Earlier in March this year, I moved to Chicago and started working here. I spent the first few months settling in, finding a place for myself, and making new friends while reconnecting with some old ones too. It's been an amazing first months in this city, and today I want to share the story of one of my favorite photos I've taken so far.
A couple of nights ago, I was writing my previous blog post and preparing it to be posted, when it started to rain in Chicago. In fact, it wasn't just any rain, but a thunderstorm. I didn't think much of it then as my mind was focused on the post I was writing. It was only after completing my draft, I got a photo idea. A surge of photographic excitement took over, something I honestly hadn't felt in almost over a year.
I am lucky enough to get a great view of the Sears (Willis) Tower from my window. This building is a Chicago classic, something like the Empire State is to New York. But leaving it at that would not fully credit the building, the Sears Tower was the world's tallest building for 25-years. My idea was to take a photo of it. A photo with a lightning bolt behind the tower would be something iconic I could add to my portfolio. I thought to myself, "Wow, this would be such a good photo during a thunderstorm like this one", I set up my camera up on the tripod and waited anxiously for the photo opportunity, except, the rain had stopped and the storm had settled. Oh no.
By the following night, I had already posted the blog post I was working on the previous night and had long left my photo idea behind. I was on call with a friend in India while I prepared dinner (I was making fried rice with stir fried veggies), when all of a sudden, my phone blared an alarm: "TORNADO WARNING in this area until 11:00 PM CDT. Take shelter now in a basement or an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building". I saw that message, and did the exact opposite of anything a sane person would do. I left my dinner half prepared, kitchen in disarray, and ran to my window, where I luckily already had my tripod set up. I set up my camera and started to fire away, hoping that the lightning strikes at some point. The scene outside was apocalyptic: wind speeds of over 39 mph (63 kmph), sirens blaring across the streets, and drivers trying to get to safety as quickly as possible.
Somehow, I felt safe in the confines of my building, and kept firing my camera's shutter. In my past experience of shooting lightning, which has been little (if that one time in Pune in 2017 counts).
From my experience, I've noticed that while "spray and pray" is a bad tactic and a quick way to burn through the camera's shutter lifecycle, with photographing lightning, there's no way to tell when the next lightning will strike. So I stood there, with the anticipation of a gambler, firing away one frame after another. Although there was lightning for sure, the fast moving clouds shrouded most of the detail behind them, leaving me with photos that just looked like the sky got lightly flashbanged in a diffused way - not the idea I had in mind. About 45 minutes later, I got a small lightning in frame. This was sweet validation. Perhaps I was onto something. Soon after, the clouds started to become sparse. I kept standing and firing. After around 850 photos (mostly duds), I got my first keeper. Purple sky behind the tower and a huge squiggly lightning bolt sprawling in front of the clouds.
This was it. But was it? What if I took down my camera now and missed out on an even better shot? So I kept on going, until I got another shot of lightning. The gambling addict metaphor is really starting to make sense now. In the end, my only charged battery died. But, I knew I had what I wanted. Wanting any more would perhaps be too greedy.
I quickly edited the photos in excitement. I knew this would have to go out the next day. I couldn't sleep on this photo at all. I am really proud of this photo, and I am glad I was able to execute a vision I had in my mind. This is the photo I made.
This is still a multiple exposure with two lightning bolts illuminating the tower in different ways. After sleeping on the two photos, I decided to superimpose the photos. They both look great, still not sure which one I like better. But I definitely like the combination best.
Now, here's the funniest part about this story: while I was editing this photo and my camera sat with a dead battery on the table, perhaps the most amazing lightning struck the top of the antenna on the Sears Tower. For folks who had access to all of Chicago's skyline, they probably saw something even more breathtaking. At that instant, not one, but three lightning bolts struck the tallest buildings in Chicago: The John Hancock Center, The Trump Tower, and The Sears Tower. The events from the night before literally replaying right in front of me, I kept editing on, oh well, that shot I missed would've probably been overexposed.
Hopefully in the future, I'll get to take that photo as well. :)
I've been watching a lot of fashion videos on YouTube lately, and one of my favorite channels currently is Drew Joiner's. He ends his videos with an epilogue called "Post vid-vid" which is a concept I LOVE. So this is my post-post-post. I'm promising once again that I intend to be more active on this blog. Moving forward, it will be the haven for my work and thoughts. Instagram is great, but after years of having that as my primary channel, I want to grow something of my own here. I hope you are enjoying my content. Please leave a comment and subscribe if you like what goes on here. If you have suggestions for things you like in Chicago, leave those down below as well. I'm also trying to make new friends here so share this with someone you know! :)
Kudos to your patience and damn the editing. I really don’t know how that lighting on the top of the Sears tower would look like but this is a classic shot! Keep the blogs coming :)