Even for life-long Chicagoans, this building may be a little obscure. But Adler & Sullivan’s Auditorium Building is a masterpiece – its inside, a hidden gem. It was one of the late 19th century’s most famous buildings – and remains one of the most important in Louis Sullivan’s oeuvre.

Located at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Congress Parkway across from Grant Park, it has been owned and occupied by Roosevelt University since the late 1940s. You can’t miss the location on the skyline: rising up strikingly beside the Auditorium building is the university’s new blue glass jagged tower, the Wabash Building (dorm rooms with a VIEW).

There is so much to explore about this building, but today we’ll focus in on the overall story along with photographing the exterior and the old hotel lobby. The glistening 4,000 seat theater will simply have to wait for another time!

The Chicago firm of Adler & Sullivan was given this breakthrough commission in the late 1880s. They were chosen mostly because of Dankmar Adler’s proven genius as an acoustical engineer. But through his work on the Auditorium Building, Louis Sullivan would be discovered as his just-as-genius design partner. They received world attention as acknowledged innovators.

The structure was groundbreaking in many ways. Here’s a historic shot of the building when new. Notice the house across the street. It was one of last great masonry load-bearing buildings. At the time it was the largest, tallest, heaviest, most expensive, and most technologically advanced building in the world, taking three years to complete. It also brought fame to Chicago, sufficiently impressing the U.S. Congress that Chicago should indeed host the 1893 World’s Fair. When it was dedicated on December 9, 1889, President Benjamin Harrison attended while 20,000 lined the streets.

It was an unusual commission for a building. Adler & Sullivan were asked to create a civic monument and a three-part, multi-use building. It was to contain a theater for an opera company (also symphony and ballet) intended to make Chicago a more cultured city. It was to house a 400-room hotel along with a 136-office tower –to pay for the theater. Adler & Sullivan brilliantly surrounded the massive jewel of a theater with the hotel and office tower.

The 18-story tower was the highest point in the city and housed offices and the theater’s hydraulics. 1893 fair goers loved the amazing views. Adler & Sullivan’s offices were up in the tower, and it is here that a young intern who helped Sullivan with the interior design also was given an office: Frank Lloyd Wright.

The Auditorium Building had some success, but not enough. The symphony moved on when it built its own hall up the street, the opera moved away when it built a new house on the river, and the hotel’s European-style bathroom arrangement (one per several rooms) was outdated and cost the hotel business. The building faced demolition in the 1930s, but survived because that proved cost prohibitive. During World War II, the building was used for the USO (the theater stage converted to a bowling alley!). But in 1946, Roosevelt University bought it and initiated a long and impressive journey of adaptive reuse.

Let’s take a look at the exterior architecture. Louis Sullivan rejected classical design as too derivative and instead created a new, American take on architecture based on the work of Henry Hobson Richardson. He was inspired by Richardson’s massive stone and rounded arches, but he makes them his own here. Simple and harmonious, massive in scale, completely unadorned, the arches all over the building repeat and seem to ripple and reverberate. Sullivan is, in theory, bringing nature to the city in this huge mountain of rugged stone.

Angie McMonigal

As much as I love Sullivan’s work, the exterior of the auditorium used to be a little hard to love. Its severity put me off. But while it isn’t a ‘pretty’ building, it is indeed powerful and commanding (and, I would argue, if it hasn’t already, it will grow on you…). And I believe mostly through viewing well-done photographs of its exterior, like those here, was I fully able to appreciate it.

It’s admittedly a bit tricky to photograph. Because of all the urban density around it, it’s tough to get a good shot of the entire structure. Some potentially grand views are obstructed by other buildings. You might choose to move away several blocks – either south on Wabash or over in Grant Park – to capture most of the building. And even though it is dwarfed today by modern skyscrapers, the Auditorium Building holds its own and looks quite handsome in its context, especially against the blue Wabash Building and the red CNA tower.

Focus in on – isolate – the arches, especially at ground level. As you move to different angles and get in closer, you will see the rhythm of the arches come alive. Shooting the south facade close and facing east can be especially dynamic.

I believe tight shots of the exterior may be the most satisfying. Morning sun makes the rusticated granite look bold and dramatic. Get close. Aim up!

And, as you would expect, black and white is excellently suited for your exterior photographs.

