A B-17G Flying Fortress sits on the ramp at Porter County Regional Airport in Valparaiso, Ind., Tuesday, July 30, 2013. The World War II era aircraft, built in 1945, currently tours the country as part of the nonprofit Collings Foundation. Three 600 watt strobes were used to light the aircraft.
Actors at The West Side Theatre Guild rehearse a performance of Driving Miss Daisy in the Gerry Street Theatre in Gary, Ind., Wednesday, March 13, 2013. The lighting design for the show had to transport the audience to several different locations and time periods, utilizing the same set.
It has been suggested that, when it comes to lighting design, my forte is in the concert and musical genres. While I enjoy lighting for music immensely, I get the same satisfaction from lighting straight plays, especially in intimate venues. When I found out that longtime client The West Side Theatre Guild was producing Driving Miss Daisy in their Gerry Street Theatre (a small proscenium space that seats just over 130), I jumped at the opportunity to light it. I enjoy the subtle nuances that are possible (with both lighting as well as acting) when the front row is a mere seven feet away from the stage.
Lightning strikes Lake Michigan offshore of the Chicago skyline as seen from Whihala Beach in Whiting, Ind., Thursday, May 3, 2012.
This past October, I found myself on the stage of a local theater, having a one-on-one production meeting with the director of a show I was lighting there. Set pieces, still in various stages of completion, became the walls of our impromptu meeting room. We canvassed the stage together and discussed specific lighting cues planned for different moments in the script.
Visitors to Chicago’s Millennium Park enjoy the Luminous Field projection exhibit at the Cloud Gate (a.k.a. “The Bean”) sculpture in Chicago, Ill., Saturday, February 11, 2012.
As a photographer, I felt a bit guilty strolling around the Cloud Gate sculpture (a.k.a. “The Bean”) in Chicago’s Millennium Park while viewing the Luminous Field projection exhibit. Each time I lifted my camera to my eye, the projections by artists Petra Bachmaier and Sean Gallero presented a wonderfully abstract landscape in light. Add some human beings wandering around in the mix, and you have a photographer’s dream.
