Nathanael Vitkus Photography

Chicago/Evanston (part 2)

2011-12-19T21:40:00.000-06:00

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This house strikes me as something inspired by Tim Burton

A Benz in the driveway, and a cool house to boot! iLike!

Very interesting use of brick

There are many clever tags/graffiti pieces in Chicago, you just have to keep your eyes peeled.

A neat fountain comprised mostly of cherubs and sandhill cranes

AZ car in IL, it shows no signs of winter damage...yet

Same goes for this GA car...no winter damage, yet.

And off to Evanston to meet up with Rev. Charlie!

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Chicago/Evanston (part 1)

2011-12-19T21:35:00.001-06:00

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this site needs some [isolated] color!

2011-11-27T15:40:00.001-06:00

So I picked up a copy of Lightroom not too long ago, and I absolutely enjoy editing my photos with this software. One of my favorite aspects of it is there are plenty of presets, essentially filters for photos, and it can make some of my good photos even gooder!
Here are some, but what I've done is used presets that isolate a single color.

Enjoy!

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Chicago edited

2011-11-14T14:14:00.001-06:00

I recently got a copy of Lightroom and by far it is a fun and enjoyable and easy to use piece of photo editing software! iLike!

Here's some photos from Chicago from last year at about this time...enjoy!

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I love the outdoors

2011-11-10T14:36:00.000-06:00

Here's a themed post: Outdoorsy! I love the outdoors and here are some recent photos of autumn in my area, enjoy!

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some more photos

2011-11-09T12:10:00.000-06:00

I don't have a theme going at this time, but I do like showing off my photos...enjoy!

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Some randoms

2011-11-08T22:44:00.003-06:00

Hi all...who come here to see my photos.

It's been a while since I've posted, but I'm still photographing as a hobby...so enjoy!

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Louche Puce Market 8/13/11 (photos)

2011-08-14T00:12:00.001-05:00

The Louche Puce/Flea Market returned to my town today! Not many vendors, but plenty of people...

Here are some photos, enjoy!

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Reminds me of my typewriter; a turquoise one that was made in East Germany

This took up a third of the guy's table!

A Brownie camera! :)

I like the juxtaposition of these two items

Some old Hippie dresses

I think I liked this person's wares best...

I love this movie, it is very trippy...without even taking any drugs, heck yeah!

Hey!!! ;)

I pity the fool!

I can't wait for this catch on

I watched a lot of this show in my youth

Word of advice; never take a sidekick whose name means STUPID

Very pretty

I dig blue glass a lot, and if I recall correctly they used to add copper to the basic glass mix to get the blue shade

Very detailed

Are YOU experienced?

I go through a similar checklist before I drive:
Kleenex? Check!
Alligator Head? Check!

If you like 'em, rec 'em please :)

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What does it mean to act my age? (Poetry)

2011-06-17T11:50:00.000-05:00

What does it mean to act my age?
Do I get the wife and make the kids
Do I do what my parents did
Do I buy into the American dream,
or as I see it the American scheme
If the 20s is the new adolescence
am I not clear, am I not making sense?
If I'm reading Rolling Stone and not Wall Street
If I'm walking tall but not on my own feet
If I feed and commune with the homeless, the down and out
if I give into hope, peace, grace and love...but not my doubt
am I acting my age?
Should I have the 401K
the, live-the-good-life and have-a-good-day
but life isn't a tidy little McDonalds package
its life, for better or worse, carryon and baggage
it's hardly about what I want or what I need
yet some are led to believe it's about greed
so do I need the extra car, house or boat
do I need these things to stay afloat
if by this it, am I acting my age?
where I'm locked up in a cage
working for 50 years to then retire
but only to remain stuck in the mire
to go to church and listen to God only Sundays
to curse his name when life sucks on Mondays
My generation strives for the almighty dollar
we're slaves to our white and blue collars
when we're successful is that enough
when we're in debt but we've got the stuff
is that what it means to act my age?
But here's what I think, I know and I believe
these external trappings only deceive
the world doesn't revolve around you or me
it's not about settling down or mediocrity
it's about living life, and living for others
treating everyone as sisters and brothers
learning to love, to share, to bring peace and restoration
to care for one another, to help end disease and starvation
to bring about God's kingdom as it was at creation...

by doing so, I act upon God's word and work and necessarily my own age.

