Finding Reflections in Puddles!

On Thursday while in Chicago, we had rain. It was not a hard rain that kept me from going out, but it did require a stop in one of the many Walgreen's to purchase an umbrella. It did, however, usher in a beautiful blue sky on Friday after the cool front came through. Since it is still in the middle nineties here in Atlanta, you will not find me complaining about the cool weather I enjoyed in Chicago! Last year this time, Atlanta was flooded, so you won't find me complaining about the little bit of rain in Chicago either. In fact, I tried to take advantage of a different look the rain provides.

There is something cool about a rainy cityscape. You have great reflections that are different than on a sunny day. Above, you can see reflections of the buildings on the sidewalk. The El train is in the upper right hand portion of the photo, then you see the pedestrian walking down the street and finally the bicycles (or your eye might go in the opposite direction). Since I know how loud the train is and how quickly it moves, my eye goes to it first.

While in the financial district, I snapped this photo of the statue at the top of the building in the puddle. It is hard to capture this statue on the building as the sky washes it out. It is nice and crisp in the reflection and you can see the blue in the clearing sky. I have always thought it was cool how the center of this building faces this intersection. I did go into the Federal Reserve building on the right for their museum and movie they have for visitors.

The first place I visited on the rainy Thursday was Navy Pier. Here, I snapped a photo of a reflection of the Ferris wheel on the sidewalk. Imagine what I looked like leaning over and taking a photo of the sidewalk! I had the place to myself with only a few joggers and delivery men sharing the place with me.

The point of this lesson is to keep your eyes open and look for unexpected subjects. Another example is this golden rod peeking through this railing over the trains in Grant Park. One of the things I love about Chicago is all the details like this railing. Crossing over all the Metra train tracks is not an especially attractive location, but aren't these columns pretty? Especially with this burst of color!