Notice how the sidewalk goes right through the first level? It was not always that way. That space used to be interior – an ornate bar occupied the south east corner. When Congress Parkway was widened in the 1950s, it necessitated gouging out buildings for sidewalks (!).

The three-part building was designed with three separate entrances. Let’s go in the Michigan Avenue doors, today’s Roosevelt University main lobby (430 S. Michigan).

One of the brilliant tactics Sullivan employed is to make the exterior seem stark and simple, which only serves to conceal the complex design program within. While the exterior was groundbreaking, even more remarkable is the interior.

As you enter, imagine yourself back in the 1890s, descending from your carriage and walking into the lavish lobby of the Auditorium Hotel.

Even though the building has seen many changes for the University’s use and some of the original color and pattern is missing, there is enough remaining to feast your eyes – and your lens – upon. Sullivan’s signature lavish, complex designs are obvious in this space.

Chris Smith

Notice the lack of classical details: no Greek or Roman anything here. There are columns, but they are not classical. Notice the rich materials and color (you simply must shoot in color here!): carved wood, plasterwork, mosaic floors, stained glass windows and metal work. Notice how Sullivan uses nature in his ornamentation: he abstracts organic forms and adds geometry. Then he makes the ornament look like it is growing right out of the walls. As he told Frank Lloyd Wright: “Make it live!” Pure, inimitable Sullivan.

Angie McMonigal

Chris Smith

But Frank Lloyd Wright shows his hand in this space, too: check out the grills above the entrance doors and the ceiling stained glass above the staircase: Wright’s (early, but) unmistakable geometry.

Angie McMonigal

Angie McMonigal

You will usually have decent natural light here. I would suggest concentrating your efforts around the still elegant staircase (if you saw the movie The Untouchables, you saw a scene filmed right here!). My favorite spot to talk to tour groups is the corner to the left of the staircase (as you face it); from there you have a wonderful view of the stained glass, the lobby, and the staircase itself. Try going up to the second floor and shooting from various vantage points along the way.

The second floor was once hotel lounge space. It is open to the public and an interesting place to shoot – especially out toward Michigan Avenue and the park. The easternmost area with windows facing Grant Park used to be an open air restaurant. Check out this 1910 photo

Chris Smith

The Auditorium Building was ground-breaking and influential, and an important example of Adler & Sullivan’s work. The beauty of its theater is widely known (future post!), but the rugged beauty of its exterior and the much less known hotel lobby interior present great opportunities for photography. Chris and Angie’s photos are proof. I hope you enjoy the challenges and the rewards of shooting the Auditorium Building!

If you want to do a more formal shoot with a tripod, etc., simply ask permission ahead of time. I was told they are very accepting of photographers, but appreciate the courtesy of arranging a shoot in advance.

Building hours are Mon-Thurs, 7:30am-10:30pm, Fri 7:30am-6:00pm, Sat 8:00am-5:00pm, Sun 11:00am-5:00pm. For more details, see the Roosevelt University site.

The best little preserve you’ve never heard of…

Tucked deep within the southwest corner of Elgin Illinois is a hidden gem of the Cook County Forest Preserve system. Indeed, this gem is so hidden that aside from one sign (on an adjacent road nowhere near the preserve entrance), there is no way to tell from the ground that the park even exists.  That entrance, although unmarked, is also the main entrance to the adjacent Bluff City Cemetery.  Once you enter the cemetery grounds, you’ll have a meandering ⅓ mile drive to its southern edge before coming across the Bluff Spring Fen Nature Preserve – an area more commonly referred to simply as “The Fen.”

The Fen itself comprises the middle 100 acres of a much larger 225 acre “green space” consisting of woodlands, wetlands,  savanna, prairie, small ponds, rivulets and creeks that is jointly owned by the forest preserve districts of Kane and Cook counties as well as the city of Elgin.  Its main defining characteristic is its springs that discharge water at a constant 50 degrees for twelve months of the year.  It’s this relatively warm water that keeps the aquatic plant life verdant even in the bitter cold of January.  Adding to this already interesting landscape are numerous glacial hills which add topographical variety to this already dynamic preserve.  With these different environments and habitats in mind, photographers of all different stripes will be satisfied after their time at the fen is done.

Landscape shooters will enjoy the combinations of sweeping open air vistas of flat prairie and hills but with scattered trees and woods to provide photographic context to frame and anchor their shots. I find it a great place to capture interesting weather and cloud formations.

