Below are news stories that we posted on DanFinnen.com in 2011.
20 December 2011, Tuesday
Holy crap, it’s only five days away from Christmas! This unusually warm Chicago December has me all thrown off. Not complaining though, if we can keep this for another month or so that would be greeeat…
As the year winds down, I just want to say thanks for a fantastic 2011. I graduated from college, started a new business, and got this website cranking away. I couldn’t have done it all without the support of my family, my friends, and my dedicated comrades at DistractChicago.com. I also want to thank you for taking the time to visit this site, I hope you found something useful or entertaining!
If I don’t get a chance to post before the new year, here’s to 2012, my first full year in the real world!
9 December 2011, Friday
I’ve had a bunch of assorted Polaroids lying around that I love but haven’t quite fit into any gallery I’ve posted yet, so I’ve done gone and made another gallery. Polaroid Portraits is just what it sounds like; all sorts of instant photos of pretty people. Enjoy!
26 November 2011, Saturday
I’ve just added a new photo gallery, Atmosphere! I’ve had quite a few images sitting around that didn’t belong anywhere, and after playing with them for a bit I came up with this gallery. Enjoy!
12 November 2011, Saturday
Great news from the Distract Chicago Productions, we’ve recently won a 5,000 award for the ad we entered in the Zooppa powered Margaritaville Cargo Mixed Drink Maker contest! We’ve been making a whole rash of spec ads lately, and we have two new ads entered in the Doritos Super Bowl contest and the Zooppa Betfair.com contest as well. I’ve embedded the Betfair ad below, featuring the best Nigerian prince outfit this side of the internet.
Also, in site news, I’ve made some much needed changes to my video page in order to bring it up to speed. About page, I’m coming for you next.
27 October 2011, Sunday
Man, this whole DistractChicago.com thing has me all sorts of behind here! Well, that and traveling. I made it back from LA, which was awesome. The next Batman movie was being filmed outside our hotel and I learned all sorts of Adobe goodness at MAX. Last weekend I went to NYC, which means I’ve traveled farther in this past month than I have my entire life.
Now that everything has (relatively) calmed down, I can get back to work and get settled in for my first Chicago winter. I hear they’re as gentle as a lamb… with a chainsaw of coldness.
30 September 2011, Friday
I’m off to the Adobe Max Conference in LA! I’m just as surprised as you, but probably more excited. I’ll be posting all about it on my Tumblr blog (tumblog?) just like every other nerd there, so be sure to check back next Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday for all sorts of Adobe funitivities.
Oh! I forgot to post here that I’ve added a new little page to my articles section, a Friendly Little Note on Articles and Reviewsthat explains where I’m coming from when I write reviews and the such.
This news page was looking a little bare, so I’m throwing in the above image to mix it up a little. Click on it to teleport to the newest episode of News in a Minute, featuring yours truly!
24 September 2011, Saturday
If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been doing a little housekeeping on the website over the past week. I’ve gone through all my reviews and articles and fixed spelling errors, updated facts, and mended general instances of poor verbage. If you ever happen to stumble upon any factual or grammatical errors feel free to send an email my way! You can find my email address at the bottom of the page in the right side of the footer.
10 September 2011, Saturday
I finally got a brand new review out, and it’s another big one! Say hello to the Polaroid SX-70 Land Camera Model 2, the amazing folding SLR. It’s a blast to shoot, but can be a big ol’ pain at the same time. Head over to the review for all the details!
1 September 2011, Thursday
Holy crap time flies! I’ve been so busy with DistractChicago.com that I’ve barely had any time to do a whole lot of photograhpy or camera reviews. Never fear, I just acquired an awesome Polaroid SX-70 Land Camera, one of the most famous Polaroid cameras ever created! (It’s that Polaroid camera that folds up.) I even got a man-purse and original instructions with mine. I’ll be sure to put up a scan of the instructions as well as a new review as soon as I do a few shoots with it. I need to pick up some film for it first though…
However, as I haven’t done a ton of photography, I’ve been cranking out tons of new videos, and if you haven’t already, you should check them out at DistractChicago.com! We put up new stuff all the time, so be sure to check in once a week to see what’s fresh. Personally, my favorite videos so far are our Phish episode of the Windy City Show and the couch fortress episode of News in a Minute.
Also, for these times when I don’t update this site constantly, I always put up new stuff weekly and/or daily on my Tumblrblog and my Flickr site!
4 August 2011, Thursday
It has been entirely too long since I’ve been able to get a camera review up here! Fear not though, for I present to you a look at the classic Polaroid OneStep. I stumbled upon this icon while browsing around a used camera store and have been using it for all my SX-70 needs ever since. It’s not bad, but it’s certainly not the greatest Polaroid I’ve used. Check out the full review here!
29 July 2011, Friday
DistractChicago.com is officially up and running for your viewing pleasure, with brand spanking new content to boot! I suggest checking out this week’s News in a Minute, featuring a particularly hot (temperature-wise) Brett as he gives you the scoop on what’s happening in the world in a matter of mere seconds. The site is still a bit of a work in progess, so feel free to let me know if you find something weird going on or it’s simply just not working for you.
