Chicago's Best, a photo from イリノイ, Midwest

Photographer's Note

I'm back from Chicago, our second time in this fantastic city in two years - we love it that much!

We had three days of good weather and two cloudy rainy days. This shot was taken on one of those cloudy and not so good days, but the view is amazing!

Yes, obviously, I'd much rather have had this view on the sunny day, but life is far from perfect and even harder to predict :) You just have to roll with the punches while on holiday.

I have never seen this viewpoint of downtown Chicago before, needless to say, i'm very happy to post it and have experienced it in person.

There are several more photos I could post from this vantage point, and I will in time. Its taken from the 16th floor of the Trump Tower Hotel. They have an outdoor patio deck where you can only go there if you order a meal and a drink...money well worth spending!

Again, I know the lighting is poor and the colours are kind of dull, but its the view that makes the shot - especially with the wide angle lens.

Hope you like it too

ikeharel, jhm, papagolf21, snunney, cornejo, PaulVDV, ourania, tyro, alvaraalto, danos, ktanska, worldcitizen, chawax, ChrisJ, Hansaphotos, adores has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

pajaran (114915) 2016-05-13 22:25

Pozdrav.
Interesantan i lep pogled ...
Dobar rad, lepo pokazan deo grada i arhitektura, dobar kontrast i perspektiva, lepe boje.
Lepo uhvacen trenutak sa maglom.
Lepa arhitektura.
Sve najbolje za vikend, srecno.
Paja.

Hello.
Interesting and beautiful view ...
Good work, nice part of town and shown the architecture, good contrast and perspective, beautiful color.
Beautifully captured moment with fog.
Beautiful architecture.
All the best for the weekend, good luck.
Paja.

Tue (91574) 2016-05-13 22:53

Hello Craig,
So you visited Mr Trump in Chicago! His tower offers a great view of the city and the river in the foreground. It's a great mix of the older architecture and the more modern skyscrapers in the background. The low-hanging clouds are great too.
Lars

jemaflor (146280) 2016-05-13 22:59

Hi Craig,
Impressive and nice POV with the view of these buildings, even the weather is not sunny, light is well managed, I lke the effect of the curve,tfs.

carlo62 (81265) 2016-05-13 23:26

Ciao Craig
un'immagine quasi inquietante, il cielo grigio e i palazzi che sembrano scature fuori dal terreno mi danno questa sensazione.
Bella foto, l'impatto � molto forte.
Saluti
Carlo

jhm (211734) 2016-05-14 0:26

Hello Craig,

Weather is a natural happen not the mistake of the photographer.
Your picture is nice en good of colour, but a little bit distorted through the height..
Very well composition, lovely presentation too. TFS.

Have a nice weekend,
John.

papagolf21 (152605) 2016-05-14 1:10

Bonjour, cher Craig,
Tr鑚 belle r騏ssite de pr駸entation. La ville en partie noy馥 dans la brume ressort 騁onnamment fort bien.
Bravo pour cette pr駸entation.
Amiti駸.
Philippe

ikeharel (112439) 2016-05-14 1:45

So you had to eat and drink in order to bright this sight on photo... but a nice idea to do both, Craig.
Admittedly, the view is awesome from the 16th floor, even when the clouds cover the tops of the skyscrapers, shaded grey over the city - but a vibrant scene.
Have a nice weekend,
Ike

snunney (130967) 2016-05-14 2:07

Hello Craig,
The well managed low light adds a touch of drama to the scene that suits the subject perfectly. You might even want to think about converting the image to black and white, accentuating the mood further. Excellent point of view on this fine array of skyscrapers of all shapes and sizes. The winding river makes an attractive frame for the whole.

cornejo (61504) 2016-05-14 2:35

Hi Craig, excellent view of the famous city taken with fish-eye, very well composed and captured with a great pov on this very good and pretty picture. An interesting image with interesting buildings, good sharpness, depth and quality. A great job well done, congratulations my friend. Thanks for sharing this beautiful work.

Good morning and happy Sunday.
All the best from southern Spain.
Angel.

npecanhuk (79329) 2016-05-14 3:51

Hi Craig!
Wonderful downtown Chicago!
Very beautiful and attractive picture!
Special regards to the management of light and original chosen pov and composition!
TFS - congrats,
Cheers,
Neyvan

PaulVDV (62802) 2016-05-14 4:12

Hello Craig,
Wow! From that point of view you were able to include a big part of the city along the waterfront.
Very beautiful with the curve of the river.
The weather wasn't the best but I like the effect of the high buildings disappearing in the clouds at the left side.
A great shot!
Best regards, Paul

Sergiom (117241) 2016-05-14 6:09

Bonjour Craig,

Une de mes ville pr馭駻馥s aux Etats Unis. Son architecture est remarquable et m麥e sous la pluie et le brouillard elle ressort gagnante . Tu as trouv� un excellent point de vue.

Amicalement

Serge

holmertz (101988) 2016-05-14 8:01

Hello Craig,
Yeah, we can't do anything to the weather. I had the same gloomy clouds and dull light during my first week in Holland recently. In spite of the almost compact greyishness this is an amazing view, but it doesn't looks a bit cosy. I would rather expect seeing Batman or someone chasing diabolical crooks in this dystopic kind of city. It was good of you to take it from the Trump tower so I don't have to see it ;-(.
Best regards,
Gert

fabianoleite (13575) 2016-05-14 8:04

Great cityscape, from a very privileged position. Well inclusive of a nice block of tall buildings, and showing the well designed bridges around. Very good work, congratulations!

