Tag Archives: park

Millennium Park and a Helicopter? Result!

The good folks at Midwest Helicopters were recently undertaking another lift in downtown Chicago and invited me to come along.  This one required two goes since the date of the first attempt awoke to find cloud base down amongst the buildings – not ideal conditions for a flight of any sort let alone one that requires weaving between the buildings downtown.

The forecast for the second attempt was considerably better.  In the end it didn’t quite turn out that way with a slightly grey and overcast morning for the lift.  This was a mixed blessing really.  I was going to be facing east so would have had some awkward lighting angles if the sun had been strong.  However, cloudy skies are not a great backdrop.  This limits some of what you can get but, in this case that wasn’t too much of a problem.

Cloudy skies also soften the light in total which can avoid some of the harsher contrasts that you can get shooting aircraft.  Since Midwest’s fleet are painted orange and white, this contrast on the airframe alone can sometimes be a problem.  Moreover, I have a lot of pictures of their fleet.  Shots against a blue sky are not terribly new but something that brings in the different backgrounds in which the work is being done are a lot more interesting.

The location for the lift was a building directly across from Millennium Park.  This should be a photogenic location.  In advance of the job I was pondering where a good spot to shoot from would be.  Involving the Bean would be a good feature.  However, if I shot from near there, I would basically have one shot and miss the rest.  Getting a reflection in the Bean was another idea.  However, the shape of the Bean acts as a very wide angle viewer which means getting anything specific reflected in it – especially something not too large like a helicopter – is problematic.  The idea seems good but it is hard to make it happen.  If we had a second lift, I would certainly give it a go but I had to make this one count.

The roof was going to be the location of choice again.  This way I can get the aircraft with the park in the background, have it flying in front of other buildings, look down on it while it is low to the ground and also get some of what is happening on the roof as the load is set.  This was a little more tricky since I was actually operating mainly from a slightly lower section of roof than that on which the loads were being delivered.  I also had to make sure to keep myself out from underneath the path of the loads as they came up.

All in all, it went pretty well.  I got some good shots and most of what I was hoping for.  Sometimes you wish you could instruct the crew where to fly for the benefit of the shot but that isn’t why they are there!  However, it was funny at one point to look at the images and notice that Jim, the pilot, must have just spotted me as he brought a load up since he is briefly looking directly at me and grinning!  A couple of frames later and the grin is gone and he is back focused on the task – a task that requires quite a bit of concentration!

Night Wanderings with Friends

As I mentioned in a previous post, sometimes it is useful to have someone come to the city to encourage me to get out and about.  A few friends had been to Chicago in a previous week to do some shooting but I had been tied up when they arrived.  They were planning some evening shooting and I had been out all day and had plans for the evening so missed it.  I was a bit disappointed but there you go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Consequently, I was pleased to see that a few of them were planning to come back a few days later for another session.  This time I was free so agreed to meet up.  Some of the group that were coming I knew and others I hadn’t met before.  I headed out to the Adler Planetarium – our meeting spot – and started taking some shots.  A few guys were already there taking their own shots so I wandered over to find out if they were some of the people I hadn’t met before.

While it was true I hadn’t met them before, they were not part of our group.  However, in common with many photographers, they were a friendly bunch a we chatted for a while.  They had come to town from Texas and were looking to get as many things in to their trip so I suggested a few spots that they might like to try.

After a while the rest of the guys did show up – well, all but one who had wandered off on his own – and we started taking some pictures.  The skyline was lovely as usual and we took some shots around the Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum.  Then we headed across to Millennium Park.  I’m becoming a regular.

Shooting around the Bean at night is good since the long exposures you need tend to make any of the other visitors disappear.  You get a cleaner shot if you plan it right.  We got a bunch of shots and then we started playing around with a flashlight.  More of that to come!

A Walk in the Park

One of the nice things about having visitors is that it gives you a reason to take a look around your own town.  We had friends in town for New Year and, while coming to Chicago at the end of December might well be something you consider to be a bit unwise, we ended up experiencing some surprisingly mild and sunny weather.  This meant taking a walk around outside was not such a dumb idea!

Millennium Park was an obvious place to go.  The last time they had visited, the Bean had been partially covered so they had not got the full experience.  A sunny day is a good time to do that.  We were not alone as you might imagine.  Plenty of other people were out in the park and the Bean (I know its real name is Cloud Gate but I am not going to be the only person to call it that) was having its usual effect on people as they marveled at the reflections of the city and themselves.

I have photographed it many times but there is no way I am going to miss out on the chance to do so again.

Griffith Park Observatory

After I paid a visit to the exhibition of Gerry Holtz’s images (which you can read about here), I had some time to spare in the vicinity of Hollywood.  It wasn’t the greatest day from a weather perspective – that was one of the reasons I had chosen that day to go to the gallery – but it was still a reasonable day to be out and about.  I asked Gerry whether he had any recommendations.

He suggested that I visit Griffith Park Observatory.  Interestingly, this was one of the things that I had been contemplating so, when Gerry brought it up, it seemed like it had to be the place to go.  I had seen the location in movies and TV shows at various times over the years and the view over the city seemed to be quite appealing.

Gerry gave me some directions as to the best way to get into the park and I followed these without difficulty.  The route it took into the park went past some very nice houses.  Given the size of the places, the way in which they had been maintained and the location near Hollywood but on a hill, I suspect those places were not for those short of cash!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since it was a Saturday, I wasn’t the only one thinking that this might be a good place to visit.  The parking lot at the observatory was closed off since it was full at the time.  I ended up descending the other road to the summit which was lined with parked cars in both directions.  Rather than join this idea, I turned around and went back over to the side I had ascended, found a parking bay and walked back to the top.  It wasn’t a long walk and it was nice to get the heart pumping a bit after a lot of time in the car.