Towards the Western edge runs Poplar Creek on its final leg to the Fox River.  The confluence of the spring’s flow and Poplar creek coupled with the its meandering path provides some interesting photographic opportunities as well, especially during those dramatic-cloud days.  In this particular stretch, Poplar creek is slow-moving and fairly placid so it acts as a great skyward mirror.  During Autumn and Winter, when the sun is low to the horizon, some dramatic images can be captured in the creek area, especially if you sport a wide or super-wide lens and you’re not afraid of shooting into the sun.

During the colder seasons of the year, the relatively warm spring water can create low-lying fog which when hit by the sun becomes quite dazzling. If you’re lucky enough to find yourself there on one of these mornings, I’d suggest setting up on one of the small hills that litter the preserve.   When the sun hits the fog, you’ll have a great birds-eye location from which to capture the magic. In addition, on very cold calm wind days, the fog’s moisture frequently collects on creek side flora creating spectacular crystalline ice structures which will have you reaching for your macro lens.

The spring and summer months bring fields of wildflowers such as sunflower and echinacea among many others.  During May and June, particularly in the wooded eastern area of the Fen, you’ll find dense patches of purple, pink and white upright phlox which serve as a nice contrast to the dark forest.  If you can get there during the right light, (which seems to be in the morning vs the afternoon), you should have yourself quite a shot.

The phlox as well as the other flowers attract many “bee varieties” like wasps, bumblebee, yellow jackets, and common honeybees.  You’ll also find numerous varieties of butterfly and dragonfly if bees aren’t your thing.

During the Autumn,  the prairie grasses and patches of sumac add pleasant color to The Fen.  While it can’t hold a candle to the color of the U.P. or the Northeast, the color at the fen is still appealing.

For those of you  interested in wildlife, I’ve seen bird varieties such as, Nuthatch, Red-bellied woodpecker, Red-tailed Hawk, Egret, Great Blue Heron and (although not the most photogenic bird) Turkey Vulture.

Over the last few years i’ve also encountered Coyote, Fox, Muskrat, Skunk, Opossum,  a very dazed and confused Raccoon, one Beaver (although that is somewhat unconfirmed as I didn’t see the guys tail),  as well as a few snake varieties.

If you’re interested in deer, once you leave the parking lot, stick to the Northernmost trail that runs East from the parking lot (adjacent to the creek that borders the cemetery) . In my experience the small herd that calls the Fen home, tend to congregate along this small stream.  Also, if you’re looking to get as close as possible to these deer (or any wildlife for that matter), don’t try to sneak up on them…they know you’re there.  Also, I’d suggest against walking directly toward them.  They may take this action as being threatening and bolt.  Take a meandering route – walk in a “zig-zag” pattern toward them.  This way, they may not see you as a direct threat, but rather someone who has other reasons and interests in being there.

The Fen, due to its compact size and great variety has quickly become one of my favorite places for “Run and Gun” nature and landscape photography.

You can learn more about The Fen at The Friends of the Bluff Spring Fen website http://www.bluffspringfen.org/

or at the Forest Preserve District of Cook County page here
http://fpdcc.com/bluff-spring-fen/

Don’t forget to check out more of Kevin’s work at http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevrod2011/

When Chris first asked me to write a post about entering photo competitions and submitting to juried shows I was a bit hesitant. Not because I don’t want to share what I know but because it’s complicated, personal and I still feel like I have much to learn. But here goes an attempt.

First I think you need to know what you want to get out of entering competitions or juried shows. There are different versions; individuals in the photo industry jury some, whether they’re photographers themselves, professors of photography, gallery owners, curators or photo editors. Others are mere popularity contests in my opinion, voted on by whomever views the images and chooses their favorites. Both get you more visibility but you have to decide which type of audience you’d like to reach.

If you do submit to the juried shows I would recommend researching the jurors, become familiar with their work and be sure to follow the submission guidelines.

Second, I think you need to have a cohesive body of work and style that’s specific to you. Most of these submissions require an artist statement, which I find to be the most painful things to write, but it seems to be a necessary evil.

Many times the call for entry allows you to submit up to 3-5 images from one body of work. I’ve made the mistake in the past of submitting what I think is my best work from various projects and I’ve learned it’s best to submit as many images as they allow from one series. This allows the jurors to have a better understanding of what your photography says and shows you have a specific style–that there’s more of thought process involved with your work.

