Instagram Story Save

serene fog blanketing downtown at sunset with an improvised piano ditty. from the @360chicago observation deck during the @chi.shooters anniversary meet in early june.

compilation of moody weather mini-lapses from summer 2018 and 2019. these clips carry lots of nostalgia for me as they were the fruits of my initial trials with @lrtimelapse. the program has completely revolutionized the timelapse workflow and i now use it routinely, but i will never forget the wonder and empowerment i felt exploring it with those first few sequences.

#lrtimelapse #timelapselovers #timelapsecentral #timelapseworlds #timelapsemagazine #timelapsenation #best_timelapse #emerictimeff #chicagoweather #ilwx #stormlapse #stormporn #shelfcloud #lightningstorm #cumulonimbus #raw_skies #moodygrams #artofvisuals #agameoftones #artofchi #chi_shooters #outofchicago #insta_chicago #onlinechicago #igerschicago #wu_chicago #shotsofchicago #sonyalpha

sound on! check out the 2k/60p link in profile 🙂

a montage of stormy time lapse sequences looking out in each cardinal direction from @360chicago, the 94th floor observation deck of the hancock tower. taken on four visits in august and september of 2020 between the two city shutdowns. this edit compresses 10,000 still frames into 1 minute. stay tuned for an extended cut!

double ground-to-cloud lightning from chicago's willis tower and hancock tower at 20:21:23 last monday 4/27, captured at 30fps from the southwest. while the main channels pulsed for nearly second, here i processed only the first 1/8 second, during which the branching was most pronounced.

be sure to see @jkarp_photos amazing shot of the same event - the return strokes appear to intersect when composing from the north, about 120 degrees difference.

#lightningphotography #stormchasing #ilwx #chicagoskyline #chicagonights

double ground-to-cloud lightning from chicago's willis tower and hancock tower at 20:21:23 last monday 4/27, captured at 30fps from the southwest. while the main channels pulsed for nearly second, here i processed only the first 1/8 second, during which the branching was most pronounced.

be sure to see @jkarp_photos amazing shot of the same event - the return strokes appear to intersect when composing from the north, about 120 degrees difference.

#lightningphotography #stormchasing #ilwx #chicagoskyline #chicagonights

chicago was mostly spared of the severe weather that slammed the rest of the state yesterday, but we did get these nice branching ground-to-cloud bolts out of willis and hancock towers at 8:21:23 pm

#lightning #midweststorms #ilwx #chicagoweather #chicagoskyscrapers

triple strike (swipe for full image!) near downtown chicago at 21:58:43 friday, from a system of storms that generated over a hundred tornado watches and warnings across the midwest that day.

@jkarp_photos and i hung out north of the city hoping for a big show on the stratiform side, but this cloud-to-ground event was actually from the front side.

check out @cshimala for these bolts captured from the west, and @nick_ulivieri on threads for them from the southwest!

f/8, 1.3s, 20mm, a7m4

#lightning #stationarystormchasing #ilwx #chicagowx #chicagoskyline

triple strike (swipe for full image!) near downtown chicago at 21:58:43 friday, from a system of storms that generated over a hundred tornado watches and warnings across the midwest that day.

@jkarp_photos and i hung out north of the city hoping for a big show on the stratiform side, but this cloud-to-ground event was actually from the front side.

check out @cshimala for these bolts captured from the west, and @nick_ulivieri on threads for them from the southwest!

f/8, 1.3s, 20mm, a7m4

#lightning #stationarystormchasing #ilwx #chicagowx #chicagoskyline

triple strike (swipe for full image!) near downtown chicago at 21:58:43 friday, from a system of storms that generated over a hundred tornado watches and warnings across the midwest that day.

@jkarp_photos and i hung out north of the city hoping for a big show on the stratiform side, but this cloud-to-ground event was actually from the front side.

check out @cshimala for these bolts captured from the west, and @nick_ulivieri on threads for them from the southwest!

f/8, 1.3s, 20mm, a7m4

#lightning #stationarystormchasing #ilwx #chicagowx #chicagoskyline

triple strike (swipe for full image!) near downtown chicago at 21:58:43 friday, from a system of storms that generated over a hundred tornado watches and warnings across the midwest that day.

