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“Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster... for when you gaze long into the abyss. The abyss gazes also into you.”

― Friedrich Nietzsche

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Flamingo, created by noted American artist Alexander Calder, is a 53-foot (16 m)[2] tall stabile located in the Federal Plaza in Chicago, Illinois. Flamingo, créé par le célèbre artiste américain Alexander Calder, est une structure stable de 16 m (2 m) située sur la Federal Plaza de Chicago, dans l’Illinois.

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Chicago: www.flickr.com/photos/jldum/albums/72157706071866535 Architecture: www.flickr.com/photos/jldum/albums/72157669768177122

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• Richard Jefferies.

| facebook | 500px | ferpectshots |

My wife and I have been traveling together for eight years now, and we sometimes sit together and look back at the pictures we have on our trips. There are some trips where we don’t much, and then there are trips that are etched vividly in our memories. I think after eight years, we have finally cracked the secret. Trips that go perfectly according to the plan are the ones which we don’t remember very well as opposed to trips where nothing went according to plan. We started noticing this on our first trip together, and after eight years and countless trips together, I can confidently say there is some merit to this theory.

Our first trip together was to visit the beautiful Acadia National Park. There was not much planning involved, and we struggled during this trip. One of the spots I had in mind for this trip was the pinnacle of Cadillac Mountain, as it's touted as the first place to see the morning sun anywhere in the United States. We thought the hard part of this would be waking up at 5 am as you can drive straight up the top of the mountain. It was stunning to see the view from the top, and the light was magnificent but what took us off guard was the cold. The top of the mountain was bitterly cold, and the strong winds coming off the Atlantic didn’t help either. We were unprepared for the wind in our wool coats and beat a hasty retreat after just a few shots. We ended up in a small and cozy breakfast spot that served nice hot coffee and blueberry pancakes made with fresh blueberries from their backyard. We still remember this trip so clearly that we compare the bone-chilling cold we experienced here whenever we are getting ready for a sunrise shot.

How often do you use long exposures in your photography? Since recently I discovered a new passion for minimalistic, abstract photography and incorporating movement in that style of work is very important for me. So I find myself using long exposures quite often in one way or the other. I love to use them to break the symmetry in the frame and as a strong point of interest. What do you think?

I revisited this location during this summer to see if I can get something different out of it each time. I tried different times of the day and I recently tried it shooting with infrared. Loved the outcome. Some great shadow textures are revealed in this version and the BW was a way to go in my opinion. What do you think?

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Do you have better luck with it? I was really looking forward to this short work break. The holiday was great and spending some quality time with my family and friends is alway a bonus and I’m grateful for it. The weather on the other side sucks, it’s bad for all four days and that is a bummer. But, hey, we will not let that stop us from getting out and hanging together and try to salvage what we can. This is one was shot back in September on one of the similar gloomy days. What do you think?

Flamingo, created by noted American artist Alexander Calder, is a 53-foot (16 m)[2] tall stabile located in the Federal Plaza in Chicago, Illinois. Flamingo, créé par le célèbre artiste américain Alexander Calder, est une structure stable de 16 m (2 m) située sur la Federal Plaza de Chicago, dans l’Illinois.

Instagram: www.instagram.com/jl.dumas 500Px: 500px.com/jldum

Chicago: www.flickr.com/photos/jldum/albums/72157706071866535 Architecture: www.flickr.com/photos/jldum/albums/72157669768177122

• Lao Tzu.

|| insta || blog || photostream ||

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It's been a crazy few days with an unexpected job change and my sister suddenly dropping in for a visit that I didn’t get much time to spend on photos. We have managed quite a few trips in the last couple of months, and I am already behind processing them. However, I finally managed to take some time and sort through the photos from White Sands National Park. I hope to post more images from that stunning destination in the next couple of days.

Today’s subject is again the lone tree of White Sands that I managed to find in one of my hikes. I was unhappy with the first day’s image of the tree and returned to it repeatedly, hoping for better light. It turns out that’s the best thing I did during the trip. I managed to capture images of the tree in dramatically different settings. While I have returned to locations before, it was the first time I did so within days, and it surprised me how different the area looked each time I went there. It seems like it would be a practice I will be adding to my travel photography techniques.

Good morning/day to you, hope your week is going well? Here in Chicago we are anticipating Spring Equinox. Shooting in the city all the days coming up to it, and after it really gets fun. Deep defined shadows, strong pronounced highlights and sharp angles, it’s a dream for architecture photography. What do you think?

How did it go? Yesterday was not that chaotic, surprisingly, so on the brighter note I will go back to the last weeks supermoon rise. I strongly feel that events like this one should actually draw our full attention. Not that often, if ever, some of us get to see sun rushing down on one side of the river and supermoon soaring up on the other, while both equally cast their light on the city! So for those of you who might never experience something like this, take a moment and enjoy. What do you think?

I usually don’t post two photos in a row with the same subject but this event was very interesting and rare so I had to find a different location and get one more shot. The colors cast from the peer lights was to harsh and the color did’t work as on the previous shot so I decided to go BW in this case. What do you think?

Are we done or not? God only knows how excited I get just thinking about catching the good sunset over Chicago sometimes soon! But until that happens I’m just gonna have to be happy with what I have! I know it’s a classic shot but I had to have it redone and what better time to do it than while this crazy fog was covering downtown. What do you think?

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Aqua Tower à Chicago: Architecte Jeanne Gang. Prix "Emporis Skyscraper Award 2009"

• William Shakespeare.

|| insta || blog || photostream ||

Please press “F” if you like this image.

The moment we entered the White Sands National Park, I knew I wanted an image with the delicate patterns in the sand. It turned out harder than expected. The park, known for wind, was serene during our visit. So footmarks stayed on overnight, and it also meant I had to hike quite deep into the dunes to get decent unbroken patterns. While hunting for a composition, I had the idea to make the composition a bit more interesting by adding some more familiar items from the landscape.

