I had the good fortune to photograph Tom Skilling on a couple occasions. And he really was the nicest guy in the world. He always had time to talk to everyone who wanted to speak to him.
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chicago photographer
I bought my first drone in 2017, and have now owned three different ones, each better than the last. Drones have made such an impact on my work. I can’t overstress the extra vision it adds to my photography and video capabilities.
I’ve just returned from my annual summer shoot with Landcrafters of Milwaukee, a landscape architecture firm that does beautiful work. We always plan ahead to shoot on a clear sunny day, starting very early in the morning to showcase the lighting effects they install. The weather this year was perfect, though I’m always surprised how quickly the blue hour passes into normal daylight.
The beauty of my job lies in the variety of work I do. One day I might be shooting videos for a healthcare client, and the next shooting college sports, and on another day teaching landscape photography. I thrive on that variety.
Last weekend, I was hired to shoot Winter Beauty at the nationally recognized Morton Arboretum. I spent four hours walking, hiking and driving in the 15 degree temperatures, but never really got cold… the adrenaline from a shoot usually warms me up. Apart from shooting many images on the ground level, I also brought along my drone to get some new and interesting angles.
Although I’ve been flying since 2017, I never tire of the unique perspective from a few hundred feet in the air. It was cool to see the bare trees deep in the woods, covered in snow but showing their stark bare branches. And my favorite shot… the small patch of trees in the middle of a field of snow. Can’t wait to do it again soon.
I went downtown with a friend a couple days ago to photograph "Chicago-Henge," a phenomenon I don't think anyone thought about until recently. However, it happens twice a year, during the Spring and Autumn equinox, when the sun sets due west, right down the end of the road– in this case Lake Street. I shot with my medium format camera and was limited to just a 120mm (96mm D-SLR equivalent) lens. I should've brought a super telephoto and really gotten up close and personal with the scene.
For prints, email mike@hudsonfineart.com
The Little Popcorn Shop (far left) has stood in an alleyway since the 1920’s. The new lighting and plaza recently opened in 2019.
After a heavy rainstorm a few days ago, I took my medium format camera down into the town I live in for some night photography while the streets were still wet with rain, and the sidewalks were empty– even though it was only 9:30 on a Friday night- normally a busy time with people filling the restaurants and ice cream shops.
One of the oldest buildings in downtown Wheaton, built c 1870’s.
The medium format camera is so well suited for architecture and night photography– the dynamic range (the ability to record details in the shadows and highlights) is amazing, and with a 51-megapixel sensor, the images are so sharp you can see smudges on the window panes.
Carlsons has been a fixture in town for over 100 years.
Quiet streets
Front Street
The old Wheaton Grand Theater (opened in 1925) has been empty for almost twenty years. Many have attempted to revive the theater but so far, all attempts have fallen short.
One of the newest restaurants in town.
More new restaurants on Hale Street.
Office building on Wesley Street
The old Post Office, c 1933
Ten days ago I received a somewhat frantic call from one of my clients; their staff photographer was sick and couldn’t make it for a four day video shoot they were doing the following week… and would I be available to be the on-set stills photographer? I couldn’t do all four days, but fortunately my schedule worked out to make it the last three days.
The client is a large healthcare provider in Illinois and they were shooting a community benefit video to show how they’ve partnered with healthcare organizations and churches in some of Chicago’s poorer neighborhoods. We interviewed healthcare CEO’s, doctors and pastors and shot in clinics, community centers and inner city churches.
I’ll post link to the video when it comes out…
I’m often asked what may all-time favorite photo shoot is. It’s a hard question to answer. I’ve had over thirty years of professional photography and video jobs to look back on now.
I could name several amazing jobs I’ve been privileged to work on, like the two royal weddings I’ve shot, or the presidents of China, Ireland and the US I’ve photographed, or the homeless shelters I’ve photographed, where I saw lives being changed and turned around. Or I could talk about the rewarding experiences I’ve had leading others on photography workshops, but the job that stands out to me is the day in 2012 I saw a human heart beating for the first time… up close and personal.
I’ve had almost twenty years of experience shooting for healthcare clients now. I’ve gone from knowing nothing about oncology, bariatric chambers, stents and DaVinci robotic arms to knowing all about medical terms and procedures and I’m an veteran observer of dozens of surgical procedures. And I know I don’t look good in a bunny suit (but then, who does?).
In 2012 I was shooting some images for a local hospital, to be used to promote their cardiac services. This was the second day of shooting that week; all the images were going to be run as black and white, with an edgy look to them, showing the excellent care the hospital provided for their patients and the services they provided. All the shots were going to be with real patients, undergoing real procedures. There would be no asking nurses to stand in as patients this time. The final shoot we did was going to be an open heart surgery.
