Album - CD Cover - Cloud Gate Dream

Yvens Fernandes is a singer/songwriter from Brazil. After visiting Chicago last year, he hired me to do some photos of Chicago and more specifically Cloud Gate. The cover of the CD coming out is a composite from one of my photos. It was shot early in the morning before the crowds arrived. Had to photoshop out my reflection and the 2 remote Canon 600 flashes I had underneath. Night sky added later.
Here's a copy of the original and final.

You can get Yven’s 4th album named Cloud Gate Dream through CDBaby and soon it will be available at Spotify, Itunes, etc.

List of songs

  1. Beacon Hill Lights

  2. Beacon Hill Lights Remix

  3. Cloud Gate Dream

  4. Craggy Heights

  5. Hues of Blue

  6. New Leaf

  7. Over the Rail Track

  8. Rivers

  9. Stone Cross

  10. Tempora Mutantur

  11. Time is Not Kind

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Ensemble Espanol Spanish Dance

“To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful… This is power, it is glory on earth and it is yours for the taking”
Agnes De Mille

The Ensemble Español is the premier Spanish dance company and center in the United States to have in-residence status at a university, making its home at Northeastern Illinois University. Founded by Dame Libby Komaiko in 1975, and incorporated in 1976, the company tours nationally and internationally, provides extensive arts education to young students, maintains a pre-professional training academy, offers university level dance courses for college credit, and conducts a wide range of community outreach programs and classes.

The organization includes 40 dancers, singers, and musicians, as well as an administrative staff. Under the dynamic leadership of artistic director Irma Suárez Ruiz, and executive director Jorge Pérez, the company also produces the annual American Spanish Dance and Music Festival in the Chicago area.

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Brandi Carlile - Bottom Lounge, Chicago - 6/15/2018

I had the pleasure to attend another WXRT Studio-X Concert.  This one starred Belinda Carlile and her band.  I wasn't that familiar with her but can now say I'm a fan.  She will be performing again July 11th at the Pritzker Pavillion here in Chicago.  I'll be there. Studio-X shows are performed at a secret location for a small group of fans.  In most cases the performer has another performance scheduled in a much larger venue later that evening.

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Cubs vs Dodgers 2017 NLCS

Finally got called up to the big league this summer. Chicago Cubs hired me to try and capture what happens inside and outside the stadium during the playoffs.  It was a lot of fun even though the Cubs only won one of the three games and were eliminated from the playoffs.

The 2017 National League Championship Series was a best-of-seven playoff pitting the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Chicago Cubs for the National League pennant and the right to play in the 2017 World Series. The series was a rematch of the 2016 NLCS, which Chicago won four games to two en route to their first World Series victory since 1908.

Here are just a few of the many photos I took during those three days in October.

Finding the perfect spot on the chalk wall at Wrigley.

Owner Tom Ricketts handing out baseballs to kids during the game.

Salsa in the Park - Chicago Summers

UPTOWN — Uptown Saturday Nights will celebrate the 21st anniversary of Chicago Summerdance with Salsa lessons and live Latin music. Chicago Summerdance is a summertime celebration that transforms parks across the city into dance space, according to the City of Chicago website.

The monthly event hosted by Uptown United will begin at 7 p.m. Saturday at Buttercup Park, 4901 N. Sheridan Road.

R.I.P. Lonnie Brooks

Lonnie Brooks (born Lee Baker Jr., December 18, 1933 – April 1, 2017) was an American blues singer and guitarist. The musicologist Robert Palmer, writing in Rolling Stone, stated, "His music is witty, soulful and ferociously energetic, brimming with novel harmonic turnarounds, committed vocals and simply astonishing guitar work."

I had the pleasure of seeing Lonnie Brooks play live several times.  He always put on a great show.  Here's one of my photos from a 90's show at Grant Park.

Millennium Park Music Video

I recently received a call from a Brazilian songwriter about a new song he just wrote.  It seems he was inspired by his visit to Chicago last year.  He hired me to shoot some shots of Cloud Gate, commonly known as "The Bean" for a music video he's working on. He also needed some shots of the totem pole in front of the Field Museum.Can't wait to see the video.  It's titled "Cloud Gate Dream".  Meanwhile, here are some of the photos I sent him.

Cloud Gate, Millenium Park, Chicago

Cloud Gate, Millenium Park, Chicago