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Louche Puce Market (photos)

2011-06-13T11:42:00.000-05:00

My hometown of Aurora IL is doing what they can to be more hipster/rootsy/eclectic/artsy-fartsy in my opinion. For people my age who don't intend to live here forever it's "too much and too late" but still I've been enjoying these events such as the Aurora Art Walk but the other day was the inaugural Louche Puce Market, there'll be a few more this year and since I took photos they'll give me a discount to get rid sell my crap oddities!

On to the photos, enjoy!

My favorite thing! A dobro, it didn't sell...but I'll buy it if I have the dough next time around! A guy at my church will teach me how to play, yay! (what it sounds like)

My 2nd fav thing at the flea market; a 13 year old black bear skull! Wow!

Lawyer trophy

Apart from them being old[er] boardgames, I like the typography!

They had these things, records I think they're called? They kinda look like big black CDs to me...*sarcasm*

These were cool, not my thing but I do like the colours!

Old IL license plates, 3 bucks per.

By far my favorite Far Side comic strip

Tape cassettes anyone?

Check out these crazy custom rubber duckies!

Another "big black CD"

Wayne was one of the friendliest people there. Giving away free yo yos with a smile, what a pal!

Lastly, cheers y'all regardless of what language you speak!

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Happy 161st day of the year! (photographs)

2011-06-10T08:19:00.004-05:00

Happy 161st day of the year!

Enjoy!

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Aurora Artwalk 5 (photography)

2011-06-08T11:48:00.000-05:00

My hometown of Aurora IL is doing what they can to be more artsy, and so for close to 3 years now they've been having an event called Aurora Artwalk; essentially different artists can show off as well as sell their art, live music, free wine and good times are had. If I'm local come October, I'll be showing off my photography...so here are some photos from that event, enjoy!

You could make free monoblock prints

Oh look, mine!

Some wares made by women in Thailand, who are leaving/have left the sex trade and are doing something more sustainable. The ministry this is connected to is led up by my best friend's father-in-law.

One of my favorite local artists! A good deal of her art is up on display at one of my churches.

[he]artwork, my favorite piece

A drum circle held in my friend's recording studio

Art? You decide...

If I had time for another hobby, I think I would get into screenprinting

This art reminds me so much Picasso's cubist period

My bro on the right, the best 'stache we came across that night on the left

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Concert at Millennium [Falcon] Park!

2011-06-08T11:46:00.000-05:00

Hehe!

Iron and Wine as well as The Head and The Heart performed a free show in Chicago. A few friends and I went, it was packed like no other! Still I ran into 5 people I know, mostly friends from my alma mater and a few church peeps...on to the photos! Enjoy!

Yes, I am photographing someone photographing me Because I can!

I was about 12 rows from the stage, so I was able to sneak out from my row and take closer/better photos! I did it at a good time because the security was lax and friendly...well as friendly as security officers are!

and lastly, some guy who kept wanting his photo to be taken!

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Starved Rock photos 2

2011-06-04T11:51:00.000-05:00

So yeah, waterfalls...fun to swim in, I mean "accidentally fall in for a while" We all enjoyed that experience!

Swimming under this waterfall = winning

The one that got away

If you like them, 'rec them please

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Sun it rises/Starved Rock photos (part 1)

2011-05-31T11:53:00.000-05:00

So randomly Sunday night I was invited to go to Starved Rock for hiking and catching the sunrise. At 415am in the morning, to which my morning started at 350am. It was fun and I look forward to doing another day of hiking out there that early, but not necessarily next weekend! It was an absolutely gorgeous day for hiking, so enjoy my view from the camera lens!

Well we got the time wrong as to when the sun would be rising, so we pulled off to the side of the road and took our photos there...

Hitting the trail

Due to a lot of rain as of late, the lower parking lot was flooded...

This was awesome; pelicans fly through IL every once in a while, I think they head back to TX or FL, but I haven't seen any in my area...until now!

I just like the texture

There were a lot of mini waterfalls and such, but in this case I didn't want to focus on one of the mini waterfalls

I don't like it when people etch their name into nature, it's kind of ridiculous. Yet these etchings seem like runes to me.

I like the bokeh in the background AND the beads of water illuminated by the sun

Is that another waterfall? Maybe

but more photos of said waterfall will have to be in the next batch!

To be continued!

If you like these, rec them please!

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How big is your God?

2011-05-23T11:55:00.000-05:00

Recently I found out that my friend and his wife have been trying some time now to have children, but the diagnosis they've been given is that they have infertility issues. Hearing that started the waterworks (yes I am a guy who cries from time to time) and it got me to thinking; should I get angry at God for this or should I pray about it?

