Once we cleared up that kerfuffle (with more than a few chuckles), Dick went ahead and included me as one of four distinguished graduates of the college. I feel incredibly honored by the call out. Harrington gave me a new direction, one that I love, and taught me that it’s never too late to start over. Which is a good thing to remember. Thank you Dick. To read a copy of the full article, click here.

The good news is that there are 70 new charter schools in Chicago and the system is working — 80% of charter school freshman graduate from high school and 70% go on to college. But the bad news is that there’s not enough room for everyone who wants a spot. The goal of the FollowSpot video was to help raise awareness of how far this effort has come, but also show how far it has yet to go.  My goal for the day was to capture some of the faces that will make up our future.

In the sea of humanity that day, these shots jumped out at me either because of the flash of color or the radiance of the smile. I had to shoot fast so there wasn’t a lot of time for technicalities, but with faces like these, who really needs them?

Luckily, at Burger Bar in Chicago, both the sign and the food are fantastic. Furthermore, the sign, with its retro, funky vibe, truly reflects Chef John McLean and his dedication to using meat raised the old fashioned way — i.e. without hormones.

I spent a lot of time getting the lighting just right and decided to shoot it in “reverse” so that it was backlit by natural light. I love the way this turned out. Just like I love the burgers at Burger Bar. In fact, I might have to go get one right now. Maybe, I’ll see you there.

At Fritz, their philosophy of using the healthiest, most delicious ingredients extends all the way to their decor. And it just make their food taste better. Don’t you think?

Every Entertaining Company event that Wendy Pashman designs is a work of art so I wanted to ensure that the pictures reflected her credo. Personally, I don’t think the Mona Lisa has anything on these  fries, but then, again,  I’m nothing, but a simple midwestern girl at heart.

I wanted to capture a group portrait that could be used either in the video or on their website.  Now, taking a good portrait of just one person is hard enough, but four — that’s what I call a challenge. Especially when the four in question are the kinds of people who are used to being behind the scenes. Not the scene itself. Luckily, as we’ve already discussed, I enjoy a challenge.

My two rules for snapping this kind of shot are: make it fast and make sure the subjects are comfortable. In this case, that meant catching Wendy and her team at work. I couldn’t be happier with how it came out. The shot’s  flattering of everyone and they’re all smiling. It almost never works out like that,  but when it does, boy does it feels good.

When my friend Leslie Thomas called to ask me if I would take the pictures for her new Workshop/CoOp website, I said “yes”. Then, she called to tell me that the bags were going to be in the March issue of “O” Magazine. I said “fantastic”. Then she called to tell me that the magazine shipped on the 15th of February, and the site needed to be up by then. I said “What?!” It was already the 1st. Which gave us about 48 hours in turnaround time. I guess it’s a good thing that I like to work under pressure.

The challenge with this shoot was that Leslie wanted to show the bags “in action” — to give shoppers different ideas about how to use their bags. Due to our basically non-existent prep time, my house became the set. Leslie and her team showed up bright and early with all kinds of fun props, and we got to work. I used mostly natural light because I wanted the bags to look like they would actually look in your home. I’m pretty pleased with how they came out. Sometimes, I find that having less time is a good thing. It forces me to stay in the moment and not over think the shot.