Swade II

Well, a couple evenings back, a friend and I decided to go out for a little mini-photo walk. It was pretty late in the evening/early morning and I am sure we looked like we were up to no good. Aside from the big ass tripod over my shoulder with a DSLR attached to it. But hey, to each their own. More on this after the break.


So anyway, this is the same walk that got me "Walking on Racine." So a pretty satisfying evening it was. We spent some time trying to line up some street shots, dodging cars (what few there were) and generally looking aimlessly for anything of interest.

After a short while we stumbled upon this dead end alley in the neighborhood and as I was lining up a brick wall layered in ivy, I hear Nate calling at me from the shadows near the end of the alley. I squint and see him walking my way, waving me toward him. As I approach he informs me of another "Swade" tag on a door at the bottom of a lil nook. So I figure, hell with the other shot, lets start a series of these. While I have no idea what it means, akin to a foolish teenager inking themselves with chinese writing, I find it very intriguing. Can't be too bad, it was matched with "Ego Kills Talent" in my previous piece. So good vibes are flowing here. So quit splitting hairs, will ya.

The "up to no good" assumption now begins, because apparently directly adjacent to this great find lies an screen door giving way to the back of a local restaurant kitchen. Well, I didn't think much of this at first, until I started noticing them staring at us from my peripheral. And what a scrutinizing look it was. One eventually got the nerve to come out and investigate. After a fairly tense exchange he gave up, satisfied or likely not, and went back in. Hey, its Chicago... to tell you the truth, I'd be surprised if he didn't get suspicious. Thankfully I don't look all that menacing with my floppy straw hat and a camera attached to my face.

So I barrel rolled into a mass of pictures, oblivious to the scrutinizing eyes of the kitchen staff. Switching this angle to that angle... backing up, moving forward. Damn I love my new 50mm. Seriously - I love moving around my surroundings. If you can move around your scene, it allows a better understanding of where the light and the textures are the strongest.

Eventually we moved on to find some equally enticing visuals. Some of which you will be seeing in due time.

I hope you dig the composition. It's by no means one of my preferred images, but there is just something about the balance from the lower left to the upper right that just keeps me coming back.

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