Last week, on a snowy Sunday at Stone Tower Winery, Kevin and Rhoda spent an afternoon wine tasting and picnicking by the fire pit. Later in their day the couple went for a tour of the winery, and at a secluded spot outside the cellars, Kevin dropped to one knee and popped the question. After celebrating with some sparking wine, the newly engaged couple toured the winery with me for some portraits with the barrels and snow-covered vineyard hills in the background.
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The official photo blog of J. David Buerk Photography.
Christmastime in Chicago - The Complete Jaunt
By now you probably read about my small (read: big) obsession with Chicago O’Hare’s Terminal 3 and how ORD decorates it for Christmas, just like in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (Terminal 3 is seen in the original Home Alone, but without holiday decorations). I shared a glimpse of my early-December trip to Chicago before Christmas, highlighting these decorations at O’Hare. Today you get to see my entire journey to Chicago in December, not just the Christmas portions.
This was actually my second time to Chicago for a photography assignment at Chicago O’Hare International Airport in two months - my personal photos from my ATL-ORD-SFO trip in October are in progress; work assignment photos always come first. You’ll see the photos from that trip at some point this Spring, so you’re seeing these trips out of order. In October, due to the logistics of my photo assignments, I only had an evening free in Chicago before flying to San Francisco for the next photoshoot, and I was lucky to even get that. This time, in December, ORD was my only airport to cover, so I was able to schedule an extra day in case of weather or scheduling issues, allowing me to explore a city I’d never truly seen before.
Day 1: Arrival
All journeys have to start somewhere, and Dulles’ slogan is Your Journey Begins With Us - Steve and his team always deck out IAD with new additions every year. There was new colorful LED uplighting inside Eero Saarinen’s Main Terminal Building this year, but I never got to see it in person this year, departing in daylight. Here is Dulles’ Main Terminal AeroTrain station all set for Christmas!
I think everyone does this, but it’s always fun to spot places you know or frequent from the air. Living so close to Dulles, on this pattern I always see a shopping center I visit, but got to see my old high school from the air lit up for football thanks to a banking turn.
I always prefer a window seat anyway, but by far Chicago is one of the prettiest cities to see from the air at night. If you ever visit this city, you must get a window seat and arrive at night. Chicago is the only city I’ve truly been excited to specifically see from the air. This, my second time taking in Chicago’s sprawl, I was joined by a British Airways flight abeam my plane also on final. For about 5 minutes until we landed simultaneously I spotted the BA flight appearing and dissapearing in and out through the low cloud-cover above the peach glow of the sea of sodium lights below.
The Grid; a digital frontier. Maybe one day I’ll photograph the moonrise along the Chicago skyline in tribute to the masterful work of Ron Fricke and Godfrey Reggio.
My flight on United arrived in Terminal 1, and since it was nighttime upon landing and my photoshoot the next day was in the morning, I took an extra hour to walk all the way over to Terminal 3, stand in awe of the beautiful light display, take pictures of it, and walk all the way back to Terminal 1 to exit and claim my bag - this way I was sure to get photos of the decorations during night and daylight. Totally worth it, and a huge airport bucket-list item checked off. These lights are seen adorning walkways between Terminal 1 and 2.
Made famous in Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Terminal 3 is where the McCallisters perform the McCallister family travel tradition of springing to their gate. The McCallisters fly out of the K Gates in Home Alone, and the H Gates in Home Alone 2, while Kevin gets separated at the Y-split, boarding his flight to New York out of the K Gates. A fun factoid if you watch the movies closely is the Terminal 3 Christmas decorations only appear in Home Alone 2.
My travel days mostly only consist of traveling and getting settled in upon arrival. Before heading to the hotel to settle in, I got to say hello to the O’Hare dinosaur, watching over the silent Terminal on my way back to baggage claim to head to the hotel. I chose a different hotel this time because I had nothing but logistic problems with the hotel I stayed at in October. Not only did I get a deal on the room, but this one was much closer, and on the off-chance their airport shuttle didn’t run like the shuttle at my previous hotel, this one has rail service and is only one stop from the airport. This hotel was much more convenient and gave me reliable and quick transportation.