So I've started praying for my friend and his wife today, my prayer is that if it is God's will that the wife gets pregnant. I don't have a problem praying for this and yet I know there might be some followers of Christ who give me flak; if she's already been given a diagnosis of infertility, why pray for that?

Here's the thing to skeptics, Christians and others; God is bigger than you can imagine if you don't contain him (but even then he is bigger still).

This:

Used to be the box I contained God in; it's where the safe, the comfortable, the easygoing, the "family friendly" and whatever I couldn't take care of on my own. He was in here because I put him in here.

But as I've put God back in his rightful place he's bigger than I could ever had imagined when he was wrapped up in a nice and tidy box...

Thing is, God is everywhere and there have been times where I feel his presence where some people dare not go to. I felt God's presence at the Gay Pride Parade in Chicago as my friends and I took time to say I'm Sorry to the individuals around us letting them know that there's a place for you in the church and that God loves them and so do we.
I sense God's presence when I'm involved with interfaith activities where I'm dialoguing with Muslims, Jews, Christians, Ba'Hai, etc.
God is in our midst and yet it is easy to make him manageable and compact.

Then there's this scenario with how we treat God:

God is Mr. Potato Head and we give him the accessories to make him more like us. God is transcendent from our standards and we cannot place our wills upon him.
I like what Anne Lamott said; "You can tell you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do". It's a reason why Fred Phelps and the people who make up Westboro Baptist Church get to me, they have made God out to be this LGBT hating, soldier hating, actor hating God of hate who absolutely despises EVERYTHING...except for the members of Westboro Baptist Church!
The God they've made for themselves is really small, and if my concept of God doesn't convict me to love them than my God is pretty small too.

So if God is in fact a God I can't contain, a God who is larger than I can imagine it means that THAT God can handle and if it is his will to answer my prayer because it is only BIG to me.

That is how BIG my God is.

~Nathanael~

Be blessed and continue to bless others: my benediction to others

2011-05-20T11:56:00.000-05:00

Often I find myself blessing others and primarily my benediction/blessing goes as follows:

Be blessed and continue to bless others

My blessing for others to be blessed and to continue to bless others isn't passed on to only other followers of Christ but to everyone; in some way, every one is capable of blessing others and being blessed, even if they're the "bad guy" no one else likes, God is capable of working within their life for His glory!

Christians and Americans aren't the only one whom God pours out goodness upon, it gets under my skin when I see signs/bumper stickers/etc. saying God Bless America because it makes God small and manageable, but it also seems like it is saying God Bless America...and no one else! God doesn't operate on our standards and what we think of him, he's not a "Potato Head" guy whom we can add accessories to make Him in our own image, on the contrary, we are made in HIS image.

I have been involved with my local PFLAG and also some interfaith activities within my comm(unity) and I see God moving through our midst and definitely blessing others who might be outside the realm of the Christian belief system. God is everywhere and as a followers of Christ he asks us to engage whatever particular culture, granted not as someone who'll partake in some areas (chill with drug users, don't use the drugs).

As a follower of Christ who is a Red Letter Christian it's my job to love on other people, to let them know they are blessed and loved by God, to engage and share the Gospel message at all times and use words when necessary (to paraphrase St. Francis of Assisi). I know some people might think, "well aren't we supposed to tell people if they're not followers of Christ they're going to Hell?" I do think this message needs to be shared, but I think that if we love on them we can get to that point, I like what Billy Graham once said:
"it’s the Holy Spirit’s job to convict, it’s God’s job to judge, and it’s my job to love."

With that being said, to you my Xangamigos: Be blessed and continue to bless others!
~Nathanael~

Memento Mori (Cemetery photos)

2011-05-18T11:58:00.000-05:00

Memento Mori is one of my favorite phrases in Latin, it translates to mean two things: 1) Remember you will die and 2) Remember your mortality. With that being said I do remember how short life is and occasionally I remember life in death in a more tangible way by way of visiting cemeteries.
Some people might not like them, but I do, and I enjoy taking photos of tombstones and such...hence this post.

Enjoy!

This one was cool because even tho faded the guy who passed away was a soldier in the Civil War!

This was atop one of the tombstones

Keeping out or keeping in?

I'm clearly from the Midwest

~Nathanael~

First car show of the season!

