Hi, everyone.

Those of you who've been following my blog will know that my computer has been undergoing serious problems and that I've been unable to upload photos here to the blog. Well, if you're seeing photos here with this posting, it's not because the computer's been repaired or replaced.

It's because I'm here in Ohio visiting my good friend, the photographer Dave Levingston.

He was kind enough to invite me to stay with him for a week and to do some photography in his new studio. I have been doing the latter, working with models in the studio both yesterday and today (with more to come), but for now I'm writing about the trip to Chicago that Dave and I made this past weekend.

I had never been to Chicago before, so this trip was something of a treat - the chance to visit one of the country's great cities. At the top you can see a photo I made of the Chicago skyline from inside the Art Institute, a place that I'll write about next time.

This trip, though, was not a random visit as Dave and I went to attend the opening reception of the "Femme Divine" exhibit of art nude and erotica at the Gallery Provocateur.

Besides seeing the beautiful artworks on display, I also had the opportunity to meet some of the people who I'd met online or whose works I had seen but had never met in person before. Among these were D.L. Wood, Unbearable Lightness, Lela Rae and Nad Iskodas. Here are some of the photos I made at the event.

D.L Wood and Dave Levingston

Gallery founder Veronika Kotlajic

Lela Rae and Unbearable Lightness

Unbearable Lightness and friend



Lela Rae with yours truly



Dave Levingston



Model Jennifer and D.L. Wood

Lela Rae

I'll write more about Chicago and my time here in Ohio in upcoming posts. For now, I'll mention that Dave L and I will be riding up to Detroit this coming Saturday to attend a reception at the River's Edge Gallery that evening for a show in which Dave has some of his work included. For more information, see his blog entry about it here.