Day 2: Photoshoot
During my photoshoot the next day, I got to see Terminal 3’s decorations in daylight; I’d expected and looked forward to this, becuase Christmas lights turn me into a wide-eyed little kid. It’s beautiful at night and during the day for different and unique reasons.
Day 3: Downtown Chicago
The day after my photoshoot was free for flexibility or inclement weather, so I decided to go downtown and explore some of the places I didn’t get to in October. This time I had a few destinations in mind, but was content to explore without a rush. In contrast to having only a handful of hours beginning at sunset in October, I had an entire day, which let me explore in daylight. The sun did nothing, however to counteract the single-digit temperatures I was braving this time around.
A few blocks from the subway, my first planned desination was the Christkindlmarket Chicago; a German Christmas market serving German food and selling German Christmas wares.
After eating some bratwurst, a stuffed pretzel, and some hot chocolate with Krampus, I set off toward Navy Pier, and decided to stop by Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate along the way; I’d photographed Cloud Gate at night in October (one of only three stops I had planned and successfully squeezed in in October), but decided to see it in daylight as well since I wasn’t too far from it.
My impression of Cloud Gate is that it is more beautiful on a clear day like this one, but the experience is more enjoyable at night due to much fewer people. Millenium Park also had sections blocked off for Christmas light displays which hadn’t been present to obstruct some views whe I was here in October.
The reflection of the skyline is mesmorizing. Going underneath “the bean” absorbs all the city din, only reflecting echos of gabbing passersby.
Obligatory selfie reflection on “the bean.”
I noticed the fancy scroll architecture in October, but didn’t wander over to see what it was; I imagine seeing a concert here is like across between Wolf Trap and Merriweather Post Pavillion.
Also of interest was stumbling onto the NBC building in Chicago; I didn’t know they had one, but it’s interesting to me since I’ve been inside 30 Rock and toured sets of some of their shows including The Doctors, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and Saturday Night Live.
If the Maggie Daley Ice Skating Ribbon had been open while I was there, I’d have actually considered trying a few laps on it. (Ice is how I dislocated my knee and tore my MPFL requiring reconstruction in 2017, so this is quite the statement). I’ve only been ice skating twice in my life, and I’ve alwyas wanted to try it again. Doing so alone in a city you don’t reside or even know anyone in would have been pretty risky, so in reality I probably wouldn’t have done it. But maybe I would have.
I’d been reccomended visiting Navy Pier; a contact from my photoshoot the day before, a life-long Chicagoan, told me there was lots to do at Navy Pier, likening it to Pier 39 in San Francisco (which a life-long San Francisoan from my photoshoot at SFO reccomended I visit). I was also recomended a few specific hot dog joints, but none of them were convenient to visit along my path.
Arriving at Navy Pier, it was completely deserted - it was single-digits out after all. It looked like the building itself was locked up to me, so it wasn’t until I’d walked halfway down the pier that I saw a small group come out some doors, showing me there actually was an interior I could get to (and more importantly, warmth!). I warmed up and continued to the end of the pier to see what was at the end; all I found was a kids’ Santa Claus event - Navy Pier had been made out to me to be a lot more with a lot more going on than it actually was; during the Summer I’m sure that’s the case, but not in early December.
I stepped outside at the end of the pier just in time for sunset.
Now that I knew there was an interior to Navy Pier, I backtracked in warmth, and found out there was a small mall section I’d completely missed. Staying warm a few minutes longer, I got my first bag of Garrett Mix.
Ready to brave the cold again, I head back West to Michigan Avenue. Given that I was cold and doing a lot of walking, I’d sworn off shopping this trip, but The Magnificent Mile is still a Chicago staple, nothing is stopping me from window shopping, and it was a direct route to the pizza shop I had planned this time around. That, and I wanted to see the Christmas lights along Michigan Avenue; this was the Christmas parade route, after all.
Since night fell, and the Christmas lights were on, I went into full Kevin McCallister mode and set out hunting Christmas trees. In doing so I passed The Wrigley Building, a huge Apple Store, and Tribune Tower, which has a fascinating history.
Finally, toward the North end of Michigan Avenue (and after a short trip through Water Tower Place), I hit the motherlode.