2011-05-16T12:00:00.000-05:00

I love car shows, they are my drug of choice and this one marks the first one of the season as well as the first one with my Canon T3i. They are edited, but I'm okay with post-photo editing nowadays, for a while I wasn't but...yeah, I'm rambling.

Car photos, enjoy!

I like the rat rod/flat black look

Rat Fink awesomeness

Ornaments of a bygone era, man they sure don't make them like they used to...

Rear engine AND American muscle, Detomaso Pantera!

The new Camaro looks gorgeous in this color!

Now I like the simplistic nuts n' bolts feel to this ride

Looks like it can hold its own as well!

Orange you glad I posted these photos?

Last but not least ('37 Coupe with a LSx swap!)

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Abstract Car Art (My photos & CS4)

2010-09-08T08:29:00.000-05:00

I actually wish I could draw like this...

Click here for more.

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Geneva Concours D'Elegance Batch 1

2010-09-08T08:14:00.001-05:00

Photos from the Geneva Concours D'Elegance

Click here

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Some photos with a Sepia hue

2010-09-08T08:04:00.001-05:00

Some photos were taken in Sepia and some were edited. Still I enjoy them all, I hope you do as well :)

Click here

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Labor Day in Photos

2010-09-08T07:57:00.002-05:00

Here's a series of photos I took this past Labor Day weekend, enjoy!

Click here

Bugatti Veyron!

2010-07-28T14:36:00.001-05:00

So I came across my second Bugatti Veyron, same place as the first but this car...this car is just gorgeous, anyone want to buy it for me? Only 1.5 million.

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I didn't bring my camera

2010-06-30T11:39:00.003-05:00

but here are some photos from The Marian Foundation of us at the Gay Pride Parade in Chicago:

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A Lamborghini Superleggera in my neighborhood

2010-06-26T23:21:00.002-05:00

So at the local bank, one of the [wealthier] bankers has a ride worth showing off...

click for more photos

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Back to Chicago 2

2010-01-21T09:30:00.002-06:00

Some more photos from my time in Chicago.

Click for more photos

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Back to Chicago 1

2010-01-21T09:28:00.002-06:00

I went back to Chicago, this time with my pastor's son, who is also big into photography.

Click here for more photos

Cemetery photos

2010-01-05T11:40:00.002-06:00

I love walking through cemeteries and taking photos of tombstones, crosses, etc. from within. Some might think it's morbid, but I think it is peaceful.

Click for more photos

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Churches and related part 2

2010-01-05T11:32:00.001-06:00

Some more photos from the churches I visited...

Click for more photos

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Churches and related part 1

2010-01-05T11:19:00.002-06:00

I took some photos of churches in my area, enjoy!

Click here for more photos

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Variances on 1 photo: leaf

2010-01-05T11:11:00.001-06:00

I hardly edit my photos except for reducing the size of the photo itself, but I messed around with Picasa and came up with these.

Click for more photos

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Another path walked...

2010-01-05T11:09:00.001-06:00

Here are some photos from a walk I took..when the weather was definitely nice[r]!

Click for more photos

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Odds and Ends: Aurora Edition 2

2009-11-29T16:07:00.002-06:00

Went for a walk along the Fox River/VL Gilman Trail, it was relaxing to get outdoors. I could do without the foul smells of the factory I passed, but I had to take a few photos -- it's my job! ;)

Click for more photographs

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Road Rainbows

2009-11-29T15:59:00.003-06:00

Road Rainbows are essentially created by fluids that are a car has lost, they're brought out by rain and while pretty, they're not from an environmental standpoint.

Click for more photos

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Odds and Ends: I am a foodie!

2009-11-29T15:55:00.002-06:00

I am a foodie; I love to try different things food-wise, and my opinion is that I will try EVERYTHING that's presented to me, if I don't like it, I don't need to have seconds! ;)

Click for more photos

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Fabyan Parkway, Villa, etc

2009-11-29T15:32:00.002-06:00

I went out to Fabyan Parkway and Villa to take photos with my friend Nathan, it was fun and it also made number 6 of house/buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright! :)

Part 1
Part 2

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Odds and Ends: Oakhurst Edition

2009-11-29T15:22:00.002-06:00

I was walking around Oakhurst not too long ago and took these photos. I like going there, another good-any-season kinda places that is in my area.

