New Video for ALDI

September 12, 2019

This summer has been packed with various assignments, and I’ve done a fair bit of traveling for work, both in and around Illinois, as well as in Michigan, Indiana, and Minnesota. But in June, the third largest grocery store chain in the country, ALDI, contacted me to talk about shooting some video for their website. And it turns out the site they chose to do all the shooting at was my local ALDI, just five minutes up the road.

The job called for shooting several scenarios throughout the store, highlighting different aspects that make ALDI unique: their 25¢ grocery cart deposit, some of their special product lines, and several of their money saving programs that keep their prices lower than the competition, like having shoppers pack their own bags.

We squeezed a lot into the five hour shoot, starting at 6:30am when there were no customers around, using models as shoppers. Later, it was a challenge to not have recognizable “real” shoppers in the shot, though they pasted signs all over to let them know it was a possibility. We shot in 4K resolution, to output later to 1080p, and the clips will be used on an updated version of their website in the near future.

The Pitcher's Wife

September 12, 2019

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

Cannabis Times Shoot

May 3, 2019

I worked on a cover shoot for Golf Course Industry magazine back in 2011, for GIE Media based in Ohio. The shoot involved a head groundskeeper and the story was about the great job he was doing taking care of the oldest public course in America. Fast forward a few years, and the art director for Cannabis Times, another GIE title, contacted me to shoot another cover story about grass of a different variety. In fact, they had me shoot two different cannabis farms for a couple different stories.

I’ve photographed presidents, royalty, billionaire CEOs and top executives and I’ve even shot in Cook County (Illinois) Jail a couple times, but the security at the two marijuana farms was the tightest I’ve ever encountered. I underwent a background check before I was hired for the shoots. Every door we went in required a key code to enter. And every corner of the facility, from the exterior to the cultivation rooms was under video surveillance. The State of Illinois regularly conducts checks on the facilities too. To say they run a tight ship would be an understatement.

I knew nothing about cultivating marijuana before I did these shoots and had never photographed in a grow room before. But I learned pretty quickly that they’re brightly lit... really brightly lit. Most of the workers wear sunglasses. But the color temperature of the hot lamps is something altogether different. My photos were coming out with a very yellow tint that needed to be corrected in processing afterwards.

Uncorrected 2500K raw file (left) and color balanced (2100K, +24 Tint) finished file

After shooting in the grow rooms, we moved into the lab, where their top ‘scientist’– if that’s what you call him– was tweaking the plants to produce the best strains possible. Again, I don’t understand any of it, but it was interesting watching him clip the plants, and siphoning off the resin in the lab. Apparently this guy was highly sought after; he was flown in from Colorado (where else?) on a regular basis to help out in their lab.

Both facilities are growing the marijuana for the potentially huge medical marijuana market. A lot of investors were involved in both facilities and there was a cautious excitement for the potential in their product.

I’ve never smoked pot- honestly, I have zero interest in it. But I was impressed with what I saw at these facilities. Yeah, some of the workers looked like they’d smoked too much weed, and there was a weird vibe outside one of the places, but the people in charge were professional businessmen and women and knew their stuff (and their cannabis).

I’ve been in a lot of unusual situations in my career but these shoots were fun and I learned a lot. And that’s ultimately why I chose to be a photographer. I love to work in places few others get to see, collaborating with interesting people and having fun at the same time, and this ticked all the boxes for me.

Gear | Canon 1DX Mark2, 24-105mm f/4L II USM and 70-200mm f/2.8L II USM

The Trolls, the Trolls

April 12, 2019

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

St Patrick's Day with the Taoiseach

March 13, 2019

One of the best things about my job is the variety of work. In my 25+ years of freelancing, I’ve shot almost everything you can think of, from presidents to worms (look for both in future posts!). I’ve been shooting for the British Consulate in Chicago since 2007. And they in turn have passed my name in to the Irish Consulate, who I’ve had the pleasure of working for since 2012. St Patrick’s Day is absolutely huge in Chicago every year– almost a million people crowd into the downtown to watch them dye the Chicago River green and see the parade.

My assignment for the consulate was to shoot the parade which would see the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland, Enda Kenney, walking at the head of the parade with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emannuel. I was to walk backwards at the head of the parade, photographing the dignitaries all the way down Columbus Drive. It was a surreal job, surrounded by dozens of Secret Service men, Chicago cops and assorted news media. I’ve never been in a parade before, but to “lead” the St Patrick’s Day parade in front of a million onlookers was something I’ll never forget.