What I didn’t realize until I turned the corner is what building I was standing in the shadow of. I’d photographed it twice now already; Chicago’s iconic 875 North Michigan Avenue, more ubiquitously known by its former name, The John Hancock Center.
Visiting this tower wasn’t part of the loose plan I’d assembled, but that’s the point of having a loose plan - unplanned fun. Two months prior I’d gone up the 110 story tall Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower; the first and primary stop I had planned in my October jaunt downtown), but I found the view from the 100 story tall John Hancock Center more impressive.
And there is Navy Pier from 94 stories up; remember, I walked all the way from the end of that pier (and further to get there, actually; my only subway usage this jaunt was to get to downtown and to get back to my hotel in Rosemont).
Far and away the dumbest thing I heard was while photographing the Eastern side; two girls, about my age, were also taking pictures on their phones, and upon rounding the corner to the East side one exclaimed, “Oh my God, something happened! Something’s wrong with the city! This side of the city is has a complete blackout!”
You could hear she was scared; I didn’t say anything - I wanted to hear how deep this well of stupidity went. The other girl was confused at first too, but took about 60 seconds to realize, and explain to the first girl that, “I think that’s the water.”
Without missing a beat, she replied, “but where are the lights?!”
“I don’t think people live on the water.”
”But, shouldn’t there be boats? What happened to the boats? Look, everyone’s trying to get out of the city.”
No folks; it’s Winter, and sunset was around 4.30 - it’s just rush hour on a Friday in Chicago.
After that astonishing display of naivety, and walking the city all day with only light fare in my stomach, it was time to finish the last few blocks and hit my last planned stop: dinner at Lou Malnati’s. I needed food, and I needed it quick, becuase my cue to leave John Hancock Center was a quickly forming migraine, and I didn’t have migraine meds with me downtown. I was hoping food would stave it off, since I’m sure it was caused by dehydration and poor diet.
The pizza was fantastic, by the way.
And to finish my day off, the food did nothing to slow the migraine, and after 45min waiting to get into Lou’s, an hour and a half eating, 15min waiting for the train, and an hour ride back to Rosemont, my migraine was way beyond any intervention. It was the first migraine I’d had in over 2 months, and the worst migraine I had all year.
Day 4: Departure
I only managed about 2 hours of sleep; after at least 8 hours of excruciating pain in my pitch black hotel room, I managed to fall asleep, and woke up with the post-migraine haze I experience when the pain has passed, but I still have cognitive fog while the tail end of the migraine clears up.
The killer headache the night before meant I hadn’t packed, so after a shower I rushed to fit what is usually a 1hr organized exercise into a 20min disorganized frenzy to pack and catch the hotel airport shuttle... hopefully. Luckily I was right on time to catch it. And although I was arriving to the airport a full hour later than I normally would prefer, I still had a half hour to safely get something to eat near my gate. Among other things, I finally got my Chicago-style hot dog since I never got one the day before.
The snow-dusted Shenandoah mountains was a fitting sight to end my trip; I’d spotted snow flying over the Sierra Nevada mountain range on my return trip from San Francisco two months prior.
Christmastime in Chicago
It’s no secret that one of my all-time favorite Christmas movies is Home Alone (1 and 2). So when I confirmed a photoshoot at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport scheduled for December, I was elated. I’d just had a photoshoot at O’Hare (and two other airports) two months prior, but visiting ORD in December meant I would get to see O’Hare’s Terminal 3 decked out for Christmas. Made famous in Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Terminal 3 is where the McCallisters perform the McCallister family travel tradition of springing to their gate. The McCallisters fly out of the K Gates in Home Alone, and the H Gates in Home Alone 2, while Kevin gets separated at the Y-split, boarding his flight to New York out of the K Gates. A fun factoid if you watch the movies closely is the Terminal 3 Christmas decorations only appear in Home Alone 2.
My flight on United arrived in Terminal 1, and since it was nighttime upon landing and my photoshoot the next day was in the morning, I took an extra hour to walk all the way over to Terminal 3, stand in awe of the beautiful light display, take pictures of it, and walk all the way back to Terminal 1 to exit and claim my bag - this way I was sure to get photos of the decorations during night and daylight. Totally worth it, and a huge airport bucket-list item checked off.