Submitting to most shows or calls for entry involves a fee, generally anywhere from $25-$50. So you have to decide which calls/shows will get you the most exposure, prestige or whatever it is you’d like to get out of being a part of them.

You also need to take into consideration what is involved once you are accepted. Is it an online show where your image will be showcased in an online gallery, do you have to print, mat and frame your images for a local gallery show, maybe you also have to pay for shipping, there and back, if it’s an out-of-state or international show or maybe the gallery helps to cover the cost by allowing you to print according to their guidelines and they cover the cost of matting and framing for the show? These are all things to take into consideration because it gets very expensive.  And in all honesty, more often than not, the work doesn’t sell in these shows. What you may be hoping for is exposure, building up your resume or eventually gaining gallery representation–all valid goals.

Being chosen to present in a show is always exciting and certainly gives an ego boost. But you must have a very thick skin if you have any interest in submitting. Much more often those rejection notifications fill the inbox and quickly drains any feelings of validation you may have received from a previous acceptance.

All art is so subjective. What one juror finds compelling and fitting for their show, another will not. I have submitted the same image to different shows and been accepted to some, rejected by others. I don’t know that there’s any magic to the process. You just have to believe what you have to say through your images is important and keep trying to get them seen.

Here’s a list of a few places where there are calls for entry, both online gallery shows and physical gallery shows…some free, some with submission fees. Good luck!

http://www.exhibitionswithoutwalls.com/
http://www.theartlist.com/
http://www.artshow.com/juriedshows/index.html
http://flakphoto.com/about
http://www.featureshoot.com/
http://www.redbirdeditions.com/
http://pcnw.org/gallery/call-for-entries/
http://www.photoawards.com/en/
http://www.chicagoartistsresource.org/
http://www.windowonphotography.com/cfe/cfe.html
http://fractionmagazine.com/

Look into your local galleries and get on their mailing/newsletter list, FB and Twitter pages to stay updated about their calls for entry. It’s also very helpful to connect with other photographers and artists who have similar goals with their work–always an invaluable resource.

When you exit the Visitor Center and cross the bridge you will enter the Crescent Garden, one of my favorite gardens in the spring.  The 26,000 tulips in the Crescent Garden have just opened and their many shades of purple and cream make them a wonderful subject for a landscape shot with the lake and willow trees in the background.

If you continue along the path through the Esplanade, you will see Regenstein Center on your left.  Stop in and see the Garden Photographic Society’s “Nature in View” photography exhibit in the Joutras Gallery. The exhibit will be up until May 19th.

A stop in the Bulb Garden this time of year is a must.  Tulips of many colors and varieties blanket the beds at the entrance of the garden and along the pathway through the garden.

Continuing along the main path, you will come to the Circle Garden, another spring favorite.  This garden features a dancing fountain with four identical beds of spring tulips in pink and yellow, as well as beautiful combinations of annuals, scrubs and flowering trees.  There are two “secret” gardens off to each side, as well.  This is a beautiful garden for a landscape or HDR shot, so bring your wide angle lens.

Probably my favorite area within the Garden this time of the year is the Enabling Garden and the upper walkway that features the Sensory Garden.  The raised beds make it easy to get close to the flowers and plants, and you can set up your tripod right on or against the bed ledges.  Both these gardens are a delight to the senses, and the color combinations, smells and textures of the mix of perennials and annuals are stunning. Some of the most unusual and beautiful tulips are in these gardens.

The Sensory Garden woodland path is lined with whitespire birch trees and many wildflowers and ferns.  The bleeding hearts are just beginning to bloom in the woods.

Another treat this time of year are the flowering crabapples, redbud and cherry trees at the Garden.  They are all over the Garden but one of the most stunning paths is along the lakeside between the Japanese Garden and the English Oak Meadow.  The crabapples form a canopy of flowers that is magical and lovely to photograph. They are very close to blooming now.  The cherry trees in the Japanese Garden are in bloom but won’t last long.

The Iceland poppies in the English Oak Meadow are fun to photograph. They took a beating during our recent rains and flooding, but are beginning to bounce back.  The English Walled Garden is right next door, so take some time to explore its blooms and lovely architecture.

Lastly, stop in the Heritage Garden, a circular garden divided into 4 quadrants and dedicated to Carolus Linnaeus. Seven of the beds display plants according to their geographic origin; 14 other beds display the major plant families grouped according to their scientific classification.  I am particularly fond of the bed of Persian Buttercups, one of which is pictured below.

