Side Order of Life

Photo from Tillamook Air Museum.

After posting about the Graphic Eye BookI started looking through some of my other photos from the past few months and pulled a handful to share on my blog. Some are creative, some are pedestrian, but they all combine to form a side order of my life.


Tropical plant detail.

Even though I live in the Pacific Northwest, land of Bigfoot, UFO's, and the Green Mermaid, our specific zone allows us to have lush tropical plants as well so my backyard is turning into a tropical eco-system with a pond, koi fish, frogs, dragon flies and an assortment of tropical flora.


Altered states of Bean.

World class illustrator Michael Bast and myself admiring "The Chicago Bean" at the wonderful Millennium Park in downtown Chicago.


Nikon CoolPix P5100

As you can see I shot all these pictures with my Nikon CoolPix P5100. It's easy to use and gives me a whopping 12.1 mega pixels to work with


Vanilla cappuccino artwork.

I love it when baristas get artsy with their coffee.


Ornamental Grass.

I love cool organic shots like this. I'm now using this image in my desktop organizer.


Reflecting on Impressionism.

I took my daughters to a feed some ducks one night and thought the reflections on the pond looked very Claude Monet in appearance.


Ornate gate.

The one thing I admire the most about old school architecture is the attention to artistic detail they put into seemingly mundane things like an elevator gate. You just don't see this type of craftsmanship or art in new buildings being constructed now.

The Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art has a whole exhibit of rescued pieces like this from building that were demolished in order to construct new ones.


American Gothic.

To stand mere inches away from an American classic like this is a bit surreal. I had no idea it was in the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art until I walked around the corner and there it was. I was a little surprised by the condition of the frame, it looks like old barn wood.

The Graphic Eye

"The Graphic Eye" by Stefan G. Bucher

Stefan G. Bucher is one of those unique creative types that's always thinking, always creating, and that type of mojo produces inspiring work like his latest book "The Graphic Eye: Photographs by Graphic Designers from around the Globe"

This book isn't your everyday coffee table photo gallery of landscapes or boudoir photography, it's uniquely creative images captured by graphic designers and they are anything but mainstream.

I was honored to be asked to participate in this new book and each designer was asked to submit "10" images and Stefan picked which one would appear in the book.

The below photo was the image of mine he chose to appear in the book. And this post contains all "10" I had submitted and the story behind each. I've always enjoyed photography, so I hope you enjoy the read.


"Zimbabwe Elder" photograph

I captured the above image when I traveled to Israel. I met this guy one afternoon in Nazereth. He was from Zimbabwe Africa and was a really nice man. I thought he would make for a good picture too!


"Bug Out" photograph

I caught this caterpillar doing chin-ups near a water fall in the Oregon woods.


"Flammable" photograph

While exploring a local junk yard I discovered this distressed chemical barrel.


"Kaibeto Canyon" photograph

A couple years ago I spent two weeks on the Navajo Nation reservation in Arizona helping with a children's ministry and this image was from a local canyon we hiked into.


"Knock Knock" photograph

Curb appeal is strictly an American fascination. This ancient door located in Old Jerusalem has wonderfully decrepit character.


"Mr. Pinchy" photograph

This Oregon local hangs out at the local tide pool. If you blow in his face he'll get really mad and start foaming at the mouth.


"Narrow Road" photograph

This first century walk way in Old Jerusalem might have been walked on by Jesus? The second law of thermal dynamics really creates some heavenly textures!


"Temple Mount" photograph

An Arab man reads early in the morning. You don't need Starbucks to hang out and read a good book.


"Xerox Poop" photograph

My printer eats glorified crayons. Expensive crayons. So when my printer goes to the bathroom this is what it looks like. It's good to be creatively curious, that's why I still have this wax toner on my desk, it's too cool looking to throw away.


"Box Car Neuvo" photograph

Colorful and abandoned. Mundane and beautiful. Only a color blind hobo would not appreciate this box car.

Be sure to check out Stefans new book here.