The Michigan Theatre

The Michigan Theatre, closed 1978. Now the Michigan Theatre serves as a parking garage for a bland office complex attached to it.

Detroit Grafitti

The sun hit the concrete pretty hard so I framed up a simple shot that I hoped would show the layers of paint and the bold colors used by several grafitti artists.

"Do not show my company's name if you publish."

In a city and state plagued by high unemployment (25% in Detroit), this picture shows one business that has plenty of work on their hands in Detroit. The man spraying down the outside of this small church works for a company that cleans graffiti. He asked that any pictures I publish do not include the name of the company he works for because as he put it, "some of the artists take their work pretty seriously" and would not appreciate him removing it. He said that historical socieities and other organizations hire them to clean buildings around the city. That was right before he asked me not to take pictures that showed the company name on his jacket.

Waiting for Recovery?

... been waiting for more than 40 years

Tear drops

This is the photo that I did not think much of when I framed it and shot it. I only took this one shot and at the time did not even realize the "tears of litter" that I now appreciate so much. I printed and framed this picture. It was the hidden treasure of my seven hours in Detroit. This is one of the shots that I am grateful I had the eye to see it even if at that very moment I did not appreciate the shot.

For me, this is one of the shots that inspires me. I feel like I worked for it since I got out of my car and walked on to the property and talked to the men cleaning graffiti. This was not visible from the street and in the open area, the "eye" did not look as unuque as when I got the chance to frame it with my camera.

Finding this picture was like putting on your winter coat for the first time of the season and finding a $20 bill in the pocket. A nice surprise.

Detroit

While I love the adventure of shooting new scenes, there is nothing good about seeing abandoned homes, hotels and former office buildings. Most of the shots begin to look the same and I often wait for a subject to enter my pictures. The old beat up car was a nice touch, but I needed the man getting in to help this picture stand out from the dozens of other abandoned buildings. I did not feel safe in the area so I stayed in my car to take the picture. My impression of the people in Detroit left me feeling like the outsider I was. I was respectful of people and mostly avoided taking pictures with people in them. One church I stopped by had a group of young men standing outside of it and it would have been a great picture, but I was smart enough to hold off. Sometimes I just ask permission, but in that particular case I do not think that would have been a good idea.

How can they re-build this once glorious city?

No Sleeping

Jesus loves you, but he prefers that you not sleep on the steps.

Theatre turned Parking Garage

The Michigan Theatre has its own story but the gist of it is that it closed in 1978 after serving as a grand movie house. Now it is a parking garage with room for 20-30 cars, but there were only 4 or 5 parked there. The old Michigan Theatre was on my list of 10 places to visit in Detroit( I only got to 5 or 6 as it turns out), but I had no idea how to get inside. A nice man on a smoking break showed me the way in past security and I spent about an hour shooting in there and imagining what it must have been like in its prime.

The woman photgraphed here was also on a smoke break. The adjoining office building was mostly empty and depressing. I wandered around in there for 20-30 minutes just being curious. I noticed that I did not see many wokring people on my visit and when I did, they were on smoke breaks or driving.

Detroit

A recent day trip to Detroit resulted in some interesting content. The morning haze lifted shortly after I shot this picture with Ford Field in the background. Doing Detroit in seven hours opened my eyes to a city rich in history. I plan to get back there soon.

Mount Hood on Christmas Day

Downtown Portland View of Mount Hood

Pier 14 San Francisco

Crouching Spider on Pier 14 caught my eye on Spring Break 2007. I did not have a tri-pod so a steady hand was challenging to say the least.

I loved San Francisco and all the diversity. I need to go through those pictures again because I am sure there are some treasures that I have forgotten. I found this picture by accident while looking for something else tonight.

Computers and Beagles

This unique advertisement caught my eye while driving a two-lane highway with my wife. I have been back since and the Beagles sign has been replaced with some other "good" for sale.

I have not taken the time to upload many of the unique pictures of signs that I stop to appreciate, but Computers-Beagles is one of my favorites along with, "Rabbits for sale: cuddly and nutritious"

Most people who see this picture do not get a kick out of it the way I do.

Hana

Honeymoon in Maui.

The Search for Jimmy Chitwood

The 2009 edition of my secret hoop out in the woods. reminds me of Hoosiers even though Jimmy had a clear patch of dirt to shoot from.

Sun Flower

Portland, Oregon along the Skyline Blvd. on a sunny July day.

Kite

A little Photoshop fun with this Seattle beach picture.

Family ties

August. M-57 near Fulton, Michigan. A great drive with my son on our way to a small town baseball game.

This picture was one of those ones where I drove by and kept going for about a mile and then decided I had better turn around for another look. I had a feeling that the tractor might look better in a framed photograph than it did in the vast wide open space.

My instinct was right. In some weird way this picture represents a small part of who I am. It ties me to the Gregory side of my family even though I have never driven a tractor, bailed hay, milked a cow or done any farm work. My life does not resemble life on the farm and most assuredly never will, but somehow I continue to think that is part of who I am.

