Chicago Photo Gallery

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New sections are being added throughout November and a new look will emerge soon.
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Part 1

1. Hello Chicago on a cloudy day!

3. A tropical paradise in Chicago

5. I was able to secure a special pass that allowed me free access to almost all of Chicago's key museums. Right after I dropped off my luggage, I dashed to the Field Museum for a detailed visit.

8. The waterfront area is very nicely done, and a great place for a stroll.

10. I didn't get much co-operation from the skies during my visit. I only got half a day of clear skies, and I was madly taking pictures that morning.

15. The water looks so serene.

17. I was a little too late to see the water flow through Buckingham Fountain.

19. Chicago has an amazing stock of historic skyscrapers. I did a lot of intense walking within the Loop to absorb the sights. Here are some modern and old buildings :

26. I've been up Sears Tower before, but the weather wasn't so great 6 years ago. This time, I planned to visit Sears in the morning and John Hancock in the afternoon.

32. Due to a special request from a fellow forumer, here is Trump UC.

33. Next door are some historic buildings .. what a contrast it will be!

35. The Magnificent Mile is well-manicured with gardens, shrubs, and flowers planted along a lot of the sidewalk edges. It's quite a beautiful sight and other cities can learn from this simple, yet effective, urban beautification technique.

41. Unfortunately, by the time I got to Hancock, the skies clouded over.

Part 2

1. Perhaps a Hancock twin?

2. Even though it is now a Macy's, the sign is still there. I had to capture it before it disappears the next time I visit Chicago.

4. Due to the compactness of downtown and how skyscrapers appear all over the place, blocking each other out, it's hard to get a sense of how many buildings are in the Loop. Hence, I took some extra time to walk a few key streets to see the buildings up close.

6. Too bad New York didn't keep much of its El network.

9. One of my greatest challenges was to photograph decent photos in low light / cloudy skies. I tried to tweak the settings a bit and it helped a little, but I had to pay so much more attention to what I'm doing as opposed to a sunny day under clear blue skies.

14. Masking a bad picture in black and white is an easy salvaging technique.

16. One of the biggest surprises I stumbled across was the Cultural Center, which had a few amazing domes with shiny glass mosaic tiling.

20. This scale model of the Loop is quite nice. I'd see an even bigger one later.

21. The library was close to my hotel, and I wondered how old it was when I first saw it. After looking at the exhibit, I was surprised and amazed that it's a relatively new building!

23. So many designs!

24. Chicago has some really nice museums. The Art Institute has a very large collection, and I was particularly happy to see a lot of Chinese relics from a huge range of dynasties and periods.

25. This one is Japanese.

28. I was told Chicago was famous for pizza. I tried out this thin-crust pizza for lunch. Although it wasn't from Giordano's, it was pretty yummy.

29. I compiled a list of days when museums that my special pass doesn't have access to would be free. On Monday, I stopped by the History Museum to learn about Chicago's past.

30. Then I ventured to the waterfront to see the beach and take some skyline photos.

32. I did a bus tour of Lincoln Park, which has some very nice housing and boutique stores along Armitage.

33. It's great that there are announcements of the next stop.

35. Chicago had a much friendlier atmoshpere than I expected from a major business city. I was told by the lady staffing the Cultural Center information kiosk that there is another lovely mosaic dome at Macy's.

37. Armed with new settings, it was time to do a night tour!