Frosty Chicago via the Art Institute

On a recent visit to the Chicago Art Institute I found these awesome frosted doors as I exited the Modern Wing.  There was some sort of condensation problem happening in the entryway.  The Art Institute had a fan set up to try and push air out of the room, but it clearly wasn't working.  No complaints from me.


"Frosty Chicago (1 of 3)" © Andy Marfia 2014 All Rights Reserved. Sony RX100, 1/30sec at f2.8, ISO320


"Frosty Chicago (2 of 3)" © Andy Marfia 2014 All Rights Reserved. Sony RX100, 1/30sec at f2.8, ISO320


"Frosty Chicago (3 of 3)" © Andy Marfia 2014 All Rights Reserved. Sony RX100, 1/30sec at f2.8, ISO640

My photo taking captured the attention of several others, who stopped to take their own shots.  One guy said this to me:

Guy standing near me as I take a picture: "That's a great Instagram photo." Me: "It's just a great photo." We agree.

— Andy Marfia (@AndyMarfia) January 9, 2015

Of course, I did eventually put them on Instagram, so I guess we were both right!

Update: the third photo in this set was featured in the Gapers Block's Rearview on 1/16/14.

Photo(s) of the Week: Milky Blue Chicago

"Milky Blue Chicago" © Andy Marfia 2014 All Rights Reserved. Nikon D7100 w/ 16-85mmmm lens, 1.3sec at f8, ISO100.


"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.

Photo of the Week: Thru Traffic Prohibited

"Thru Traffic Prohibited" © Andy Marfia 2014 All Rights Reserved. Sony RX100, 1/30sec at f1.8, ISO500.

I'm a big proponent of always having a camera with you.  Whether that's a DSLR, a compact, or just a decent cell phone camera, you never know when you might come across something interesting.  I was on my way to see a show at the Old Town School of Folk last weekend when I took this photo with a Sony RX100.  I've never noticed this house before, which sits in the middle of an alley near Lincoln Ave and has no street entrance.  I liked the way it looked with the newly fallen snow on the ground.

Photo of the Week: It Begins... sort of

Sony RX100, 1/30sec at f1.8, ISO200. © Andy Marfia 2012 All Rights Reserved.

Weather forecasting, I suspect, is sort of like an arms race.  The more dire the predictions, the better the ratings, and as you get closer to a weather event everyone tries to out predict each other.  That's what happened this week in Chicago, where I saw predictions of freezing rain turning into snow (it was really just rain) and anywhere from 3-6 inches of accumulation (we got none) depending on who you trusted (which at this point is no one!).

On the upside, we at least had enough snow for me to take this photo during my commute home on Thursday.  It didn't last, but was sure pretty to look at for a few minutes.  This is the intersection of Ridge, Broadway and Bryn Mawr.

Photo of the Week: urban re-renewal

The phenomenon of fast food restaurants being converted into discount insurance stores has always fascinated me.  Okay, maybe it's not a phenomenon-- maybe it's something that's limited to Chicago, and maybe even just to my area-- but I can think of at least three locations where this has happened.  One, the store pictures above, and two Taco Bells.

So I was amused the other day when I noticed that this former Checkers, which for several years had been turned into an insurance store, had now been turned back into a fast food restaurant.  Urban re-renewal.  Or Urban re-repurposing.  Or whatever you want to call it.  I thought it was kind of cool.

This is at Devon and Broadway, kiddie corner to Loyola University's north side campus.  A good location for a 24 hour fast food joint, though no where near Maxwell Street, as the name would imply. 

I got off the train a few stops early in order to get this shot-- it wasn't quite twilight yet, so I walked around the area for about 10 to 15 minutes, waiting for the sky to turn a nice shade of blue.  Sometimes the difference between a successful photo and just an average one is 10 minutes.

Photo Details: Canon S95 at 28mm, 1/40sec at f2.0, ISO80.

