Rodney Campbell's Blog

This is the best view from up here at 360 Chicago I reckon. Looking south down the Magnificent Mile over the central part of downtown Chicago

Over on the right with the twin lit antennas on top is the Willis Tower (tho the locals still call it the Sears Tower). To the left of that with the single lit antenna is the Trump tower

Chicago South

NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 14-30mm f/4 S @ 14 mm, 15 sec at f/5.6, ISO 64

Note: These photographs (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger. To see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer click any of the images.

I finally got to make use of a very handy item I purchased many years ago but had never used

Called a Lenskirt – it is a portable, flexible hood which you attach to the end of your camera lens. It allows you to shoot pictures through glass without internal environmental reflections on  the glass

It worked extremely well – even with my very wide 14mm lens. Meanwhile other D-SLR shooters I was speaking to next to me were struggling horribly with reflections off the glass

#360chicago #chicago

I finally headed across the road from our accommodation to head up to the top of the John Hancock Center

The 360 Chicago observation deck is located on the 94th floor, 1000 feet above the famed Magnificent Mile in the iconic John Hancock Building

It offers breathtaking 360 degrees views of the city skyline and Lake Michigan

Looking North

NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 14-30mm f/4 S @ 14 mm, 2 sec at f/8, ISO 64

Note: These photographs (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger. To see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer click any of the images.

When I’d been here on other days the queues were massive so I headed there early (in the late afternoon) to ensure I’d be at the top before sunset

As it turns out the queues were pretty good this evening and I was photographing well before sunset

This view looking north along the lakeshore a little before sunset

Whilst up here I also had some interesting conversations with other photographers admiring the fantastic view

I had a lovely chat with two sisters (one of whom was also a photographer) who were also visiting Chicago. We talked about shooting tips and technique and shared social details. They’ve likely been waiting ages for the images from this session to come out online – sorry… 🙂

#360chicago #chicago

Established in 1967, the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art has this fantastic sculptural spiral staircase

MCA Spiral

NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 14-30mm f/4 S @ 14 mm, 1/15 sec at f/5.6, ISO 72

This is another location that I’d read about beforehand and was keen to photograph

While it’s recommended that you spend time in the museum and actually enjoy the modernist sculptures and instalments, photographers flock here to photograph the building’s staircase

Entry is normally $15 – however as it turned out during the week I was in Chicago there was a private event on in the museum. This unfortunately meant it was essentially closed to the public for the week

I was however able to make my way into this entry area at the bottom of the staircase; however you weren’t able to go up. This meant I was only able to photograph upwards from here at the bottom

Note: These photographs (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger. To see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer click any of the images.

Angular Motion

NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 14-30mm f/4 S @ 14 mm, 1/15 sec at f/8, ISO 220

A morning walk and some more cathedrals to photograph. Always a sucker for a good church 🙂

Holy Name Cathedral

NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 14-30mm f/4 S @ 14 mm, 1/15 sec at f/4, ISO 200

St James Cathedral

NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 14-30mm f/4 S @ 14 mm, 1/15 sec at f/4, ISO 100

Well here I was again back at the Wells Kinzie Garage top floor, this time at night

With this fantastic view over the S-curve of the elevated train line it was time for some night time long exposures with city lights and train movement through the frame

Speed

NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S @ 24 mm, 6 sec at f/8, ISO 64 x 5 Frames

You needed at least 30 second exposures to have the complete light trail of the train passing through the frame

I did try some at 30 seconds – however it required shooting at ISO 32 and f/11 to f/13 which wasn’t ideal. An you’re left with just the light trails with no evidence of the train itself

Instead with this image I’ve shot continuous six (6) second exposures whilst the train passed through. Then merged the five (5) frames into one final image

For the next image I wanted the train to be much more visible. So I’ve shot much faster exposures to reveal the train itself. Once the eight (8) frames are merged, it’s more a blur of the train itself rather than the streak of the lights

Wells Kinzie View

NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S @ 24 mm, 1/4 sec at f/5.6, ISO 800 x 8 Frames