Click for more photos

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All of my cameras

2009-11-29T15:08:00.002-06:00

Apart from taking photographs I also have started collecting cameras; film ones, weird ones, nostalgic ones, et al. I like cameras what can you say? ;)

Click for more photos

This camera is actually my grandfather's, so it's the oldest camera I have at this time.

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Walking around Oswego

2009-11-29T15:07:00.002-06:00

I went on a walk around the Oswego area near the Fox River, here are my photos from that adventure.
Click for more photos

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Red Oak Nature Center

2009-11-15T22:55:00.002-06:00

I was at Red Oak Nature Center the other day, to me it is chockful of childhood memories and now it serves as one of my favorite places to photograph all year round.

Caught some fire photo action since they were having control burns for the wild and prairie grasses in IL.

Click for more photographs

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Photos from the inside

2009-11-13T22:20:00.002-06:00

I had the flu not too long ago, and during my recover time, when I wasn't drinking fluids or napping like a cat, I took photos from the inside of my house. Some of it was based on requests from my "fan site" and some of it was just me.

Click for more photographs

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Autumn Edited

2009-11-13T22:12:00.002-06:00

I hardly edit my photographs outside of in-camera changes and cropping their sizes down for you the viewer to enjoy. Yet I decided to mess around with some photos I took with Picasa, enjoy!

Click to see more photographs

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Wonderful Sunday Weather

2009-11-13T22:06:00.003-06:00

Last Sunday I spent part of my time with my extended church family; did some biking, some photography and enjoyed 70 degree weather in IL. When November rolls around in IL, it hardly gets this warm, I enjoyed the weather and I enjoyed my time with my church family.

I also added some random fun ones; stage blood and vampire teeth, hehe :)

click for more photographs

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Photoshoot with a friend

2009-11-13T21:49:00.001-06:00

A lot of the time I go out and take photographs on my own, but sometimes when the opportunity to take photos with someone is there, I seize it! I took these with my friend Maria.
click for more photos

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Some photos from Morton Arboretum

2009-10-26T09:12:00.002-05:00

2 weeks ago (when it was still nice out) my mom and I went to the Morton Arboretum. If you live in the IL area, you have to go! :) I enjoy going there when everything is coming to life (Spring) and when the leaves are falling (Autumn), so here are some Phall Photos from the Morton Arboretum. Enjoy!

Click for more photos

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Autumn Photos

2009-10-20T00:24:00.003-05:00

I finally ventured out to take some Autumn photos; between work and life, I really haven't had the time to take awesome photos of the leaves changing colors. Yet I made time for it over this past weekend. The weather was gorgeous so it made for a better time outdoors.
Click to view more photos

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Odds and Ends: Aurora Edition 1

2009-09-09T19:18:00.002-05:00

So it's 9/9/09, yay for interesting dates such as this one! Here's a compilation of photos from within the Aurora area (my current hometown), most of them I took alone but a few were with a guy I know who likes photography as much as I do :) Go Nathan! If he ever photo blogs, I will definitely link his site to mine, but until then you'll just have to view the photos I take ;)

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Click for more photos

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Spending time with our friends

2009-09-08T17:13:00.003-05:00

After the race we headed to our friends home. We knew them back when they were in IL, but it seems to me that we've spent more time with them on our ventures into Wisconsin instead of when they were on the other side of town. Regardless of that, our time with them was quite enjoyable...

Click for more photos

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Some additional photos from Wisconsin

2009-09-08T14:07:00.003-05:00

Race Day!

I watched/photographed/cheered et al. for my father and sister who were in this race. They did fairly well, Abbey did even better because she got third place in her age group!

Click for more photos

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Photos from Wisconsin part 1

2009-08-29T13:03:00.002-05:00

I went up to Wisconsin with my father and sister, they were running a Tri and I went to cheer them on and take photos. Here are some photos from that venture to the North ;)

click here to see more

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Making multiple exposures with Picasa 3

2009-08-26T19:43:00.002-05:00

Multiple exposure photography is basically making layers of photos, whether they're the same or they're different or they're the same but at different shutter speeds, it's about stacking multiple photos to make one photo.

Step 1: If you have Picasa 3, open it up, if you don't have Picasa 3 you can download it here.

