I was up doing some ariel shots last week south of Peoria and I had the pilot a spin over the downtown and we snagged a couple of quick shots. It’s always fun flying on a great day and from this snap, you can see we had a good one!

Have a safe labor day weekend if you’re traveling and we’ll see you next week!

Kev

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For my friends outside of the U.S., I have to apologize for this promo since you probably won’t know who this guy is!

Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was convinced on one felony count out of 24 counts against him last week. A hung jury on the other 23 counts and it sounds like they are going to retry him on the other counts. Run Rod Run, they are gunning for you!!!!!!!

If this all stands, it makes Blago the fourth of the last seven Illinois governors sent to prison! The only state that even comes close to Illinois in giving us a run for our money with having the most corrupt politicians is Louisiana and I think they they are a distant second!

Here’s the story behind the promo, back in 2005, I got a call from the Governor’s re-election campaign that he’ll be running in Peoria’s annual Steamboat Race. They told me that they wanted some shots of the Governor running in the race and then afterwards meeting the constituents. They also told me that I can’t tell a soul about him in the race because of security. I’m good with that because they are paying me!

The morning of the race, I meet with the Governor’s press people and they get me all set up with his security detail and tell me that they (his security) are going to take me around the race course so I can get some different photos of the Governor. The Governor shows up about two minutes before the race with pretty heavy security. He starts the race and I’m off in a blacked out Chevy Suburban with his security people. We blow through every security check point and I can tell you that’s a very cool feeling. I have a security guy with me and he’s on the radio and knows exactly where the Governor is on the course and let’s me know when he’s coming. We end up hitting about five different spots on the course and then they bring me back for the photo of the Governor crossing the finish line! After that, the Governor cools down and meets with all of the runners and people there at the event. I grab lots of photos and then we are all wisked away from the event back to the hotel!

Here’s a couple of quick thoughts from that day five years ago:

1) Governor Blagojevich is an incredibly charismatic person and I can see why people are attracted to him and want to be around him. He can “take over” a room, just by his presence! He seemed very genuine the whole time I was with him and indeed seemed like a good guy.

2) Hanging with heavy duty security is very cool and it’s something that until you’ve experienced it, you’ll never understand! Imagine the level of security for the President! Wow!!!!!!

Time to get to work, but I hope that you have a very wonderful week!!!!!!!

Kev

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At the start of my wacky road trip a couple of weeks ago, I was up shooting in Geneva, Il. for a flavoring company called FONA. Fona is a company that makes flavorings for a lot of things that we eat and drink and I can tell you that it’s a pretty cool place. They have a lot of labs with technicians and lots of very smart people! One of the rooms that we shot in as a mixing room where they were making a flavoring product. Lucky for me that the flavor was orange because that’s one of my favorites! The funny thing was that after being in that room for about a half hour, I smelled like oranges! That’s why I love my job!

Here’s a couple of snaps from the day and you might get a felling for what Fona is all about!

Thanks as always for checking out my work and I hope that you have a great week!

Kev

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Last week was one of those weeks that I like to call, “Whatever it takes”! I was in Chicago on Monday morning for a shoot then drove down to Brunswick, Ga. for a shoot on Wednesday and then drove over to Houston, Tx. for a shoot on Friday. Before you think I’m too crazy and why didn’t I fly, we had a hurricane issue a month earlier and since we are still smack dab in the middle of hurricane season, it was much easier to drive. It also meant that I could take a lot more photo gear and that’s never a bad thing!

Three shoots and 3118 miles of driving, that’s quite a week!!!

Here’s a quick snap from Brunswick, Ga. and this is the Sidney Lanier Bridge which goes from Brunswick over to the Jekyll Island area.

It’s time to get to work, so I hope that you have a great week as always!!!!!

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I’m out of the road once again this week, so it should be interesting and fun as it always is!!!!

OK, it’s August 2nd, where did the summer go? I just can’t believe how fast this summer has flown by. The kids will start going back to school in a few weeks and autumn will be in the air!!!!!! I’m telling you I need an endless summer, maybe I should move to Hawaii!!!!!

You know the summer is coming to an end when the farmers are out harvesting the hay!!!!

We’ve got one month before Labor Day weekend, so let’s get out there and have some fun!!!!

Kev

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We’ve had some crazy storms over the last few weeks and there’s no sign that’s going to quit anytime soon! Welcome to summer in the Midwest!!!!

More fun to come and I hope that you have a great week!!!!!

Kev

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I was coming back from a shoot on Friday and had the chance to go through a tunnel and took full advantage of it and grabbed a couple of snaps!

Let’s have a rocking week as always!

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I’ve got one last goodie to share with you from my most recent trip to Tucson. I put together a slide show of the area know as “Barro Libre” just south of the Tucson downtown. In some ways it reminds me of the French Quarter in New Orleans with the bright colors that are used on the homes.

Here’s a link for the slide show on Youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5LNNP5VfbE

Let all have a great week and thanks as always!!!!

Kev

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5LNNP5VfbE

Most of us have the day off today and that’s not a bad thing!

On this most Tucson trip a week ago, there a brief bit of time that we were able to get out and snap a few shots around Tucson. One of the spots that we hit was the Tucson Botanical Gardens and it was a really great place to shoot. Besides having a ton of native flowers, they also have a great cactus section with cactus from around the world and we did see some very different versions of what we see here in the states!

Here’s a link for a Youtube slide show that I put together with some of the snaps that I got that day! Youtube slide show link

Thanks as always for checking out my work and safe travels if you’re heading back home today!

Kev

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzjTuW6wRbw

It’s good to be back home even if it’s only for one day! We had a great shoot out in Tucson this past week and it’s always fun being out there!

I snagged this shot on the last night and I knew that it was going to be a nice snap when I took it!

Let’s all have a great week and thanks as always for checking out my work!!!!!!!

Kev

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