Chicago’s Union Station on Kodak T-Max 400

I’m a fan of Chicago’s gorgeous Union Station. I wish they still built buildings like this! On our recent trip, our plans took us by, so we went in.

I had loaded my last roll of film, Kodak T-Max 400, into my Olympus XA. I think T-Max 400 is my favorite black-and-white film. I love its smooth look, and I enjoy the rich range of tones it delivers. I also enjoy being able to shoot inside handheld, as I did here, as it’s a fairly fast film. T-Max 400 never disappoints me.

We didn’t stay long, as we had places to be. But in the fifteen minutes or so we were inside, I made all of these images. On the one below, I was trying to bring in as many details in as I could. I can see now that its not the most coherent composition.

But I made up for it, I think, on all of the other images. There’s a great deal of symmetry to play with inside Union Station, and I deeply enjoy symmetry. The XA’s viewfinder is accurate enough to frame that symmetry and mostly get it on the finished scan.

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On Wabash Avenue
Pentax K10D
28mm f/2.8 SMC Pentax-M
2017

I love the Chicago streets where the El runs overhead. This is Wabash Ave. at Monroe St. looking north. The Carson Pirie Scott building is on the left.

Photography

single frame: On Wabash Avenue

Looking up in Chicago
Pentax K10D
28mm f/2.8 SMC Pentax-M
2017

Margaret and I took a much-needed break and drove up to Chicago for the weekend. We rented a very nice hotel room in the theater district, saw Les Misérables, and drank cocktails all day.

This gray, rainy weekend we got caught in a downpour. Though we wore raincoats, our jeans were soaked. So we walked into Old Navy and bought dry clothes. And then we got caught in another downpour and our new jeans were soaked, too.

Even though my Pentax K10D is water sealed, I was glad I kept it under my raincoat. That was a lot of rain.

Photography