Coyote Tower

The Northwest Tower, popularly known as the Coyote Building, is a 12-story art deco building in the Bucktown neighborhood in Chicago. It was completed 1929 and is considered the first art deco skyscraper in Chicago. In the 1980's it became home to the Tower Coyote Gallery, reportedly named because artists thought the building resembled a howling coyote. The picture was taken at the Damen stop on the Chicago 'L' Blue Line. Canon G11, 1/500 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 200.

Stuffed Pizza

Today we took the Near North Food Tour in Chicago. We visited the Gold Coast, Old Town and Lincoln Park neighborhoods and had a great time. This is Ariana our cultural tour guide from Chicago Food Planet dishing up a spinach and cheese stuffed pizza at out last stop, Bacino's Pizza on North Lincoln Ave. Check out more pictures from our great walking tour. Tomorrow, another food tour at Bucktown and Wicker Park - yum! Canon 7D, 1/60 sec @ f/4.0, ISO 400, pop-up flash used for fill.

Favrile Glass

This is a close up of the Favrile glass tiles in the ceiling of the old Marshall Fields department store, now Macy's, on State Street in Chicago. The store opened in September 1907, and included a Tiffany Ceiling that is both the first and largest ceiling ever built in favrile glass, containing over 1.6 million pieces. Favrile glass is a type of iridescent art glass designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany. The color is ingrained in the glass itself with distinctive coloring. Favrile glass was used in Tiffany's stained-glass windows. Here's another picture showing the whole ceiling six stories up. Canon G11, 1/20 sec @ f/6.3, ISO 400.

Unity Skylight

We visited Frank Lloyd Wright's modern masterpiece the Unity Temple in Oak Park Illinois today. This is the view looking up at the Wright designed ceiling light screens. This is unlike any church I've ever seen and it was designed in 1905. It was simply awe inspiring. Canon G11, 1/1250 sec @ f/4.0, ISO 400.

Arches

The arched and curved colonnade at the Ferguson Center on the campus of Christopher Newport University in Newport News Virginia. The center was designed by world renown architect I. M. Pei and his firm Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. Canon 40D, 1/2000 sec @ f/3.2, ISO 160.

Bored

- This is what happens when I arrive for conference session and it starts 20 minutes late, I end up taking strange pictures of hotel ballroom lighting fixtures. Canon G11, 1/125 sec @ f/4.0, ISO 400.

202 Days

The 21 story, 500-room Hilton Palacio del Rio hotel was designed, completed and occupied in an unprecedented period of 202 working days. Built in 1968 for the Texas World's Exposition, HemisFair on San Antonio's River Walk, the modular construction techniques allowed the pre-built rooms to placed by crane in just 46 days. This view at night shows the River Walk, hotel to the left and lightsabers to right. Canon G11, 1 second @ f/4.5, ISO 200 on a tripod.