Abstract lights along Michigan Avenue
reflection of the skating rink in the Bean
ice skating-Millennium park
Last year at this time, my husband and I took a
Christmas shopping trip to Chicago. Even though I
have done a lot of traveling, I have never traveled during
the Christmas season, and have always wanted to see
Chicago or NY for the decorations. Here are a few
I took of the lights along Michigan Avenue, and
ice skating at Millennium Park. A must do!
view from the front gate
We went to Italy last month, and it was one of the best
vacations we ever had! I will start off with the first place we
stayed: Positano. We rented this lovely apartment
from www.vrbo.com called Villa Fior di Limone. We
had the best view from our balcony. I would make tea
every morning, and just sit out there and enjoy the
boats on the water, or the village below. At night, we
could hear music from one of the restaurants. One
night we even heard a party boat in the water. They
were blasting dance music, and I am sure the whole
town heard it! Positano is a vertical city, with many
levels. One day my husband decided to count the steps
up to our apartment from the main street level (the beach is
a few levels down), and there were 443 steps! I can walk
on flat ground forever, but I was never good with uphill, or steps,
so it was a little challenge for me. But the view was so worth it!
If you go to the Amalfi coast, I recommend this place, or at least
this town!
I learned something the other day. The famous building in Chicago with the diamond-shaped
roof is called the Smurfit-Stone Building. Who knew? I had just always called it the
Adventures in Babysitting building. Remember that scene where the little girl climbs
down the rope out of the window and is hanging there until her brother rescues her?
I personally think the scene was ruined when after he gets her, she says “Oh Brad”
in this breathy, creepy way no one should ever be saying their brother’s name.
Oh well, I love this movie anyway, and think its one of the classic movies of the
80’s (of course way down on the list from the Brat Pack movies).
I was out late one night and got a shot of an empty Van Buren train station.
The skyline with the Smurfit-Stone building in the background is a bonus,
in my opinion. What do you think of this movie?
available at etsy.com
I don’t know why, but I love alleys. Not the scary ones you are supposed to avoid at
night, but ones with quaint little shops or bars hidden away from the rest of the city.
I guess its the mystery, or the challenge of seeing what you can find in that alley. And
of course I love this alley because it has street lamps! In earlier posts, I mention my
obsession with streetlamps 🙂 This photo was taken in Lucerne, Switzerland. Lucerne
is a pretty town nestled in the Alps, with the Reuss River going through it, and Lake
Lucerne. The town is fully of these alleyways which contain quite a bit of shopping
for a city this size, I think. I believe there are at least 3 H&M stores here!
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We were lucky to be in Paris on a clear night with the full moon. We climbed the winding staircase
that makes me feel like I’m going to die after I get to the top, and had this spectacular view.
My husband, Jim, took this photo. And without a tripod! It’s tricky getting good shots at night
without it. But I believe they had a sign that forbade the use of tripods. I really love this photo,
not only like this, but Jim actually made a triptych out of it, and put the 3 panels between glass.
It looks awesome against the red wall of our dining room. This photo is available at etsy.com if you
think its awesome too!
available at etsy.com
available at etsy.com
My favorite kind of photography is night photography. I love getting the car headlight trails in front of a nice subject. I call these “swishy pictures” since the car lights are all blurry and swishy. Here are a couple of my favorite: the roundabout at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and Big Ben with traffic on the Westminster Bridge. When I was preparing my tripod and camera for the London pic, some drunk kids came by, and I got a perfectly framed shot of someone mooning me! I chose not to capture that image 🙂 You can also see these photos on etsy.com.
available at Etsy.com
For some reason, when I travel to other cities, I am fascinated by the street lights. I guess they just make it feel “big city” for me. I grew up in rural areas, the closest city light being the flashing light at 4-way stop sign. So throughout my posts, I will feature various street lamps from different places. This one here, is my favorite in the world! The ornate street lamps on the Alexandre III bridge in Paris. If I had money to burn, I would replicate one of these for my front yard. You can also see this photo at Etsy.com.
This is my favorite photo taken in New York. The Manhattan Bridge at night. We went to D.U.M.B.O (Down under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) to take pictures of the skyline, and the Brooklyn Bridge. It was a perfect September evening. While the view is breathtaking over the Brooklyn bridge, there is just something about this photo that sparkles for me. This photo is available at etsy.com
available at Etsy.com
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for sale at Etsy.com
This is my favorite photo from Chicago. We haven’t had the camera very long, so Chicago was “practice” with it. I love cityscapes at night. We went up to the observation area of the Hancock building to take photos. I was hoping it was open like it is at the Empire State Building, but it wasn’t. There was a fence blocking the view, and I couldn’t get decent pictures with it there. So we went inside, and I had no choice but to take photos through the window. There
was a reflection from the cafe behind me, so I had Jim put his had above the camera while the lens was up against the glass. This and a few others turned out great. I sold this print at an art crawl event, and it was published in the Vanderbilt University 2010 calendar. I also have it hanging on my wall! You can own it too available at Etsy.com.
longphotography 