Being in the operating room is intense. Someone’s life is at stake, regardless of whether it’s a simple procedure or a life threatening one. If the doctor or surgical team makes a mistake, the consequences can be fatal. When I’m led into the OR, I’m always reminded that I need to stay away from the table that contains all the surgical instruments, all neatly laid out and ready to be used at any time. Everything on the table has been sterilized and if you so much as touch the table, it becomes an un-sterile environment and none of the instruments can be used… so the surgery has to be stopped. It’s a frightening prospect. You have to always remember– this is an environment like no other.
The focus of this shoot would be the cardiac surgeon, who the hospital wanted to feature in some promotional stories. There would be no good place for me to stand during the surgery except up by the patient’s head. But there was a screen between the unconscious patient’s head and everything below his or her neck (I never did learn if it was a man or woman- the rest of the body was completely covered), so I would need to be overhead on a ladder, shooting down on the doctor and patient.
Before we went in the room, we had to find a ladder for me to stand on to look over the screen. Once located, we used disinfectant alcohol pads to wipe down the ladder, then covered it in a large, clear plastic bag. So, even though I was nervous standing on a ladder overlooking open heart surgery, I also had to avoid slipping on the bag covering the steps. This wasn’t going to be easy.
Then, donning a bunny suit (a head-to-toe, zip-up white suit), hair net, shoe coverings and a face mask, we carried the ladder and my camera gear into the surgery, which had already been underway for probably several hours. I moved the ladder into position, careful to avoid all the tubes coming out of the machines next to me, any one of which was no doubt keeping the patient alive. Nothing could prepare me for the sight I found looking over that screen, down on to the patient’s body. Right there, only three feet away, was a real-life, beating, blood-covered human heart, pulsing away in front of me. Multiple tubes sucked away the blood while the surgeon used a tool to cauterize and cut away whatever was wrong. I don’t know what was going on- but I was fascinated by the whole thing. This was someone’s heart, naked and open to the light, beating in front of me. I’ll never forget that.
I used to worry about becoming nauseous seeing a person cut open like that- would I feel sick and have to leave the room? Would I recoil at the sight of blood (and I’ve sometimes seen a lot of it)? But I never have. I’ve just been fascinated at the ability we have to repair someone’s body, and the incredible knowledge surgeons have to do what they do to save someone’s life. It’s amazing to watch that happen in front of your eyes.
After only eight minutes and 58 photos later (and two short videos I could’t help but shoot), we were done. I carefully stepped down from the ladder, grateful that I hadn’t dropped a camera or fallen down on to the patient (you think about these things) and left the surgical room. The bunny suit, bouffant hair covering and the rest were taken off. I could finally relax a little.
The best part of my job is the experiences I’ve had over the years. I don’t know of any other job where you can do the variety of things I’ve been fortunate to do, or meet the people I’ve met. I don’t take that lightly and I never take any job for granted, no matter how big or small. But this one, seeing that heart beating in front of me- the essence of life- was the most fascinating job I’ve ever photographed.
It’s no secret the Chicago Cubs won the World Series in 2016. The city went crazy; anything and everything connected to the Cubs was suddenly gold. Everyone wanted to know about the team and the city was in a state of shock after a 108 year World Series drought.
One of my favorite clients over the last 12 years has been Naperville Magazine and in April 2017, we were able to do a story on Gina Grimm, wife of pitcher Justin, who grew up in Naperville. Unfortunately since the season was underway, Justin couldn’t make it but Gina was able to shoot at Wrigley Field on a clear Spring morning. I wanted a background that would be instantly recognizable to Cubs fans so I posed her on top of the dugout with the iconic ivy covered walls and scoreboard in the background. We weren’t allowed to shoot on the field (the mound would’ve been my first choice for a location), but I admit I partly wanted to shoot there just to know what it felt like to be on the ‘hallowed turf’…
We didn’t have a lot of time with Gina, but as a baseball fan, it was one of my more memorable shoots. After all, what other job will allow you to get into an empty Wrigley Field, take over part of the stadium for half an hour and and get paid to be there?
Gear | Canon 1DX Mark2, 24-105mm f/4L USM, 70-200mm f/2.8L II USM
Thomas Dambo is an internationally famous Danish artist who’s known for his large wooden trolls. In 2018, one of my regular clients, the Morton Arboretum, commissioned Dambo to build several of the trolls to place around the grounds. A team of several builders lead by Dambo built the trolls on site, then installed them after a couple months of labor. I was asked to shoot them three times– first as they were under construction, then after they were in place (using my thirteen year old daughter as a model), and finally with a group of kids and their moms from an agency as models.
Since they went up, the trolls have been the biggest thing the Arboretum has ever done, shared all over social media and bringing in tens of thousands of visitors and boosting membership in a big way.
The best part for me though, was when I found my daughter’s picture was being used on a brochure for the Arboretum. I brought it home and showed her and she got the biggest kick out of it. Serious dad points.
Gear | Canon 1DX Mark2, Canon 5D Mark 2, 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM, 24-105mm f/4L USM, fill flash
