©2010 Chicago Tribune/Alex Garcia
Just another day at the Auto Show at McCormick Place…
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Category: Events
©2010 Alex Garcia
Siberian Huskies on Northerly Island during a Polar Adventure Days event sponsored through the Chicago Park District. This is my ideal kind of event. Not because of the wonderful dogs, the cool ice sculptures, the science demonstrations, the rescued animals, and the overall nature-centric themes of the event. Those were all wonderful for my small kids over the weekend. But what makes it unbelievably cool is that it’s a Chicago event that’s all free, with FREE PARKING! Oye! Makes me want to go back in February…
©2009 Chicago Tribune/Alex Garcia
I know you’ve seen it before. It was a naturalization ceremony, but this time at Daley Plaza. In the plaza there were more than 100 people from about 35 countries…so many life stories. My thoughts were with my Dad who came from Cuba more than a half century ago…The man at center was just bubbling the whole time. You couldn’t help but notice him. He was an Iraqi who waved the U.S. flag most of the ceremony. Even his son on the edges said, “I didn’t know he would be so excited about this”. It was his second time taking the citizenship test, and this time he passed. This was one assignment where I found myself smiling throughout.
©2009 Chicago Tribune/Alex Garcia
What is it like photographing 75 Olympic athletes in 2 and-a-half days? Something of a cross between speed-dating and a three-ring circus. I was assigned to a room with six other photographers this past week at the Palmer House for the media preview of the United States Olympic Committee. Representing various wire services and newspapers, we were given a few minutes each to shoot portraits of athletes of the 2010 Winter Olympics. It was the first time I had ever done something like this. During the cavalcade I was literally bumping my behind against a UPI photographer’s as we avoided trampling each other’s cords and equipment. Because of the loud din, I found myself shouting directions at the athletes who were remarkably good sports about it – given that I was blasting them with a ringflash and four other lights. Of course, in the middle of all this, television stations from across the country came through filming us as we photographed the athletes. No, that wasn’t chaotic. Because athletes were herded into the room in droves, there were some quiet moments in between where the photographers engaged in the topics of conversation you would expect among a group of guys holed up in a room for days – duct tape, hermaphrodites and the Die Hard movie where some guy gets stabbed with an icicle. All told, it was fun and inspiring to be around such athletic overachievers. I know this coming Olympics will have added meaning as I will recognize some names and faces. I can post images from the shoot after the Tribune publishes…
©2009 Chicago Tribune/Alex Garcia
“HI OPRAH, OVER HERE, IT’S ME! The photographer who wasn’t going to get caught into your celebrity tractor beam..Over HE-ERE!” Yes, although I was going to post a different photo today, you just can’t ignore someone who closes down Michigan Avenue. For the record, I wasn’t assigned to shoot Oprah’s kickoff show since we had enough people covering the event. But I joined other curiosity seekers from the newsroom who gravitated over to the Tribune editorial board room to get a view of the hoopla – and it was a decent office view. In case you missed it, the big robotic figures on stage weren’t the bodyguards of the Oprah invasion of Michigan Avenue – they were part of the opening act. As I left the building that day, past the police command post set-up in our lobby, a security guard shook his head and said mail delivery did not occur today in our building…As he said, bemusedly, “Only Oprah…”
©2009 Chicago Tribune
Shows like Cavalia, conceptualized by the same person behind Cirque du Soleil, are not easy to capture in photographs let alone a single image. Much of my take, even if they captured a peak moment of energy and motion, felt too, well staged. By going a bit more wide and including the snow falling over the crowd, I was hoping to make the picture about the surreal experience as much as the actual stage action. Click to see more photos..
