Tag Archives: Illinois

777 Freighters at O’Hare

Nothing terribly timely about this post. These shots were taken quite a while ago during a visit to Chicago. (At least they are so old that they are from when I lived there.) There was a time when the 747 was the freighter of choice. There are still missions for which the 747 is still required but few loads require the nose loading and the most versatile of the big freighters these days is the 777. (It seems that the 777 is taking over everything that the 747 used to do.)

One afternoon at O’Hare included a couple of 777 freighters. AeroLogic had one of theirs in town. I saw it coming in and also got so see it head out again. I don’t know where it was coming from or going to. Meanwhile, Air France also had one of their freighters making an appearance. It’s a shame that the 747 is not so prevalent anymore. It is a cooler looking jet and the 777 freighter is barely distinguishable from the multitude of 777s on passenger duty. However, that is the way it is these days.

Puffy Cloud Backdrops

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My personal preference is to shoot planes tight. I like to see the detail up close and usually strive to get that in my shots. However, sometimes I remember that there is more to it than that and there is something interesting about the context of the shot. It doesn’t have to be a detailed shot of the plane. It can be a wider shot when no one is looking at the plane expecting to see the intricacies of its structure.

Having some nice clouds to play with is an important part of the story. Going wide when the sky is blue is not really going to add any drama. However, some nice puffy clouds will certainly be appreciated in this situation. In this case I was with some friends at O’Hare shortly after a storm had passed through. Things had cleared up nicely but there was still plenty of evidence in the air of what had been dumping water on us a short while before.

I doubt closer shots would have been much use anyway. With the amount of moisture in the air and the warmth that was quickly coming back now that the sun was out, heat haze would have destroyed an detail with a longer lens. Going wider was probably the only option. It was certainly worth it though. The texture of the clouds after the storm was there to see and to be emphasized in the shots. The plane provides a focal point to explore the image from but is not too important itself. You can’t just do this but, from time to time, it is good to fight your normal style.

The Lions Show Their Love for the Cubs – And Why Not????

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To be fair, the lions are pretty flexible when it comes to affiliations. When the White Sox went to the World Series, they wore White Sox caps. Bears helmets and Blackhawks helmets don’t cause a problem since there is only one team for each sport in the city unlike supporting one or other of the baseball teams. However, the lions do appear to be fans of whichever team is winning! (For those of you not familiar with the lions, they flank the entrance to the Art Institute of Chicago and they get into the spirit if a team is doing well.) By now, of course, we know how it all worked out! Let’s go Cubbies!

Lightning Photography

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When I shot film I had a go at shooting lightning a number of times but never with any success. I would try and react to get the bolt but it was always gone. When you are using film and having a very low success rate, things get too expensive. Consequently, I gave up on it. The move to digital opened up a new range of possibilities.

My new approach doesn’t involve much skill (but then neither does using an electronic trigger). I set up the exposure to have a reasonably long shutter speed. Then I put the camera on continuous mode, plug in the cable release and lock the shutter open. Then the camera takes a steady stream of shots. Of course, when there is a slight gap between shots, you can imagine when the lightning will strike.

I used to shoot a lot from the apartment in Chicago. Set the camera up and go and do something else. Unfortunately, the heavy rains that would accompany the storm activity could result in the sky glaring out but you still had a chance. Some of the shots were okay and every once in a while you would get a really cool outcome. The Trump Tower was next to us and it would be struck occasionally but it was too close to get a good look at. You could hear it though!

No Need to be Koi

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During our walk around the Chicago Botanic Gardens, we walked across a couple of the bridges over the lakes. The lakes are home to a variety of wildlife including plenty of koi carp. I guess they are pretty smart fish as the appearance of a few people seems to attract them rapidly. I guess they get fed enough times to learn. So much for fish having short memories.

These guys showed up in force. They came up from the depths so, for a while they weren’t apparent but then suddenly their form would solidify. They would drift around making it look like it was a coincidence but soon they were right underneath us. Obviously this was no coincidence at all.

Trying to do Something Different with a Southwest 737

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If you want to go with a rather easily achieved photo, a shot of a Southwest 737 would seem to be about as common as they get in the US. I was staying in a hotel near Midway recently and, after dinner, I decided to see if I could get something a little different to my normal shots of a plane I spend a lot of time sitting inside! I wasn’t hampered by some rather helpful weather conditions.

