I was there too
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 Batman movies.
| Aperture | ƒ/8 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 18mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/200s |
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 page has a lot more info about Marina City including this bit about Steve McQueen:
In the movie The Hunter, “Papa” Thorson (Steve McQueen) pursues a suspect in a car chase through the Marina City parking garage. His quarry eventually loses control of his car and drives it off of a high floor of the garage into the Chicago River. This scene was later recreated for an Allstate commercial in 2006/2007.
PS. If I find the time, I’ll be taking part in Pink for October. Will has more info!
| Aperture | ƒ/9 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 18mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/200s |
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 of this image is also in the background of The Dark Knight Batman movie.
| Aperture | ƒ/11 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 18mm |
| ISO | 800 |
| Shutter speed | 1/400s |
Ballygarvan is 1 mile that way. Shot up by Cork Airport while trying to get a decent shot of a plane landing or taking off. I eventually moved to the other end of the air field where I got the shots I posted last week!
| Aperture | ƒ/8 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 125mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/250s |
An old sign reflect in the windows of a new building, somewhere in Chicago.
| Aperture | ƒ/7.1 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 55mm |
| ISO | 200 |
| Shutter speed | 1/100s |
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!
| Aperture | ƒ/4.5 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 18mm |
| ISO | 800 |
| Shutter speed | 1/50s |
I went searching and found a few pages describing how to shoot the sun during a solar eclipse. All warned against looking at the sun directly.
So, I ignored all that advice and got out my 75-300mm lens and grabbed a couple of shots of the sun with a chunk bitten out of it by the moon. Thankfully the clouds provided a bit of a filter but my eyes are still watering a bit. Worth it?
With hindsight, what the hell was I thinking? I’m lucky my eye is fine, but if you’re going to shoot a solar eclipse, don’t look through the viewfinder. Set your camera up on a tripod and project an image of the sun on a white sheet of cardboard and then press the shutter button. Much safer than actually looking..
| Aperture | ƒ/45 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 300mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/8000s |
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 movie!
Continue reading “Chicago Board of Trade”
| Aperture | ƒ/13 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 41mm |
| ISO | 800 |
| Shutter speed | 1/250s |
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 in Chicago. All the talk about the new Batman movie got me digging into my old Chicago photos and I found these shots I took on State Street way back in 2005.
| Aperture | ƒ/5.6 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 18mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/80s |
You’re in town and desperately looking for a parking place. Where do you go? All the on-street parking has either been removed because of road works or taken by everyone who went shopping at 9am. Just look up. There’s a multi storey carpark somewhere near you. Probably.
Front of the car park on The Grand Parade. Shot after I said goodbye to Phil and the others a few weeks ago.
| Aperture | ƒ/13 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 10mm |
| ISO | 200 |
| Shutter speed | 1/400s |
The Western Star in Cork was a favourite haunt of UCC students for many a year but now it looks like it’ll be demolished! Looks like development has been on the cards for quite a while:
Permission was granted to Tom O’Riordan carry out development namely, permission for part demolition of existing public house and removal of existing timber outhouses, construction of 12 medical suites over 29 no. ground floor level car parking spaces and associated entrances, roadways and site works with vehicular access medical sites from the grounds of the Bon Secours Hospital at the Western Star, Western Road, Cork in accordance with plans and particulars submitted on 16/08/05; further information requested on 07/10/05; further information received on 04/04/06; clarification of F.I. requested on 26/04/06 and clarification of F.I. received on 31/05/06 Ref. T.P.05/30005
| Aperture | ƒ/8 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 18mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/160s |
Will Ryanair face a bumpy landing this year?
Shots taken at Cork Airport of a Ryanair flight coming in to land. There are two small cottages just down the road from where I stood with children playing in the garden of one. I guess you get used to the engine whine after a while.
