scenic

Running to the Sun

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A jogger runs over a pedestrian bridge towards Lake Michigan on an early morning. ©2010 Chicago Tribune/Alex Garcia

A jogger crosses the lens plane as I lay flat on cold concrete photographing a pedestrian bridge next to Lake Michigan. I was glad he wasn’t freaked out by a stranger, basically in a sniper position, laying down in the middle of his morning routine. Up until that point,  pedestrians, bicyclists and joggers would run close to the side of the bridge to get out of the picture or maybe to avoid my presence.  In preparation for the moment, I had been tweaking that sunburst at right – just too much either way would have created intense lens flare, or would have blocked it completely. This was one of those enjoyable mornings of beautiful sun, invigorating weather, and time to explore. Just lovely…

Seeing Red

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Chicago Bus Stop ©2009 Chicago Tribune/Alex Garcia

The morning scene at a bus stop in Little Village. On my way to the Cook County criminal courts building, I’ve seen this colorful wall but haven’t had the time to stop for photographs. This particular morning I had some time, and the sky was clear. It’s interesting that everything turned red that morning. The man’s hooded sweatshirt. Even Tiger Woods showed up in red. I wonder if there’s some advertising lesson here…

A Head in the Clouds

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WillisTower

©2009 Alex Garcia

“You know, there’s ZERO visibility up there”….”Zero visibility, you know that sir”…”Zero visibility today. Can’t see anything. Nothing”. By the time I got past the three different employees who warned me that there was nothing to see at the top of the Willis Tower on a foggy day, you begin to feel that your public persona is either that of a fool, or of a person on a suspicious mission.  I just wanted to see whether there was any possibility of photographing building tops through the shifting cloudbanks. As it turned out, I had some company up there – a smattering of visitors from around the world, who probably had one afternoon to see the Willis Tower and this was it. Some of them may have realized this, but if you can get beyond the fears of being that high up, enveloped in a cloud that obscures the vision much like darkness, it can turn a sightseeing attraction into a contemplative moment.

Above the Bean

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TheBeanFromAbove©2009 Alex Garcia

Cloud Gate, or, “The Bean”, as seen from a helicopter. I was in between assignments and couldn’t resist a pass over Millennium Park to see what you could see looking down on it. Hmmm…looks like it could use a little TLC up on top. Not many people realize there is actually an office area inside The Bean. During construction of the sculpture I was ushered into it to photograph some of its inner mechanics. The reflectivity of its shiny surface somewhat disguises its true interior volume…