Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/1600 sec, f/2.5, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Midwestern Ocean
Anthony at Lake Michigan for the first time
Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin

It's been ages since I've been able to visit my friend and best man at my wedding Ram Kulkarni and his wife Julia, so I took a long weekend to pop over to visit him at his house in suburban Milwaukee. (I had been scheduled to visit last January, but had that canceled by the “arctic freeze”.)

Popping over from Ohio involves an hour flight to Chicago, and then a 20-minute flight to Milwaukee...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 34mm — ¹/80 sec, f/2.8, ISO 640 — map & image data — nearby photos
Changing Planes
Chicago O'Hare International Airport

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — ¹/50 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1800 — image data
Snacks from Kyoto
Ram with his older son, Shiv

It was my first time to meet his boys Shiv (8) and Arjun (4), and for Ram and Julia to meet Anthony (11).

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — ¹/1600 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Short Walk to the Beach

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — ¹/800 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Quick Friends
Arjun quickly latched on to Anthony

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — ¹/800 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Public Library
privately-owned publicly-available swap and share book boxes are popular there

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — ¹/640 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Wide, Shaded Streets
I really liked the feel of Whitefish Bay

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — ¹/640 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
First View of the Lake
Lake Michigan

The nearest shore is 75 miles away, which means that something there would need to be more than 1.15km tall before it would start to pop out above the horizon. Suffice to say that the view is essentially the same as of the open ocean.

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — ¹/1600 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — ¹/2000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Small Play Area

This was a small, secluded play area, but a mile or two to the south was a huge public park with big wide sandy beaches with dozens of packed volley-ball courts, families picnicking, and young people frolicking, just like most any beach in California. I wasn't expecting that.

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Boys Love Skipping Rocks

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Boys Love Skipping Rocks

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Checkin' Stuff Out

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Photo Op
wondering what the camera will capture

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/800 sec, f/2.5, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Being a Four-Year-Old Boy

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/1600 sec, f/2.5, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Being Fussy
Anthony and Shiv still hadn't “clicked” as friends by this point,
and this was making Anthony impatient with me and the camera

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/800 sec, f/2.5, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Unintentionally
mimicking the look of his great great grandfather

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/500 sec, f/2.5, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Pausing at the Park
Julia and Arjun

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 110 — map & image data — nearby photos
Soccer Star

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Soccer Star

Shiv and Anthony didn't click with soccer either, but upon return home, they found the means to drop all barriers and become buddies...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — ¹/160 sec, f/5, ISO 4000 — image data
Squirt-Gun Fight!

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 27mm — ¹/60 sec, f/2.8, ISO 280 — image data
Hamming it Up While Refilling
as I shoot safely from behind a window

They were having such fun together that I had to put myself in harm's way and get among them with the camera...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 62mm — ¹/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 640 — image data
Arjun About to Attack

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — ¹/50 sec, f/2.8, ISO 280 — image data
“Action Shot”
nothing in focus

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 48mm — ¹/100 sec, f/2.8, ISO 640 — image data
The Look On Their Faces Say Everything

Anthony's says “You're not going to dump that helmet full of water on me, are you?” Shiv's says “Yes, oh yes, I most certainly am!”

Unfortunately for Shiv, his mom stopped him, and Anthony was able to escape. Personally, I was hoping to see Anthony get soaked. Anyway, again, you can see everything via the looks on their faces:

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 44mm — ¹/100 sec, f/2.8, ISO 640 — image data
Reversal of Fortune

From then on they were all easy friends, and we spent three days there, so of course this is Continued here...