The mountain to the west of the park is a dominant feature that immediately caught my eye, and I decided to use it as my background. With their elongated stems, these Yucca plants were the other elements of the park that I wanted to add to my image. As mentioned earlier, this made the search a bit trickier, but my perseverance paid off. The final image is a simple 16:9 aspect ratio composition with the tripod placed low.

Instagram: www.instagram.com/jl.dumas 500Px: 500px.com/jldum

Chicago: www.flickr.com/photos/jldum/albums/72157706071866535 Architecture: www.flickr.com/photos/jldum/albums/72157669768177122

Instagram: www.instagram.com/jl.dumas 500Px: 500px.com/jldum

Chicago: www.flickr.com/photos/jldum/albums/72157706071866535 Architecture: www.flickr.com/photos/jldum/albums/72157669768177122 B&W: www.flickr.com/photos/jldum/albums/72157635275056980

Flamingo, created by noted American artist Alexander Calder, is a 53-foot (16 m)[2] tall stabile located in the Federal Plaza in Chicago, Illinois.

Instagram: www.instagram.com/jl.dumas 500Px: 500px.com/jldum

Chicago: www.flickr.com/photos/jldum/albums/72157706071866535 B&W: www.flickr.com/photos/jldum/albums/72157635275056980 Architecture: www.flickr.com/photos/jldum/albums/72157669768177122

Les "vagues" de l'Aqua Tower à Chicago: Architecte Jeanne Gang. Prix "Emporis Skyscraper Award 2009".

Instagram: www.instagram.com/jl.dumas 500Px: 500px.com/jldum

Chicago: www.flickr.com/photos/jldum/albums/72157706071866535 Architecture: www.flickr.com/photos/jldum/albums/72157669768177122 B&W: www.flickr.com/photos/jldum/albums/72157635275056980 Abstract: www.flickr.com/photos/jldum/albums/72157689504332434

How did it go? So here we are at the beginning of another week after a fun weekend. After shooting for the moon last nigh, we had one failed attempt and one relatively successful. Images are coming soon. For now I will leave you with some good light. What do you think?

Instagram: www.instagram.com/jl.dumas 500Px: 500px.com/jldum

Chicago: www.flickr.com/photos/jldum/albums/72157706071866535 Architecture: www.flickr.com/photos/jldum/albums/72157669768177122

Are you going out? People often think that I’m crazy when I spend all day out on this subzero temperatures while the snow storm is in full force or when I’m happy to see a frozen lake :) I always find myself struggling to explain that feeling to someone who doesn’t have the same passion in life. What usually helps is when I show the final result of that effort but seeing how my passion ignites the passion of that someone is by far the most rewarding thing of all. What do you think?

Instagram: www.instagram.com/jl.dumas 500Px: 500px.com/jldum

Chicago: www.flickr.com/photos/jldum/albums/72157706071866535 Architecture: www.flickr.com/photos/jldum/albums/72157669768177122 B&W: www.flickr.com/photos/jldum/albums/72157635275056980

La Cloud Gate (littéralement « Porte des nuages ») est une sculpture urbaine de l'artiste britannique Anish Kapoor située dans le Millennium Park à Chicago...

Instagram: www.instagram.com/jl.dumas 500Px: 500px.com/jldum

Chicago: www.flickr.com/photos/jldum/albums/72157706071866535 Architecture: www.flickr.com/photos/jldum/albums/72157669768177122

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Nuit étoilée sur la tour Willis à Chicago... Starry night on the Willis Tower in Chicago ...

Instagram: www.instagram.com/jl.dumas 500Px: 500px.com/jldum

Chicago: www.flickr.com/photos/jldum/albums/72157706071866535 Architecture: www.flickr.com/photos/jldum/albums/72157669768177122 B&W: www.flickr.com/photos/jldum/albums/72157635275056980

Instagram: www.instagram.com/jl.dumas 500Px: 500px.com/jldum

Chicago: www.flickr.com/photos/jldum/albums/72157706071866535 Architecture: www.flickr.com/photos/jldum/albums/72157669768177122

Les "vagues" de l'Aqua Tower à Chicago: Architecte Jeanne Gang. Prix "Emporis Skyscraper Award 2009".

Instagram: www.instagram.com/jl.dumas 500Px: 500px.com/jldum

Chicago: www.flickr.com/photos/jldum/albums/72157706071866535 Architecture: www.flickr.com/photos/jldum/albums/72157669768177122 B&W: www.flickr.com/photos/jldum/albums/72157635275056980 Abstract: www.flickr.com/photos/jldum/albums/72157689504332434

La tour Willis à droite, tour la plus haute de Chicago: 442 m...

Instagram: www.instagram.com/jl.dumas 500Px: 500px.com/jldum

Chicago: www.flickr.com/photos/jldum/albums/72157706071866535 Architecture: www.flickr.com/photos/jldum/albums/72157669768177122 B&W: www.flickr.com/photos/jldum/albums/72157635275056980

“No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.” - Buddha

LONDON HOUSE How did you kick off the start of this week? I’m still hoping and waiting to see some fall color in the city! But until that happens I’m back and shooting cityscapes. I’m contemplating for a long time how to shoot the views from a London House terrace. For those who don’t know, that is a luxury hotel at the riverfront in Chicago. Since it’s accessible for anybody who is willing to pay for a drink at the rooftop bar it was a challenge to find a different perspective from that spot. Besides waiting for the right weather conditions the bar is always crowded. Since it’s getting colder there is not much people there so this was the perfect time for me to explore the terrace and enjoy that drink in peace and all while happy hour is on ( every Monday and Tuesday :) What do you think?