Spreading confusion over the internet since 1994
Shot with my Hipstamatic for iPhone
Lens: John S
Flash: Off
Film: Cano Cafenol
embiggen by clicking http://flic.kr/p/btKfUK
Good morning West Loop was taken on February 14, 2012 at 06:36AM
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update: a couple thoughts about this photo being Explored
www.b12partners.net/wp/2012/01/21/snow-day-explored/
embiggen by clicking http://flic.kr/p/bfVjWr
Snow Day 2012! was taken on January 20, 2012 at 08:23AM
Trying a new thing for this year: choosing my favorite photos from each month. The thought is this will make it easier to decide which photos should be in my portfolio, and various other related projects. I’m thinking ten to twenty will be chosen each month, but who knows. December 2011 was sort of a slow month for me, creatively, as I had lower back “issues”, and then a serious flu. Most months I post 200-300 photos, but last December only 119.
Anyway, without further ado, here are my December keepers, as of right now, in no particular order. Note, these are photos processed in December, not necessarily taken in December. In fact, most are taken previously.
Double click an image to embiggen, and read more details…
Blackroof Country
Snow Crossing
No Particular Destination In Mind
A Dream of Presidential Showers
When Kings Come Home
Drive On Until I Get There
But You Went Along
A Certain Kind of Light
Restaurant Row – West Loop
The Dark Doesn’t Hide It
When We Were Still Strangers
Submerged Danger Object
Immense Activity of a Rain Puddle
So 13 for the month of December, 2011.
(viaFlickr: Archive of your uploads to Flickr in December 2011.)
From the Chicago snow storm variously called SnOMG, Snowpocalypse 2011, Thundersnow1, Blizzard of 2011, yadda yadda. I foolheartedly went out to take some photos around midnight, and lasted about an hour. I haven’t yet processed many of my photos, but here are a few.
Click to embiggen, or click twice to view in Lightbox.
Streaming. Toned in Photoshop to compensate for the color of Chicago’s street lamps.
If Memory Serves Randolph Street, before it got plowed. These firemen stopped to give this guy a push:
Keep on Pushing After this car got stuck, it swerved a few more times and turned down Desplaines Street.
Visitors on Snowy Streets Some other foolhardy folks strolling down Canal Street.
Underneath the Overpass Lake Street. I lingered here a moment to catch my breath. Hard to walk in snow that comes up to your knees – every step is a challenge.
Blizzard hype can officially commence now An iPhone snapshot, using Hipstamatic.
Wind Swept Snow An iPhone snapshot, trying to capture the fiercely blowing winds.
First Blizzard Casualty The wind was blowing so hard, I couldn’t hold my iPhone still enough to focus. So blurry dead bird it is…Also notice there isn’t any snow on my balcony. Later in the evening, the wind died down a bit, and snow is now piled about two feet deep here. Also, the wind blew my barbeque grill nearly off the edge. Was able to salvage most of the parts, we’ll see if any committed suicide once spring rolls around.
Road Closed Wacker Drive, an iPhone snapshot.
SnOMG! The lens on my iPhone got caked in wet snow. Actually, my Nikon lens2 also got frozen, wouldn’t focus properly for a while until I put it inside my coat to thaw out.
Chicago Sun-Times building on Franklin. An iPhone snapshot.
Under cover Wacker Drive and Lake Street. Visibility was next to zero, and the wind wanted to separate me from my hats3. An iPhone snapshot.
Abandoned Cab The radio and windshield wipers were on, but the driver was nowhere to be seen, perhaps inside calling for assistance, or taken to a hospital. According to news reports, the cab was hit by a train (tracks in the background).
Footnotes:
All stranded motorists have now been rescued from Lake Shore Drive – but they probably shouldn’t have attempted to travel on the major thoroughfare in the first place, city officials said.
Hundreds of motorists and CTA passengers were trapped on the drive for six hours or more Tuesday night. Many were not rescued until early this morning, as rescue workers battled white-out conditions, 70 mph wind gusts and waist-high drifts to provide help.
City officials, however, said they had cautioned people in news conferences earlier Tuesday to avoid using the drive and had repeatedly warned that massive waves along the shoreline could cause extremely icy conditions. Authorities, however, did not officially close the road until 8 p.m., nearly an hour after a series of accidents caused motorists and several CTA buses to become stuck.
“As reported in (Tuesday’s) press conference we knew that the lakefront and Lake Shore Drive would be hit especially hard,” said Ray Orozco, Mayor Richard Daley’s chief of staff. “Nonetheless, it was clear that people leaving the Loop were relying on it as a major artery to get home that night.”
While acknowledging the Lake Shore Drive standstill was “particularly troublesome,” officials said they would not apologize for keeping the road open as the storm intensified. Without a series of accidents shortly after 7 p.m., the ordeal might not have happened, they said.
(click here to continue reading Bad LSD trip: Who’s to blame? – Chicago Breaking News.)
Being on LSD for eight hours probably not the best way to spend the Blizzard of 2011 though
at least that’s what it looked like to me.
Lake Michigan
Roger’s Park, Chicago, or perhaps Evanston (border is a bit amorphous right here)
I’m sure there is an equation (Thermodynamics, perhaps?) that describes how this ice formation is created with waves, but I leave that as an exercise for you, the reader.
Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward, mild snow.
more from Sunday’s sojourn to Milwaukee.
Rogers Park, Chicago
a little snow porn for your Friday amusement
Or something. Jeez, brutal out there.
view larger:
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from the National Weather Service forecast for Cook County:
Tonight…Mostly cloudy. A few flurries. Very cold. Lows 2 to 6 above…except 8 to 12 above downtown. Wind chills as low as 5 below to 15 below zero. West winds 10 to 20 mph with gusts up to 35 mph at times.
Thursday…Windy. Partly sunny. Very cold. Highs 12 to 16. Wind chills as low as 10 below to 20 below zero. West winds 20 to 30 mph. Gusts up to 35 mph.
Thursday Night…Partly cloudy. Blustery. Lows 5 to 9 above… Except 9 to 13 above downtown. Wind chills as low as 5 below to 15 below zero. Southwest winds 15 to 25 mph. Gusts up to 30 mph early in the evening.
[Click to continue reading 7-Day Zone Forecast for Cook County]
Don’t get me wrong, I actually like winter, at least in December and January. By February, the thrill of winter usually starts to fade, and March and April should be spring already damn it!1
Footnotes:700 Harms Road approximately
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the first day of snow (late this year), played hooky and went out walking in the snow in a forest preserve in Glenview, IL.
It has snowed before in Chicago this year, but not really a substantial amount. It also has been cold, but not this cold. Winter is officially here.
Cold with lows zero to 4 above…except 5 to 9 above downtown. Wind chills as low as zero to 10 below zero. Northwest winds 10 to 15 mph diminishing to less than 10 mph late.
Slowly Creeping Home
West Loop commuters, moving about 5 mph.
[view large on black: www.b12partners.net/photoblog/index.php?showimage=169 ]
Snowy Ride Home
West Loop commuters, moving about 5 mph.
[view large on black: www.b12partners.net/photoblog/index.php?showimage=167 ]
click to embiggen.
There also was an incident where an accordion-style CTA bus lost control making the turn onto Randolph Street, skidded out of control, and ran up onto the sidewalk. The bus driver got out, and then left, presumedly to go get help. As a result, 2.5 of the 3 lanes of traffic were blocked for twenty or thirty minutes. Eventually an expert CTA driver arrived, and was able to maneuver the bus out of the jam. I took a brief video of the stuck bus for my amusement, maybe you’ll see the humor as well.
