New Year’s 2019!

From multiple bridges and barges stationed along the the main branch of the Chicago River, fireworks rang out to celebrate New Year’s 2019. In addition to fireworks at Navy Pier, Chicago added this secondary display and I wanted a unique vantage point to document the new celebration. That’s where my friends at Hines came in. In order to get the shots I envisioned, they arranged access to River Point’s 9th floor terrace. It was the prefect elevated vantage point to look east down the river.

We arrived around 10:30pm to set-up and start taking test shots. Promptly at midnight, the show began. It didn’t last long – about six minutes – so I didn’t have much time or space to experiment with different angles or techniques. However, one of the happiest accidents was the reflections in 333 W Wacker’s curving glass curtain wall. I hoped to catch them but wasn’t sure how the angles would work out. My settings varied a bit from shot to shot, but in general I was shooting at f/14, ISO 320, at 3-5 seconds.

Here are a few more shots: