In my last post I shared the first location from a recent private workshop. We stopped a number of other places during half-day together and I thought I’d share a few favorites.
First up, the BP Bridge designed by Frank Gehry, which connects Maggie Daley Park to Millennium Park (MP). I like photographing this from underneath on the MP side and I love playing with the texture on this bridge.

Just next to this is the Pritzker Pavilion, also designed by Frank Gehry. It took me a really long time to figure out how to photograph this but I think the key is to use a longer telephoto lens, so I shot with my 70-300mm. The first image feels a little bit like it has a cascading effect. The other two more wave-like.



Just across the street is a sculpture by Yaacov Agam titled Communication X9. I love how colorful this sculpture is. It’s also another location I’ve photographed a number of times yet never really come away with anything I like. This time, I managed a couple decent shots. In the first one I used the sculpture and the neighboring building to create this look-up tunnel effect.

In this one I used a shallow depth of field to make it even more abstract and fade into the sky.

Next, we walked further north on Michigan Avenue to the Burberry store. I’ve photographed this a number of times and it’s one of those locations that can vary so much depending on lighting. By the time we arrived here the overcast skies were back. Because of this, I decided to focus on filling the frame and the contrast on the corner of the building. One side was more shaded and darker reflecting the building across from it, the other side had more light, which resulted in the reflective surface of the building being blown out and more graphic. Just kinda liked that contrast between light and dark here.
If you want to see how different this building can look in other lighting and weather conditions and times of year, head over here.

Then, we headed back south to the Wrigley Building and Trump Tower. I didn’t get anything great at Wrigley but got a couple new takes on Trump Tower. The first one below is an abstract of the awning-like area that covers a curvy path along the building next to the river. I first noticed this part of the building during June’s Out of Chicago Photography Conference and one of the workshops I led with Michael Muraz. Kinda surprised it took me so many visits to notice the fun you can have playing with the geometric lines to create abstracts here. More proof you should visit the same location more than once 😉

In this shot, I wanted to use the curves of that path and railing as a leading line. I also positioned myself so that the columns along the river-side overlapped a bit so you couldn’t see the river and city behind them. I wanted to keep it clean and simple and have the focus on that curve. I did edit this in B&W too but prefer the color and the pop of green against the neutral gray of the steel and tan of the stone.

The second to last stop was Marina Towers. For some reason I struggle with this location as well. I used by 70-300mm again and focused in on the details.

This last one reminded me a bit of my Urban Quilt series, but given the angle and preference for B&W it doesn’t really fit with that series. My intent with this shot was to focus on the contrast of Marina City’s curves and the linear building behind. I took about 5-7 shots playing with different angles, this is the one I most preferred.

I had a great time on this half-day workshop, and I hope he did too. I really do love workshops like this, it’s a great way to focus on exactly what one person wants to learn. They dictate how long we spend at each location and how in depth we get on topics, whether technical or creative.
If this is something you’d be interested in feel free to reach-out to me at angie@angiemcmoigal.com. I also have a couple 7-week courses with R.S. Chicago Photography Classes coming up and will be doing more workshops in 2018 with Michael Muraz. Subscribing to my newsletter is the best way to stay up-to-date, but you can also see more on my Workshops Page, here.