This is a preview of the pictures found in the Gallery.
For more, click on the Gallery button above.

January 20, 2008 - Happy New Year!

NEW PHOTOS OF (click one):

BAHA'I TEMPLE (Wilmette)

CHICAGO

EVANSTON

ST. LOUIS

I know it has been a while since I have posted any new pictures. However, this is not because I haven't been taking them. Because I have. Rather, I have been working 60+ hour weeks at my real job (believe it or not, these killer photographs don't pay the bills), and just plain haven't had time to update. But today (Sunday) is my day off, and I am not one to disappoint my fans. And so, without further ado, I give you: a TRIPLE feature! You can start out by feasting on some gems of St. Louis and Chicago, and then wash those down with a nice glass of the Northern Suburbs, including Wilmette and Evanston.

The Ba'hai House of Worship, located in Wilmette, is featured. I never even knew this thing existed until my Dad mentioned it today at brunch. Wait till you see it; it's like a baby Taj Majal. It's one of only seven Ba'hai temples in the world, and contains a lot of symbolism and some gorgeous intricacies. Of course, I believe that the Ba'hai faith is errant in its key principles, but there is no question that they can commission a beautiful building.

Also featured are Chicago night clubs Ruby and Excaliber, as well as a kitschy restaurant in Evanston called the Lucky Platter (and when I say kitschy, think gaudy portraiture on the walls and tin foil balls fastened to the ceiling). The food was good, the waiter was swishy, and the views of downtown were priceless. Enjoy.

Oh, and there are some of Northwestern University and the Chicago Skyline (FINALLY).

Go to the gallery to see!

December 24, 2007 - Buzz Nightclub. This past Saturday, I made the trip downtown to Buzz, the Club. My good friend, DJ Micah Andrew, wanted me to take some publicity shots of him, and I was also meeting some friends there. Now I had been running late getting there, and parking in the City is always iffy (read: you never know when you might get a nice ticket, or towed), so I had to park a few blocks away. I took a quick mental picture of where I was parked, and then ran to the club. 

About halfway there, I noticed a friendly Parking Enforcement employee was hooking up his tow truck onto somebody's Hyundai. I paused and asked him what the Hyundai's crime was, and he informed me that it was parked in a 15-minute standing only zone. I gulped down a quick swallow of fear as I tried to remember whether or not I was in one of those zones. I was pretty sure I was good. So I kept running; I wanted to make sure and get plenty of shots of Micah before he ended his set.

I took a bunch of pictures, found my friends, and we had a great time--everybody was dancing--until the end of the night. See, I was everybody's ride home. And, remember how I mentioned I was in a big hurry to get out of my car and into the club? Well apparently I was in too big of a hurry, because I could not find my car. To make matters worse, it was raining. My friends and I wandered up and down Hudson and Superior looking for it, but it was nowhere to be found. Finally, somebody suggested that we get a cab and get out of the freezing rain before we all caught Lupus or something.

So we got a cab, and he assured us that he was a pro at helping people find their cars. He claimed he once helped a drunk find his car that was 15 miles away. The thought crossed my mind that that's maybe not the kind of guy you  want  to help find his car, but I was too busy scanning the curbs to say anything.

Well it turns out this guy really was an expert at car hunting, because after only five minutes and a mere seven dollars later, there it was. We all piled in, found the Ike, and headed for home.

Check out the DJ and club pictures of Buzz, The Club in the Gallery. And have a Merry Christmas!

December 16, 2007 - Global Warming? Al Gore is wrong. Here in Chicago, the globe is doing anything but warming. I went out on Saturday night to try and take some pictures downtown. My goal was to get to the Museum district and shoot the skyline from the city's most beloved vantage point. Unfortunately for this would-be amateur photog, God decided to throw a freaking blizzard Chicagoland-ward.

The end result: I wound up grabbing a drink at Buzz with my good friend Meekus Jones, and then driving for an hour in the white slushy quagmire that was LSD (Lake Shore Drive). A certain female in Pennsylvania got on the horn with me and acted like a GPS system, guiding me toward my destination (read: anywhere but death).

The pics I did manage to take, when the Hawk wasn't blasting me in the face with nickel-sized flakes, turned out great. I also got to take a few other Christmasy-time shots. Check them out in the Gallery.

On a side note: if you are a Chicago enthusiast like me, there is a site you should check out. It's called Why Not Chicago? The site is run by a guy I went to school with and his buddy. It's crown jewel is the weekly podcast, which gives the skinny on local bands, nightlife, restaurants, and humor. Check out the site at www.whynotchicago.com.

Also, check out the forum for discussion, and the weblog for more stories.

More on Chicagoland after this weekend, which should be epic. My Korean Liaison, whose name must remain unmentioned since her family doesn't know she's coming, is returning to Chicagoland for five or six days. And you know Poppa Joely has to make sure she never wants to leave this hemisphere again. Stay tuned for more Chicagoland-ing awesomeness.

And just because I've been ending most of my posts with this... GALLERY

December 3, 2007 - Finally. I finally got a chance to actually shoot some photos of the city last weekend. My fraternity brother Ethan came in from Philly, and it was my job to show him what a real city looks like.

Now I have been telling him for years that Chicago is better than both Philly and New York. However, it is difficult for an East Coaster to grasp this concept without actually visiting Chicago. Fortunately, we were able to get in many of the must-dos: the Signature Lounge, Portillo's, Gino's East and the River North neighborhood, the Mag Mile, Millennium Park, Wrigleyville, and even a few places I had never been (English - rated the Chi's best singles bar, and Krem - one of the best places on Sunday nights).

