Palette of Poppies

This past weekend I attended a graduation party of one of the high school seniors I photographed and while I was on the way, I stopped at the Chicago Botanical Gardens. I'm embarrassed to say that I had never been there before (PLEASE don't spread that around!).

Well, I now have some dates plugged into next year's schedule to get down there for the 7:00 a.m. opening because it's a place that's NOT TO BE MISSED. (There, I yelled at myself for not going there sooner!)

While it was a cool, windy day, the gardens were alive with all kinds of color, but the poppies took the show. They were in full bloom and everyone was standing around enjoying this palette of color. Cameras were clicking with parents photographing their kids and admirers trying to capture the beauty of the color, so I had to add my two cents.

Since is was 1:00 p.m. and bright daylight, I decided to make a multiple exposure to blend all that color together. Some experimentation with a few exposures and I started to feel the emotion behind the process. Then I got the high sign from my fellow party goers that it was time to hit the road.

It felt great to try something I don't usually do, just for the heck of it. A little "what if" is always good for any photo shoot because it teaches me to take chances, experiment, fail and then eventually succeed.

Walking the Dogs

First, a huge Thank You to all the military folks that think of others before themselves! I missed saying that yesterday, but it includes one nephew that is just starting his tour in Afghanistan and another nephew who served two tours in Iraq.


Saturday found me traveling out to a home with 3 dogs and a one year old. Lisa, besides her husband Chris and son, Tucker, has 2 Pit Bulls and 1 Rottweiler - all rescue dogs - living with her. It was a hospitable bunch, or should I say, pack, of dogs that greeted me and gave me some fun images. They all have their own personalities and jobs in the family.

Weather was warm and humid but they got them all ready for a walk. Now walking 3 dogs can be tricky - that's why I stopped at 2. But Lisa & Chris got them all hooked up and Tucker was "tucked" into his stroller and off we went. Spanky, the alpha dog, was sporting his pulling harness and he towed Bulldozer, who suffers from some arthritis. Bulldozer absolutely LOVES to sit in his red wagon and be pulled, and Spanky loves to provide the muscle. Bulldozer kind of looked like Cleopatra and her servants! Bear, he just strutted his stuff with the rest of them. Pretty cool - you only needed to hold 2 leashes instead of 3!

After we got back, Chris pulls out his skateboard and Spanky gets a little more exercise giving Chris a ride. Go Spanky, Go!