The observatory itself was well worth the visit.  The location is impressive and the view across the city below was great although it would have been better if it weren’t such a grotty day.  Of course, LA does have a reputation for smog so perhaps I was actually getting a better view than normal.

I not only had a great view of the city below but also a good angle on the Hollywood sign on the hills not far away.  I had seen the sign a number of times in the distance but had never really been this close.  I obviously took a few shots.  Another cultural icon was commemorated here.  James Dean’s film Rebel Without a Cause had some scenes filmed here and a bust of Dean is mounted on a plinth on the foreground of the observatory.

I made the most of the outside views first since I was a bit concerned that the rain might show up.  Once I had satisfied my initial interest, I headed inside to see the observatory’s exhibits.  It seemed to be a well laid out place and have a number of interesting presentations.  It certainly seemed to be popular with a lot of people visiting.  I scooted around looking at some of these but I was slightly more interested in the historical elements.  There were a number of older technology items to look at including the old projector for the planetarium and the telescope.

After wandering the insides, I headed up to the roof for one final look around before heading back to the hotel.  The view from up top was a nice extra addition to the visit and seemed to be less popular than the rest of the place.  Maybe the trip up the stairs is more than some what to make.  The rain hadn’t come but I still decided to walk back down to the car.  It did have a little drop of rain as I went but nothing that caused any problems.  The view back as I descended was quite appealing and I was glad to have ticked off another one of those famous places I had always intended to see.

Chicago at Night

It has been a while since I last went out and did some night photography around Chicago.  I had been meaning for a while to go and photograph the Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park at night when they have the light and music show.  This was supposed to be a relatively quick trip out but ended up being a rather longer expedition.

Chicago at night is a great place to photograph.  It is fine to walk around at night and there are usually a bunch of people out and about.  However, do you do get a feeling that the city is yours and that you aren’t sharing it with the tourist masses.  The night lighting is also a lot more generous to sights that look less impressive during the day.  The dark hides a lot of the blemishes!

The show at the fountain takes place every hour on the hour.  I got down at 8pm which was just after sundown.  This wasn’t such a good plan as, even at the end of the 20 minute display, it really wasn’t dark enough to get the benefit of the lights.  I figured I would try again another time but ended up taking enough shots of details around the fountain that soon it was sufficiently close to the hour again that there was no point in leaving.  The 9pm show was certainly more photogenic – even if I had to take a few angles that concealed some of the construction sites on the skyline.

With some shots in the bag, I headed back in the direction of home.  however, along the way were plenty of things to shoot as well.  The Art Institute, the Pritzker Pavilion and the bean were all there along with the goings on of Millennium Park.  It ended up being pretty late by the time I finally headed home.  I have now whetted my appetite for some more night shooting so hopefully it won’t be too long before I am back out.

Bean in the rain

After the trip to the Cultural Center from my previous post, I headed across to the Bean to try some other ideas.  I was interested to use the intervalometer to do some more experiments with time lapse photography.  Ever since I have got it, I have been experimenting with different ways of compressing events in time.  To date I had focused on larger scenes transitioning over periods of an hour or more.  This time I was looking at getting a short result that portrayed the movement of people around a busy scene like the Bean.

What I hadn’t planned on was the rain.  The day had been looking pretty unpleasant for quite a while but, since I was more interested in the movement of the people rather than a picturesque shot of the landmark, I wasn’t too bothered.  Besides, this was an experiment so, if I screwed a few things up and learned my lesson, I would be better prepared when a better day came along.  However, the rain that started around the time I arrived was a little more persistent than I had expected.

In such circumstances, where does everyone go to shelter?  Under the Bean of course.  I quickly joined them when I realized the rain was getting heavy.  As I sheltered under there, it was obvious that this might be an chance anyway.  I thought everyone would just stand under there so nothing would work from a motion perspective but I was wrong.  Despite the lack of anything to do for a while, people were constantly on the move.  I stuck the camera low to the ground under the surface of the sculpture and left it to do its thing for a while.

As the rain eased off, I headed outside to try and different look at people passing by.  I even decided to see what a slow moving person in front of a busy scene might look like.  I’m not obvious and it isn’t great but when you find a way to have fun in the rain, you do.

While the time lapse was underway, I noticed another group had arrived.  At this time of year it is no surprise to see wedding parties arrive to get some pictures in Millennium Park.  When it is pouring with rain, it’s not what they were hoping for but I guess you can’t come back another day when you only have one wedding day!  I felt bad for the people as they struggled to get their shots as the rain fell but the photographer was a determined guy and they were going to get it done.  I do hope they look good when they see them.

Spring Shows Up!

The Chicago weather has been pretty cool and damp so far and spring was not showing much sign of appearing.  I often forget that we are quite far north here and the spring does not become apparent until a little later than I was used to.  However, we had a day the other day that broke the mold.  After lots of dull days, it was sunny and in the high 80s.  What the hell is that all about?

A nice day and lots of light – time to go wandering in the park.  Lincoln Park is always worth a visit on a nice day – and I was obviously not alone in this conclusion!  There is the zoo but the ponds in the park also have a fair amount of wildlife so there is always something to take a look at.

The bird life is always active so I got a lot of shots of ducks and geese.  At this time of year, romance is in the air so the birds seem to spend half the time fighting with each other!  There were also a few turtles basking in the sun so they were fun to take a look at.  I did walk through the zoo and got a few shots there but mainly it was stuff in the rest of the park.  Here are a few samples.  Need to get some more practice in given how many shots were not as intended but that is the point I guess…