I took this week's photos on a trip to the John Hancock Observatory in mid March. It was in the upper 40s on this day, and I could sense Lake Michigan's iced over surface was nearing the end. Seemed like a good time to head up there and capture some images.
This next shot zooms in on the building to the left. Pool party in 3 months! Who's in?
As the calendar pushes into March we had another cold, miserable week in Chicago. The one positive-- it was sunny on several days and this led to some really nice sunsets. I took these photos on my commute home one evening:
I'd like to pause after this photo just to note how spoiled we've become by digital photography. I shot that one handheld at ISO6400 with a Nikon D7100. It's a little noisy, but nothing that is really visible at web sizes. I'm guessing I could print an 8x12 and even a 13x19 and it would still look pretty good. I couldn't have taken that photo 5 years ago, at least not without a tripod.
I attended the Chicago Pride Parade again this year and I've added a set of photos to flickr. I almost didn't go this year. After also attending the Blackhawks parade on Friday (so many parades, so little time!), I was a bit worn out, but the pride parade is such a fun event to photograph and contains such a fascinating mix of people, I couldn't pass up another opportunity. Please go to flickr to see the full set, but here are a few highlights:
"Balloon People" Copyright Andy Marfia 2013 All Rights Reserved. Nikon D7100 w/ 70-300mm lens, 1/500sec at f6.3, ISO100. This balloon company's parade entry was impressive.
"Raise 'Em Up" Copyright Andy Marfia 2013 All Rights Reserved.Nikon D7100 w/ 16-85mm lens, 1/400sec at f8, ISO100.
"I'm a Yes" Copyright Andy Marfia 2013 All Rights Reserved.Nikon D7100 w/ 70-300mm lens, 1/640sec at f6.3, ISO100. Proponents of marriage equality, not surprising, had a huge presence in this year's parade.
"Toni" Copyright Andy Marfia 2013 All Rights Reserved.Nikon D7100 w/ 70-300mm lens, 1/500sec at f6.3, ISO100. This is Cook County Board president Toni Preckwinkle.
"Friends Forever" Copyright Andy Marfia 2013 All Rights Reserved.Nikon D7100 w/ 70-300mm lens, 1/400sec at f5.6, ISO100. I also took a photo of Benny the Bull last year. This year he brought a friend with him.
"Pride Bubbles" Copyright Andy Marfia 2013 All Rights Reserved.Nikon D7100 w/ 70-300mm lens, 1/500sec at f5.6, ISO100.
I think of my pride parade photos as a series of vignettes-- small glimpses that reveal something greater about the event and the people attending. My goal is to put you, the viewer, in the thick of things.
All photos were were taken along Broadway Ave, between Montrose and Irving Park Road.
I'd love to claim some deep reasoning behind this week's photo, which combines the Chicago skyline with a trash can along the city's lakefront. The truth is, I just thought it was funny to throw a trash can into an otherwise pretty skyline photo. I actually chuckled to myself as I was taking this one.
Of course, I could write something up:
"The elevation of the trash can into the cityscape realigns the viewers perspective, turning the mundane into the majestic and the majestic into the mundane."
The great thing about photography, and art in general, is-- if it's worth a damn-- it should be open to interpretation and extend beyond the simple click of the shutter. I'd like to think this photo falls into that category, so please, feel free to add your own caption.
This week's photos are of Cricket Hill on a particularly bright and sunny winter afternoon. If you live in Chicago, you're probably familiar with this hill, which sits just east of Lake Shore Drive off of Montrose Ave, though you may not have known it has a name.
The genesis of these shots date back to last summer on a previous visit. At the time, I noticed how the John Hancock Center pokes above one side of the hill, but to capture that requires a fairly long focal length which I didn't have with me. Also, there was no one on the hill to provide context. Both of those problems are solved here. I shot these at 300mm (450mm equivalent), which visually compresses the space and makes the Hancock Center appear much closer than it is, and the sledders give a sense of scale.
After taking these photos, I walked to the top of the hill, where I captured this photo from the summit looking off towards the city.
UPDATE: the first photo was featured on Gapers Block on 02/13/13.
I stopped by the 2012 Pride Parade with the intention to take just a few photos and post them by Monday or Tuesday of the following week. Here it is Saturday and I'm finally writing a blog post about it. Needless to say, I found myself with a lot more shots than expected, which is a good problem to have.
Here's a set featuring 25 of my favorites:
All photos taken with a Nikon D7000 and either a 16-85mm or a 70-300mm Nikkor lens. Copyright Andy Marfia 2012 All Rights Reserved.
Since Flickr is still using flash for these slideshows, those of you on iPhones and iPads probably can't see a thing. Follow this direct link.
This set includes the usual mix or parade subjects-- from politicians to spectators to a guy in an over-sized dog outfit-- but I did try to focus more on faces this year. The thing that I've realized after going to this event for many years is that I really don't care about the floats, at least not in and of themselves. It's the people sitting on them or walking along side them, and the emotions they reveal as they soak in the day-- that's what's interesting to me.
All of these photos were taken on Broadway Ave between Montrose and Irving Park Road. The city of Chicago changed the route of this year's parade, extending it to Montrose and removing the hairpin turn that used to exist at Halsted, Broadway, and Grace. Overall, I think this was a very good change and it was notably less crowded where I was.
I've finally finished posting photos from last weekend's Pride Parade in Chicago. Here's the whole set:
Most of these were taken at the north end of the parade, at the intersection of Halsted, Broadway, and Grace streets. A few others were taken along Halsted St., roughly between Grace and Roscoe.
