Brown Line Chicago 12/6/14

An outgoing Brown Line train shortly after departing the Merchandise Mart in Chicago.

One of the many train pictures I have made over the last month or so. It’s a lot of fun to wander around the city and I’m slowly but surely getting my act together as far as planning my route and making use of the El.

I am however, still trying to figure out what to pack. I have gone through my bag and am trying to keep it as light as possible. If I don’t have a lens or something else that I need for a certain picture I just make a note of it and make sure I bring it on my next trip. Dragging around a load of equipment doesn’t add to the enjoyment of the day one bit. One of the better investments I’ve made recently has been my GorillaPod. Great for railings and spots where you can’t use a tripod. It sort of fits ok in my F2 bag and has come in real handy in a few situations. I just use my regular ballhead on it and it works fine.

By far though, the best find of the year has been a book by Chris Smith titled “The Photographers Guide to Chicago: 100 of the best locations and how to shoot them”. You can find it on his site or on Amazon. I can’t say enough good things about this book. If you do any shooting in the Chicago area just get it. You’ll be happy you did!

All in all, it’s a lot of fun shooting around Chicago. To say there is a lot to see and do would be the understatement of the year. The Brown Line picture here is just the tip of the iceberg! I rented a Nikon 10.5mm lens and it’s arriving tomorrow. I have a couple of trips planned over the next week and it will be fun to see what I can come up with!