These tall evergreens planted in front of a set of small houses in Oracle were almost gone before I saw them. The scene looked bizarre. Tall trees, tiny houses. I wonder who lives in them? Here it is on Google Maps. Try the Street View, you’ll see two cars pulled up in front of the…

Sears Tower is one of the famous landmarks of Chicago I photographed while in the city. Remarkably, despite the months I spent in the city, I never actually went to the top of the building. I almost did once, but turned back for some reason. Could have been the long line to get past security….

If you’re living in Ireland, you’ve no doubt noticed that this summer hasn’t been great. Actually, I haven’t. I work at home and looking out my little window at the rest of the world is some days the closest I get to the outside world (almost!) Well anyway, this is to console you if you’re…

Many cites live and depend on rivers and none more so than Chicago which went as far as to reverse the flow of the Chicago River! Wikipedia has more of course. The observant visitor will notice the twin towers of Marina City in the photo above, and possibly recognise the distinctive bridge from the latest…

Marina City in Chicago is made up of two 65 storey towers with a distinctive circular shape. I just love the look of them actually. They’re right on the river but this shot is taken from the L, probably on the Brown line after leaving Kimball which will be tomorrow’s photo! As usual the Wikipedia…

La Salle Street in Chicago ends abruptly in the Chicago Board of Trade at the far end of the street. It’s an unusual street because all the streets in Chicago just go on and on, mostly in parallel, through the city. This one just stops! La Salle Bank which is barely visible at the left…

The L is the elevated train system in Chicago and many films have been filmed underneath it’s tracks, including some scenes in Batman, The Dark Knight. Here’s the L under Kimball on the brown line. I worked close by a few years ago!

The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) is the world’s oldest futures and options exchange. It was established in 1848 and since 1930 has operated out of this building on 141 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago according to this Wikipedia page. Possible Batman “The Dark Knight” spoilers ahead. Don’t read on if you’re going to watch the…

Many moons ago I posted the infamous Thieving Duck that went viral when someone robbed it, added a funny story and emailed it around. Apparently it’s been seen all over the world which is kinda cool. It even made it to snopes.com too! Anyway, I can finally reveal a few more shots from that photoshoot…

As Biosphere 2 is a self contained and airtight structure the air inside would expand and contract on warm and cold days which could cause the building to explode or implode! Two lungs were built to cope with this effect. One of them is pictured above. As the air in the building warmed up the…

Biosphere 2 lies in the dusty hot desert in Arizona. It was originally designed as a self contained “world” where scientists stayed for an extended period of time. After going through the tour, there’s no way I’d volunteer to spend my time inside. It must have been very difficult being cooped up in one building….

I shot this through the window of our car while driving back to the ranch after Automattic’s trip to Biosphere 2 in Arizona a few months ago. I love how the foreground blurs but the background and the sky remain motionless and static. Love the movement.