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The Chicago Photography Experience



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December 17, 2012
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Six Great Locations for HDR in Chicago

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Written by: Chris Smith
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The Open Door

Today I have a guest post on Rick Sammon’s blog, www.ricksammon.com on the 5 myths of HDR photography. You can read it at http://ricksammon.com/blog2/2012/12/17/todays-guest-blogger-chris-smith. I’d really appreciate it if you headed over to his site and added your thoughts on the post. Thanks, Rick, for inviting me to do this.

If you’re coming from Rick’s site, thanks for stopping by! You can read a few of my popular posts below. I’d love to connect with you and your photography, so reach out to me on your favorite platform, Google+, Flickr, Twitter, or sign up for the Out Of Chicago newsletter at the bottom of the page.

http://outofchicago.com/are-lightroom-4-images-still-hdr-photography/

http://outofchicago.com/shooting-hdr-handheld/

http://outofchicago.com/fixing-the-most-common-hdr-mistake-part-1-the-problem/

 

And if you’re ever in Chicago, look me up. Maybe you can join one of my photo walks or we can just go out and shoot.

 

 

Today’s image is from the old seminary building at the University of Chicago. The University of Chicago is a great place for HDR photography.

Six Great Locations for HDR in Chicago

Chicago must be the best city in the world to shoot HDR images. Here are six of my favorite places to shoot HDR photography in Chicago.

 

Check out part 2 of Fixing the Most Common HDR Mistake about how you can use your HDR software to keep your images from looking flat. www.outofchicago.com/fixing-the-most-common-hdr-mistake-part-2-hdr-software

Chicago Through the Vortex

From Adams Sangamon Park in Near West Side, Chicago


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This shot was not intended to relate to the disaster on the East Coast, but I cannot look at this image without thinking about it. My thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by Hurricane Sandy.I took this from the parking deck at the University of Illinois-Chicago. I recommend that you find this parking deck and make a morning out of shooting here. I spent an hour or two here last weekend. I gave a bit of a description of how to get here in this post.As for the processing on this shot, I ran four different exposures through Nik HDR Efex Pro 2 and used the

Escape From Chicago

From the UIC parking deck


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Many of my images are unrelated to the content of the post.  Today's image is intimately connected with the message and may serve as a critical roadmap for you one day.At the end of our photo walk last week, Rick Seidel and I decided to grab one more shot on the way back to our cars at the Millennium Park Garage.  Rick had shot this before, and we both remembered a recent shot from Stephen Kacerik, from this vantage point. But I will be adding value to my shot with a potentially important tip.If you can get yourself to the place where I took this shot, turn around, and you will witness one of the rarest sites in Chicago. The public restroom.  By the entrance to the Millennium Park garage you will find an underground entrance to the bathrooms.  You don't know how many times I've been on a photo adventure in Chicago after too many ginger ales without a place to empty them. File this one away for that day when you really need it.

Under the Pritzker Pavilion

From the east side of the Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park


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Trump Tower Out Of Chicago Photo Walk

Between the Wrigley Buildings


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A Night at the Museum

From the Field Museum


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About the Author

Chris Smith
I am the editor of Out Of Chicago. During the day, I teach high school physics. I am a proud husband and father of two amazing kids. I love photographing the city of Chicago and the surrounding area and sharing my knowledge. If you have any questions, email me at Chris@OutOfChicago.com.
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Workshop
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  • Kim Kristakov

    Hey Chris, I was wondering if you get hassled shooting indoors at times using a tripod? ie…the museum shot. I’m guessing that there’s no way you’re walking in that place with a tripod. I do remember reading on your site somewhere that you’ve had to resort to hand-held HDR at times. Care to extrapolate on that a bit further. I’ve been thinking about planning an expedition to Europe and scouring internet info for an agenda. I already know that there are going to be lots of inside shots where a tripod with never fly so in prep I’m thinking I need to practice shooting low-light hand-held. I’ve seen others that have been able to pull off 5 brackets without a tripod and wondering how they managed to keep steady for 5 exposures. I’m sure they are pushing ISO to a point where it’s a tolerable split between noise and speed, but I was wondering your take on this. Have any pointers for a newbee? Maybe even a post to open the discussion?

    • outofchicago

      First off, I don’t know what aspect you’re referring to when you say you’re a newbie.

      Lots of answers to your questions. The Field Museum where I got the shot actually does allow tripods, but I didn’t know that when I went. For that shot, I rested it on the ledge and used the timer. I often use my wallet and cell phone to prop the camera up a bit. I usually just ask if I can use a tripod. I find I have more luck asking than just trying it. A lot of places in Chicago allow tripods. But I know that most of the churches in Europe do not. I shot HDR handheld at the Iowa Capitol Building because I needed to be a few feet over the ledge to get the angle I wanted. http://www.flickr.com/photos/w4nd3rl0st/7127060119/in/photosof-cjsmithphotography/I shot that at ISO 3200.

      Great idea for a post. I’ll put it together. Strategies for when you just can’t use your tripod.


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