The E-ZPass LED signs were really giving us a lot of issues with flicker rate & moire patterns. It took a number of different speeds, apertures & lens lengths to get the right material for the final composite.
We waited a bit for a boat to add a little interest & perspective to this image.
In this image, we blended one of Mike Kelley’s Ultimate Sky Library shots into this composite. Thanks Mike!
The client wanted an image with cars in motion, so we happily obliged.
For this composition, we had to shut down two lanes during rush hour. And let me tell you the motorists were not impressed with that! They lobbed more insults at us than we’ve had in the entire history of our company. They blared horns. They screamed & swore like drunken sailors with middle fingers flying from all directions. They yelled sexist insults. And they even threw stuff at us. It was comparable to Cersei Lannister’s walk of atonement in Game of Thrones. Shame! Shame!
After retreating from the closed lanes, we had some laughs with the the Skyway maintenance about how the motorists behave if lanes are closed. Chicago Skyway Required equipment: Hard hats, safety vest, & thick skin.
Hoping to not be hit by a car.
Focusing on the toll bridge while maintaining a frame of reference in relation to Lake Michigan, the Calumet River & Chicago’s iconic skyline.
Compressing the cumulus clouds in the background into the Skyway foreground.
These shots were a major challenge and took forever. They were taken from a Chicago-style bascule bridge over the Calumet River. If you’ve ever stood on the middle of a bascule bridge then you know it’s like standing on a diving board with a fat kid dancing at the end of it. Every time a car or semi would drive down the bridge, it would bounce. Any photographer who uses a tripod knows that even a millimeter of movement will torpedo your image – this bridge was flexing by inches! So to remedy the situation, I had to wait FOREVER to get a break in traffic for my 25 second exposure.
Standing around, waiting for a break in traffic, so I used my iPhone in portrait mode to grab a quick shot of our set up.
We don’t often use our 70-200mm, but for this scene it came in handy to compress the iconic Willis Tower with the Chicago sign.
Shot combining the new signage, bridge & Illinois native prairie restoration into one image.
New toll booth technology in it’s environment.
We had to use a bucket truck extended horizontally and vertically over the Calumet River and under high voltage power lines for this shot. It was kinda like playing a Game of Operation, but with the risk of drowning or electrocution. This is why we love our job!
Pucker factor = 10+ | This image required that I be in a bucket lift truck because flying a drone over Interstates with mass amounts of speeding commuters is a no no. The bucket lift was fully extended and wobbling back and forth in the winds. Cars were honking, a semi locked it’s breaks and it’s tires screeched and smoked, plus a random psychopath swore at us. I was trying not to let my imagination get the best of me in the moment. Think of the movie “Final Destination”.
Real talk. So sometimes in architectural photography you may need to bend the laws a little and trespass on private property to get a money shot. But that can come with risks in South Chicago especially during the night. So with the help of Google maps & two way radios, we plotted our night’s mission. But luckily for us at the last second, we were able to successfully schmooze the security guard into letting us have access to the property!
The client was hoping to get a few shots of the LED overhead lights with the high bridge in the background.
An action packed shot of Ryan standing around doing nothing.
Ryan & Sarah Miller