The Kinzie Bridge at night is a beautiful sight. The Chicago River passes underneath the bridge, creating an open space with skyscrapers to either side of it and stars above.
Chicago Kinzie Bridge at Night
Cheap Wall Art | Printable Wall Art - The Allerton Hotel Chicago
This hotel is located in the heart of downtown Chicago, offering direct access to Millennium Park and public transportation. The Allerton Hotel has a rooftop bar known for its city views that are perfect to take advantage of during sunset hours.
This hotel offers an ideal location within walking distance from major attractions such as Millenium Park and popular shopping areas including North Michigan Avenue which boasts upscale department stores like Neiman Marcus, Macy's , Nordstroms etc... Enjoy breathtaking sunsets on this high-level roof top bar while sipping cocktails or local microbrewery beers with friends at night .
Cheap Wall Art | Printable Wall Art - Chicago Skyline from the John Hancock Observatory
The John Hancock Observatory is located on the 60th and 61st floors of 875 North Michigan Avenue. It's location provides visitors with a 360-degree view that includes parts of four states: Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin & Lake Michigan. It offers one of the best views of the Chicago downtown and the shoreline.
Chicago From the John Hancock Observatory
Cheap Wall Art | Printable Wall Art - Chicago Cloudgate | The Bean
When I visited the Chicago Bean, it was very early in the morning. The sun had only just begun to rise and there was only one other photographer there.
The sunrise over Lake Michigan at Millennium Park's Cloud Gate is an experience like no other; watching as warm hues begin to creep across a dark sky before gently pulling apart into bands of pink light that reach out towards you from behind one of Chicago's most iconic landmarks - this will be something you'll never forget! If you can drag yourself out of bed early enough to witness it.
Chicago Cloudgate | The Bean at Sunrise
Cheap Wall Art | Printable Wall Art - The Rookery Chicago
The Rookery staircase in Chicago was built in the 19th century during an age of opulence when people wanted to show off their wealth. The building itself is a mixture of many architectural styles, but it's most noted for its extravagant ironwork and how ornate each floor becomes as you go up higher.
The Rookery stair case located at one hundred west Monroe street that leads into the lobby with artwork on display (Kaminski). It has been said by historians about this place "It's almost like walking through your grandfather’s house" which makes sense because they were designed using classic Victorian ornamentation techniques.
The Rookery Chicago
Cheap Wall Art | Printable Wall Art - Trump Tower Chicago | Chicago Skyline
The Trump tower located at 401 North Wabash Avenue in downtown Chicago stands out among all other buildings surrounding it because its height towers over everyone else's around it. This shot is down the elevated train lines with Trump Tower at the end of the line.
Trump Tower Chicago - Down the train lines
Cheap Wall Art | Printable Wall Art - North Avenue Beach
A skyline of high-rise buildings and skyscrapers is visible on a picture taken from North Avenue Beach in Chicago, Illinois. The Lake Shore Drive runs through the center of the image with Navy Pier to its left. During the summer months this area is very populated with locals enjoying the amazing Chicago lakefront. I prefer to see the sunrise from this location.
Chicago Skyline from North Avenue
Cheap Wall Art | Printable Wall Art - Chicago Board of Trade
The Chicago skyline is a beautiful sight to see, especially from LaSalle Street. The Board of Trade building has been in business for over 100 years and it stands tall at 141 meters high (450 feet). It was originally built as the home of the Grain Exchange but now hosts financial exchanges such as CME Group Front End which provides direct access trading services or Forex Futures Trading.
The Chicago skyline is an absolutely stunning view when looking out towards Lake Michigan on one side while seeing all these buildings towering up into the sky.
Chicago Board of Trade from LaSalle Street
Cheap Wall Art | Printable Wall Art - Chicago Skyline Helicopter
The Chicago skyline is always a beautiful sight from the ground, but it pales in comparison to viewing these awe-inspiring views of the city's most famous buildings and landmarks taken by helicopter.
The sky over downtown Chicago glows with an almost unearthly light as we lift off into space aboard our state-of-the art chopper for this once in a lifetime opportunity: lofty aerial photos that capture some of America’s best known structures like never before! From Grant Park where Buckingham Fountain lights up four times each night or Navy Pier adorned with special lighting effects at dusk, this is an amazing city that I’m proud to call home.
The Chicago Skyline from helicopter.
The Photographer's Guide To Capturing Chicago - Chicago Board of Trade
The Chicago Board of Trade is the world’s oldest futures and options exchange, located at the end of the financial district in downtown Chicago. The top of the building is capped with a 31 foot statue of the Roman goddess of grain, Ceres. The Board of Trade building is a classic Chicago skyscraper with hard and strong lines. It dramatically caps LaSalle Street and sits perpendicular to the other buildings that line the street.
How to get the Shot
There are many locations along LaSalle Street where this shot can be captured. I prefer to use a wide angle lens closer to the building. This image was taken at Adams Street and LaSalle Street (the green check mark). If you have a longer lens you can walk further North on LaSalle and shoot South towards the Board of Trade. There are some high medians that would allow for a good vantage point while maintaining the symmetry of the shot. There is also an elevated train track at Lake Street that has a great view of all of LaSalle Street. If you ride the Orange, Pink, Brown, Green or Purple lines in the Chicago Loop, you will cross LaSalle Street. They all travel East on this stretch of tracks so you won’t have another train passing or blocking your view. You will have to shoot through the train’s windows, but it is another elevated, interesting view of LaSalle Street.
Since this is the main financial district, this area of town is very busy during the week. This shot was taken around 7:30 on a Saturday morning to avoid the crowds and traffic.
Editing the Shot
This shot was processed using Photomatix Pro by HDR Soft. This particular image was processed using 3 images (-2 exposure, 0 exposure, +2 exposure) at an aperture of f11. I used a tripod to capture the 3 images so that they were perfectly aligned. Once I got the images into Lightroom, I exported them to Photomatix and used the settings on the right to process the image. Once I had the image processed, I used the correctly exposed image from the series of bracketed photos to paint in some of the exposure that I thought made the photo look better. For example, in this photo I painted back in the sky because of the exposure, color, and clouds.
Although wide angle lenses tend to have good depth of field, I still prefer to shoot with a higher aperture. In this example I shot this image at an aperture of f11. You can definitely get away with shooting more wide open, but if you don’t have a specific reason to do this then I would shoot in the middle of the aperture range for clarity. One of the downsides of shooting with a smaller aperture is that you will need to exposure your images longer. In this image you can see the blur of the flags in the shot due to the longer exposure. I think these types of effects add to the allure of the shot.
Other Tips
I recommend shooting in the morning on the weekend. This will cut down on the traffic and number of people in and around your shot. The city allows free parking on LaSalle Street on the weekends and this can add to the clutter of your shot. The absolute best time to shoot would be in the summer just after dawn when the streets are empty.
How to Get There
Downtown, “The Loop” is very central from almost any neighborhood. My suggestion is to take the Red line to Monroe stop. This will drop you off 3 blocks from the area you will be shooting. You can always take a cab, but this location is not very time sensitive.
The Photographer's Guide To Capturing Chicago
This post is part of an eBook I wrote about the best places to photograph Chicago. If you enjoy this post consider buying the ebook to support my site and to get access to all the best locations in Chicago!