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".

Midewin - 8.15.10, Post 3 (last post for this trip)

Last batch from Midewin, which, if you're curious, is pronounced mih-DAY-win.  I didn't know that until the emergency guy called me back and said it out loud.

Another swallowtail (who's missing a bit of her right wing 'tail'.)  This is the underside of her wings.  It's nice that on this particular species the underside and the topside are pretty similar.  It makes identifying them much easier.  Some species are so different when their wings are up than when their wings are down and most identification pages only show wings-down, so you're hoping and guessing as you try to assign a name to a critter. [Under the Swallowtail]

I love this shot.  You have a great view of the body and the colors on the wings.  You can see her antennae and her feet.

[Swallowtail in Profile]

These Pearl Crescents were out in droves and I loved how they seemed keen on doing that iconic 'butterfly on a flower' thing.

[Feeding Time for Pearl]

This ended up being lit poorly and not as in focus as I'd hoped, but I just love the composition.  This little Pearl Crescent wanted so badly to become one with his flower!

[Becoming One with the Flower]

This poor guy actually has a species name of "Little Yellow Butterfly."  No, really, that's what it's called.  What's really hard to see in this shot unless you blow it up, is that he's sitting there, wings open, basking in the sun, and holding court with a bunch of the little purple butterflies, which I think are Acadian Hairstreaks.  The easiest one to see is in the lower right corner, but they do a pretty good job of blending in and looking like a piece of rock.
[Little Yellow Butterfly Holds Court]

Wild Morning Glories.  I love finding flowers that people plant "on purpose" out in the wild.

[Wild Morning Glories]

Pearl Crescent in the mud and sticks.  Beautiful butterfly in a less than beautiful background.  I like the contradiction.

[Pearl in the Rough]

Little tiny grasshopper!  I believe it's a Red-Legged Grasshopper, but at some point I'll need to research this guy a little more.

[Grasshopper Faces Obstacle]

I cannot find a species name for this beetle.  Anyone?  I like the look of him isolated on the leaf with the blurred background.

 [Shiny Red Wings]

 This huge bush of Black Eyed Susans was found... in the parking lot of one of the sections I didn't explore.  (I went over there, started to sign in and look for the trail, but I was already hot and tired, it was already 5:00 and the insects were so thick that I hung it up.)

[Serious Bunch of Black-Eyed Susans]