Nicou (193806) 2016-05-14 8:17

Hello

quelle vue plongeant sur cet ensemble de building fantastique grandeur immensit� et modernit� et ces routes avec le voiture qui font toutes petites quelle hauteur et compo.
Bravo et amiti�
Nicou

ourania (51103) 2016-05-14 10:17

Hello Craig,
both your point of view and the composition you got from it are superb. The view is amazing and has excellent clarity, it's great that we can follow perspectives and see between the buildings as well. The effect from your lens and the tight framing is enjoyable, you've established a sort of contact between the viewer and the "swelling" cityscape. I think that the consistent, moody colours add to the fascination of this view, the fog on the left side enhances the moody atmosphere and the effect of depth. Congratulations and thank you!
All the best, have a great weekend,
Ourania

lousat (138609) 2016-05-14 12:12

Hi Craig,your first time from this point of view,and the result is fantastic,what a view and a lens effect,no needs other words,my best compliments and have a nice Sunday,Luciano

tyro (30513) 2016-05-14 12:22

Hi Craig,

Yes, the weather might not be the very best but your photograph is excellent! Of course, bad weather quite frequently can be very good for photography: rain and wetness tend to make colours more vibrant and mist and fog can often enhance a feeling of depth - so we shouldn't be putting our cameras to bed just because of a bit of bad weather.

Oh, the Trump Tower, eh? Geez, what on Earth is going to happen to the World if that chump Trump gets the top job? Unimaginable!

Anyway, this is a fabulous photograph taken from a spectacular viewpoint and your cunning use of your super-wide "city" lens has very effectively enhanced the perspective, almost "miniaturising" those huge buildings and the traffic below them.

The light and colours are excellent and I just love the mist hanging around the tall buildings off to the left. Perfect exposure and, as always, stunning details and sharpness.

Fabulous!

Kind Regards,

John.

hay_kes (31439) 2016-05-14 12:58

Hi Craig,
What a superb cityscape with an excellent point of view.TFS.
Cheers,

hAyAti

alvaraalto (42804) 2016-05-14 13:01

Hello Craig,
You had indeed a great and original point of view for this spectacular picture. The poor weather gives an attractive moody atmosphere, I like much.
Did you donate much for the election-fund of the Donald ;- )) to get permission of this viewing point?
Groet Rob,

rychem (72187) 2016-05-14 21:37

You have achieved an excellent result with this high POV, I like photos from above very much, fantastic photo with a mysterious misty atmosphere, bravo
Ryszard

danos (110407) 2016-05-15 1:35

Hello Craig,
YES this is a spectacular panoramic view of Chicago,with the lot of hight constructions to dominating the image.Excellent the quality as the beauty of the scene.Well done.

Regards,Danos

ktanska (44468) 2016-05-15 2:35

Hi Craig,
It surely is a wonderful viewpoint next to river curve. While I like the modern style glass architecture skyscrapers, I surely appreciate concrete style from one of the two cities where skyscrapers were first built.
Great weather makes me wonder what this would look in B&W.
Kari

marabu61 (11587) 2016-05-15 3:13

Hello Craig
Despite the bad weather, this is an impressive portrait of Chicago indeed. But then it might even be better like this than under a boring blue sky. I quite like the low clouds drifting around the buildings to the left and the quality and the structures of the sky. As you we where positively surprised by Chicago when visiting some years back.
have a great weekend
Daniel

Silvio1953 (220605) 2016-05-15 3:40

Ciao Grag, great POV on fantastic skyscrapers, splendid light, excellent clarity and wonderful colors, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

worldcitizen (15956) 2016-05-15 14:49

Hello Craig,
Cool, moody view of the Windy City. :-) I like the bit of cloud cover on the left side, and, of course, the high POV looking down at all the buildings. With the wide-angle lens it almost looks like a toy city. :-)

abmdsudi (95869) 2016-05-15 18:11

Hi Craig
The muddy-greyish look of the skyline that appears natural to my eye which suits the weather condition, great how the white vehicles' roof tops deserve attention at the same breaking the monotonous tones. Exposure is manageable all well put together. Congrats
Best regards

Cricri (176) 2016-05-16 1:06

Hi Craig
Bravo pour le POV , int駻essante architectures avec le fleuve qui l'entoure, les ponts, une belle pr駸entation un jour de brume .....heureusement il y a eu des jours de soleil :-)
belle journ馥
cricri

chawax (20764) 2016-05-16 3:30

Hi Craig,
I often heard of Chicago as a great city for skyscrapers shot ad I understand why when I see this impressive panorama ! Not a great light as you said, but a fantastic point of view ! Some little distorsion, that could be corrected with Lightroom I think ;)
Regards,
Olivier

berek (50518) 2016-05-16 20:22

Dear Craig,
the gray sky and the buildings that seem scature out of the ground give me this feeling.Beautiful photo, the impact is very strong.
best wishes
Burak

ChrisJ (171222) 2016-05-18 15:42

Hello Craig

It looks like a well planned and laid out city. Good sharpness and a superb aerial view with excellent colour and saturation. I like the fog shrouding the far left buildings. Tfs!

Hansaphotos (11381) 2016-05-23 10:55

Hello Craig

So this is the view the coming president, haha (hope not), will have when visiting Chicago. It`s a lovely and fascinating view. I recognize some of the buildings in the skyline. Fine view over the city nicely framed by the river. Yes, the light could have been better, but that`s how it is like to be a tourist - we`re not always able to chose the best light and weather. Lovely work! TFS.

Have a nice week.

Greetings, Erling

adores (46979) 2016-09-15 15:19

Hi Craig!
Great use of the wide angle. This is surely an amazing pov and forget about the sun, the photo is very good. I like this light and also the effect of that cloud on the left side. A city I'd like to visit!