Step 2: Select the photos you want to make into a multiple exposure photograph, here are my examples (I changed the colors and they're at different shutter speeds but all at the same level, which is important otherwise if you aim to use the same subject, it'll turn out blurry):

Step 3: After you have selected the photos you want to use in Picasa, Go to the menu bar and click the one that says CREATE and within create select PICTURE COLLAGE. Within picture collage, select SETTINGS --> MULTIPLE EXPOSURE and it will stack the photos and make one for you. Select what size you want your multiple exposure photo to turn out as and select CREATE COLLAGE and in a short time you will have a multiple exposure photograph, here's what the 3 above look like when made into one photo:

And that's how you make a multiple exposure photograph using the same photo but at different shutter speeds and changing the colors of each photograph (which was also done in Picasa). Feel free to experiment and use different photos to make your own multiple exposure photograph, I intend to do that soon myself :)

For more examples click here

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Growth

2009-08-24T19:20:00.003-05:00

This is my photo series on growth. I went down to the local grow-your-own gardens and took a few photos of things growing. This summer has been a time of growing for me as well.

Click to see more

Bean Redux

2009-08-19T17:23:00.003-05:00

Same photo, just different colors. Kind of Andy Warholesque ;)

The original

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Italian car show

2009-08-18T22:57:00.003-05:00

There was an Italian car show in my area, pretty nice turnout.

[n][v][©] All photo rights reserved.

Experimental: Apples and Glass

2009-08-14T15:32:00.006-05:00

I had some apples and shot glasses hanging around, here are some photos; rough? Yes! Experimental? Definitely. Why go for same when one can go for different :)

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Time in Chicago with my sisters

2009-08-14T10:25:00.002-05:00

For Sibling Day, I drove us down to Chicago...

Obligatory "Bean" photos

Charity, Abbey, myself and Hannah (L to R)

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Rough Cuts: Automotive Edition

2009-08-09T21:16:00.005-05:00

Now I don't usually edit my photos to an extreme, but sometimes (for fun) I do, hence these very roughly edited car photos. They're darker, they're grittier and...well, I will let the photos do the talking.

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Chicago Photos 2

2009-08-04T16:26:00.002-05:00

After finding my sister and father after the race, we headed to 12th Street Beach. 12th Street Beach is probably my fav beach in Chicago, I enjoy going there.

Surf, Sand and Skyscrapers

And so castles made of sand... I love that song by Jimi Hendrix

My father the fisherman and I walked down and on to the pier. He didn't catch anything but I was able to get some photos in.

Some guys zipping through the water, I took a series of their movements, I will try to make a GIF of it laters.

Walking back I had a pretty good skyline photo, granted not all of it is included, but still...

Oh I was tempted...::sarcasm::

This cloud kinda looks like a fish

Little Fish/Fingerlings

The ebb and flow, where lake meets beach

Love...need I say more?

Lone gull...before I scared it away ;)

This group had no ball control! They nearly nailed a guy on his cellphone, but with his free hand he knocked it away...very classy!

Across the bridge from whence we came from, back to responsibilities and life as I know it

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Chicago Photos 1

2009-08-04T16:23:00.001-05:00

The other day I headed to downtown Chicago with my father and my sister, they were running the inaugural Rock and Roll Half Marathon: Chicago -- Now the race is your 13.1 miles, but at every mile or so there's a band playing! A few years ago I ran the same race in Nashville, yet it was mostly local bands and country (I could do without the latter). From the band's I heard and watched (some were closer for us non-runners to watch) it was more my type of music; blues, rock and roll... these would've been great bands to listen and run by! After they finished, we headed over to 12th Street Beach off of Lake Shore Drive. It was fun, but Lake Michigan was really cold and so I walked about taking photos and then took a nap. During my napping, I got sunburned (thankfully not painful - except for my neck), my sister and father woke up and we left shortly there after. We then made our way to the gym that we all workout at, I got my swimming in there! On to the photos:

First rays of dawn

Less than 40 minutes after the first photo

The starting line

The guides on bikes, so the runners would'nt go offcourse

The first corral; there were 20 or so groups, 30 second splits between each of them

And off they go! I was actually able to photograph my father and sis as they ran by, as well as some college friends which ran the race

After all the runners left the starting line, I started walking around and taking photographs (what else would I be doing? ). I met some interesting people and found out about the organizations they were with that had runners in the race.

I loved how they blocked off big areas, it made photos like this possible without the chance of being run over.

Water anyone?

I liked this Blues band, the back up guitarist is only 14 years old!

Then I went back to taking building photos and related...

I didn't see my sister and father cross the finish line :( But I still got some good photos in that area.

Wanna Banana?

The medals!

