I have been taking out my camera a little frequently this year, trying to make sure I still get some practice in and not let the mundanity of life take over me while I try to be a functional adult. I've realized that my creativity usually needs an outlet, and unfortunately for photography, my job has been quite creativity-inspiring as of late. Over the summer, I was leading a project with two interns, an experience that taught me a lot about planning and management (fun!). Still, I found pockets to carry my camera around in. Even if it meant carving out time to just be one with photography.

It helps immensely to have the privilege of living in such a picturesque city with a gorgeous skyline like Chicago. I decided to take my camera(s) out on dates on several occasions over the summer. As I grow as a photographer, I have started incorporating using multiple cameras to play with. This blog has a mix of photos taken on my Canon EOS 70D (Usually with 24mm, 50mm, and 18-135mm lenses), Sony ZV-1, and a new-ish addition to my collection, a Mamiya RB67 (with a 90mm lens). The above photo was taken on a solo photo walk in May.

I've also started to find my tribe here in the city, especially through photography groups like Beers & Cameras (@beersandcameras_chi) which host monthly photowalks and meet ups involving, well, beers and cameras. I have met so many talented, lovely photographers through this group and the associated Discord. I went for multiple such photographer meet-ups over the summer. Unfortunately, I don't have much to show in terms of photography from these walks as I am too busy yapping with all the cool people who show up.

August 23rd - A photowalk at CheckedItOut 2025

On one day in August, I stumbled upon several Porsches lined up in downtown Chicago. Curious, I decided to go strike a conversation with the folks there. I was in luck, there was a Porsche meet up the following day on the cross of Randolph St. and Green St. This area of Chicago is called the Fulton Market District, which was historically the meatpacking neighborhood. Now, Fulton Market is home to many trendy cafes and restaurants.

Anyone who knows me well knows my love for cars, especially Porsches. Taking my camera and going here first thing on a sunny Saturday morning was a no-brainer.

Here, I saw Porsches of every color and chatted with owners old and new. I tried to focus on the punchy colors of the cars I saw and focused on creating tight compositions that focused on showing off the vibrance.

This photo is one of my favorites from the day. I like the punchy color contrast (exactly the look I was going for!) and the subtle diagonal curve going bottom-left to top-right from the light mounted on the hood of the blue car to the headlight on the red.

Of course, I also saw some superstars at the event too. Like the 356 Speedster above. Or the 917 Le Mans below.

As expected, I struggled when it came to taking photos of these cars as I always saw folks, very reasonably gawking at these cars (My jaw was on the floor too).

Another star of the day was this RWB widebody Porsche.

And of course, this gorgeous green Singer, which is photogenic as usual.

But I had not hit my groove. Not yet. While roaming around the venue, I found myself inside a parking garage with a skylight. The lighting perfectly illuminated the parking ground. If only I could get a car to be there and bask in the glorious sunlight.

The day before, when I had seen some of those Porsches in the loop, one caught my eye. This was an orange/rust-ish colored Slantnose. Slantnose (also called Flatnose) meaning that the headlight is flush with the rest of the hood giving the car a slanted nose appearance. This was an aerodynamics decision by Porsche and is associated with the 930 911, and was available through a special orders program.

I once again came across this particular Slantnose on the day of the event. But among the crowd of other cars, it was difficult to photograph it alone. But this time, I got lucky. The owner of this car was right there! "I really like the color of your car! Could you drive this into the garage right there so I can photograph it?" and being the cool guy he is, he obliged before he left the meet-up to drive cross country.

This location brought out the colors of this car so well, that it looked like an actual car photoshoot instead of just a casual photo taken during a car meet-up. These photos are heavily edited with multiple dodge-and-burn style masking to hide the other parked cars in the garage.

The moment to photograph this was brief, since bystanders also started noticing the car in the light and came up to take pictures with it. Of all the pictures I took, the ones I liked most are the ones up close with a wider lens, as these hid both the other parked cars in the background and ensured that I didn't have people in the frames.

After that, I finally got into the zone and took some more photos before calling it a day.

As the event drew to a close, more and more cars started moving around, letting me photograph them from different angles. A circular polarizer is such a key accessory to bring to car meet-ups as a photographer. I used it to cut out reflections from the shot above and below. Surprisingly, it also added a lot of contrast that separated the car from the background really well.

October 5th - Another photo walk at the West Loop Car Show 2025

Later in October, in the last proper week of summer in Chicago, I found myself among cars once more. This time, it was a more diverse group of cars, with everything from custom NA Miatas to supercars. This was the West Loop Car Show by the Chicago Car Collective. Here, I met with two of my photographer friends Chris (@cbas.co) and Moe (@sfmoe), both of whom I met through B&C photowalks. We nerded out about the common money draining hobbies men have: expensive German/Japanese cameras and expensive German/Japanese cars.

I definitely had a lot more fun in this event hanging out with my friends than I did photographing the cars. On the bright side, this event was one of the few times I have seen an Acura NSX in person!

This summer was replete with many photography opportunities. As I roamed several neighborhoods in Chicago, with my goal of exploring this city coming to fruition more and more.

Post-post-post: I can't believe the year is almost over! 2025 has been an interesting year for sure. I have been thinking more and more about the necessity of boredom in my life. I am of the belief that boredom directly leads to more creativity, and is thus a necessary part of the creative process. With my phone screen time frequently hitting double digits, I am cutting back on short form content consumption slowly to ensure I can add a bit of boredom back into my life.

To that end, I am working towards more conscious, intentional consumption through movies and video games.

I recently finished Hollow Knight Silksong, a game that I was anticipating after finishing the first Hollow Knight game late in 2023. Both the score and the story are gripping and each moment in the game leaves you wanting more, thinking about the world's lore.

On the other hand, I'm watching more movies. After much discussions with my cinephile friends, I have finally decided to make true on the promise of watching more movies as well. I now finally have a letterboxd account! Make sure you check my bleak collection of movies there with average-ly written reviews.