Roadside Cafe

I am often driving on long roadtrips.  Sometimes I'm heading to or from photoshots, and sometimes I'm just out to find some amazing things to explore and photograph.  On a recent trip from Chicago to New York, I stopped at the Roadside Cafe and Creamery outside of Falls Creek, Pennsylvania.  There were so many fun things to see and shoot here.  If I had more time I would have stayed to play a round of miniature golf, or played with a small herd of goats.  Time being a factor as it often is, I only stayed for a half an hour or so, but that was plenty of time to see some amazing pieces of roadside kitsch.  Enjoy.

Gloomy Day on the Lake

I recently went exploring around my new city of Chicago.  It was an overcast gloomy day but there was some texture in the sky.  I stopped by a little boat launch area into Lake Michigan and was really struck by the way the grey sky interacted with the surprisingly blue water.

CDC Quit Smoking

I am so excited to share these images I shot for Golin Harris and the CDC for their quitting smoking campaign.  The campaign featured portraits and interviews with former smokers and non-smokers who have been affected by second hand smoke.  I was never a smoker myself, but meeting all of these people and hearing their stories made me that much more adamantly anti-smoking.  I have urged and continue to urge all my friends and family (anyone for that matter) who still smoke to please quit.

Here is a little bit about each of the people I photographed.

-Bill mixed smoking with diabetes and was forced to have his leg amputated.
-Jameson developed asthma triggered by second hand smoke at the age of 16.
-Michael was diagnosed with COPD at age 44.  He had to have part of his lungs removed.
-Nathan worked in a casino for years and developed severe asthma caused by the second hand smoke.
-Terrie was diagnosed with oral and throat cancer at age 40 and had her larynx removed.

Each of these individuals has a harrowing story about what smoking and cigarette smoke has done to alter their lives forever.  Please visit the CDC website to read more about each of their stories, as well as several others.

One Eyeland Photographer of the week. Again!

I'm proud to be One Eyeland's photographer of the week once again.  Click on my image of the single tree on a snowy road and check out the other work I have on the site.

3 Feet High And Rising

This spring and early summer has been an extremely wet one in Illinois.  As the flood waters rose closer, there was no excitement for the new waterfront property.  Luckily the waters receded.

Land Between the Lakes

On the border of Kentucky and Tennessee is a fantastic place called The Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area.  It is well worth exploring if you have a few days.  In the center of it, just on the Tennessee side is a working 19th century farm known as the Homeplace.  It is like stepping back in time.  It actually made me want to live a more rural lifestyle.  Maybe someday, we'll see.

Hatfield McCoy EP Shoot

The new EP by DC based Hatfield McCoy was just released on iTunes.  I had a great time working with all the guys in the band shooting images for the album jacket.  We took the band out to an old lock house on the canal running adjacent to the Potomac River.  We shot in and around the house and down by the river's edge.  Here are a few of my favorites from the shoot.