Insert evocative title here: Chicago River

Showing posts with label Chicago River. Show all posts

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Photo(s) of the Week: Milky Blue Chicago

"Milky Blue Chicago, #2" © Andy Marfia 2014 All Rights Reserved. Nikon D7100 w/ 16-85mmmm lens, 1.0sec at f8, ISO100.

This week's photos are pretty representative of the month of June this year in Chicago. It's been fog, fog, and more fog. Apparently the polar vortex is to blame. Personally, I think the media just misses the phrase "polar vortex", but I guess it's as good a theory as any.

Both of these photos are pretty standard tourist shots of the Wrigley Building from just across the Michigan Ave Bridge. The addition of fog and some nice blue hour lighting makes them fairly unique. I shot both with a mini tripod, so my choice of shooting locations was limited to where I could safely set the tripod down-- in both cases it was sitting on a concrete ledge. The nice thing about using a mini tripod vs a full size is that it fits inside my camera bag, and can be moved around very quickly.

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Photo of the Week: Vice Grip

"Vice Grip" © Andy Marfia 2014 All Rights Reserved. Nikon D7100 w/ 16-85mm lens, 1/500sec at f3.5, ISO200.

If you've been following me on flickr or this blog for some time, you've probably noticed that I gravitate towards slightly unusual compositions. Sure, I take the tourist shots too, but 9 times out of 10 those don't excite me simply because I've seen them before. What I really like is finding new ways to capture familiar subjects. Here, Chicago's iconic Wrigley Building is seen through the railing of the Wabash Ave Bridge.

Monday, January 20, 2014

Chicago River Ice Flow

The iced over Chicago River has been an obsession of mine for several years. The river only ices over during periods of extreme cold, and since I don't work in the loop, I always seem to miss it. These photos were taken on a Sunday afternoon, and a rather balmy one at that-- I believe it was in the upper 30s and possibly even 40. It had been warm for several days, so I was very pleasantly surprised to still find some ice. These photo were all taken in the vicinity of Michigan Ave.

Friday, February 17, 2012

Photo of the Week: Bank Shot

Nikon D7000 w 16-85mm, 1/250sec at f8, ISO200. © Andy Marfia 2012 All Rights Reserved.

We haven't had anything close to a normal winter this year. In fact, it's hardly felt like winter at all. Temperatures have generally been in the 40s, with only two snow falls of any significance, and often sunny. Yes, sunny! In Chicago! The photo above, of the Chicago River's North Branch, exemplifies this-- there's not a spec of snow or ice to be seen. Just a clear blue sky reflecting off the water.

I don't claim to know whether this is due to climate change, seasonal variance, or some combination, but I can tell you that I've never experienced a winter quite like this one. This is weirder than last year's blizzard by a significant margin.

Hey, at least it's snowing in Italy.