Funny how a simple photo can say so much.

Detroit for a Day

In the summer of 2008, I drove down to Detroit on a Tuesday morning and spent the day taking pictures. I found plenty of subjects and really tried to "see" the city that I had only visited for Detroit Tigers baseball games.

I was in Detroit for about seven hours and I look forward to my next visit on my own with my camera. Unfortunately, this tough city is even tougher now since the unemployment rate is inching toward 25%, which is the same figure (25%) that represents the high school graduation rate in the city. I know Detroit is not all bad and with the addition of some more pictures to this blog, I hope to show that.

If you look closely, you can see bullet holes in the Sam's sign.

Pike's Market Busker

One of the best parts of taking pictures are the stories that go with each moment captured. In this picture, Emery Carl shares his unique talent with Seattle. After shooting him for 15-20 minutes, we talked and it turns out his father grew up in Flint, Michigan which is only 15 minutes from where I live.

Emery can hula-hoop, play guitar and play the harmonica all at the same time. Pretty cool. He was so passionate about his talent and was very down to earth. You can learn more about him at www.TheTroubadourShow.com

City Life

This graffiti caught my eye. Seattle is probably not considered a tough city the same way Detroit or maybe Philadelphia are, but I figured this advice scrolled across an old beat up building downtown was worth a picture.

Seattle Street Art

I like this find because I got off the beaten path and then played around with some angles to get what I wanted. I think the the weeds in the lower left corner make this picture.

I enjoyed the Fremont neighborhood in Seattle and probably could have spent the entire day there exploring.

Seattle Summer

I like this particular picture because it was taken with the manual mode and I had to do it without the mount for my tri-pod. I am not a big fan of skyline pictures in general, but since I had two unknowing subjects about 20 yards in front of me I felt like I had to give this a shot. In fact it was more like 30 shots by the time I was done changing settings, positions and waiting 20-30 seconds for the shutter to release each time.

I have other variations of this photo that I also like. This is a low resolution copy for the blog too. (All of the pictures posted here are low resolution)

Calm Before Rain

Rolling hills of the greater-Portland area from July 2009 trip.

Oregon Farm

A misty July day in the Oregon hills led me to this farm about 12 miles outside downtown Portland. I had been driving around with our then 9-month old son sleeping in the backseat for about an hour when I found these three cows staring me down.

No. 54

Our trip to Spain was incredible in 2006. By the time we got to Barcelona, my run with the bulls in Pamplona was behind us so my wife could relax. I liked Madrid, but th evibrancy of Barcelona topped the list.

Winding Road

Oregon.
Ordinary road. Hazy evening. One of the many shots I took from the side of the road trying to stay still since I did not have a tri-pod. I think I had my camera rested on a large boulder if I remember correctly. I like this shot because it has potential. I know there is something missing so I have gone back to this location a few other times.

Last Supper

This picture is part of my adventure on one of those notoriously misty Oregon later afternoons. My wife tells me that in Oregon they have "sun breaks" because it is overcast so often. The fog makes this picture one of my favorites. I have taken the same exact shot about a dozen other times in different weather conditions, but it never turns out the way I would like. This is the same location that I got the sunset shot when the man was sitting by the tree.

I think this picture also speaks to me because of my Catholic upbringing. I am not sure I ever truly belonged to the Church so it is tough to say I left. To me being Catholic is more like a heritage than a belief system. I do appreciate how the Church has influenced my family, but I do not prescribe to the beliefs. This memorial garden certainly had a spiritual aura that I enjoyed.

Rocco's

I was happy to capture this shot while looking for pictures in downtown Portland. So often, I wish my pictures featured characters more often so when this street performer put on his show in front of a colorful pizza joint, I had all my eye could handle.

Classic Car

M-57 between Stanton and Chesaning

The Cove

Leelanau, Michigan. Summer 2008
I never did find the driver of this classic car to thank him for parking under this sign.

I enjoyed my late lunch at the restaurant and spent a lot of time taking pictures from my table which was surrounded by flowers with a great view of the pier. There were kids running off the dock and jumping into the water, boats floating into harbor and laid-back tourists drinking beer on a random weekday afternoon. I spend a lot of time taking pictures that in my heart I am pretty sure will not amount to much like the dozens I took on this day before my meal arrived.

When I get a subject like this car, I know the picture will be better than most of the angles and creative things I try to do to make an ordinary shot look special. Like most things, if it is good, the picture can almost take itself. I guess the key is noticing that the picture is there. In this case I did have to walk around and see what I could get because the car is what caught my eye. I just needed a picture that captured where the car was because that had as much to do with it catching m eye as anything else. Climbing up behind the "Cove" sign seemed to make perfect sense. Five or six years ago I would not have thought to get this angle. And the crazy thing is that I likely missed an angle that with more photography experience I would not have missed. That is part of what I love about taking pictures. There is always more to learn and different ways to see it. I used to get jealous when I would see a cool picture that someone else took because I would wish that I had taken it. Now, from a different vantage point, I realize how stupid that mindset is. I like to look at pictures that challenge my creativity and help me see something different.

