The 2017 Sandwich Fair

Hello again. It has been quite some time since I've posted and it's time that I get back to it. Every year after Labor Day the Sandwich Fair begins on Wednesday and lasts through Sunday. It's become a tradition for my family to visit every year. We have even created bingo cards for entertainment. I heard one elderly man say to another while sitting on the same bench seen in the image above a day earlier, "sit here for 10 minutes and you'll see everything."

Recent Work

Donkey Basketball

About 10 years ago while surfing the internets looking at winning photojournalism images I came across two weird subjects that I knew I had to photograph sometime in my life. One was amphicars and the other was donkey basketball. I shot the amphicars in 2006 and Wednesday night in Minooka I photographed a donkey basketball game. Neither of them lived up to the hype that I created in my head, but still it was one of the more interesting things I have covered.

Joliet

Joliet is new terrain for me and I need to adjust. I'm not accustomed to the traffic in the area, especially the amount of semitrailers. Catholicism is big tyme here. Those bridges over the Des Plaines River worry me. In Sycamore I had to pay for parking near the courthouse, but a quarter for 15 minutes in downtown Joliet is crazy to me. I mean, other than going to the courthouse, why do visitors go downtown? Also, why were the sidewalks not cleared of snow? I saw people walking down the middle of major roads during rush hour. Nuts. My last gripe is all I have for equipment is a wide-angle zoom lens. Other than that Joliet is great. I've been inundated with planning, scheduling, etc., but my hope is to get out more to meet new people and to experience this new terrain.

 

Leaving DeKalb

Beginning Monday I will be working in Joliet at The Herald-News and I'm excited. For nearly five years I've worked at the Daily Chronicle in DeKalb and it was time to move on. I'm looking forward to a larger and new area to explore.

Sarcophagus

Amenti Haunted House

On Friday I got out of covering football to photograph the haunted house at the Egyptian Theatre in DeKalb. My boss found a slideshow online of scared people at a haunted house and wanted us to do the same. Everything worked out, but I wish I had more time. At 7 p.m. when the house was scheduled to open the fire alarm went off, which delayed the opening for a half an hour. Also, since they only allow so many guests through the house at a time I only had the opportunity to photograph nine groups before I had to leave to make deadline.

Mantis

I saw this mantis at the office today. It moved to look at me as soon as it heard the shutter. I like bugs.

Gun.Smoke and Horses

 

There is a week or so long event in DeKalb called the Kishwaukee Fest. I don't completely understand it because there are some festivals in the area that have been taking place for years and now they are combined into this new fest. Saturday the Northern Illinois Outlaws rode horses and shot guns at balloon targets. Someone was explaining how the .45 Colts work and I just kept thinking about Red Dead Redemption and how Marston was done wrong. Apparently there is going to be a sequel or a prequel. Anyway these folks are serious and boy they like guns. Gun.Smoke on the NES was good too.

 

Turkey Vulture

Nearly ten years ago while traveling through Missouri on a road trip I saw a turkey vulture for the first time. Since then I see them everywhere in northern Illinois. I am fascinated by turkey vultures because they remind me of dinosaurs. I also like to pretend they are thunder birds flying way up high looking for children to carry away. Anyway, I called up a local animal rehabilitation center and the director there confirmed that yes indeed turkey vultures are fairly new to the area. I then stopped by the center to get some up-close images and I almost got more than I bargained for. At one point during my visit, Vinny, a 23-year-old turkey vulture, and I were left alone in his enclosure and he hopped down from his perch and started biting my shoes and pants. I thought "oh great, this damn bird is going to bite me with it's bacteria filled mouth and I'll have to go to the hospital and endure a series of painful injections." Well I climbed up to higher ground and just kept lifting my feet. When I was finally rescued I learned Vinny just wanted my shoe laces.