Epic Status Photoblog

We went camping at Rock Creek State Park near Kellogg and Newton.

 

 

Ken busted out the slack line to test everyone’s balance.

 

 

 

 

Abe found a pair of “Antlers.”

 

 

 

 

 

Interesting findings along the nature trail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After patiently waiting for them to align at the right moments, these random kids made decent subjects.

 

 

I needed a foreground object to place against the sky colors.  Unfortunately it was chow time and the sun was setting fast.  Ben and Abe became victims of chow face syndrom.

Greatest Hits, Nature, Outdoor, People, Travel

The much acclaimed Halo game franchise has concluded with Halo 3.  Hundreds of stores nationwide opened at midnight on the night of Monday the 24th for pre-sales.  In select larger cities the festivities included store sponsored parties, prize giveaways, and in-store game matches.  Above shows the Halo 3 release line at Game Stop in Urbandale Iowa at 8pm, 4 hours prior to the release.

 

Best Buy Halo 3 line at 8pm on Sept 24th.

 

Zoom forward to 11pm.

 

All kinds of people attended.  One guy brought his cat with, while a highly bearded guy appears to be praying.

 

 

 

Free Red Bull for everyone waiting in line.  It helped everyone stay awake long enough to get some games in before going to sleep.  Well, for those of us that went to sleep this night.

 

 

 

 

 

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This guy that works at ColorFX is a huge asshole.  Can I say that here?  Of course I can.  I don’t like to bust people out, but this is a valid exception.  Anyway, bigshot here is apparently more important than everyone else.  He employed this clever game of making small talk with someone ahead in line then walking in front of them, two or so at a time.  Very slick.  If you’re bigger than this ogre and see him in a dark alley, you know what to do.  

 

 

Hugs 25 Cents

 

Let the journey begin, or end… Halo 3 Trilogy.

Night, Outdoor, People

So it started like this: Minding my own business enjoying my duty free Sunday, I receive a frantic phone call.  It was Richard.  He asks how fast can I get down to the banks of the Des Moines River in West Des Moines.  Realizing my plans for the day didn’t even include a trip outdoors, I was stumped.  Then Richard says “Well dude, me Dion and Kelly are 4-wheeling along the river.  It’s awesome, bring your camera.”  Ok, Ok, I’m there.  No one happens to mention that I can’t get there by car.  I have to ride over a levy, across a highway, and through a mile or two of trails on the back of a 4 wheeler with two bags of gear.  Luckily it was well worth it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Action, Des Moines, Greatest Hits, Outdoor

The Fall for Urbandale festival contained a skate competition at the Urbandale skatepark.  In between taking pictures I got to watch a minute or two of it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Action, Outdoor, People

A good kegger doesn’t always just happen.  Sometimes the right variables are finessed to create better than usual results.  This was one of those times, and with some help from the cold weather, everyone was forced to cram into the house and be more social.  It wasn’t the biggest keg, but what really mattered was everyone had a great time.  Many more came after I couldn’t hold the camera straight anymore.  Sorry, you’ll have to come earlier to get on this bandwagon.

 

 

 

 

I gave a flash to Shuey to experiment with.  He pulled some pranks on people and luckily nothing was damaged in a fit of anger.  If you look around the room, especially at the ceiling, you can see the peach tint from light reflecting off his skin.  He literally nuked the hell out of this guy’s face.

 

 

Enough of that, I’ll hold the flashes myself.

 

 

 

 

 

Waiting in line for the bathroom.  This chick wondered what the hell we were up to.  I wasn’t about to leave my camera laying around so I continued to shoot a couple random shots.  I entertain myself quite well thank you.

 

 

 

 

To smile or not?  The never ending question.

 

 

 

I had crappy shadows all night because I didn’t hold the flash high enough.  It’s honestly not easy holding a heavy camera with one hand and your beer and a flash in the other, while trying to move around the room.

 

Chad came and posed for a money shot.  Uhh, you know what I mean.  He’s trying to push forward in his photography post-processing career.

 

Lucky for me, models tend to show up wherever I go.  On this fine day I didn’t have to deal with any models that aren’t approved.

 

Crazy Joe practiced his disco dancing, I think he’ll win the comp this year.

 

 

 

Des Moines, Night, Parties, People

Tom and Amber wanted some quick portraits of their daughter Summer and son Mason.  I have great respect for photographers who shoot posed children portraits.  This isn’t easy.  We didn’t shoot much because someone needed a nap.  It wasn’t me this time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Outdoor, People

We went camping somewhere other than the Saylorville area this time.  Island Park in Adel Iowa was a great alternative and just as close to Des Moines.  Not to mention it’s right beside Adel, providing easy access to necessities.

