It's wierd how a picture will strike you differently 3 years later.
I don't normally like these with the partial color and partial black and white, but today I break my own rules because I feel like it.
I'm poking back through my archives since I haven't been out shooting much lately.
More from Chicago downtown
These guys were really good. I was blown away.
Some shots from my walk up Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Not sure what this guy's story was. His sign didn't give much in the way of details.
One heck of a peaceful day.
More shots from my walk along Lake Michigan during a visit to Chicago.
I'm in Chicago visiting by brother and attending a conference.
One of my favorite places in Chicago is walking along lake Michigan.
One of the several airports I passed through, not sure where.
I'm slowing down posting lately, if you hadn't noticed. Instead of trying to post something everyday on days when I just don't have anything I like, I've decided to just not post. I'm sort of taking a breather and will only be posting every couple of days or so. I plan on diving back in full boar in the coming weeks.
This girl was treating the pigeons around downtown Chicago as pets. She kept breaking pieces of bread and sprinkling them all over herself and the birds would walk around on her and eat. Not sure this would be sanctioned by most health departments.
Black and White or color?
Also, are these HDR type shots interesting or trite?
I keep wandering around in this shot unsure of why I like it. But, I guess it doesn't really matter.
I normally try and put up a new shot every day, but I was out of town and then got stuck in the Chicago Ohare airport forever the other day so I'm going to leave this one up for a couple of days!
This still seems off kilter, but I tried and tried and nothing seemed to be straight. So I gave up. :)
More of my wierd obsession with subways and railroads...
Sears Tower Chicago, IL
110-story trophy office tower consisting of steel columns and beams in a “mega-module” system.
Completed May 3, 1973, rises to a height of 1,450 feet and is one of the most recognizable landmarks in the Chicago skyline.
The Sears tower held the record for the world’s tallest building for 25 years until the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia were built in 1998. Then in the Fall of 2004 Taipei 101 took all but one title -- tallest to the tips of the antennas, which the Sears Tower still owns. Including the Sears Tower antennas, the total height of the Sears Tower increases to 1,725 feet.
It seems like I keep ending up in Chicago's Ohare airport alot this year...
Another subway shot, I'm fascinated by these things. I'm sure some of you think I'm crazy.
Just experimenting with HDR, kinda trippy.
I just noticed that I hadn't put up a new image for today. This is the first time in 545 posts that I failed to do a new image at midnight. Well, I guess 545 is a pretty good streak huh? This is Mr. Crain.
I don't really like how blown out the sky is but oh, well...
I'm off to Chicago for a couple of days...see ya when I get back. Hopefully it's not overcast like it was when I took this shot. :)
Nothing new (nothing postable that is) so I'm digging through the archives. Dying to get out and shoot, but family sicknesses, job, Church, Holidays and other stuff not exactly letting me lately.
I have some new shots, but I haven't even pulled them from the camera yet. So, with little time tonight to work on anything I pulled this one from the archives. Taken in Chicago last September. The subway is an interesting place. I'm glad I don't have to do this every morning and evening, like some of you might have to. I am quite lucky. I live about 3 or 4 blocks from my work. So I hop in the truck and pull up to work a minute or two later.
Update: I just realized after some of your comments that this was not on a subway, but a bus. Silly me.
Technically not that great a shot, but her face and the ad just cracked me up.
The subway is a fascinating place to me. You can see so many different types of people. And there can be quite a few different forms of entertainment, from violin players to tap dancers to one man bands. Some people who commute on the subway everyday might not find it as interesting. I guess because where I live we don't have a subway it seems more interesting than it might actually be.
It was so overcast and cloudy. This does actually make for some great color and contrast as long as you don't look towards the sky too much.
Getting around Chicago is pretty easy. We always stay in a hotel near the subway. Get a one day pass for 5$ and you are off and running. I've jumped on the bus there a couple of times, but I like the subway better I think.
There's just something about Chicago pizza. Everytime we go there one meal must consist of Chicago Pizza. We've tried several and this place was no exception to the excellentness status of Chicago pizza! :)
I had a different picture up earlier today, but the more I looked at it the more I didn't like it. So I pulled this one out. From Chicago back in September near the Navy Pier.