The Big Bang on the Fourth of July

I watched the Chicago fireworks from Hollywood Beach this year.  This isn’t the city fireworks pictured here.  Unbeknown to me and my friends, after the official fireworks ended, someone set up a massive private display about 40 yards away from us on the beach.  We’re talking semi-professional stuff here-- fireworks launching from at least 10 different locations, simultaneously.  Needless to say this was surprising, exciting, and frankly just a bit scary.

I shot these handheld at ISO800.  Though I had a small tripod with me, I didn’t have time to even think about setting it up.

We didn't stick around for long after that, but I hope whoever set these off did a better job throwing away their trash than what I found at Winnemac Park the next day.  Nothing screams America like not cleaning up after yourself.

Photo Details: Nikon D90 with 16-85mm lens, 1/13sec and 1/25sec, f5.6 and ISO800.

Photo of the Week: passage

A tunnel under the Metra tracks connects the neighborhoods of Andersonville and Bowmanville in Chicago.  I shot this handheld at 1/30sec.  This is a rare example of a photo that required zero post processing.  Not that I normally do a ton anyway... still, it’s gratifying to open an image in Photoshop and it just sings to you from the start.

Photo details: Nikon D90 with 16-85mm lens, 1/30sec at f3.5 and ISO400.

Photo(s) of the Week: "ORANGECITY" and "Clark Street"

This week's photos were taken on a very foggy Monday evening in Andersonville.  After shooting the first one, I remember looking at the LCD screen and thinking "oh, that's not going to work".  To my surprise it wound up being my favorite shot of the night. 

I had the white balance set to "auto" for that one, and didn't really do much in post processing other than deepen the blacks a little.  This next shot, on the other hand, I completely messed with in Photoshop:



In an attempt to normalize the colors, I dropped the white balance down to 2000k.  When dealing with night photography, it's pretty much impossible to normalize anything-- Sodium Vapor street lights have a different color temperature than fluorescent lights, which have a different color temperature than automobile headlights.  So this isn't necessarily more realistic than if I had left the image with an orange cast-- it's just a different look, and I like it.

Both of these were shot handheld with a Nikon D90 and 16-85mm lens, at 1/5sec and 1/8sec, respectively, and ISO800.

Wrigley Field in fog: Holy Cow!

The lights have been on at Wrigley Field the last couple of weeks, as preparations have been made for the Winter Classic which took place today on New Years Day.  These photos were all taken on December 26th, on an unusually warm and foggy winter night.

This is the second year the NHL has done the Winter Classic (last year it was in Buffalo), and I hope it continues.  Although the ticket prices were much too high for my tastes, I like how it gives us something different to watch on New Years Day instead of college football.

Photo details: Nikon D90 with 18-105mm lens at f3.5, ISO 800, and shutter speeds between 1/50sec and 1/100sec.  I had the vibration reduction of the 18-105mm lens turned on, which helped to ensure sharp results.  Also, I should note that I adjusted the white balance slightly in post processing-- the sky wasn't quite that blue in real life.

Barack Obama Grant Park Rally

I had the honor and the privilege to attend Barack Obama's Grant Park Rally on Tuesday night.  I was not anywhere near close enough to take any photographs of the candidate President-elect himself, but here are a few shots of the crowd and on Michigan Ave beforehand:









These were all shot with a Nikon D90 and a 50mm lens, usually set at f1.8, with ISOs between 400 and 800.  I chose black and white for these shots to eliminate the orange color caste from the city's sodium vapor lights, which I personally do not find appealing.  I also think it gives the photos a bit of a timeless quality.

Foreigner Inspired Photography

One of my flickr contacts has commented that this photo makes him think of the Foreigner song, Urgent.  Now, for the record, let me just state that this was not my intention.  However, I do think it's rather funny:



Nikon D90 with 18-105mm lens, ISO400, 1/100sec at f5.

UPDATE: This photo was featured on Gapers Block, in the Rearview Section, 10/15/08.