 

Bonnie and Josh’s combined children show their superhero strength.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Richard got the rest of us in trouble with our significant others.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In case anyone wonders, my camera takes some good pictures.  Luckily there’s no human intervention needed, it does it’s job then lets me know when it’s done.  Now if I can only teach it to cook for me.  But then again, my pans cook some really tasty food anyway.

 

 

We met this assumably remotely rural lad while he walked through our camp to get to the Raccoon river.  He stood at our camp for a little while, telling us stories about his pa, ma, and other family members.  After we couldn’t stand to hear any more we had to tell him to “run along now.”  Nice kid, if not tear jerkingly boring.  They must not have any neighbors or schools in his area.  The kid sure can hold a fishing pole for a 8-hour shift, let me tell ya.

 

 

Island Park Adel, Electric Sites

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The gals played the game telephone with the kids.  Amusing.

Attractions, Greatest Hits, Nature, Night, Outdoor, Parties, People

More candid street photography from our trip to Chicago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hiking the concrete jungle.

 

 

Help a brother out.

 

 

Spare change, please?

 

 

 

All business…

 

It’s just my job.

 

 

 

 

Street Photography, Travel

Millenium Park: What a great idea.  An all in one park with attractions for people of all ages to do and see, and it’s free.  This park gets utilized, what a concept.  Ahem, attention parks and rec board.  Empty green fields are great for throwing balls around, but why not build something for the rest of us? Any medium sized city should aspire to have parks this lively on their own scale.  Free multifunctional lively outdoor meccas.  Space, function, art, substance.

 

I know I could have gotten some killer shots with all the action here but I was trying to avoid conflict as I had no kids of my own there.  I’m getting used to the photographers role as a terrorist, pervert, and invader of “public privacy.”

 

 

Yes, a horizontal column of water spitting from his mouth.

 

 

 

 

 Cloudgate, aka The bean

 

 

 

 

The concert area (Pritzker Pavilion) is a little overkill, but Chicago is large enough to support it.

 

Travel

 

 

 

 

 

Travel

We officially have a favorite bar in town.  Within the loop area of Chicago there’s a English pub/restaurant called Elephant & Castle.  They have a decent number of imports on tap.  It’s a very relaxed place and with plenty hotels nearby there’s probably as many tourists as locals in here.  We stopped in here to rest our feet a few times during our trip.

 

 

 

 

 

Travel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Travel

Some photos taken during our use of CTA L-Trains in Chicago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was a Hawkeyes game in town.

 

 

 

Fifteen minutes later we were in the lovely (heavy sarcasm) Englewood area of Chicago.  What a moment to remember that was.

Travel

Still in Chicago, we ventured down to the Navy Pier area.  Of the hundreds of “must see” attractions in Chicago, Navy Pier is up there in the top 5 most popular.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our seagull friend visited for a while, we shared some popcorn with him.  I realize it’s no cold mushy worm, but that’s all we had for him.  It turned out he loved the stuff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Greatest Hits, Outdoor, Travel

The Metra train drops all the suburb dwellers off at Union Station in downtown Chicago, IL.  Even for a city known worldwide for amazing architecture, Union Station is still breathtaking to see in person.  These pictures do no justice to it’s scale or beauty.

 

 

Buildings, Travel

Each day we rode the Metra Milwaukee District West Line (Chicago Union Station to Elgin/Big Timber) from the suburb of Itasca into Chicago.  We avoided traffic congestion, outrageous parking fees, and enjoyed the sights of Chicago more.  On the other hand we had to wait for buses/trains, coordinate times for transfers from Metra to CTA L trains, and do tons of walking everywhere between.  To me it’s a toss up as to if it’s better to drive or use mass transit for vacationing in Chicago.  As the third largest city in the United States, getting around town isn’t the simplest of matters no matter what you choose.  If you plan to use buses at all, choose bus stops carefully so you don’t end up waiting on the street in any of the roughest areas of Chicago, as we accidentally did in Englewood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This guy struck up a conversation with me after noticing my camera.  This photo was taken in stealth fashion before we even talked.  He’s from Elgin and works as some form of internet consultant for up and coming businesses.  I had a real hard time grasping the nature of his business, it sounded hard to explain.  Real nice guy though.  Mostly we discussed my photography habit and internet related topics.  

 

 

Don’t worry about me, just taking pictures of the magazine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These poor people have to go to work today.

 

 

 

 

Travel

Now we’re at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.  I didn’t take many photos here, it’s a museum you know.  I was amazed at how my perception has changed since the few times I went here as a child.  This place used to seem at least 5 times bigger than it was this visit.  Surprisingly it hasn’t changed as drastically as I thought it would in all these years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many kids will recognize mom and dad, the TV set.

 

 

 

There are 10 people in the world.  Those that understand binary and those that don’t.  Yes, a room where 1’s and 0’s fly all over the floor and walls.  Geeky, but I can’t say I wouldn’t do this to a room if I had the time.

 

I’ve always been fond of  these simulated old main street exhibits.

 

Travel