By the way, all these photos were shot on the all-new Canon EOS R, which I will be reviewing in the coming weeks; I had promised a review on Instagram during this trip, but due to migraine and now ongoing shoulder spasm and deadlines, this has been backburnered.
At the hotel I got some editing done after making my room a bit more… festive.
The day after my photoshoot was free for flexibility or inclement weather, so I decided to go downtown and explore some of the places I didn’t get to in October. I started at the Christkindlmarket Chicago, a German Christmas market serving German food and selling German Christmas wares. After eating some bratwurst, a stuffed pretzel, and some hot chocolate with Krampus, I embodied Kevin McCallister and set out hunting Christmas trees.
I started at Millennium Park, photographing Cloud Gate in daylight (since I photographed it at night in October), and worked my way along Michigan Avenue en route to the pizza joint which some of my O’Hare contacts had recommended for dinner.
This led me to 875 North Michigan Avenue (AKA John Hancock Center), which provided some fantastic views of the city to pair with my night aerials from my October trip up Willis Tower (AKA Sears Tower). These photos will come along later, but I found it interesting I recognized this space at the building’s base before I realized what building I was standing beside.
Christmas in St. Louis, 2017
As many of you know, much of my family lives in St. Louis, Missouri. As always, I took along my camera, however given my still-recovering knee I brought it with no intentions of photographing anything in particular; my plan was to sit and let it heal, and that's largely what I did. I did, however, shoot some photos as I saw them, so I'm including some highlights of my trip here.
Before I could leave town, however, I had to find someone to care for the bonsai Alyssa gave me. I may have decorated it beforehand though...
Roadtripping there led to I-70 to visit with Bernie and Natalie in Indianapolis while there was clear weather along the Northern route. First though was a stop at a West Virginia rest area with an overlook of the carved-through mountain. This mountain pass is usually completely coated in shimmering ice by December, so it was a new sight to see its bare rock in direct sunlight.
Next stop was seeing Bernie and Natalie at a Steak N Shake not far from their home in Indianapolis. Interestingly, we've done this enough times that some of the wait staff recognize us now, and gave us free coffee for the road. Can you say *you're* a regular at a restaurant 600 miles away?
Upon arrival in St. Louis I may have decorated my hotel room...
I've developed somewhat of a tradition of taking my cousin Carrie's kids out each year to see the latest Star Wars. This year, however, I had been doing a bit of punking and when they asked me when we were going to see The Last Jedi I told Ryan and Alex I'd already seen it a few days earlier (true). "But we always go!" Sarcastically feigning pain, "Ow, my knee *really* hurts... I don't think I can see it..."
And then I started in on the mix of spoilers: Han Solo dies! Luke drinks green milk fresh from a teat... then he tickles Rey's hand with a leaf! It's just like Battlestar Galactica except there's no whiteboard! Kylo Ren kills Han Solo, and boy oh boy do I have some bad news for you about Carrie Fisher... BOOM!!! *feigns gasping for air*
Obviously you wouldn't know what of that is true or false unless you've seen the movie; little did they know it's all true... but with a 2 ton asterisk on the end, and none of it is central to the plot. Also little did they know I'd already bought the tickets. So, Christmas morning came and I'd given them a Christmas card simply signed "Han Solo dies!!!" inside, with the tickets to Star Wars, Episode VIII: The Last Jedi in 3D for the next day. The reaction of them realizing what it was was pretty worth it.
Fast forward a few days to my mom's birthday, and we're all sitting around my grandpa's kitchen table visiting with him. He's 98, and last year I gave him prints of some aerial photos I've taken, and pictures of me taking some of them; he's always been intrigued by flight, and is always asking what kind of aviation stuff I'm taking pictures of, so it was a fitting gift - I think he lives vicariously through me a little since I've been on some flights he didn't even get to experience in the Army. This year I accidentally left this year's new prints at the hotel on Christmas, so I instead gave him the prints a few days later; it was for the best - he was more awake and focused than on Christmas with all the tiring activity.
