Chicago at Dusk

After a very disappointing visit to the Shedd Aquarium, I walked up the pier towards the Adler Planetarium. The sun was starting to dip lower and lower in the sky, and with it, the temperature. I forgot my gloves and hat, and my coat was barely substantial as some light flakes began to fall, but I was determined to get a night shot of the skyline of Chicago.

This is an HDR (high dynamic range) image, meaning it is a combination of three different images that is processed using a special program to get the highest range of colors possible. This also meant that I had to hold the camera in the same exact position over three exposures, one of which was over 30 seconds. If I had a tripod at the time, the job would have been much easier, but I instead had to set the camera on a ledge. Since I had little choice of camera position, this is why the ladder and platform are in the shot, but I believe that without them, the picture would have been boring and somewhat cliche.