
Ginna Hoptman and Pavel Filchenkov during the senior pairs free dance of the 2013 U.S. Figure Skating Nationals at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha. A slow shutter speed of 1/10th of a second was used to create this ghostly image.
I’m not sure many other photographers raised outside cold weather climates could have successfully walked across fifty yards of glassy, slick ice without falling on their behinds. Heck, I’m not sure many would have even attempted it! Alas, there I was, on the wrong side of the rink at the 2013 U.S. Figure Skating Nationals in Omaha with only minutes to spare until the on-ice awards ceremony that I wanted to photograph began. With no time to walk back through the bowels of the arena to the correct (and carpeted) entrance onto the rink, I stepped over the wall and began my trepidatious walk towards the other photographers gathered near the center of the rink.
Read More…

A view of the northbound end of the 9-Span Bridge in Hammond, Ind., late Sunday, January 13, 2013. The bridge, which has connected the cities of Hammond and East Chicago since 1937, will be closed permanently on Monday for demolition and replacement.
Perhaps it can be attributed to my upbringing in one of the most industrial parts of the United States (I’m sure being really interested in engineering and technology hasn’t hurt), but I have a huge soft spot in my heart when it comes to giant structures that have been a part of the local landscape for my entire life. Enter the 9-Span Bridge, the hulk of rusty green steel which carries Indianapolis Blvd. over the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad’s Gibson Yard just a mile or so from my home. Built in 1935 and opened in 1937, the bridge has connected the cities of Hammond and East Chicago, Indiana, for over 75 years.
Read More…
Posted in
Experimental,
Photography on January 14th, 2013.
6 Comments.

(From left) The Glen Theater board chairman Vernon Smith talks with African-American Achievers Youth Corps members Joshua Perry, 16, of Merrillville, Ind., along with Gary, Ind., residents Christopher Woods Jr., 16, Ramon Luckett, 17, and Stephen Jenkins, 17, prior to a production held at the theater in Gary, Saturday, November 10, 2007. The youth corps members work shows at the newly re-opened theater, completing tasks such as ushering, cleaning, and technical jobs behind the scenes.
In keeping with a New Year’s resolution to myself, I’ve decided to prevent the dust from accumulating on my often-sedentary blog. A new feature that will help me attain this goal is something I’m going to call Rewind, where I’ll feature a shoot from my archives that I may have never shared before.
Read More…
Posted in
Photography,
Photojournalism,
Rewind on January 12th, 2013.
Comments Off.

Revelers gather in the Times Square area of New York City near the intersection of Broadway and 48th St. during New Year’s Eve celebrations, Wednesday, December 31, 2012.
Some four hours after the ball dropped on Times Square (officially bringing in 2013), the feeling has finally returned in totality to my lower extremities. Even though the jumbo-tron thermometer called out what should have been a balmy 38 degrees for this Chicago boy, a stiff breeze brought with it some discomfort to my first Times Square New Year’s Eve experience. I can’t tell if more pain came from the cold, standing for over ten hours with a near-capacity bladder, or being in more than a few packs of people pushing so hard and fast that my feet were nearly swept from under me.
Read More…