At the end of the parade, I had to bail out (not an easy task with the crowd along the route 10-20 people deep) and make my way to a restaurant who would let me onto their wi-fi, so I could upload pictures to the Irish Times, who then ran the pictures on the front page of the Sunday papers the next morning.

Gear | Canon 1D Mark4, Canon 5D Mark2, 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM, 24-105mm f/4L USM, 70-200mm f/2.8L II USM, fill flash

Stephen King

February 13, 2019

In 2017, one of the most famous authors in the world today, Stephen King, co-authored a new book with his son, Owen. As part of his promotional tour in the Chicago area, an event was held in the field house of North Central College (who hired me to shoot publicity pictures of Mr King’s visit to the college). Over 3,300 people lined up to purchase the book and hear Stephen and Owen speak about their collaboration.

I have to admit, I’ve never read a Stephen King book (I’m a non-fiction reader), but it was fun hanging out with and talking to the Kings as they autographed books backstage before the event. I also got to talk with Owen about Maine (where Stephen lives and where I do landscape photography workshops).

Gear | Canon 1DX Mark2, 24-105mm f/4L II USM, 70-200mm f/2.8L II USM, 300mm f/2.8L USM

The Day Mike Went to Prison...

December 4, 2018

Beauty can be found in some strange places sometimes. Last Saturday, I spent over four hours in prison. It was a wet, cold and dreary day– just like you’d expect every day to be like at a correctional facility. The Joliet Correctional Center opened in 1858 and finally closed its heavy steel doors for the last time in 2002 due to budget cuts. Since then, people have broken into the prison to explore, take photos or vandalize. But in 2018, to raise money for the local museum, the prison has opened up for special history and photography tours. And that’s what brought me to Joliet in the middle of a downpour early on Saturday morning…

To view large, full screen images and read more, follow this link.

Run, Kid, Run...

October 1, 2018

My favorite picture of the day, when one little girl was left behind by all the other kids. Then her sister came up behind her, put her arm around her and ran the rest of the race as her guide.

Yesterday I photographed a 5K run for one of my local clients. After the adults ran, there were several heats for the kids. The excitement was high for a lot of the kids, but it was heartbreaking to see some small kids in complete and utter terror as the race started and all the sideline parents screamed ‘encouragement’ to their little cherubs. In the final race, the 7-10 year olds, thirty kids tore out of the gate in one huge pack; it was scary to think what would’ve happened if one of them had tripped, as someone did in the 4-6 year olds’ race, when a little person pile-up was narrowly avoided.

At the end of the day, fortunately, all of them made it back to their parents, and the event was a success. At least I think they did. I left before all the 7-10’s made it back to the finish line. Hmmm…

Invasion of the Trolls

June 28, 2018

One of my favorite clients is the Morton Arboretum, who I've been shooting for for about the last ten years. One of the cool things about the Arboretum is the yearly installation exhibits they've been doing. I've shot Steel Roots (steel piping twisted into the shape of tree roots), Legos, metal frogs, even large scale origami art, but I think this year's takes the prize for the coolest. For the last couple months, artist Thomas Dambo from Denmark and his team have been constructing gigantic trolls from reclaimed wood, and placed them in fields, in the woods, overlooking the highway and elsewhere.

I spent a couple hours photographing the trolls under construction in late May. Now they're finished and I'm heading back this afternoon to photograph the 'official portraits' of the completed trolls, with people to show the scale of the giants. Should be fun.

The trolls are on display for the next 2-5 years, depending on how long they last in the Chicago weather. If you're in the area, go see them; you won't be disappointed.

When the President Comes to Town... and Needs a Photographer

April 9, 2018

The Irish Consulate in Chicago called me, wanting to know if I’d be interested in photographing the president of Ireland, Michael Higgins, on his visit to the city. Without missing a beat, I said yes and got the details. A few weeks later, after being checked out by the Secret Service and Irish security, my son (in his first job as my assistant) and I found ourselves in the Drake Hotel, ready to photograph 300-500 guests, all eager to shake the president’s hand and have their picture taken with him.

Setting up the family photo- President Higgins has many relatives living in the US.

Attorney General, Lisa Madigan (in blue dress), representing Chicago politics

Secret Service not looking conspicuous at all. My son David is in the front, fitting in well.

I was told the woman on the left is one of Muhammad Ali’s daughters.

The late Cardinal Francis George stops by for a few laughs with the President.

Everyone got a picture with the president

In the end, David and I got to pose with the President too. Photo by Shane O’Neill/ Fennell Photography (Dublin)

I set up a website where everyone could download their pictures, as well as order prints.

The Adventures of Mike's Camera