“So are you feeling spiritual this morning?” was the question I was lightheartedly asked after transmitting these pictures yesterday. At first I didn’t realize what the editors were talking about. In search of morning fog pictures,  I had stopped at the intersections of Balbo and Columbus after being dazzled by light rays from a building through the fog. Have you seen this type of phenomenon before? I hadn’t. By the time I got there on foot, the wind had carried away the fog and my photo with it. So I turned around, saw the statue at left, and thought – well, at least it’s something. Then I saw some of the dazzling reflections again on the building at right.  I ran towards it and photographed the light rays before transmitting from my camera using our mobile technology. I was so focused on the unusual light, I didn’t even realize the overall image.  When I later saw the cross I found it amusing and a little embarrassing that although I’m a photographer and churchgoer, others saw it before I did.

T Bone Burnett won his first Oscar last night, for Best Original Song from”Crazy Heart”.  Walking onstage, the gentlemanly Burnett was wearing his familiar sunglasses and signature dark suit. His dark outfit made for an interesting image in the alley of the Vic Theater in Chicago when I was assigned to take his portrait on one of his visits. I was grateful for the light in the alley that day. It was one of those moments when the sun was out, and the light was skimming the surface of the bricks. You hope your subject is available before the light changes, or clouds move in.  The lighting seemed appropriate. At the time, he was coming out with his first album in 14 years, so I offered the theme of “emerging from shadows” back at the office. Even with a portrait, you try to tell a story.

Who knew that a Whole Foods grocery bag could function as a sled?  I was with my kids when we passed by a snowhill that triggered the phenomenon known as “scream-at-Dad-until-he-caves”.  We didn’t have a sled in the van, so I went hunting for a cardboard box. Of course, you can never find a floppy cardboard box when you really need one, so I looked at the bags in our cargo area and thought “hmmm..” The experience of all of us happily walking up a snowhill with grocery bags was priceless. My kids were too young to care what people thought, and I enjoyed the free ride.

I was a vulture today. At least that was the term used by a police officer. He and I were both watching a group of television cameramen and reporters surround a couple as they left the scene of a triple murder in the suburbs. I wasn’t a part of the group, although I easily could have been. I had been photographing people’s reactions, such as the man above in what was a very heartbreaking scene.  Even though I was out there with everyone else, waiting to find whatever tidbit of information we could find, I didn’t see a picture in that one mob so stepped away.  So the officer muttered “…vultures..”, and truth be told, I saw it too.  At face value, either in movies or in real life, it is ugly. And I struggle with it.  There is another side, of course. If there were no photos to show the emotion of a scene, news such as this would have less capacity to arouse the body politic to action, and to ask countless questions that urgently matter, such as, is the killer on the loose? Was the home invasion random or part of a pattern? Is the community safe?  Emotional pictures are like an alarm bell to pay-attention-to-this-one. They encourage connection, empathy, concern, and hopefully action.  Having said that, there is such a thing as too much. Both in process and result. Invasive. Gratuitous. Insensitive. I’m sure there are countless stories of this, and I won’t seek to defend them. I’m not alone in trying to balance the need to get information out quickly, with the need to respect someone’s emotional space in a public setting. My television colleagues have pressures that I don’t fully appreciate, but those I respect also struggle with it. Perhaps I should take the advice of a different police officer who said later, “you’re just doing your job.”  In the end, this post is not meant to be a confession, a defense, or an appeal for absolution. It’s just a statement of fact. I felt like a vulture today. And I’ll never get used to it.

The wheel turns at Navy Pier a recent morning, and a new month of assignments brings new highs and lows in the life of our city. I was asked a fairly frequent question on Friday, “So what is your typical day like?” As viewers of this blog know, every day is atypical.  I’m on a day shift which means that I get whatever happens during that period of time. I usually find out that morning, with many changes during the day. Think of photo assignments as airplanes needing air traffic control.  If you look at assignments on radar, the flight path of one photojournalist from another could be completely different owing to the time of day and other circumstances. If I’m a night guy working weekends, it means I’m shooting a lot of sports.  When I worked in Southern California, I would be out at photographing Rams or Raiders game every weekend. I even shot NFC Championships and a Superbowl. But as a Chicago photographer, I haven’t shot a single Bears or Bulls game in 10 years (OK with me, BTW). So in addition to time of day, the size of paper makes a difference.  If I worked at a smaller paper, I might be shooting a feature picture story of an interesting character in the community on a regular basis. At a larger paper, that character might become a portrait to occupy the lead in a sweeping piece about interesting characters in a region. Each approach has its strengths, but it will color a photojournalist’s portfolio. As a result, the work of a photojournalist and his newspaper is symbiotic. Below is a short sampling of my photo assignments from the past month.  Since moving to an earlier morning shift, I found there tends to be more overnight crime than at other points in my career.

