Marathon Weekend

The Chicago Marathon took place on a gorgeous fall weekend in October.  The leaves were at their peak colors and the runners and their supporters were out in full force!  It is always such an inspirational day to live in the city.  The number of runners is unreal... and frankly, it makes you feel extremely lazy.

Our apartment is right by mile 26 so it was quite the packed house, but I was able to get a couple of really good shots of the runners headed up the hill to the finish line.

Congrats to the 45,000+ runners and a special shout out to all the charity runners!

Fall Night on the Chicago River

Stealing the Show

Marilyn and her many admirers.  Love this shot in black and white, it almost gives it an old-fashioned look.

One More Nod to Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Chicago's Central Camera

Since 1899... that's impressive.
I can't imagine a buisness being able to stay relevant for so long. Central Camera Co. is family owned and operated business for 3 generations. I've got to give them props for being able to survive the all changes of the photography world over the last 112 years!

Which Way You Wanna Go?

Where is 7th Street?

So I've been trying to do a little research on this 7th Street Hotel, which is a building located in the South Loop. I am curious as to whether the hotel is still up and running and why it is called 7th Street Hotel, considering it is located at Balbo & State. Well I haven't been able to find much, but apparently the hotel was built during a short time period when Balbo was named 7th Street between 1921 and 1928. The hotel certainly looks abandoned other than the South Loop Club (major dive bar) located in the bottom of the building. It doesn't appear to have landmark status, so I'm surprised they haven't tried to do some major renovations and/or rebuilding.

I was able to find this photo this photo, so apparently it was called the Carter Hotel and some point or another.

The longer I live in Chicago, I find myself getting more interested in the older buildings and what used to occupy them. Many buildings have landmark status which restricts any changes in an effort to preserve the historic value/architecture. This can make things interesting when buildings have an older engraved name of whoever used to occupy it right along side it's more modern sign of the current residents.

Obey

Shepard Fairey, the artist best known for his Barack Obama "Hope" poster in 2008 has recently created a couple street murals for the city of Chicago. This particular one is at Lake Shore Drive and Grand Avenue on your way to Navy Pier. It measures 130 feet by 10 feet and features a string of albumlike artwork. It's pretty cool.

The Palmer House Goes Pink

I love when companies support a good cause. :)

Chicago Bobblehead Window

So there is this window that I walk by, almost every day. It has bobbleheads of all the famous athletes from Chicago. Pretty cool, right? The problem is that there is ALWAYS people talking on the radio sitting right in from of the window. So I feel like a big creep taking a photo of the bobbleheads as it looks like I am taking a photo of them. Not to mention that fact they could start talking on the radio about this crazy girl taking photos outside of their window...

Welp, I got up enough guts to sneak one in for you. :)

Good story, huh?

Navy Pier on a Wednesday Night

Last Wednesday night, I decided to go for a walk along Lake Michigan and I found myself at Navy Pier. It was absolutely dead... aka a photographer's paradise. I felt like I had the entire place to myself and free range to take photos of anything and absolutely everything (without a bunch of tourists walking in front of my shot; this never happens). I had a really good time, completely lost track of time and couldn't be happier with some of the images I was able to capture (this also never happens). Enjoy!

I LOVE this shot -

Until this night, I had never noticed the reflection of the ferris wheel and I am so happy I discovered it! I love the moon in the upper left hand corner and I love the color of the umbrellas and how no one is in the shot.

Black and white can really be outstanding sometimes... so clean and crisp.

And finally, maybe my favorite ferris wheel photo to date -

Lakeshore at Night

Sears Tower

Excuse me, the WILLIS Tower. ;)

Trouble at Olive Park

They were searching for someone in the water... yikes.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Boom.

The Other Side of Navy Pier

The side of Navy Pier you don't see quite as often...

Bacon Creek Park

I got the pleasure of attending Sioux City's Walk to End Alzheimer this month. The fall colors were in full affect. Bacon Creek Park is gorgeous and a perfect location for a Walk, especially in October.

Southfork Fall Colors

Earlier this month, Eric and I took a trip back to the great state of Iowa. I had to go to Sioux City for work and we were able to take TWO extra days off to see some friends and family. My parents live in a gorgeous neighborhood and the fall colors were shining bright. I LOVE THE FALL! The leaves are just so beautiful.

The L

Meet one of the seven wonders of Chicago... the L.. or the el (from the word elevated). Over 720,000 people ride the L each weekday. You can pretty much get anywhere you need to go on the L. There is one particular ad for the L that I will never forget. It was something along the lines of "What is the one thing the Cubs and the White Soxs have in common? The Red line of course," (the Red Line is a popular L route). What to learn more? Start here.These were taken from Wabash & 11th Street in the South Loop.