A foggy morning at Montrose Beach, Chicago
The Chicago lakefront on a Saturday morning in January was fogged in, and living less than a mile from the lake, I really wanted to get over there and take some shots. This area, known as Montrose Beach, offers a variety of scenery including views of downtown Chicago to the south, the lake to the east, a bird sanctuary, a lengthy curving concrete jetty, boat docks, and several fields with trees. I’ve been there many times, but on this morning thanks to the fog, it took on a completely different mood and appearance thanks to the limited visibility. I took these photos with my Fuji X70, and had a fantastic time walking around, watching others fade into view within the fog as they walked on the beach. It was an oddly warm January day – 60 degrees by midday – otherwise I’m not sure I would have been out there. Near the larger part of the beach, small pools had formed either from melted snow and ice, or from lake water that had flowed in and gotten trapped. In the fog, it resembled a moonscape; monochrome in every direction with the fog limiting the view to maybe 100 yards or less. It felt like everything warranted a photo, just to capture this usually familiar landscape looking so strange and mysterious. After about an hour, as I got in the car and drove west, the fog was gone, as if timed to remind me I took advantage of moment and made the most of it before it became a typical Saturday morning. Many more photos to come. This might have been one of my favorite quick photo outings in quite some time.
