(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…

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…

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.

Read More…

Maple trees with brilliant red and orange leaves stand along a roadside in Shabbona, Ill., Friday, October 12, 2012.

I’ve always had a very deep appreciation for beauty in nature. I’m constantly taking mental notes of the colors in beautiful sunsets or landscapes, and putting them to use later when creating color palettes for lighting designs in the theatre. There’s nothing like finding creative inspiration in the world that exists every day around you, not having to look very far to find that perfect color combination or hue.

Read More…