(I don’t describe those that haven’t been published yet or which are multiple day assignments. Many assignments, in which I check on a police report, don’t get listed either).

A popular restaurant that burned down overnight.

People whose health insurance was mistakenly dropped.

Cubs pack up for spring training.

A candidate for Cook County Board President casts her vote.

A memorial after a fatal car crash.

A wind farm.

Lawyers at a press conference about medical malpractice.

Interviews of Republican candidates for governor.

CTA bus stops in the wake of budget cuts.

Lawyers at a press conference about a medical malpractice court ruling.

Heavy snowfall.

A gubernatorial candidate thanks voters at a train station.

A street corner of a proposed high tower in suburbs.

A body found in an alley.

The Auto Show.

A mob of media surrounding a convicted town mayor released from prison.

A CHA building being demolished.

Freight trains stalled in suburbs, blocking intersections.

An executive director of a battered women’s shelter.

An early morning shooting at Northern Illinois University.

A police officer killed in an accident.

A single father brings his kids to a preschool.

High schoolers playing rugby.

A warehouse of printing presses.

A food pantry for the needy.

Family of teenager shot and killed.

A state official at a church event.

Commuters struggling with weather.

Freeway accident involving a state vehicle.

Behind the scenes at a Chicago Police Department facility.

Members of a high school academy rugby team mix it up during a scrimmage at Garfield Park on an early morning before school. I came upon it while driving around for features. The scene had all the makings of the kind of crazy-rough-ball-chasing-crazy-blizzard pictures that one hopes for in a sports picture, so I was delighted when it started and a little bummed when the scrimmage itself ended after about five-ten minutes.  But after an hour of drills, the kids were fuh-fuh-fuh-reeeeezing, so I was glad to see they would be getting some warm relief – even though it was to the expense of more dramatic snow pictures…

A commuter walks among the 9-foot tall cast iron legs of “Agora” a public art installation at Michigan Avenue and Roosevelt Roads. I’ve seen this several times, but didn’t see a time in which a photo could work really well.  I passed by it this morning and for the first time saw that commuters had forged a path between the legs. Shooting at eye level would have been a bit pedestrian, so I laid down in snow when I saw a commuter coming around the bend. People are such good sports. I got up covered in snow and asked for her name for the paper. I’m sure I was quite the sight, but it never ceases to amaze me how little I have to explain before complete strangers tell me what their name is and what they’re up to. In this case, maybe there was some sympathy for the photographer at work…

A door from the patrol car driven by Chicago Police Officer Alan Haymaker rests on the side of Lake Shore Drive after his vehicle slammed into the side of a tree. Haymaker did not survive the crash, which occurred while he was enroute to a burglary.  The exact cause of the crash is being investigated, but icy weather contributed to it. The Tribune had a full story about him on its breaking news website. After photographing the accident, I accompanied the reporter who interviewed the officer’s pastor at his northwest side church.  The picture of Haymaker that emerged from that interview and others was both humbling and inspiring – of someone who served the needs of those around him, as an officer, friend, neighbor, and father – at sometimes great risk, but always as a reflection of his Christian faith. I had just been talking with my wife about how much our society is owed by people who live and serve others in quiet, unassuming ways. This morning I heard one such description and it gave me pause. That seemed to be Haymaker’s mission and heart.

©2010 Chicago Tribune/Alex Garcia

Naperville skater Evan Lysacek appeared here previously in a collection of other portraits of Olympic hopefuls, but I didn’t make any comment about his photo.  Now that he rocked the Olympics by being the first U.S. man to win a gold medal in skating since 1988, I thought I’d post some specifics. In that post,  I described some technical details on how the photos were supposed to look, but the look he was creating was one of focused intensity. I’m not exaggerating or lassoing a star when I say that of  the seventy-some athletes I shot during those three days, Lysacek was the one whose intensity stood out. I was actually a bit startled by it. Maybe it was his eyebrows and tightly clenched jaw, or his dark eyes and quite demeanor – or all of that. As you look at his photo, especially the one at left, remember that he’s facing me and a crazy crowd of activity behind me  – photographers, agents, athletes, etc.. all bumping into each other and creating a raucous roar. Some athletes handled that by being funny or irreverent. Some appeared a bit tired or distracted. Lysacek stood in and quickly stared at me with such concentration,  I knew he was focusing more on the picture than I was.

Every so often the museums offer free days, weeks, etc.. for visitors. This week is one such week for the Shedd. Of course, if you want to have a personal encounter with the Belugas in the “Beluga Encounter Habitat” it will set you back a couple hundred dollars, which is why I offer this up-and-close shot to you during a press visit to the Oceanarium. “Assignment Chicago” – saving you money since 2009….:-)