I was close to the approach path so I wandered off to find what line worked best. My best results came from two spots. One was directly on the flightpath. The other was slightly offset to one side. At this location, the planes are just short of the field so are pretty low. I include a couple of shots that show the rooflines of some of the houses to give you an idea of the surroundings. The shots from under the nose are interesting but there is only so much you get from that angle. I was pleased with a few of the, but I did not spend a lot of time in this spot.

Being offset provided a more interesting angle. I only had one lens with me so I was a little limited in what I could try by having a longer focal length. Being full frame does now give me a bit more width at the short end of the zoom though. Therefore, I could get some shots from almost underneath that provide a slightly more dynamic angle.

Since it was evening, the light was getting better and better. What certainly helped was that there was a hint of storm activity in the distance and some clouds were bubbling up. They made for a far more interesting backdrop than the empty sky. Overall, this was a pretty satisfying evening. I did get some other arrivals that while I was there and I will possibly give them their own post at some time.

Early Morning at Chicago Botanic Gardens

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The Chicago Botanic Gardens open at 7am. This is something I was totally unaware of when we lived in Chicago. During our recent visit, we were staying a short distance away and had some free time in the morning. We decided to go early, have a wander around, get some breakfast there and then go back to the hotel to be ready for the day. We might not have been there spot on 7am but we weren’t much later.

Early morning is a great time to look around. It was a hot weekend that weekend so we were able to enjoy the gardens before they got too hot. We were also able to enjoy them pretty much alone for a lot of the time. The crowds have not shown up yet and the place is occupied by the regulars. In some of the more central parts of the gardens, the groundskeepers are still busy at work sorting things out before the majority of visitors appear.

We wandered around a good portion of the grounds. Heading towards midsummer, even that early in the day is long after the sun comes up so it isn’t the perfect light. It is a lot better than later in the day though so worth taking the camera. With so few people, the chance to get unobstructed shots is worth it in itself. Having not been for a while, the chance to walk the grounds again was a treat as well.

Funky Building at Northwestern

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When our niece first went to Northwestern, we made a number of visits. At the time, there was an area at the south end of the campus that was a building site. We hadn’t been back since but now that building site is a cool new building. Since this was where the reception was held after Sara’s diploma presentation, I took the opportunity to grab a shot of it. Rather cool I think – the building, not my shot.

Brickworld 2016

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When we lived in Chicago, we made a couple of visits to the Lego convention, Brickworld. Some of the Lego creations on display were really impressive and I have included them in previous blog posts. It just so happened that, this year, Brickworld was on the same weekend that we were in the Chicago area for my niece’s graduation. We had a little spare time on the morning that we were flying home so we decided to check it out en route to the airport.

The venue has changed from when we last went. It is now at a larger location and everything is in one large room. The previous place had four smaller rooms. This seemed to result in the more advanced pieces being grouped together. Now everything is scattered around the one space. Combined with the many retail stands, it made things a bit more tricky to see in a short space of time. Even so, we managed to cover everything enough to feel like we hadn’t missed out on anything. I even managed to FaceTime my sister in the UK so she could see some of the stuff from a long distance!

As with previous years, there were plenty of impressive creations. A section of downtown Chicago from the area we used to live was very cool. A recreation of a baseball stadium seemed to be incredibly detailed but it was quite hard to see since it was enclosed in a case. A guy had produced a detailed representation of a building from his home town in Europe. A Middle Ages scene from previous years had received some updates. My favorite, though was a scene from D-Day.

The scene consisted of a landing craft with soldiers and vehicles coming ashore on a Normandy beach having taken the area in battle. The level of detail was impressive with the water created from thousands of little pieces. I have no idea how many total pieces were included but it was clearly a lot. It must have cost a small fortune to put together combined with a lot of time and effort. A very impressive effort.

My Time With Seth Myers

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I decided to hang out with Seth Myers for a while. Admittedly, I did this at the same time as a few thousand other people. He was the commencement speaker at Northwestern University for 2016 and my niece, Sara, was graduating. While it might appear that there was no connection between Seth and me, I assure you that we were just playing it low key. Consequently, I took these pictures from a reasonable distance across the stadium. Maybe I have some more personal shots taken at another time? Maybe?