Slowing Things Down At Buckingham Fountain

A couple of years ago I had a great time on a photowalk through Chicago with Trey Ratcliff and a few hundred of his closest friends. One highlight of that walk for me was the visit to Buckingham Fountain. I have always wanted to photograph the fountain, but I always seemed to end up there in horrible light. Here we showed up just after the sun set with a beautiful blue sky to photograph the city against. The low light allowed me to really slow the shutter down to make the whole scene very smooth.

Taking Things Slow

This image was made at f/9 for 15 seconds. Part of why I love this photo so much is how smooth everything is. At a fountain with moving water that is usually not the case. The was can get pretty choppy if you are shooting with sports settings. By slowing things down to a 15 second exposure everything smooths out, and gives you a very cool look.