20 July 2011, Wednesday
I must appologize for not having any updates this past week, I’ve been working hard at getting my new website venture set up! DistractChicago.com should be ready for action by the end of this week with all sorts of new videos and fun stuff.
Meanwhile, you can always check out some of my newest photography (like the photo above) at my Flickr account!
12 July 2011, Tuesday
Happy ‘roid week! I don’t know who decides these things, but the internets tell me it’s time to celebrate everything Polaroid. I don’t have my Polaroid cameras on me, but I do have a brand new Polaroid camera review to debut! The Polaroid Impulse AF was our family camera and the first one I used for Impossible Project films. Coming up next will be a new review of the iconic white rainbow Polaroid OneStep.
10 July 2011, Sunday
I’ve been trying to get these stupid Facebook like buttons to work all night with little luck. It works on a blank page on this site, but I can’t seem to make it stick on photo galleries. So if you see any weirdly placed Facebook like buttons (like the one below), that’s why they’re there. Hopefully I can get them sorted out soon.
7 July 2011, Thursday
Not one, but two new galleries are now up! Well… they’re both two parts of the series ‘Four Years in Indiana’. Now that I’m up in Chicago, I thought it was time to look back at that magical place of urban sprawl and quiet rural desperation. These pictures have all been taken over my past four years of university education in Muncie. Enjoy!
6 July 2011, Wednesday
It’s my birfday today! Woo hoo! I’ve also just made the move to Chicago, so now I’m officially in the Windy City. Between not having internet and having to unpack, I haven’t been able to write a whole lot, but I got all sorts of new articles, galleries and other fun stuff coming in the near future!
26 June 2011, Sunday
I just added a new Fuji Quicksnap disposable 35mm camera review! I had an old disposable camera comparison on my blog, but this is an entirely new article that incorporates a lot of the lessons I’ve learned about these cameras over the past few years. Personally I love shooting with disposable cameras, as you never know what you’re going to get. You can find quite a few of the shots I’ve made with this camera in the Disposables gallery.
20 June 2011, Monday
This wouldn’t be a proper destination on the internet if there weren’t cute photos, and to that end I now have a gallery dedicated to lifestyle photography that is chock full of adorable babies. On most of these photo shoots I’m also taking pictures of parents and grandparents, but I decided to focus on babies because… I mean… they’re babies. Enjoy!
18 June 2011, Saturday
That’s right kids, it’s a Polaroid OneStep CloseUp camera review! The OneStep CloseUp, besides featuring a name with a bunch of mashed together words, is a perfectly competent Polaroid camera that can be found fairly easily and cheaply. There’s a good chance there might be one hiding in your attic right now.
Next up for reviewin’: the Fuji Quicksnap disposable camera!
15 June 2011, Wednesday
I just finished up a new gallery of headshots I’ve taken for actors and other professionals! I’ve also worked out a few strange bugs on the site, but that’s not nearly as exciting. Now I just need to make this homepage RSS feed friendly…
14 June 2011, Tuesday
Whew. I just finished up a brand spankin’ new review of my personal favorite Polaroid instant camera, the Polaroid Spectra System. Check it out! I’m working on a whole mess of new reviews, so expect more in the near future.
I’ve also thrown up an updated page that has instructions on what to do if you have a dead battery in a Polaroid cartridge. I still need to add some photos, but I need to finish off a pack of film so I actually have something to take a picture of first.
10 June 2011, Friday
I just finished putting up a gallery for my personal favorite photo series ‘The Disposables’. Most of these photos were taken several months ago, but it’s taken me a while to get everything scanned properly and restored. Enjoy!
5 June 2011, Sunday
I just got back from my Florida vacation and have returned mildly less pale. I have also learned what it is like to travel in a van with two dogs for fourteen hours:
They’re not big fans of being stuck in the back and managed to contort themselves into all sorts of weird positions to get as far forward as possible.
On my trip I also managed to snag this awesome photo:
Not only am I hanging out with a group of mariachis (who were awesome), but I AM GETTING PHOTOBOMBED BY A WAITER. Because of this, I have decided that Peppers is the best Mexican restaurant in the world.
26 May 2011, Thursday
In the timeless words of Calvin and Hobbes, holy-schaMOLEY. Websites are a lot of work. What you see here is the result of hours upon hours of my incompetent pounding away at HTML, and it’s finally ready for the world. Everything that my previous website had is still here (although a tad less ugly), but there’s a ton of new stuff here as well. I got galleries, I gotinstant film reviews, I even have a page where I talk about myself in the third person. There’s still quite a bit that needs to be done, and I’ll be adding to the galleries and articles quite a bit over the next few weeks.
On this page I’m going to blather about whatever I want, but mostly about what is going on in my world. So, you may ask, what is going on in my world?
Well… I kind of graduated.
Clearly I cannot wear one of those graduation hats to save my life.
See that frowny man with the handsome beard next to me? That’s Derek, and along with Darik, we’re starting up a new business: DistractChicago.com! This new site will feature all sorts of comedy videos and webisode series focused on the Chicagoland area. We should be up and running come late June, so more information will be forthcoming. Whether you like it or not.
So in the meantime, please enjoy the new website and please let me know about any broken links or spelling errors you find.
Thanks for reading!
-Dan