Painting, Bread and Butler

What a weekend. Mom and Dad Doudt paid us a visit and helped us paint our ceilings, and by "help" I mean they did most of the work. They are amazing. We also made time to learn the secret family recipe for homemade wheat bread. And on top of all that, we watched the Butler Bulldogs pull off the upset and beat the Florida Gators to go to the Final Four!! (Sorry Ben and Gabby) 

So our ceilings needed repainting after we made some lighting changes (we changed light fixtures and added recessed lighting) and my parents offered to help us. You should all know that my parents are professional-grade painters. My Dad is the super-roller and Mom is the expert at trim and cutting in around corners. With all the furniture we needed to move and the tall ceilings (meaning ladder moving) it took a while to complete...I can't imagine how long it would have taken just Sara and I to complete the project. After all was done, the ceilings look great.  So fresh and clean looking.  We owe you a big thanks, Mom and Dad! And to try and thank them a little we took them out to Bandera's for dinner. It was fantastic food and fun while looking out over Michigan Ave.

Another item on the weekend agenda was to learn how to make the Doudt family homemade wheat bread. While we waited for the paint to dry Sara and I made our first batch (four loaves) of bread with Mom and Dad supervising and directing. And the results? Fantastic!  (Sorry, no pictures though) I'm sure this will be the gift that keeps on giving.

After Dad and I beat Mom and Sara three games to zero in Euchre, they headed back home (just had to get that score in here).

Thanks again, Mom and Dad, for all your help and teaching us how to bake bread! We had a great time!

Walking Around Ravenswood

Yesterday was another beautiful day in Chicago so I was forced to take more pictures around the neighborhood. Plus, I bought a new 50mm fixed lens that I wanted to try out. A 50mm lens is called a "normal lens" because it mimics the field of view of the human eye. It's also a relatively cheap high quality lens - since it's fixed (doesn't zoom) the lens produces crisp photos even in low light.




We are looking forward to tonight as there is supposed to be a "Supermoon!" I hope it's a clear night.

Old School Look

Sorry but I'm posting more pictures...I found a new application called Lo-Fi that allows you to apply edits to your pictures that make them look old and worn. Here are the first couple of pictures I've tested with.

The River Runs Green

With a little help from our friend, Amber, we were treated to a birds-eye view of the traditional "greening" of the Chicago River for St. Patrick's Day. A couple facts about the tradition:
- The dye that is dropped in the water is actually orange, but it turns the river green. Go figure.
- The dying operation is privately funded and performed by the plumbers union.
- 100 lbs of dye was used the first year (1962) and turned the river green for a week. The second year they tried 50 lbs which lasted 3 days. Finally they knocked it down to 25 lbs which lasted a day.
- They now use 40 lbs of vegetable dye that lasts only 4 to 5 hours.

Lincoln Park Pictures - South Pond

Hoodie-001.jpg

Hoodie-001.jpg a photo by ajdoudt on Flickr.

Self portrait and playing around with lighting.

The Chicago Skyline in HDR

HDR (High-Dynamic-Range) is a technique where you take the same picture with multiple exposures (underexposing, overexposing, and the correct exposure) and then mash them together with software in post processing. This technique allows the picture to process in much the same way we would view it with our eye. In a scene with a stark contrast of bright light and darkness you can get a "correct" exposure throughout the picture rather than some of the picture that looks "correct" and the rest of the picture underexposed (or overexposed).

Here are several HDR photos of the Chicago Skyline from different times of the evening. You'll see the sky maintains it's natural color while the buildings and city lights also maintain their brightness.

Atop The Hancock Building

You can view the pictures on my Flickr account.