Make a Face (or Several) in Chicago - 8.06.11 - North Lincoln Park (1/2)

I know it may have looked like I abandoned this blog.  I didn't.  July in Chicago was just stupidly hot and humid.  I'm good with being a little warm and uncomfortable in order to go out and get some good shots.  I'm not going to risk my health to get shots that would be there when the weather broke.  It was that level of hot for that long a time.  I've also been working a lot on my Etsy (online craft site, see the bottom of this post).  I need to generate a little income on all this creativity! :)

But in the past couple of days we've finally gotten back to feeling like Chicago.  Which is to say it's warm, but not frying-eggs-on-car-tops hot.  So I've had a few group shoots and one I did on my own.

One of the really fun group outings I went on was called "Make a face".  This was a challenge excursion.  We were tasked with finding faces in inanimate objects.  It really makes you look at your world differently.  If you're looking for something to shoot near you, you can do this challenge anywhere.  Get a friend and see who can find more faces.  This could be a really fun activity for kids.  Have a long walk ahead of you?  Challenge them to see who can find more faces as you go.

Here were the faces I found in two and a half hours in the northern part of Lincoln Park...

Black Eyed Susan's Face

 Finding faces in nature can be a little more difficult, but I loved how it looked like these Black Eyed Susans are eyes and the leaf between the flowers are the nose.








 

Black Scooter Face

Some man-made faces were ridiculously easy to find.






 

Red Scooter is Happy to See You

He came with a buddy too.  I should have taken half a step back so you could see the way the tire splash-guard made it look like he was sticking his tongue out.

 Some were a lot harder to find.  We actually couldn't go up to this building, but I could shoot the door through the iron fence and look at the design more carefully.

A Grate Face in the Door

So when you isolate the design, you can see the face.






 

Talking Out of One's Glass

This face has a moustache and a pouty mouth.

Johnny Five is a... Boat Trailer

Does anyone remember the movie Short Circuit from the 80s?  This reminded me a little bit of Johnny Five.

Oh No, Mr. Bill!

Some faces were in the must mundane places.  This weepy face was part of a manhole cover.

  This is the original shot (taken in the middle of the street, so I couldn't spend hours doing perfect composition). You can see how isolating a bit of something bigger helps to pull out the 'face' in the crowd.

Standpipe Family Portrait

And here's a whole family of faces on the side of a high-rise apartment buildings.  You've got Mr., Mrs. and Baby Standpipe.  I think the baby has a pacifier. :)




I have a very fun set taken under a construction scaffolding and a few others that I'll post tomorrow.  It was a fun trip that really made me re-evaluate what was "photo-worthy".