This part really made my day - this is my 98 year old grandfather reading an article on AirlineGeeks.com profiling me and my marketing photography work in the aviation industry. Here is my only remaining grandparent soaking in every word of an article about me. His only question was "what is a Plane Pull?" I showed him pictures and explained the charity event.
This was almost a two week trip, but it flew right by, and as you've seen I don't have too terribly many photos to share from it due to my own preference of rehabbing my knee (12-weeks post MPFL Reconstruction surgery as of that week), and extreme caution to avoid ice and any slippery footing; St. Louis always harsher, more annoying Winters than DC - almost every day it is in the teens or single digits, accompanied by freezing rain, snow, or sleet. There were only ~2 days of the entire stay that didn't have some kind of Winter precipitation - not a welcome sight for post-op knee safety, even if at 12 weeks my gracilis tendon has *in theory* fused with my bones and become a new ligament.
That same Winter weather was tracking North, so the I-64 Southern route was the obvious choice to return to DC. St. Louis has a lot of decay in certain areas; I find it beautiful, although those aren't areas I would recommend going on a touristy photo-walk unless you're an experienced urban explorer (I am not). The highway out of town takes you straight past some of these spots, so I always love seeing the decaying abandoned industrial buildings leaving St. Louis and into Illinois.
Later, in Kentucky, one of the rest areas just a few miles from the Woodford Reserve Distillery had a display of Kentucky Whiskey memorabilia and selections from local vineyards. I'm much more of a scotch person, but I think I'd really enjoy visiting the Woodford Reserve Distillery.
Finally, some sights heading into Louisville, Kentucky; it's always seemed like it would be a really cool city to explore and perhaps even live in, but I've never understood why a city most famous for its baseball bats only has a AAA team which feeds into an Ohio team.
I've seen a few sitting in parking lots, but I've mostly only seen these when I visit the Infiniti dealer for service; this is the first time I've spotted a CV37 generation Infiniti Q60 driving on the road. I do kinda like it, but it still just seems like a mashup of BMW 4 Series / Mazda 6 / Honda Accord to me; in other words, as a whole, unoriginal. There is also the glaring omission of a manual transmission option. I'll spare you the full car review, but I have quite a few complaints about the interior as well. That all said, it's still a really sharp looking car.
Hands down my favorite sight along I-64 is this oil refinery; the steam is always distinctive and visible for miles, and between the steam clouds and thousands of sodium lamps, it's roadside industrial Christmas. This is the first time I've ever seen them burning off excess gas; the industrial candle lit the lumbering overhead plumes even brighter, adding depth with its flicker.
That night, while editing some photos, I again felt compelled to decorate my hotel room; these AA powered Christmas lights are the best $7 I spent all of 2017! They served as the perfect nightlight while editing that evening (the room lamps were all just too bright), and the perfect warmup in my groggy, pre-coffee state the next morning.
By morning the band of snow in the North had swirled down and reached an arm down to the I-64 corridor; the <1" of accumulation was welcome in comparison to the >36" the same storm had dropped in a matter of hours North in Pennsylvania overnight.
West Virginia's capital building has always drawn me to visit, but I still haven't had the chance. It looks very beautiful, from the quick glimpses you spot it passing through Charleston.
Black Friday: 25% Off Portraits and Engagement Sessions
The Black Friday Sale
25% Off Portrait and Engagement Sessions
This offer is not applicable for commercial work / commercial business clients, weddings, newborns, pets, or existing bookings. Portrait sessions are booked per hour, and headshot / professional portrait sessions are priced by delivered volume. Sessions must be booked for a date before March 1st, 2018. Deposit is due at time of booking confirmation and is non-refundable. Discounted rates are applicable to photography session fee only; discount does not apply to any other fees, including but not limited to permits, parking, travel, or print products.
Holiday portraits with deadlines (ex: Holiday Cards and prints), please say so upfront; space for these sessions is very limited, as deadlines must be given consideration.
Hurry; this deal ends 12:01AM Friday, December 1st, 2017 (or if no more openings are available; whichever comes first)! Understand that holiday volume makes December slots sell out first; this posting will be updated if December sessions are no longer available for December holiday delivery. I also reserve the right to decline an inquiry if I feel your needs don't match up with my photography.
