New Trier Construction

For one of my first assignments of the year with the school newspaper,
 I went to the Northfield campus of New Trier to photograph the construction

 around the football field.

I went during sunset so the dirt would have a nice radiance to it,

 and I compositionally utilized the tire marks to mimic Dorothea

 Lange's Tractored Out and lead the viewers eyes towards the 

house on the horizon; or in this case a school. Also, in the History of Art 
course I'm taking we just covered orthogonal lines so by standing
 on top of a bleachers I was able to achieve an effect of all the lines
 in the frame pointing towards the school (the seats, the tire marks,
 the light poles, the fence, etc.).

Northfield

Taken in August 2012

Rain in Crow Island Woods

While it was pouring rain the other day I decided to take my macro-filters

 for a spin in Crow Island Woods. I thought that it would be a unique

 experience--photographing raindrops--and it was. The rain smudged the

 lens quickly, resulting in most of the images having a foggy haze to them.

Winnetka

Taken in August 2012

U of I

In July my family and I made a road trip to Champaign and Bloomington to look

 at the schools there. I've mostly been looking at small liberal arts schools 

but these schools have become an increasingly present frugal alternative. 

My dad is a professor at Illinois and I live in the state, so going there would 

be a small fraction of the price of going to any other school. Personally, I 

was not extraordinarily impressed by Champaign. It was hot and rural, and

 the city was uncomfortably urban in contrast with its surroundings. On 

my way back from St. Louis a couple weeks ago we stopped by Springfield,

 which is a nice city with grandiose architecture and copious Lincoln memorabilia, 

but otherwise central Illinois has little beyond cornfields and grain elevators. 

While at U of I, I took some pictures of buildings and structures.

Champaign

Taken in July 2012

Sunrise at Washington University and Forest Park

When I finished my term paper on taxation and commercial impediments

 in the Kingdom of France (which I got an A on), the sun was starting to

 come out. Since I felt awake and concluded that I would never be in 

Forest Park during sunrise ever again, I decided to walk to Forest Park

 and take pictures. I ended up walking for almost four hours, and when 

I got back I slept for the rest of the day. Among other things I took 

pictures of the big staircase in front of Washington University, a golf 

course and some ponds in it, the St. Louis Art Museum, the Grand Basin, 

and a lilly pond.

St. Louis

Taken in August 2012