On my way to convincing Ethan of Chicago's superiority, it helped that every single person we ran into agreed. Here's what a typical conversation at Krem looked like:

Ethan (to a random girl): So, do you people really think your city is better than New York?

Random Girl: Of course! Now whip out your guitar and strum on those strings, so I can swoon over you [I forgot to mention, Ethan is notorious for stealing girls from his friends via his mad axe skills]

Me: Hey, I already knew Chicago is better than New York

Random Girl: That's great, but I'm swooning over your friend now.

Me: Dang it, who brings a guitar to a nightclub anyway?

As you can see, Ethan finally came around. Well, mostly.

So, after weeks of making you endure shots of lesser cities like St. Louis, Madison, and the ever-impressive Schaumburg, I now present to you: The Chicago Gallery.

November 20, 2007 - Oops. That's about all I can say after the debacle that was my mini-vacation to Madison last weekend. Here is what happened: I drove up from Chicagoland to Madison (arguably still Chicagoland) to see my friend. The plan: we would grab a few drinks, then meet up with some friends of hers. Well, when I got there, I discovered that, like in any city, parking is tough to come by in Madison (without shelling out $15 or more). So I parked a few blocks from her apartment and then walked. By the time I got up to her place on the fourth floor, I was tired from working, driving, and walking all day.

But there was no time to rest. I said hello, then asked if she would accompany me to my car to get my bags. Not interested. Alright, I'll make the trek myself. On the way, I noticed a nice pub full of stuck-up Mad-City college brats, so I decided to stop in and have a brew.

About twenty minutes later, I had made it back to my car, driven around, and eventually found street parking on Main, right in front of her building! Happily I carried my luggage into the lobby. I buzzed and buzzed, but she wouldn't let me in. Strange.

So I buzzed about thirty people on the switchboard until some confused (drunk?) girl on the first floor finally let me in (whoever that was, by the way, thanks. And I hope your cousin Marty finally showed up... remember, you thought I was him?). I was surprised to learn upon reentering the apartment that it was empty. She was gone, leaving me stranded to go meet up with her friends! Or so I thought...

Long story short, I got mad at her for ditching me, and I went out. By myself. With her cell phone. And keys. Yes, she left her phone and keys. Are you starting to guess what was going on? So I left her a scathing yet detached note and headed out on the town. Turns out a guy can have a pretty good time by himself in Madison. I even got some girl's number (not the one who thought I was Cousin Marty, a different one).

All the sudden it hit me like a baseball to the forehead. My friend didn't ditch me. She was asleep!

I hurried back through the surprisingly-confusing-to-navigate streets of Madison, punching college students as I ran, until, breathless, I reached her lobby. I unlocked the door and thrust it open. No time for the elevator; I took the stairs. Down the hall, to her room. Open the door. Bam. There she stood, mad as I had ever seen her.

Well she yelled, and I yelled, and we both made some pretty decent points (I would like to say mine were better, but c'mon, imagine waking up and your friend's gone with your keys and cell phone. That's pretty rough). In the end, things got back to normal and we had a night in.

The important thing is, I got to take some sweet pictures of Madison. Check them out in the Gallery.

November 1, 2007 - Alright, I know this is supposed to be Chicagolanding.com, but I cheated and got away to St. Louis at the end of October for some company training. While I was there, you know I had to take some shots from the top of the Gateway Arch. So, not of Chicago, but you can check them out in the Gallery.

October 25, 2007 - Last night I drove over to Oak Brook Center, near where 83 and 88 intersect. It was a cold night, but I managed to get some quality shots of the high rises surrounding the outdoor mall (which happens to feature some of the best shopping in the Midwest). You are especially going to like the way the sky looks.  This is also the first time I used a tripod, so I was able to keep the camera still long enough to use the extended exposure night shot function. Click on "Gallery" to see what I mean.
 
Then this afternoon I got to revisit the place that originally inspired me to create Chicagolanding. Have you ever wondered what those buildings along 355/53 look like up close? You know, the ones on the way to Woodfield Mall? Well I definitely have, and I wanted to see them up close and document them. However, I almost didn't get the chance.

No sooner did I unlock my tripod and stand it up in the parking lot of a certain high-rise complex than a security van started toward me. It circled a few times, while I pretended not to notice. Finally, a hispanic guy rolled down the window and asked me if I knew nobody was allowed to photograph the buildings. No, I replied, and was he serious? Yes, very serious, now I had to leave. Wait, what are the pictures for?

I explained that the pictures were going to be for a photography website, and after five minutes of world famous Settecase sales-pitching, he consented to let me snap a few pictures. One catch: I couldn't give the name of the building, or its location, on my website. Or he could lose his job for letting me take the pictures! Having already received one police-related phone call to my house at 11 PM, I'm not really ready for more cop trouble either.

So, I got them, but I can't tell you where it is or what building. I can't even say the name of the town. But if you're from the area, you should be able to figure it out. It's somewhere up north.

Click on the "Woodfieldland" album in the Gallery section to see the results of my clandestine operation.

Enjoy.

fin

October 24, 2007 - Gallery update. Check out the new pictures from the Western Suburbs. Featured areas: Lombard, Downers Grove along Butterfield, Wheaton College, and Westin Hotel at Yorktown. You aren't going to find these pictures anywhere else!

While photographing the Esplanade I building in Downers Grove, I actually had a security guard come out and question me. Then about an hour later, I got a phone call at home from the police! Apparently, there are government offices in the building, and they wanted to make sure I wasn't a terrorist. It's all good now, but the officer (whose name and badge number I got) told me that if a bomb went off, I would be the first person they called. Great....