April 15, 2024

Journey to the Eclipse, 2024

I saw the 2024 eclipse at a rest area off of I-70 around Greenfield, Indiana. I’d scouted this place out on the way to Dayton a couple days prior, hoping to pull off on my way back to Chicago to photograph the eclipse. I remembered from my time photographing the 2017 eclipse at a gas station south of St. Louis that so long as you're not including the landscape in your photograph, if you're in the path of totality it doesn't matter where you set up and shoot—the event happens in the sky! Early in the week, the weather forecast…
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The Gallery

Theatre

October 9, 2023

Northlight Gala 2023

Distant Era photographs Northlight Gala 2023, hosted by Karen Jordan, Christian Farr, Julie Chernoff, with music by Andrew and Matt Mueller.…
July 31, 2023

The Duchess of Malfi Preproduction Photos

FOUR YEARS IN THE MAKING: After a global pandemic, production cancelations, and recasting, Distant Era captures final preproduction photos (and a few portraits) for Babes With Blades Theatre Company's 2023 production of…
May 1, 2023

Richard III Preproduction

In spring 2022, Distant Era photographed preproduction images for Babes With Blades Theatre Company's production of RICHARD III. In this post, we take a quick glance at preproduction photos for theatre and…
April 24, 2023

The Many Looks of Brian Pastor

Director. Writer. Actor. Chicago theatre's Brian Pastor does it all, a true chameleon in their work and in their varied looks from our session…

Journal

Disney Noir 2019

Before Distant Era, in January 2019, Mary-Kate Bullaro organized a Disney Noir shoot for her Fantasy Is Reality project. These were some of our experiments…
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February 5, 2024

Preserve Your Memories

Time it was,And what a time it wasIt was . . .A time of innocenceA time of confidences Long ago . . . it must be . . .I have a photographPreserve your memoriesThey’re all that’s left you Paul Simon, Bookends This song resounds when you’ve spent the last week and a half managing the fallout from a garage flood. Most of this involved communication between plumbing companies, insurance, water remediation, unit owners, and an association board. Only after addressing the larger crisis have I been able to assess my own losses. Despite having placed our storage above the ground,…
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January 29, 2024

Year Five

As 2024 begins, Distant Era starts year five in the business of fantastical portraiture, looking to the past as we plan for the future…
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January 1, 2024

Travellers

January 17, 2022

Genre Bending With Rachel

Taking a break from The People of Light and Shadow series to look at characters from fairytales and folklore from another perspective with cosplayer/performer Rachel Granda-Gluski's Snow White Noir.…
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March 1, 2021

Fantasy With Friends

This week, we speak with three creators and image makers of costumed fantasy photography sessions—Tabitha Burch, Mary-Kate Arnold, and Allen Castillo—to hear their stories, inspirations, practical tips, and advice for creating fantasy photo shoots with friends.…
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February 1, 2021

Beyond the Stars with Crescent Moon Nerdlesque

“I love you.” “I know.” — Princess Leia and Han Solo, The Empire Strikes Back The last photo session I did prior to the pandemic was a highly technical Star-Wars-themed shoot for Crescent Moon Nerdlesque. These are some of the final images from the April 2020 session, and this is my first time sharing them. Crescent Moon Crescent Moon Nerdlesque is a burlesque dance company that specializes in pop-culture-themed acts featuring characters from television, movies, comics, video games, history, and more. Two years ago, CMN asked me to do a photo session for them. In that first big session, equipped…
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January 11, 2021

The Contract

In February 2020, we had the opportunity to do his first maternity session for our friend Hilary, pregnant with her first child, with mutual friend Nathan cast in the role of a bartering goblin. The session kicked off the first in the Distant Era Protagonist narrative series we had long desired to do. We had never shot a series quite like it and asked Hilary and Nathan if they wouldn't mind sharing some perspective on how the concept came together.…
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Game & Hobby

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