The Garden is open every day from 8:00 a.m. until sunset, but the gates are open and you can get in if you want to photograph as early as sunrise. Admission to the Garden is free but if you are not a member, parking is $25 per car. You can avoid the hefty parking fee by taking the Metra, Pace bus or bike into the Garden.  Visit the CBG website for more information about public transportation options: http://www.chicagobotanic.org/visit/directions

Visit my website and follow my blog about what’s blooming at CBG:  http://annebelmont.zenfolio.com/

Images by Angie McMonigal

Even though the Art Institute of Chicago (Michigan & Adams) is a familiar place to many of us, I would suggest that, for photographers, there are fresh challenges to be found. Perhaps you’ve already photographed the facades, or the famous lions, objects in the collection, or maybe people viewing objects in the collection. Today, we’ll concentrate on the interior spaces of the Art Institute.

Recently, Angie McMonigal spent some time exploring with her camera. Her beautiful photographs demonstrate the variety of spaces and the photographic potential to be found within the Art Institute’s walls.

Actually, the Art Institute is a complex of many buildings made up of at least a dozen additions, renovations, and restorations over the course of a century. This will give you the idea.

It all began with the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition – the Chicago World’s Fair. The original Art Institute building is one of only two structures left from the Fair (the other is the Museum of Science and Industry) and the only one remotely located from the fairgrounds in Jackson Park.

The original building was actually the fruit of cooperative efforts between the Institute’s trustees and civic leaders. The building would be used for scholarly meetings and cultural gatherings during the course of the Fair (May-October) and afterward become the permanent home of the Art Institute’s growing collection. And its location was crucial: in Chicago’s efforts to shake off its dirty, industrial, culture-less image, this palace of fine art would be intentionally sited directly adjacent to the city’s sooty commercial core.

Evoking the look of temples of ancient Greece and Rome, the classical revival design of the building – a 19th-century style known as Beaux-Arts – was by the Boston firm of Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge – the same architects who created another palace of culture a couple blocks north: the Chicago Cultural Center (which we explored in our first article for Out Of Chicago).  The Art Institute officially opened to the public on December 8, 1893. Here’s an early photograph of the original building; look at the train lines and how close the lake was.

Thus began the many improvements made to accommodate the Art Institute’s exhibition and administrative needs. The grand staircase was completed in 1910, connecting many galleries in a spacious sky-lit space. After you come in the main entrance, simply proceed straight ahead. At the top level are highly photogenic architectural fragments (from Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Sullivan, et al).

A large wing was added in 1962 to the south of the original building. To find and enter this wing: walking past the grand staircase on the main level, take a right at the Asian art. Today the wing houses Asian, Native American, and African art – as well as the swooping spiral staircase – an incredible example of mid-century modern design – that may not be as familiar to some of us.

Finally in 2009, the museum’s largest addition, Renzo Piano’s widely-acclaimed Modern Wing, opened, making the Art Institute the second largest museum in the United States. You may enter off of Monroe Street, or if you come in the main entrance, head east and then turn left when you see Greek and Roman nudes. Clean, airy, geometric, huge, and light-filled, there are many vantage points to explore.

Here are a few ideas for photographing the interior spaces of the Art Institute:

I think one of the challenges is composition: finding good vantage points and framing your shots in interesting, eye-pleasing ways. Think in terms of line and shapes.

Light is your friend at the Art Institute. Natural light pours in all over the museum and casts beautiful shadows.

Include people or not? This can be a fun challenge in the Art Institute. Should you wait for that random person to perfectly grace your composition – or wait until not a soul fills your viewfinder?

Include the collection? I like how Angie shows this gallery as if the space itself is the work of art (and includes a random person, to boot!):

Photography is, of course, allowed at the Art Institute – except for temporary exhibits or items on loan. Tripods and flash are not permitted and photographs must be for personal, non-commercial, use only. The museum is open daily, 10:30 am – 5:00 pm, Thursdays until 8:00 pm (free for Illinois residents from 5-8pm).  Visit the museum website at www.artic.edu.

Even if you’ve been to the Art Institute of Chicago many times, I hope you are able to visit with fresh eyes in order to explore the possibilities with your camera. I can’t wait to see what you come up with!

View the rest of Angie McMonigal’s images from the Art Institute here.

