City shooting in general and in 50 mile radius of Chicago northern burbs

This may sound a little silly, especially to those who know me personally,

because I wander a lot, but never have asked these questions. Actually two

strings here: City shooting in general, and country excursions within 100 mile

round trip of Chicago northern suburbs. The latter is covered first.

 

To set the scene, I?m a hobbyist just getting back into serious SLR work with

DSLR. Did film for decades, then 2 years ago bought an advanced digital P&S,

and haven?t touched my film bag since. I understand that?s not an unusual

scenario. Anyway, used to travel a lot and have lived in some fairly photogenic

places, but now am more staid, live in the Chicago northern burbs, and frankly

don't find too much photographically to crow about.

 

Sure, there are the city?s structure and life (but for the really in-your-face

stuff I'd have to hire a bodyguard), and railroad infrastructure (but straight

as an arrow, with interesting yards and edifices inaccessible), forest preserves

and lagoons (but can find less gentrified ones anywhere further out), plenty of

experienced and good looking models (but "herself" might not be happy about

that), lots of industry (again, inaccessible) etc. And there are botanical

gardens, farmers markets, art fairs, downtown cityscapes, great neighborhood

ethnicity, Lake Michigan sunrises (through largely uninteresting skies), Lincoln

Park skaters and picnickers and bikers, etc. Bottom line: yes, there's a lot of

stuff; no, you either can't get to a lot of it or wouldn't take the risk; and

overall, topographically or historically interesting and quaint it ain?t! And

accessible and unhurried and safe and topographically and historically

interesting and quaint all are things I kind of like.

 

So I?m looking for suggested 100 mile round-trip excursions (give or take) north

and west of here. Maybe to what?s left of old worn out Illinois and Wisconsin

towns (Racine?s been pretty much rebuilt, and even St. Charles and Fox Lake are

pretty well developed now), old farm structures and equipment, interesting and

accessible railroad interchanges and structures (other than Union, not very

quaint, being a museum and all), scenic country roads and vales, even

mini-topographical inspirations like Kettle Moraine and Starved Rock (the Dells

is too far off), etc.

 

And as long as on the subject of farms, any suggestions on how to get inside,

just knock on the door and ask, offer to pay, what? Same applies to city street

people, outdoor chess players, ethnic gatherings, etc. Wandering around with

some pretty expensive equipment here, so not looking to walk into any meat

grinders. Got kicked out for not knowing the protocol once at old Preservation

Hall in New Orleans, way back when patrons sat on old mattresses lining the

walls. Ended up apologetically buying my way back in and got some good

non-flash B&Ws with my trusty Miranda T2 (or was it a Konica Autoreflex, don?t

remember exactly) coupled to a Vivitar Verifocal 1.8 short zoom (went up maybe

to 80mm, great for its time), but an embarrassment I?d rather not repeat. And

sure not again to risk my equipment.

 

I know, being a bit of a wimp, a city like Chicago right at my doorstep and I'm

crying arid. But think about it, and this is where the second string to this

post comes in. Outside

Hi Jim,

 

Since you mentioned shooting structures, you should try to find the folio-sized photo book "Frank Lloyd Wright's Chicago." There are a ton of Wright buildings in Oak Park, Racine, on the lake, and even one little-known commercial building right in the city.

 

I'll look up the building tonight, and post its info tomorrow. (You probably wouldn't give it a second look from the outside, but Wright did a spectacular "open-air" interior renovation.) This book also provides addresses, so you can simply walk by many of the buildings, and take photos of their Arts-and-Crafts details.

 

There are also Wright-oriented tours from the city, to help you get a feel for the situation. If I lived in Chicago, I'd check into that!

 

(Be back tomorrow.)

 

Sincerely,

 

Dave

Sounds like you want to engage in meaningful photographic projects, but are trying to do so from the sidelines of life. My advice is to find a topic/subject you care deeply about, and spent time cracking that nut and then photographing it. This might mean joining a railroading club, get to know the folks, and go on outings to rail yards. Or get involved with a local historical society and leverage those contacts to gain access to otherwise inacessible places. Or volunteer for some civic group. In other words, be involved in something or with someone you care about, and let that lead you to photographic opportunities.

The famous church in Winnetka whose name escapes me. It is on the Lake.

 

Botanical Gardens in Highland Park.

 

The bean.

 

Chicago skyline from the Adler Planetatium or North Ave point looking south. Try for sunset

 

Navy Pier

 

Skyline any point along the the river Michigan Ave west

 

Chicago water tower at Michigan and Chicago.

 

Mag mile especially at Christmas

 

Florence Hotel and Pullman district

 

Any of the bridges over the canal including the railroad ones where the old steel mills were.

 

Riverside incliding Wright homes.

 

Six Flags in Gurnee

 

Numerous lake front festivals all summer long

 

Starved Rock in Spring or Fall when waterfalls are running.

 

Napier settlement Naperville. Civil and Revolutionary War reinactments done every year.

 

Flood light Wrigley Building Mich Ave and river.

 

Garfield Park and Lincoln Park Conservatory

 

Milwaukee Z00 and Conservatory and modern structures along the lake. One reminds me of the Sidney Opera House.

 

University of Chicago ( go inside Rockafellar Chapel)

 

There is a rebuilt farm in southern Wisconsin from 1800`s.

 

Post your pics here.

The Baha'i Temple is in Wilmette.

Also, just giving yourself off-the-wall personal assignments can shake things loose. Whacked-out things like:

 

* "Cityscapes from its top floors."

