Epic Status Photoblog

More candid street photography from our trip to Chicago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hiking the concrete jungle.

 

 

Help a brother out.

 

 

Spare change, please?

 

 

 

All business…

 

It’s just my job.

 

 

 

 

Street Photography, Travel

The next few posts will show photos taken from our half week trip to Chi-town.  This post focuses on what we saw when we first arrived and between other sights in the Chicago area.

 

Nice hotels in decent parts of Chicago are extremely expensive.  We instead stayed out in the Suburb of Itasca and commuted via Metra trains to Chicago each day to avoid outrageous parking costs.  You get to experience the city a little more that way also.  After exiting Union Station in Chicago, this is the great view you’re greeted with.

 

 

 

 

Our cab ride back from the Museum of Science and Industry, taking the safe route around the ghetto.  On our way down there, having not prepared a route, we took the L train to Englewood where we waited on the street for 25 long minutes to transfer to a bus.  I wouldn’t quite suggest it.  The bus stop probably isn’t the most dangerous part of this Chicago neighborhood, but that wasn’t reassuring either.  You know you’re in a poverty stricken area when a street vendor exclusively sells used couch cushions and socks, and the citizens congregate on milk crates in the median of the road.  Needless to say, the camera was well hidden in my bag.  Come to find out, this is one of the worst crime areas in Illinois, with approximately 70 murders a year.  See the link above for statistics about lovely Englewood.

 

So the cab driver speaks English that is less than distinguishable, and we have to pay $40 to avoid waiting in the ghetto at sundown.  That’ll be just fine I guess.  Hopefully his night will be as safe as ours, driving cab here is Russian roulette.

 

 

This mans’ job is to monitor the printer on the stool, on the sidewalk.  Whatever you say boss.

 

Tons of Navy types running around the city, they must be docked nearby. Chicks dig uniforms I’ve heard.  Remember this if absolutely everything else fails.

 

All the tall buildings reflect light onto each other throughout the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why yes I am taking pictures of the back of your head.

 

Being the rebels we are, we crossed the street while the no crossing symbol was lit… after checking around for any signs of the FBI or CIA.

 

These two got on our Metra train at Itasca and got off at Union Station as we did.  Yes he tucked his long sleeve shirt into his shorts.  He can go straight from a meeting at the office to a walk on the beach with his lady.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Berghoff

 

Outdoor, People, Street Photography, Travel

My NAS (Nikon Acquisition Syndrom) continues.  I decided I have to have a medium long-range lens to add range.  The economy Nikkor 55-200mm VR fit the bill for this use.  

 

Not only does it give me better reach for when I can’t get up close, but also it adds the ability to compose images differently because your angle changes.

 

 

I can better capture people without them knowing or being anywhere near them, great for street photography when I don’t feel like getting caught.

 

 

 

 

 

Nice bokeh.  Notice how the background is soft and out of focus.  Using a wide aperture with a longer lens will result in this narrow depth of field which can be placed at your preferred distance to add bokeh where you want it.

 

 

 

Nature, Outdoor, People, Street Photography