My buds

Friday night the kids and spouse were out and I had nothing better to do so I decided that instead of hanging out in my local Borders Bookstore, I'd grab my camera and go hang out at the downtown Borders with a little photography on the way. The evening was pleasant with a pinkish sunset brewing. What more could I ask for?
I got a few pictures I liked including a couple of my latest obsession, taking photos of clocks. They really add to architecture, ya know?
As dark was beginning to fall, I discovered a new bit of Chicago a few miles from my home that I must revisit during the day. But this isn't the reason for this post.
It turns out that my destination Border's closed two minutes after I arrived downtown. Instead I went off in search of an open store I could buy some reading material which I planned to read in a cafe as yet to be located. Itchy feet won out and I found myself strolling through Chicago's Millennium Park.
I have already taken pictures at the Chicago "Bean", actually a reflecting sculpture known as Cloud Gate, and at the nearby fountains but this evening was perfect for photography. The real fun started while I was taking pictures at the fountains.
I was spying on a photographer who had a 6 foot tall tripod in place and was photographing the people at play in the water.



As I was doing so, the photographer was accosted by a group of fellows who asked him to take their picture. He apparently told them no because they started looking elsewhere. And there I was sitting with my Digital Rebel XT trying to decide if I should hide the camera so they didn't ask me next. But I decided not to be so silly and soon found myself faced with the same request.
As others have found out to my detriment, if you say please enough times to me I usually cave. These guys were a little boisterous but polite.



The ringleader told me that they were going to be famous, I think implying that I should be glad to be allowed to take their picture. In fact, I just liked their cheerful good humor and their high jinks. With a large crowd around me, I could see no reason taking their picture put me at risk and I was having fun.



I snapped a few pictures and got an e-mail address from one of the guys. I've already sent off the pictures and am hoping I will get a reply to let me know that they received the photos. I'll surely let you know if I just fell victim to some kind of scammer but I can't think how. Sometimes you just have to give a little in order to live life to its fullest.
It is funny but I only noticed the large bottles of booze the guys were carrying when I downloaded the photos. Maybe I would have thought twice about taking the pictures but I'm still glad I did so.
Chicago Rocks!