 

* "Time-exposure flight paths over O'Hare at night."

 

* "The city from a dog's eye view."

 

* "Rebuilding the Old Chicago Water Tower" (in 100 mosaic shots)."

 

* "The art of Chi-Town manhole covers."

 

Things like that! (I'll shut up now, and get you the name of that building tomorrow.)

 

Sincerely,

 

Dave

<i>Sure, there are the city?s structure and life (but for the really in-your-face stuff I'd have

to hire a bodyguard),</i><p>

What a shame. I never had a problem in the city of Chicago. FWIW, I lived at 53rd and

Blackstone and then later at Broadway and Buckingham. Maybe you need to get some street

smarts.

I found a number of railroad yards out near O'hare which have provided lots of photo ops, but you need to park and do lots of walking...outside the perimeter of the yards (although occasionally the engineers wave to me). The forest preserves have lots to offer if you have patience, perseverence and a bit of luck. There are some rustic areas, farms, barns, etc in the northwest suburbs and some public ones...a friend has done some nice work at one in Schaumburg, but there are others scattered throughout the Chicagoland area. There are a number of religious institutions which are photogenic as mentioned above... I would add the historic Serbian Monastery north of Libertyville, with most of the tombstones in cyrillic. In summer there is a steam train excursion or two in southern Wisconsin. It sounds as though you are suffering burnout and really need to commit to shooting and developing your eye for photo ops wherever you are instead of looking for something to miraculously appear. There are a gazillion bridges and underpasses in Chicago...tresle bridges, drawbridges, etc...many of which will have disappeared from the landscape in the next 10 years...same for water towers on top of older buildings. Good luck in your quest...it is hard to not find some interesting shooting scenes in and around Chicago.

Have some fun and take the train up to Milwaukee (80 miles for $25.00). Walk to the Third Ward, walk to the Milwaukee Art Museum, shoot the Calatrava (no one has done that) and relax. Eat and drink in some of the best restaurants anywhere and wonder why you never did it before.

There are a number of ghost towns withing 50 miles of Chicago. You may need to get a ghost town book, or visit one of the ghost town websites.

Hi Again, Jim,

 

I looked up the building that I mentioned yesterday. It's the old Rookery Building, built in 1886 and Wright-renovated in 1905. Wright's offices were in the original building early in his career, and after his work on the Transportation Pavilion at the Chicago Exposition, he landed the contract to renovate the building's interior.

 

It looks quite interesting on the inside...especially the ornate girder-and-glass roof (which Wright did not do) and the "flying double staircase" on the second floor (which I believe he did). Some good photo ops there!

 

It's at 209 S LaSalle St.

 

Good luck!

 

Sincerely,

 

Dave

The Rookery is a wonderful building. When I was last there, two summers ago, the famous double staircase wasn't open to the public, but the atrium was, featuring the roof that Dave is referring to.<div></div>

Very nice view Richard... Thanks!

 

Dave

Hi Jim, I also live in the chicago area and can relate to what you are saying. However I don't think this is unique to Chicago this problem exists in any large city. I wanted to do a project on street people and the homeless, and had to abandon the idea it was not in my best interest. Chicago can be a very cruel city, yet it has a lot to offer and can be very beautiful. It is very diverse and I think it is still one of the best kept secrets in the country. Keep you eyes open and you will be just fine. Projects and ideas will come to you. The best of luck. (DA BEARS) jan...

I've spent the past 1.5 years walking from where I work downtown to as far as I can in every direction in my hour lunch. I've found the project to be very rewarding. These many of these areas are ones that you would normally zip by in a car.

You should try living in Chattanooga, Tn. if you think it's difficult to find subject matter you're interested in! To be honest I would have expected that every pretentious a..hole in the world would have come out of the wood work and told you that you're the problem...not the topography. You see, I tell myself that all the time. Is it that there's nothing much of interest to shoot, or am I not creative enough to see it? Do I just not have an "eye" for the shots? Maybe I just need a change of scenery. Before I forget, I was pleasantly surprised to see the lack of negativity toward your issue, and lots of helpful and empathetic comments. Back to Chattanooga... I love the town in many ways, but architectural wonderland it ain't...Atlanta is only 90 miles away...but after almost getting mugged center of mid-town in broad daylight with cops standing nearby...that thought is scary and discouraging. My ability to travel is limited for now, so I'm just making the best of it til I can and trying to "open my eyes and mind" and that helps to a degree. I'm a novice, but my best friend is an excellent amateur photographer who idolizes(and I say that in a good sense...)Andsel Adams and recently made a couple of extended trips to the Southwest and to Yellowstone and Yosemite. For an Ansel fan, being in Yosemite is of course, "nirvana"/ Meccca. He admits that coming back to East Tennessee is a bit of a downer because even though we have the Great Smokie Mountains at our back door step...and they are incredibly beautiful in their own right...they don't have the shear size and resulting majesty of the western mountains. In fact, lots of people don't know that Ansel did a shoot in the Smokies...a shoot that he cut short for what most believe was some contrived "reason", but the fact was...he was bored.

Novice question. Is my dilemma common to most photographers, at least from time to time? Tell me I'm not alone and bored...Is someone out there?

Forgive my compulsion to correct my misspellings, but Ansel...not Andsel.

Didn't mean to forget ya Jim.... Anyone besides me and Jim?

I should have said, that this walking is from downtown Chicago.

Does anyone think Houston has terrain?