"I made another half-ass attempt to photograph the Pride Parade this year. I say "half-ass" not because I dislike the photos, but rather because I always leave the parade feeling like I could have done a better job. Perhaps by next year, I'll finally have a definitive set."
I'm not sure if this year's set is "definitive" but it's certainly less half-assed than in the past. I improved on last year in two important ways: 1) I arrived at the parade an hour before it started, securing a position at the front of the fence on Grace St, and, 2) I brought a much better lens with me, in the 70-300mm Nikkor f4.5-f5.6. Yes, gear matters.
My only regret is that I didn't get a photo like this one by flickrite TheeErin. That's really an awesome shot.
Also, I ran out of memory cards.
Also, I probably ventured about one block too far south. Around Roscoe street the crowd got ugly, with lots of pushing and shoving as people tried to move around. This was by far the most crowded parade that I've been to.
But overall, I like this year's photos. Maybe I'll take next year off.
I keep thinking that I'm done posting Cabrini Green photos, and I keep finding more that I like. These three were taken during a second trip to the demolition, on April 9th. (It's still in progress, by the way).
Nikon D7000 w/ 70-300 Nikkor lens, 1/800sec at f8, ISO200
Nikon D7000 w/ 70-300 Nikkor lens, 1/800sec at f8, ISO200
Nikon D7000 w/ 70-300 Nikkor lens, 1/800sec at f8, ISO200
The titles that I chose for flickr all play on the obvious juxtaposition: "We Fall, We Rise," "Poles Apart", and "Past and Present". I processed these minimally to accentuate the haziness of the skyline. I could have made these much darker, but I think the compositions speak for themselves and don't need a lot of dramatic effects.
You can file this one under "sometimes you get lucky." This is the Nichols Bridgeway in Millennium Park (ie: the bridge that leads to the Art Institute). I shot this through the windshield of my car as we drove under the bridge on Monroe. I was in the passenger seat, obviously-- I don't recommend shooting photos while driving, and certainly not photos that involve looking UP through the windshield. Rarely do photos that I shoot from a moving vehicle turn out, so I was pleasantly surprised to find this one more or less in focus.
This photo makes me wonder, what exactly is the woman with the camera shooting? A picturesque cityscape? The traffic down Monroe? Or perhaps something else that we can't see? Another unknown: why does the woman to her left appear to be upset?
Photo Details: Nikon D7000 w 70-300mm lens (at 220mm), 1/3200sec at f5.3 and ISO800.
The Victor L. Schlaeger fire boat, as seen in late August just south of Navy Pier. To be honest, I didn't even know Chicago had such a boat until I took this photo. They appeared to be doing some sort of test or training exercise. Whatever was going on, I couldn't resist photographing this giant red boat, especially with its water canons shooting up to the heavens.
For more information on the Schlaeger (which is scheduled to be replaced in 2011), check out chicagofireboat.com.
Photo Details: both photos were shot with a Nikon D90 and 70-300mm lens (at 300mm), 1/250sec at f5.6 and ISO200.
Surprisingly, this is only the second photo that I've taken of the Marina Towers in the last five years. I shot this from the Clark St. Bridge. At the time, I was taking a picture of the bridge. I turned the camera up to the tower, and because of the drastic change in focal distance, my lens hunting for a moment to find the focal point. I thought "oh, that looked cool", and shifted to manual focus to take this shot.
Nikon D90 with 70-300mm lens at 250mm, 1/2000sec, f5.6 & ISO200.
I've never seen a Transformers movie. Wait-- scratch that-- I saw the animated movie when I was a kid. The animated movie rocked. But these new Michael Bay blockbusters with giant CGI robots and Megan Fox's limited acting skills-- I just don't care.
But what I do like is spectacle taking place in my city. The familiar made unfamiliar. So I've been pretty jealous the last few weeks as my flickr contacts have been posting photos of the Transformers 3 filming. I don't work in the loop, so I can't take photos during the week. Hence, when I heard they were filming over the weekend of August 7th and 8th, blockading off the LaSalle St Bridge, I figured I may as well head down there.
I basically made one very slow circle around the entire shoot, walking down Wacker, then across the Wells St Bridge, then down Kinzie, and back north across the Clark St Bridge. Although the film crew allowed people to stand and watch across the street on Wacker, they tried to keep people moving on the bridges-- unfortunate, as those were the best places to take photographs.
Here are my favorite shots:
Nikon D90 with 70-300mm lens at 300mm, 1/200sec, f10 and ISO200. I was standing on the other side of Wacker for this one and had to wait for traffic to clear to get a clean shot. See that white spot in the lower right-- that's a golf cart parked nearby.
Nikon D90 with 16-85mm lens, 1/160sec at f8, ISO200. This was also from the other side of Wacker.
Nikon D90 with 70-300mm lens at 260mm, 1/400sec, f8 and ISO200. I shot this one looking north from Kinzie.
Nikon D90 with 70-300mm lens at 270mm, 1/320sec, f8 and ISO200. This and the following shot were both taken from the Clark St Bridge. I was looking towards the sun, which normally isn't ideal, though I kind of like how the haze blends with the smoke.
Nikon D90 with 70-300mm lens at 300mm, 1/800sec, f5.6 and ISO200. That's a brown line train in the background. This photo also features 4 different bridges.
Nikon D90 with 70-300mm lens at 75mm, 1/500sec, f4.5 and ISO200. Some fans on Wacker sitting on top of the electrical boxes. I was surprised they let people sit up there.