Continuing shots of people this week. I'm pretty sure this guy was sleeping. He's on a bench just outside the Navy Pier in Chicago. I titled it Napoleon sleeps because he reminded me of the guy from Napoleon Dynamite, which is a very funny movie. The other great thing about it is it's not your typical Hollywood big budget junk. Plus it's a clean movie. I think the worst word in the movie is maybe "Idiot." And to hear Napoleon say it is quite funny.
Time for some shots of people. This guy was along the edge of Lake Michigan during my trip to Chicago in September.
Pulling out another shot from my trip to Chicago. This is of an art object called Cloud Gate. It is a giant bean shaped object made from highly polished steel plates. You can't see the seams at all where the plates meet except for when you go underneath where they left the seams on purpose. It was pretty neat. Brandon has a cool shot of it here. There was a orchestra playing in front of it entertaining what looked like a high brow dinner party.
Another shot from Chicago along Lake Michigan. This area is right next to the Adler Planetarium. I shot some new stuff the other day, but out of 50 or so shots I only liked one which I posted yesturday.
Nothing particularly grand or revealing, but it appeals to me for some reason. It's the just outside of the room in this shot.
Ok, back to Chicago scenery. Hopefully I can pick up my camera and shoot something new in the next couple of days. I have been fairly lazy as far as shooting because I took so many shots during my trip to Chicago. Nothing extrodinary about this one, but it just sticks out to me for some strange reason above the other shots I have prepared.
Yet another Chicago shot. Off in the distance you can see the carousel that sits on top of the Navy Pier. I almost got my camera really wet messing around by the water's edge trying to get some good splash shots.
Continuing with shots from my trip to Chicago. This is a combination of two shots down the right side of the Navy Pier in Chicago. The shots together end up unbalanced, but I wanted to show you some more of Chicago, plus you can see to the far right the lighthouse from a previous shot. This is the same section of walkway, although several hundred feet to the right, that I shot the lighthouse so you get an idea as to how far away from it I was.
The Navy Pier is an interesting place. It's a section of land that jutts out into lake Michigan and down the right side of it (as you are facing lake Michigan) there are shops and restaurants and many boats docked. Along the top is a large carousel, mini golf and other attractions.
It's particularly neat when you get out to the farthest point and you are looking out into the lake. It's a great place to just take a seat and watch the birds and water and take it all in. Very peaceful and soothing. Every now and then they'll have a band playing Jazz or some type of music out near the end as well. It's one of my favorite places to visit in Chicago.
The subway in Chicago is superfast! :) We've become pro's at getting around Chicago during our several trips there. Using the buses and subway you can get around pretty well.
Some facts about the transit system: CTA has approximately 2,000 buses that operate over 152 routes and 2,273 route miles. Buses provide about 1 million passenger trips a day and serve more than 12,000 posted bus stops. CTA's 1,190 rapid transit cars operate over seven routes and 222 miles of track. CTA trains provide about 500,000 customer trips each day and serve 144 stations.
There was a little bit of a scare while we were in Chicago this last time. One of the Metra trains, which are kinda like the subway but faster with less stops, derailed and a couple of people died. We weren't on any of the Metra trains this time, but the last time we were there we had jumped on one of them.
UPDATE: Thanks to all who voted for me on Photofriday. I got a noteworthy for the Blur competition. Thanks again!
This is one of the outside hallways in the Fourth Presbyterian Church in downtown Chicago. It was quite interesting to be walking along the hustle and bustle of Michigan avenue amongst what seemed like a million or more people and then to step off to the side into the courtyard next to this church. It suddenly became quiet and peaceful. The inside of this Church was quite impressive and grand. The Church was built in 1914 following the destruction of their previous worship location by the great Chicago fire and under went restoration and recreation that finished in 1995. It now sits in the middle of the great shopping known as the "Magnificent Mile."
This is the ceiling in a room in the Chicago cultural center. It was quite an impressive place.
This shot was actually taken several years ago with my then trusty Olympus...can't remember the model...1.3 megapixel camera. I started browsing through my old stuff and found this shot. It's funny how noisy the shots were with that camera.