...to be continued

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Nashville Photos 12

2009-08-04T16:20:00.000-05:00

As my sister and I were about to go, I noticed some people setting up something in a large open conference room. I walked in and started taking photographs, a friendly woman approached me (probably thinking I was a reporter) and started talking about the Bonsai trees, how it is a better technique to have them old looking instead of them actually being old...

I thought these were all very cool, and then I saw this masterpiece of a Bonsai tree! I tried to talk to the owner, but he was pretty busy, his Bonsai tree...amazing!

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Nashville Photos 11

2009-08-01T18:27:00.003-05:00

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Nashville Photos 10

2009-08-01T18:17:00.002-05:00

Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art

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Nashville Photos 9

2009-07-31T15:31:00.002-05:00

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Nashville Photos 8

2009-07-31T15:26:00.003-05:00

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Nashville Photos 7

2009-07-29T14:34:00.003-05:00

Shortly after my sister and my time in the country, she and I parted ways -- She went job hunting and I went out taking photos on my own.

Before we parted ways ;) She and I walked and talked at this cool part, a large dragon was the main part of the part, made with interesting mosaic patterns and designs, here's a few from that;

After that, she directed me to Fort Negley, a fort that was used in the Civil War by the North.

Old and New

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Nashville Photos 6

2009-07-28T15:20:00.002-05:00

More photos from the country...

A wood tick! I found 3 in their house, 2 going across the wooden floor and 1 going across my leg hairs :O

The blonde leading the blind ;) Hannah and Rachel

The best butterfly photo I have ever taken!

I like the angle

I like the lines

I like leaves

A few of the last rays of light in the sky :)

Another dare!

Floating by

The only native Democrat in the country ;)

Now THIS looked like fun, but I wasn't prepped for swimming :( So I didn't try.

And that was my sister and my time in the country!

Nashville Photos 5

2009-07-27T17:01:00.002-05:00

My sister and I headed to the country the day after the wedding, she was housesitting (and dog and horse sitting as well) for some friends of hers. They live in a very remote country area outside of Nashville, it was very nice to get out and go pond stomping among other things. Here are some photos:

The sky above

The open road

Where my sister, David and I started pond stomping :)

Looking outside in

Looking inside out

The larger part of the creek we started walking in

Crayfish! Lots of them too, reminded me of a vacation long ago...

David tried to teach my sister how to skip rocks, emphasis really is needed ;)

We decided she should try to skip this...

I love the dark ripples

I loved how this turned out

A fish I caught, they're so much easier to catch when they're dead! ;)

The road back to David's van

Oh my sister and the dares I make her do

I felt this look more authentic/nostalgic/true in b&w

Nashville Photos 4

2009-07-27T16:57:00.003-05:00

So my sister's roommate, my Southern sisturd, got married. What a wonderful wedding ceremony, a lot of coorelations between Husband and Wife, God and the church...very full of awesomeness!

From my seat

Cool interior design, not bad for an old convent

The brides maids

My sister!

Jeanie and her dad

Brad and Jeanie

Yay Brad and Jeanie!

My sister and some guy I don't know.

Nashville Photos 3

2009-07-27T16:49:00.003-05:00

More houses in the neighborhood

Now here's an odd house; purple paint and what seems to be a banana tree on the left of the driveway, oh and a giant lizard!

flowers and the sky

Large mushroom! I picked it and I'm drying it out and...;) just kidding

The road less travelled

~Nathanael

Nashville Photos 2

2009-07-27T16:39:00.004-05:00

After 9 hours and 46 minutes behind the wheel, I got to my sister's apartment. She was busy with prepping for Jeanie's (her roommate) wedding, so I just walked around the neighborhood taking photos...

My usual middle of the road photo ;)

Bird of Paradise?

My favorite house so far

Nashville Photos 1

2009-07-27T16:16:00.002-05:00

I went down to Nashville to spend some time with my sister who lives there, camera in tow, I took photos. As I sort through them back here in IL, I am stitching together a bit of a photo journal of my trip and the order of events that followed. So I guess I will start with my On the Road photos...

Open highway

Besides the rolling hills of Kentucky and Tennessee, these were my favorite stretches of highway

And so those are my first set of photos on my way to Nashville.

Making my photos more accessible...

2009-07-27T16:13:00.002-05:00

I already do the photo thing on my other website

www.nvphotography.xanga.com

But I want something a bit more mainstream in the blogosphere, so I am reinventing this blog I had a while back to be dedicated to my photography. Enjoy!

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