That’s why one day, when the year’s first strawberries arrived at my favorite farmers market, I brought as many home as I could carry, filled myself up with a whole lot of them, and then got out my camera and took some gorgeous macro shots of them. They’re beautiful and they taste great on pancakes, in oatmeal, on pastry, under whipped cream, under chocolate, or just eaten one by one like the perfect treats they are. I love strawberries.

June 4, 2014. Nikon D7100 (DX sensor), 105mm Nikon macro lens (35mm equivalent: 155mm), f/4.8, 1/180, ISO 640.

It’s always good to hang out and be seen on a sunny day, but if you can hang out and be seen on a sunny day when you’ve got the best sunglasses, well, that’s boss-level hanging out.

(Have I mentioned that I love dragonflies, and especially their eyes? I think I have.)

August 24, 2014. Cropped from a larger image. Nikon D7100 (DX sensor), 70–300mm Nikon zoom lens at 300mm (35mm equivalent: 105mm), f/11, 1/350, ISO 500.

It’s another of those little bits of curiosity that made me really happy. After a long, pelting rain during the day, a nearby garage roof was still quite wet and lit only by an amber streetlight in the back alley. I took a few shots and, as always, here is the one that made me happiest.

October 10, 2017. Nikon D7100 (DX sensor), 70–300mm Nikon zoom lens at 195mm (35mm equivalent: 295mm), f/5.3, 1/30, ISO 800.

We’re back on the Calumet River returning to Lake Michigan, and the lighting and placement of all of these structures — lift bridges and grain elevators — really caught my eye. The harsh lighting from a difficult angle made much of the trip difficult to capture well, but here these structures were out in the open and well-lit to show off all the detail. I’ve talked a bit about how industrial engineering fascinates me, and this photo of two of my favorite subjects in that category shows off why.

August 29, 2010. Nikon D90 (DX sensor), 70–300mm Nikon zoom lens at 70mm (35mm equivalent: 105mm), f/8, 1/1,000, ISO 640.

After a good wet Spring, the nature preserve where I like to photograph came alive with irises. Those days feel like they’re gone. Chicago has had less and less rainfall, and more and more heat, from year to year over the last decade, and this part of the pond doesn’t even exist anymore. This is a bittersweet reminder of what we could still have.

May 13, 2012. Nikon D90 (DX sensor), 70–300mm Nikon zoom lens at 70mm (35mm equivalent: 105mm), f/11, 1/500, ISO 400.

Herons are generally pretty good-looking birds. I’ve posted some photos that show how very odd they can look, because those entertain me quite a bit, but a great blue heron in flight is as much fun to see as it is to try to photograph. This shows off the whole bird pretty well.

February 22, 2020. Nikon D7100 (DX sensor), Tamron 100–400mm lens at 400mm (35mm equivalent: 600mm), f/11, 1/1,000, ISO 800.

A cardinal shows off a pretty sweet goatee on a Spring afternoon.

May 26, 2023. Nikon D850 (FX sensor), Tamron 100–400mm at 220mm, f/6.7, 1/60, ISO 100.

I’ve published other photos of herons not giving a damn about wandering into other critters’ territory, and the conflict with this blackbird in 2019 was the first time I got to enjoy the action in person. Both bees and butterflies seem to get along with whatever is nearby, but dragonflies and birds are more territorial, I guess.

May 4, 2019. Nikon D7100 (DX sensor), Tamron 100–400mm lens at 400mm (35mm equivalent: 600mm), f/9.5, 1/180, ISO 280.

As she arrives at the American senna she had her eye on, a carpenter bee discreetly hides her face from the paparazzi nearby. I always enjoy getting a nice clear photo of insects in flight.

August 19, 2017. Nikon D7100 (DX sensor), Nikon 70–300mm lens at 300mm (35mm equivalent: 450mm), f/5.6, 1/3,000, ISO 560.

Of late, I’ve been interested in panoramic photography, to the point of buying a couple of film cameras in that format, one quite specialized and one medium format. While it will take some time for any photos to come from them, bringing this cell phone shot to a panoramic view gave me the composition I knew would make it a keeper.

I am fortunate to live on the second floor of a two-flat, with my dining room windows looking out on this view. It means both that the light is very bright and even and that I have a lot of privacy. After Chicago’s first snow of the season, a very smooth and calm coating landed on both of the roofs, giving me some nice broken symmetry.

November 10, 2025. OnePlus 12 cell phone, 6mm focal length (35mm equivalent: 23mm), f/1.6, 1/30, ISO 2,500.

It’s a nice warm Spring day, and it feels like everyone is out and in a good mood — including these swallowtail butterflies who just fluttered with each other, more or less in place around that spot, for a good long time. I took a few photos, and then I put my camera aside and enjoyed the show.

May 30, 2016. Cropped from a larger image. Nikon D7100 (DX sensor), Nikon 70–300mm lens at 165mm (35mm equivalent: 250mm), f/8, 1/1,500, ISO 200.

The bridges that cross the Chicago River are all lift bridges, so boats can get from the lake to their harbors or Winter storage or wherever they go when they aren’t out on the lake for a while. The bridges are lifted on a very regular schedule, and if you forget and end up stuck on the wrong side, it sucks to be you, because each disruption is just a little less time than trudging down to the next bridge crossing and going around the one that was annoying you. You may as well just wait it out.

But whichever side you’re on, it’s kind of a cool sight, and if you’re waiting and some worker is observing the boats’ progress underneath from above, at least you can get a fun picture out of it.

October 12, 2022. Samsung S24+ cell phone, 6mm focal length (35mm equivalent: 28mm), f/2, 1/640, ISO 25.

If you are in a window seat on a plane and you glance out the window at the right time, you may see the shadow of the plane surrounded by a more-or-less full-circle rainbow. You can read up on the optical phenomenon of the “glory” (a lousy name for it, I think) on reference sites. You need to be above the clouds, and the sun needs to be at a good angle above you on the other side of the plane. (If you’re flying east, be in an A seat, and if you’re flying west, be in an F seat.)

You can read up on them at reference sites if you’d like, obviously, but long story short, they’re pretty and ultimately it’s like any rainbow — the sun is on one side, the water droplets are on the other, and we’re in the middle. I’d rather see what’s going on at ground level, but if it’s an overcast day when I’m flying, I’ll watch for glories to keep my interest up.

January 29, 2023. Samsung S24+ cell phone, 6mm focal length (35mm equivalent: 28mm), f/2, 1/640, ISO 25.

After my little rant yesterday, maybe it’s not such a bad idea to post the color version, and yeah, here’s the all the color that makes it just so purty. I like the black-and-white version better, but maybe you like the color version better.

October 21, 2023. Nikon Coolpix P1000 (1/2.3-inch sensor), focal length 24mm (35mm equivalent: 135mm), f/4, 1/60, ISO 100.