@jkarp_photos and i hung out north of the city hoping for a big show on the stratiform side, but this cloud-to-ground event was actually from the front side.

check out @cshimala for these bolts captured from the west, and @nick_ulivieri on threads for them from the southwest!

f/8, 1.3s, 20mm, a7m4

#lightning #stationarystormchasing #ilwx #chicagowx #chicagoskyline

triple strike (swipe for full image!) near downtown chicago at 21:58:43 friday, from a system of storms that generated over a hundred tornado watches and warnings across the midwest that day.

@jkarp_photos and i hung out north of the city hoping for a big show on the stratiform side, but this cloud-to-ground event was actually from the front side.

check out @cshimala for these bolts captured from the west, and @nick_ulivieri on threads for them from the southwest!

f/8, 1.3s, 20mm, a7m4

#lightning #stationarystormchasing #ilwx #chicagowx #chicagoskyline

some more skyline-spanning lightning bolts from the 4/2 storm.

#lightning #chicagoskyline #chicagonights #chicagowx #ilwx

some more skyline-spanning lightning bolts from the 4/2 storm.

#lightning #chicagoskyline #chicagonights #chicagowx #ilwx

ground-to-cloud lightning out of willis tower's new west antenna and the hancock tower's east antenna (obstructed) at 23:37:19 friday, split between two consecutive burst shots.

#lightning #searstower #chicagoskyline #chicagowx #ilwx

ground-to-cloud lightning out of willis tower's new west antenna and the hancock tower's east antenna (obstructed) at 23:37:19 friday, split between two consecutive burst shots.

#lightning #searstower #chicagoskyline #chicagowx #ilwx

lightning christening the new broadcast antenna for @fox32chicago atop @willistowerchicago and @skydeckchicago during last night's series of storms as seen through heavy rain from the lower west side. there were several bolts on the new west antenna throughout the night - this strike was around 9:04.

#chicagoweather #chicagowx #ilwx #chicagoarchitecture #chicagoskyline

lightning christening the new broadcast antenna for @fox32chicago atop @willistowerchicago and @skydeckchicago during last night's series of storms as seen through heavy rain from the lower west side. there were several bolts on the new west antenna throughout the night - this strike was around 9:04.

#chicagoweather #chicagowx #ilwx #chicagoarchitecture #chicagoskyline

some more lightning from the 3/10 storm. i was getting a lot of sith vibes while reviewing the shots: the ragged bolts, both of willis/sears tower's long antennae lit red (they turn off after a certain time of night), and because the tower always reminded me of vader - it's tall, black, imposing, and has those wide "shoulders" from some angles (though not this angle). unfortunately, i didn't catch any strikes on willis/sears tower itself.

#chicagoweather #chicagowx #ilwx #chicagoarchitecture #chicagoskyline

some more lightning from the 3/10 storm. i was getting a lot of sith vibes while reviewing the shots: the ragged bolts, both of willis/sears tower's long antennae lit red (they turn off after a certain time of night), and because the tower always reminded me of vader - it's tall, black, imposing, and has those wide "shoulders" from some angles (though not this angle). unfortunately, i didn't catch any strikes on willis/sears tower itself.

#chicagoweather #chicagowx #ilwx #chicagoarchitecture #chicagoskyline

some more lightning from the 3/10 storm. i was getting a lot of sith vibes while reviewing the shots: the ragged bolts, both of willis/sears tower's long antennae lit red (they turn off after a certain time of night), and because the tower always reminded me of vader - it's tall, black, imposing, and has those wide "shoulders" from some angles (though not this angle). unfortunately, i didn't catch any strikes on willis/sears tower itself.

