Along the same line as the New York photos, I decided to upload some images that I've taken over the years in Chicago. Being a two hour train ride away from the Windy City allows me an unlimited canvas to work with, and I always seem to come home with photos featuring different angles, different scenes, and exciting new experiences. I hope you enjoy these.
The "Jellybean" in Millennium Park is always a fun stop on my trip to Chicago, with such a reflective surface, you can get some really interesting compositions and distortions using the chrome to your advantage.
Getting a bird's eye view of the city from a skyscraper, in this instance, the Sears Tower yields unique perspectives, and great photo opportunities. The congested exit ramp is a stark contrast to the nearly empty lanes next to it.
For this shot of the Sears Tower from street level, I wanted to get close to the building to take advantage of the converging tower lines, which give the illusion that the tower is even taller than it really is. This effect is increased by including the streetlight and street signs in the foreground, because the street signs run against the converging lines. It also provides a great sense of scale.
I really like this shot, because it gives a view that is very typical to a day in the life of a Chicagoan, but at the same time is aesthetically pleasing. Shooting from ground level makes the shot feel more "true to life," something that anyone could see if visiting the city. I chose to stay in black and white for this frame, instead of color, to place emphasis on composition and the detail in the street scene, instead of the colors depicted in the frame.
The true feel of a city comes out in its people. When photographing cityscapes, I try to include residents in the photos; they tend to feel more genuine, less fake, and less posed. I try to shoot in as natural an environment as possible, ensuring that little seems out of place or stiff. I think that this photo of the man sitting on the window ledge captures the style I was going for well.
This photograph is in similar style. When shooting in urban environments, I tend to stick with a 70-300mm telephoto f5.6 lens on my camera, which allows me access to many shots traditionally out of reach with a 28-80mm lens, for example.
This is one of my favorite shots from the collection. There is so much action and emotion in this one frame. Out of all of the photos in this Chicago post, I think that this one gives the viewer the greatest sense of a story. Using a slower shutter speed gives a sense of motion, as evidenced with the water spray and the boy sprinting to get out of the water.
Street scenes like this one are some of my favorites as well. By including other passers-by in the frame, but blurring them out with a special and unique post-editing effect, they are noticed, but not a distraction. It helps me provide the viewer with a unique perspective on a scene that is commonplace in Chicago.
Sometimes, stepping into the tall buildings that I pass by provide equally good photo opportunities as the streets, as evidenced here. By using a "Holga-esque" approach to the shot, by diffusing and blurring the edges of a black and white photograph, the two hallway lights, along with the lights from a tall Christmas tree, lead into the large chandolier. The light shining upwards from the chandolier on the ceiling keeps the top of the frame from being monotenous and boring.
That pretty much wraps up this post, I hope you liked what you saw. I will be uploading more photos from another excursion when I get them ready, featuring a more natural setting than the urban landscapes from this and the previous post.
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