There are a few types of shots every Chicago photographer creates and the images in this post certainly fall into that category. While they may not be the most original images you’ve ever seen, they were certainly fun to create. And, simply, a fun phenomena to see for myself.
I’ve been wanting to get up to the observation area of the John Hancock (now called 360 Chicago) for months to create these types of shots, but the timing, along with the weather, haven’t been in my favor until this weekend.  I finally had a day with very little planned and the weather perfectly cooperating. So, I dragged my kids up to the 94th floor of the Hancock for a little sightseeing.
In case it’s not obvious, clear skies in the late afternoon are the ideal conditions to head up to 360 Chicago. The skyscrapers of Chicago cast long shadows over the lake for some very interesting perspectives. Plus, it’s a great time to just linger around until the sun has fully set and the blue hour briefly graces the city. There’s now a great area to grab a seat and drink to watch it all unfold. Unfortunately my kids didn’t have the patience for that…after-all, the Cheesecake Factory was calling them.
The first shots I created focused on isolating the long shadows on the lake.


Then, I included some buildings in the foreground for a little bit more of a grounded perspective.



I’m always on the lookout for interesting ways to frame my subject and create layers within the frame.



And because it was near sunset I couldn’t pass up a couple shots of the actual, non-shadowed skyline.


As usual, most images were edited in both color and b+w. Click here to see them all.