Drawn and quartered

Bull market; passive fist.

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The lobbyists

They look like people. They talk like people. They’re likely statues propped up by whoever owns the key to the door. Too big to be human. You’re on the outside.

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Between the black

I’m not sure whether it was a protea, but any time there’s a perfect flower wedged between black velvet chairs on a backlit, piano-key glass wall, I’m interested. After the trip to South Africa I have proteas on the brain, but this was taken in a hotel lobby in Chicago.

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On an island at The Peninsula

You can take photos, yes. No, not with a tripod. The hotel doesn’t want that. The hotel doesn’t mind photos. Your car will be ready in a few minutes. Sir? How many shots are you taking? Of the lobby? No, we won’t stop you, so as long as you don’t use the tripod… Dead silence… Click. Click click. Click. Click click click. Sir? Your car is ready. Let me help you with that. Click. Click click. I’ll get the door for you. Follow me… Sir? Click… click. This way.

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Circular blue couch

I went from one lobby to the next, realizing the striking red of the former provided such an opposite feel to the cool blue of this circular couch in my own company’s entrance. Color is something I rarely worried about before starting this blog, but now I become very aware of posting too many like-colored images in succession. I’ve opted out of the same scene on repeated days for this very reason. It makes for more photos and challenging myself to shoot like a videographer, which is to find small points of interest in a landscape in order to eek out all of the available detail. When you shoot for television news you need to do this in order to tell a story. I’m now addicted to finding things when I walk into rooms – and also to locate my white balance object, too. It’s a bit of an obsession, really. I look at things in a room totally different than I ever had previously.

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Snowing on the inside

This red room is actually the conjoining lobby of my company’s entrance. I have to go through here from time to time, and they do a really good job of decorating the space every now and again. Usually it’s just a blank room, but as you can see for the holidays they’ve gone simple chic. It’s nice to have silver snow over poinsettias around Christmas, don’t you think?

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Title & Trust lobby

This is the lobby of a 50-story skyscraper known as the Chicago Title and Trust Center. Remember when buildings used to be buildings and not centers? The lobby arcs back to form a circular shape, and the escalators lean up and away into another space. I’ve stopped to look at it dozens of times. A lot of good lines crash into each other, which is especially noticeable straight on. I guess it’s cool to center-up when shooting a center.

The blue and gray colors stand out against Chicago’s yellow night lights. I understand the yellow lights will eventually turn more of a white or neutral color, so you might have an entirely different-looking downtown at night in years to come.

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Hotel lobby floor

It’s simply one of the best spaces in Chicago. I used to come here and just sit around for 20 minutes while on my way to the Art Institute. My time is less throwaway these days, but I did take a good hour to find some decent angles in my most recent trip to the Palmer House’s lobby. I may post a few more in coming days. I haven’t decided. Sadly, this could be my last visit for a while.

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To The Empire

When you look up in the Palmer House you’re transported to another place. I’m not sure what or where it is, but it could be Cambodia. It reminds me of the end of Apocalypse Now – way up the river. But that could just be the potted ferns and all the color. Oh, and the dudes with the candles on their heads.

Two of these statues guard the staircase to The Empire Room, or as they spell it: THE EMPIRE ROOM – which sounds like it should be in New York. They’re very imposing. It makes you a little bit worrisome about climbing the staircase to the room, but it’s open. When you turn the doorknob you peek over your shoulder, because you’re surprised it opens. Nobody notices down below. You can go in. You can walk around. You can take photos.

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