By viewing the image on the back of your camera in black and white, you can make better decisions regarding exposure and composition when your eye is not distracted by color.

So the next time you get in a situation where you think you will be creating a black and white image, switch your Picture Style to monochrome but keep shooting in RAW. This way you can have your cake and eat it too! Enjoy.

Today’s image is from my trip to Chinatown last weekend. This was my first time out with the tilt shift lens and my goal was to try using it in as many different ways as possible. Here I tilted it against the grain so that it threw the foreground and background out of focus.

For more help with post-processing your images, check out the post-processing section of the site.

I’ve been using Lightroom since version 2 and it keeps getting better each time. You can read about all of the new improvements at the Lightroom 5 download site.

This morning, I tried out two of the major features that I am excited about. For both of these images, I used the automatic alignment tool that Adobe calls Upright. I have heard some complaints that it doesn’t work every time with landscape photos if there is not a clear horizon. But with these types of shots with tall buildings in them, it worked great. One click of the button and every building was vertical and the horizon was straight. This is probably how I will correct my images 99% of the time from now on.

The second major feature I used was the Radial Gradient tool. This tool is basically a super awesome vignette tool. You draw a circle or oval at the point where you want to apply the tool. Lightroom will then apply whatever setting you have assigned, just like the brush, to the area outside of the circle. The effect is gradually less as it gets to the circle. In the case of the image below, I placed an oval around the train in the foreground and chose to darken the effect, which darkens everything around the train, focusing attention on the train. So it acts like a vignette tool, but it’s much more. You can move it wherever you want, for one thing. But what really makes it powerful is that you can apply any other adjustments in a gradient as well. Besides exposure, I see me using this to change saturation, clarity, highlights, shadows, and more. It opens up a new world of editing in Lightroom. Yes, you could do these things in Photoshop, but this is less time. And, more importantly, these adjustments are still non-destructive. If you want to go back in a few months and make that oval a little bigger to affect a larger area, you easily can.

Typically, when you first set up your camera and tripod, you are just a little too far away from your subject or you end up with the lens too close to focus. This means a lot of little tripod movements which can be difficult to do. If you have ever tried to move your tripod just 1/16” closer to your subject you know what I mean.

Macro rails solve this problem but I don’t need another bulky piece of equipment to haul around.

If you’re using one of the 180mm macro lenses, chances are you already have a macro rail of sorts. It’s the lens plate attached to the foot of your lens. This doesn’t help with lateral adjustments but it can be a great asset when you just need to nudge a little closer or pull back just a tad.

To that end, I eventually bought a 6” lens plate so that I have plenty of travel to adjust my position without fooling around with the tripod position.

This tip for this article is that it’s simple to take this principle and apply to all your shots where you are flirting with the MFD of the lens. For example, the 100mm macro, 10-20mm or 24mm TS-E all focus incredibly close but don’t have a lens foot. When I use these near their MFD, I borrow the lens plate from the 180 and attach it parallel to the lens at the bottom of actual camera.

With the Wimberley camera plate there’s a threaded hole available so I don’t even need to remove it to attach the lens plate. This gives me 6” of additional distance adjustment. Obviously, adjustments are rough and not precise like a true macro rail. So, I’m not using it for focus stacking but it does prevents me from having to move the tripod around a dozen times to get the distance right.

Oh, by the way having this extra-long lens plate gives me 2 other advantages.
1. I have been able to use it to establish the “Nodal” point for panorama shots on a number of my lenses. Here is a 10 shot pano created using the 24-105 f/4 at 75MM sitting on my lens plate and aligned for the nodal point at that focal length.

2. Mounted parallel to the camera you can use it to widen your field of view a touch by shooting images from either end of the plate. The effect is more dramatic in macro work and it’s great when you want to create a mini-pano. In this example, without having to move the tripod or grab another lens, I was able to include the entire compass in my shot simply by sliding the camera along the 6″ lens plate that I mounted to the bottom of the camera.

The idea behind this tip was really more of an accident than a purposeful thought. A couple of years ago I was on my way to Sedona and realized I hadn’t packed any camera or lens plates. Went to a local camera store in Phoenix and was fortunate to find a replacement camera plate and this 6″ lens plate in a used parts bin. Paid about $50 for both and they’ve been in the bag ever since. New a 6″ lens plate is about $58 from Wimberley or $65 from RRS. By comparison a simple macro rail is about $100 and the cost goes up from there.

Thanks for looking.