Chicago Fire
The cloud movement in the Windy City appears as Fire,taken from the Wrigley Building rooftop.
The cloud movement in the Windy City appears as Fire,taken from the Wrigley Building rooftop.
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Jan, 2016Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This view is known as one of the "holy grails" of Chicago. It was taken last fall from atop the Wrigley building, which is often shown in photographs in this area. The location is near the bend in the Chicago River where it intersects with Michigan Ave., also known as the beginning of the Magnificent Mile.Time
The picture was taken after sundown around 9:00pm on 9/30/15. It was important to have the picture taken after blue hour, but with enough activity in the area to produce light trails from traffic, as well as buildings.Lighting
The main capture for this image was the clouds. Because they were rolling over the city from the Southwest, framing the picture in that direction gave a better sense of motion within the image. The clouds are also well-illuminated from the city lights, which gives it a more dramatic effect.Equipment
Like most cityscape pictures, I use a wide-angle lens to capture as much detail as possible, without overly distorting the picture. This can sometimes happen with a fisheye lens. Because it's a long exposure picture at night, having a tripod was absolutely a necessity. The camera used here is a full-frame Nikon D610 along with a Tamron wide-angle lens, at 10mm.Inspiration
I had the fortunate opportunity to work with a friend and fellow photographer Max Wilson. He's known for his amazing timelapse videos in Chicago, and joined him for a shooting session from this building. He's well aware that I particularly love this building, so it was great to be able to have rooftop access and photograph the Chicago cityscape views from there.Editing
At the time this picture was taken, I was typically bracketing 3 pictures of varying shutter speeds, and blending them into one. I still use Lightroom for cataloging and minor adjustments, and use HDR Efex pro by Nik software to blend the pictures.In my camera bag
Some obvious items in the bag are the camera body (Nikon D610) and usually three lenses: Tamron 10-24mm, Nikkor 24-105mm, and Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 lens. Also for each lens I have ND filters, in order to have longer exposures. If I'm shooting at night, or even sunrise/sunset, I'll be sure to have a sturdy tripod (Oben or Cullmann when traveling.) Another item that I've recently acquired is a Pluto trigger, which has been extremely beneficial thanks to the sensors such as lightning and sound, as well as intervalometer features and bracketing. And, of course, a cleaning kit.Feedback
Because I usually shoot at or around night time, a tripod is an absolute must. My Oben with ballhead style head has been my favorite, so use something that can handle the weight of the camera. Also, remove the lens hood when it's windy to minimize shake. As mentioned earlier, the Pluto trigger works as a great remote trigger. Otherwise, a wireless remote works as well. And if you're shooting from a rooftop, get yourself a harness for safety. Have patience, and have fun!
