Chicago Skylines: Part 1
I've been putting off showcasing this trip for a while, being a bit overwhelmed of how many pictures I took that I needed to sort through. With life getting stressful, I ended up sorting through them somewhat mindlessly... One of those procrastination moments where you know you have work you should be doing -- but you'd rather do something else (a bit less) productive. Ever cleaned your room instead of studying? It's just like that.
Anyways, I have now picked my photos, and I'm ready to show off my next photo series: Chicago! Almost a year ago to-date, I went the the IPDPS conference to present a paper I published a year before. Staying there for the whole week, I had just enough time to breeze around the city and take a slew of pictures. Chicago is known for being the birthplace of the skyscraper, and the skyline is full of them, both new and old. Being from a city with very few skyscrapers (Vancouver: and those that exist, aren't very tall), and with most of my travels taking me to another city with small skyscrapers (San Francisco), going to Chicago was my first true taste of doing it big in 'murica.
This is going to be quite a long series, because boy do I have a lot of pictures. But follow along, I promise they will be all be worth seeing! So without further ado, on to photos!
Chicago Theatre
A major landmark, the Chicago Theatre was my first stop after arriving in Chicago from O'Hare, coming in on the train to "The Loop". Well, okay, it wasn't intentionally my first stop. I was lost. But a great place to start, and where I caught a tour bus!
Skyline
Taking a tour bus in this city is a wonderful idea. There's a TON on crazy high skyscrapers, all jam-packed into a tight area, and it makes for a beautiful, awe inspiring sight to behold. Though, it makes me wonder... what do they DO with all that SPACE? So much room for activities!
Some of these shots are of important landmarks, such as the pumping station in the Water Tower district, and of course, a monument to everyone's favourite politician right now!
Innocence
This shot may seem out of place (I mean, it totally is), but stopping at a light while on the tour bus I saw this cute scene with two kids playing with the flowers -- and had to capture the moment!
Chicago "L"
Now, the best for last: the Chicago "L" trains! These elevated trains form the backbone of the public transportation in Chicago, and are actually surprisingly good. The trains have a loop in downtown, and spread out to the suburbia surrounding. You can take the train all the way from the airport to downtown with basically no hassle!
Well, that's it for part one. Don't miss part two: there will be some great shots coming up!
For those of you interested: Camera is Sony NEX-7, with my usual Zeiss 16-70mm lens.
Click an image to enlarge! They are, of course, down-sampled from my original copies; we can chat if you're interested in any full quality versions. As always, these are my original photos, and I maintain the copyright.
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Love the tours! Keep these up!
Ps, I see you don't login to PIVX slack much eh?
Thanks! And naw, been pretty busy. Haven't kept up with a bunch of coins. :p
Best place for steemians to reach me is in steemit.chat, I'm here more than some of the coin slacks.
Wow, beautiful. I love the way the buildings look like they are a scene from a futuristic movie.
Perfect way to begin my Tuesday morning, thanks!
Upvote! Also, i think mindlessly flipping through pictures makes you select them on a deeper level than when you actually pay attention. Looking at the result i would say that you did quite well ;)
Thanks! And hah, you might be right.. and sometimes the shots you prepare so long for don't turn out, and the one's you take haphazardly work the best.
I love city skylines, the bigger and taller the better. Here in Glasgow there is some kind of local law prohibiting the height of buildings being much more than any other. At least in the city so we don't have skyscrapers as such. Instead the highest building is usually... Drum roll... 8 floors!! Tiny!
I lived in Chicago for 2 years and loved it. I only wish I had been there to see my Cubbies win. The were not very good back then, but I loved going to the games .
Very nice photos! It looks like an amazing city.. But somehow one I never really thought about visiting! I think I have to add it to my list of places to visit now. Thanks for the great content!
Great photos. Chicago is certainly one of my all time favorite cities in the US. I've visited it countless number of times.
I love how the architecture is so diverse in Chicago. Its almost like the buildings are independently putting their hand up and saying "I'm here, look at me!" but the collection of everything together makes it something special. Just like the people in these urban areas, the diversity makes it something special.
Excited for the next post!
Cool shots. Not been to the Windy City, but you might enjoy my shots of the Big Apple .