy a cig or two or three dozen.

I'm sure others were there for the drunken debauchery that is sure to ensue at events such as this one.

Other folks just wanted to chill out.

Still other were there to be cooler than thou.

But me?

I was there for the Rock 'n' Roll, baby! Like, DUH!

The Chamber Strings, whose recent reunion and old and new material have garnered much press and praise, were totally f*cking awesome.

Their songs are chock full of devastating beauty. You know--the kind of beauty that can silence a room and make your jaw drop and bring you to your knees as you thank God in heaven for being graced with that moment. Okay, maybe I exaggerate. But maybe not. You can find out for yourselves here, or check them out @ the Abbey Pub on Friday July 13th when they play with the marching band sensation Mucca Pazza (another Satellite band!). If I weren't going to Pitchfork Festival that night, I'd be there for sure. Heck, I may still try and make it.

You can see all my photos of the Chamber Strings from Ribfest here. Some of my favorite live music shots, I have to say...

I would've been totally happy to see just the Chamber Strings that night, but no...We were also treated to the retro pop yumminess of Chicago's superband Baby Teeth. I haven't seen these guys play since 2004. And they've come a long way since then, let me tell ya.

My friend Jim plays bass in Baby Teeth. It's a much different role for him than his other gig as the frontman of the Detholz!. Kinda like the difference between being an earthling and Klingon, I would imagine.

Baby Teeth shows are a great place for a first date. Their music is such that your date won't be able to keep himself/herself from dancing. And chances are, if they start dancing with you, you'll get to hold his/her hand. And the rest could be history.

If you don't live in Chicago but on the East Coast, you're in luck, as Baby Teeth will be doing their EC Tour the end of June through mid-July. Check out their shows page for more details.

And see more Baby Teeth photos here.

Cadence totally loved all the music and the crowds. She was dancing with herself and running around and charming everyone within visual range and having a grand ol' time.

Heck, even Ted thought the music was great, which is saying A LOT considering that most bands these days bore him to tears.

Anyhoo, the rest of the photos from ribfest are here. Good times, good times.

Tell Another Joke At the Ol' Choppin' Block

We had our first chance to taste the fruits of our labor this weekend with the first delivery through our CSA, Scotch Hill Farm. Oh, the yumminess! It really DOES make a difference to eat produce that's been locally grown and freshly picked.

And just in time for our first CSA delivery, I took a knife skills class with Dave and Becki at The Chopping Block Cooking School in Lincoln Square. It's no secret that I am a disaster in the kitchen and in need of some serious help. I can't tell you what a source of shame and embarrassment this is for me, considering Ted comes from a family that has some mad kitchen skillz. One of the things we want to do w/ our CSA delivery (which we're sharing w/ Dave and Becki) is to cook a meal together regularly with our goods. Sort of like Slowfood, I guess.

I wish I could say that the knife skills class bestowed on me some actual knife skills. Unfortunately, the muscle memory apparently can only kick in if you actually use the muscles involved in the skills. That would mean lots of practice for me.

I foresee a lot of stir-fry in our future...