Barcelona Masterpiece

I was trying to be artistic when I got this shot of my wife's legs while visiting the Gaudi estate. After a while, the sculptures, architecture and art work start to look the same until a new element is added.

Alcatraz

Alcatraz at sunset was eerily interesting.

Simple Game

One of my favorite finds. I found this on a day where I had been driving around dirt roads just looking for something interesting to shoot. The hoop is set about 30-40 yards off a dirt road. I am not sure how I noticed it out in the middle of the field. Of course, I was reminded of the movie Hoosiers immediately. I have probably shot this same hoop four or five times, but like usual, the shots from the first day are the best ones.

Mackinac Island

Weight of the World ~ Barcelona Street Performer

Highway 1

Red Rooster

Instinct

A selection from an essay I submitted for a photo contest in 2007:

"After driving through luscious orange groves in central Florida, the land gave way to a grand waterway. I parked my rental car off the road to appreciate the view of the Sunshine Skyway and noticed this bird surrounded by shades of ocean blue. The curious heron pecked and bobbed his head while surveying the Tampa Bay landscape. Less than a mile away from our sanctuary off the road, the Skyway was brimming with mid-afternoon chaos. I observed the elements around me calmly working together. The implicit competition between a heron, a living creature, and the bridge, a man-made marvel, makes this photograph special. The ease of the sun striking the bird's face and the small waves gently rolling to the shore makes my memory simple yet remarkable."

The long side story:

I had been on the road for nearly five hours driving from the Orlando area to my father's winter home in Bradenton. I took two lane highways and back roads looking for photos and zigged and zagged my way through central Florida. There were two highlights that day: Ruby C. Williams, an African American Folk artist, had a roadside stand that sat on a plot of land once worked by her slave ancestors. We visited for nearly an hour and when I got home and Googled her, I realized that her art is quite valuable and the rest of her story was remarkable. She told me about Civil Rights battles, how she got started as a folk artist and she showed me the paintings that hung in a Smithsonian display one year prior. She sent me a very nice letter after I sent her photos from our time together. I also sent her a 5 x 7 of the bird above. She loved it.

"The bird" only happened because I was making a a last ditch effort to find "the photo I really wanted." I stopped off at a roadside rest area after crossing the massive Sunshine Skyway Bridge. Of the thousands of pictures I have taken, this is the picture I am most proud of because I followed my instinct to get off the road and I was smart enough not to get in my own way. In the frame of this photo, the bird looks like he is posing for the camera, but the the truth is that I had to wait him out for nearly 30 minutes just to get him to line up with the bridge in the background. When he finally cooperated, all I had to do was remain quiet and snap some pictures. Like so many things in life, it was all about just not messing up what was right in front of me.

Take a chance.

Traverse City Sunset

California

Driving Highway 1 from San Francisco to Portland Oregon offered more photo opportunities than imaginable, but even I could not have imagined something as cool as what we found. When a deer crossed the road in front of our car, I decided to turn-around and investigate. Off about 75 yards Beata and I saw these three deer with the ocean backdrop. Without much of lens, I snuck up on them to get my prize shot.

The picture is fine. The experience was incredible. They scampered off gracefully a split second after I got this shot. Like my good friend George Kralosky has implied, it is not necessarily the picture that I fell in love with - it is what it represents to me. Again, my curiosity led me to this shot and it was a hundred times more beautiful in person than in this photo.

Yellowstone

One of the experiences that helped me really understand that taking pictures could be more than a hobby. The Yellowstone expereince re-fueled my passion in a similar way as my 1997 trip to the Grand Canyon with my buddies.

Eye for simplicity

This boy was actually playing with another boy and a grown man (probably his brother and father). I kept a distance and pretended like I was shooting the haystack rock that is in the background. Cropping is the key to this picture. Well, cropping and timing. This is one of those pictures that gives me confidence in my eye.

Bored in Genesee County Michigan

Before the birth of my son, I would put countless miles on my car looking for pictures. I found this one evening at dusk when my wife was working late. I have a million of pictures like this one. I like it. It was forgotten until I went through my archives recently.

Pondering man

Look closely to the right of the big tree. There is a man sitting there enjoying the sunset. Every time I go to Portland Oregon, I end up back by this tree. I have dozens of pictures in which the angle of the camera makes the tree look like it is reaching for the city which is in the valley on the other side of the hill.

Luck. My pictures on this particular day needed a subject and this man showed up just in time.

Flower pops

Barcelona ice cream cone

Highway 1 at Dusk

I am still in awe of the coast and this magnificent drive.

Out to pasture

This is one of my all-time favorites because I will always remember the "cows on the coast" and how cool I thought is was that there were cows hanging out this close to the ocean. A typical Mid-westerner, I thought that cows only hung out on traditional farms in rural communities like Ionia, Michigan where I grew up. This photo came about 30 minutes before the picture of the three deer on the coast.

I loved this moment so much more than this photo.

American Lighthouse

Mackinac Island is one cool place.