Chicago (2007)

I was sent to Chicago on business during the summer of 2007. It was my first time to the city. The trip was 3 days long at the end of July.

I flew from Baltimore-Washington International airport to O’hare. I carried my Olympus OM-1, Zuiko 50mm f/1.4, Sigma 24mm f/2.8, vivitar 28-85mm f/3.5-4.5 and vivitar 70-210mm f/3.5 with me along with a few filters, 2 rolls of superia 800, 2 rolls of reala, 2 rolls of superia 400 and 1 roll of Ilford XP2 super and a cable release all stuffed into my Lowepro Nova 2 AW bag. This was then placed in a backpack with a few other odds and ends as my carry-on.

The first day in Chicago I had to myself as my business conference wasn’t until the next day. I stopped by my hotel before noon, but I wasn’t able to check in yet so I left my checked bag there and went out to explore the city some. I went up to the Art Institute of Chicago and explored it for a few hours as well as walked through Grant park. Afteward I checked into my hotel room, showered and headed out for an evening of wandering. I walked up Roosevelt Rd to cross the Chicago river and head by the train yards. On my way back I noticed that there was a set of stairs at the edge of the bridge leading down to the tracks. I headed down and wandered around a bit, but not far. The area under the bridge looked like it had been neglected for decades.

 

Chicago River, Vivitar 28-85mm f/3.5-4.5

Under Roosevelt Bridge, Vivitar 28-85mm f/3.5-4.5

That evening found me wandering Wabash St. to find a restaurant. The next day I was at my business conference for most of the day, so there was little photography opportunities until the evening.

After the conference I wandered up to Navy Pier taking the El. I wandered all over navy pier including the amusement park and snapped a number of pictures. After wandering Navy pier I headed back toward my hotel and stopped in a great retaurant to grab some of the famous Chicago pizza.

 

 Ferris Wheel Navy Pier, Sigma 24mm f/2.8

 

Carousel Navy Pier, Zuiko 50mm f/1.4

After dinner I headed back to my hotel room to turn in for the night, but first I snapped some pictures in a couple of the El stops on the way back and near my hotel.

 

Subway, Zuiko 50mm f/1.4

Turnstile, Sigma 24mm f/2.8

The next day I attended the conference in the morning and my flight back was in the afternoon, but I had a couple of hours before I had to head to O’hare so I wandered near my hotel a little bit more. The architecture in Chicago is always so very interesting with fun juxtapositions of size and styles located right next to each other.

The Tall and the Short, Sigma 24mm f/2.8

Through a glass darkly (self portrait) Vivitar 28-85mm f/3.5-4.5