#chicagoweather #chicagowx #ilwx #chicagoarchitecture #chicagoskyline

composite of four moments lightning struck the trump tower and the east antenna of the hancock tower during the 3/10 storm. these two buildings were mostly obstructed from my perspective as my composition featured willis/sears tower. nonetheless, i liked these bolts overlayed framed the subject skyscraper.

this was the same storm system that dropped record-breaking hail and spawned several tornados just an hour downstate 😬

note the instances of multi-stroke lightning on the east hancock antenna, strikes retracing the same ionized channel. in realtime these appear like flickering bolts. in these long exposure, you can see that they're slightly offset due to fast winds.

baby A7V's first storm alongside the veteran A7RII, still going strong after 10 years! @sonyalpha

#lightning #chicagoweather #chicagowx #ilwx #chicagoskyscrapers

composite of four moments lightning struck the trump tower and the east antenna of the hancock tower during the 3/10 storm. these two buildings were mostly obstructed from my perspective as my composition featured willis/sears tower. nonetheless, i liked these bolts overlayed framed the subject skyscraper.

this was the same storm system that dropped record-breaking hail and spawned several tornados just an hour downstate 😬

note the instances of multi-stroke lightning on the east hancock antenna, strikes retracing the same ionized channel. in realtime these appear like flickering bolts. in these long exposure, you can see that they're slightly offset due to fast winds.

baby A7V's first storm alongside the veteran A7RII, still going strong after 10 years! @sonyalpha

#lightning #chicagoweather #chicagowx #ilwx #chicagoskyscrapers

composite of four moments lightning struck the trump tower and the east antenna of the hancock tower during the 3/10 storm. these two buildings were mostly obstructed from my perspective as my composition featured willis/sears tower. nonetheless, i liked these bolts overlayed framed the subject skyscraper.

this was the same storm system that dropped record-breaking hail and spawned several tornados just an hour downstate 😬

note the instances of multi-stroke lightning on the east hancock antenna, strikes retracing the same ionized channel. in realtime these appear like flickering bolts. in these long exposure, you can see that they're slightly offset due to fast winds.

baby A7V's first storm alongside the veteran A7RII, still going strong after 10 years! @sonyalpha

#lightning #chicagoweather #chicagowx #ilwx #chicagoskyscrapers

composite of four moments lightning struck the trump tower and the east antenna of the hancock tower during the 3/10 storm. these two buildings were mostly obstructed from my perspective as my composition featured willis/sears tower. nonetheless, i liked these bolts overlayed framed the subject skyscraper.

this was the same storm system that dropped record-breaking hail and spawned several tornados just an hour downstate 😬

note the instances of multi-stroke lightning on the east hancock antenna, strikes retracing the same ionized channel. in realtime these appear like flickering bolts. in these long exposure, you can see that they're slightly offset due to fast winds.

baby A7V's first storm alongside the veteran A7RII, still going strong after 10 years! @sonyalpha

#lightning #chicagoweather #chicagowx #ilwx #chicagoskyscrapers

composite of four moments lightning struck the trump tower and the east antenna of the hancock tower during the 3/10 storm. these two buildings were mostly obstructed from my perspective as my composition featured willis/sears tower. nonetheless, i liked these bolts overlayed framed the subject skyscraper.

this was the same storm system that dropped record-breaking hail and spawned several tornados just an hour downstate 😬

note the instances of multi-stroke lightning on the east hancock antenna, strikes retracing the same ionized channel. in realtime these appear like flickering bolts. in these long exposure, you can see that they're slightly offset due to fast winds.

baby A7V's first storm alongside the veteran A7RII, still going strong after 10 years! @sonyalpha

#lightning #chicagoweather #chicagowx #ilwx #chicagoskyscrapers

geminid over sears/willis, 5:59am sunday

i was thrilled that clouds cleared saturday night in time for the annual peak of the geminids meteor shower. i usually set up at the lakefront for darker skies, but opted for an indoor perch on the lower west side this year since wind chills were at -20°F. while the cold air generally improves atmospheric clarity and shooting through a window creates terrible side effects, i wasn't confident myself or my gear was going to survive overnight.

#geminids2025 #geminids #shootingstar #meteor #meteorshower #chicagowinter #chicagonights #chicagoskyline #willistower #willistowerskydeck