Chicago - Along The River

I really wanted to get some pictures of downtown Chicago when it wasn't too crowded. One way to do this is to wake up before sunrise and get out and get a few pictures before the streets become too crowded with commuters and tourists. So I decided to wake up early and get a few pictures.

Which is a great idea in theory. Not so much in practice. Especially when your alarm clock goes off at 4:30. But I managed to sneak out of the hotel room without waking anyone else up, and walked out of the eerily quiet and empty hotel lobby. It was still dark outside, and the streets were quiet. There was hardly any traffic, and only a few people out running.

My original plan was to walk over to The Bean, and get a few pictures of it in the morning twilight. But when I got there, the park that The Bean is in was fenced off and closed. I looked at my phone and saw the flaw in my plan - the Bean opens at 6:00 AM. So instead I hurried along a few blocks over to the Chicago River. Luckily there still wasn't much traffic on Michigan Avenue, so there weren't many cars around to bounce around the bridge while I tried to get a few long exposures. I had to kinda zoom in some on the buildings from this angle, there is an ugly and tacky logo on one of the buildings that I was trying to avoid getting in the shot too much.



From the bridge you also get a good view of the Wrigley Building (built 1921).





I headed back across the bridge and then started walking along Wacker Drive.



The sky steadily brightened as sunrise approached.







This is the Reid Murdoch Building (built 1914).





Chicago is one of those cities that seems really familiar, since it's been used in so many movies and TV shows. It's hard not to walk by a building and recognize it from its appearance in a big movie. For example, the building here was Wayne Tower in The Dark Knight. And the glass tower next to it, which was under construction when they were filming, was used for the end of the movie where Batman fought the Joker.



And another shot of the Wrigley Building, with the Chicago flag:



And in front of the Wrigley Building were some flower beds with some nice landscaping.



And one last shot from the Wrigley Building. 



I checked the time and it was getting close to 6:00. Which meant it was time to start heading towards The Bean...