We spoke to Sonja Weiss better known on Instagram as @badluckbae and shared with us the story behind two of her favorite photographs taken in Chicago.
Taken with DJI Magic Pro and Polar Pro DJI Magic ND8/PL filter.
“I live in Chicago but work in the north suburbs, so I spend a good two plus hours driving back and forth from work each day. While driving home last spring I spotted a low fog covering the city.
I rushed home to grab my boyfriend and my gear. Hopped on a ride to Michigan Ave. By this time another photographer friend met us north of the Hancock building and we sent our drones up to get a better look.
I shoot fog quite a bit, however, the fog on this day was some of the best I had ever seen. I noticed a smooth patch of fog snaking its way around the 900 N. Michigan shops and snapped a few shots.
Late afternoon was approaching and daylight was limited so I decided to head to the lake and try to catch the late afternoon shadows, something I had been trying to capture with fog for quite some time.
Foggy days can get a bit dreary in Chicago, so the conditions needed to be just right to capture both low fog and shadows at the same time. After practically jogging to Milton Olive Park we sent our drones up and sure enough, there were shadows.
Most of the city was covered in thick low fog, but the sky was otherwise sunny and clear. The shadows from the skyscrapers were very clearly imprinted on the low clouds, I literally couldn’t believe I had gotten so lucky.
However, our luck was short lived as several people had taken notice of our drones and notified security. We quickly grabbed our shots and landed our drones just in time for the police to drive through the park to search for us.
Stealthily stashing our gear, we made our exit from the park where I made a terrible decision to send my drone up one last time. Unfortunately, the wind had picked up by this point and as soon as I launched my drone began to drift away. My boyfriend ran after it and caught my drone midair injuring both of his hands but saving my drone.”
Lesson 1: Do not try to catch your drone if it’s flying out of control.
Lesson 2: Don’t fly when it’s windy.
Taken with Fujifilm X-T3 and Fujifilm XF 16-55mm F2.8 LM WR lens.
“At that point light was rapidly fading and my luck had obviously run out, so we raced to 360 Chicago in hopes of catching sunset. Turns out there was a photo meet up at Hancock that evening, so it was more crowded than usual. Everyone was armed with a cameras and tripods, taking up the all the prime window space.
On the bright side I ran into quite a few friends I hadn’t seen in a while, witnessed an epic sunset and managed to grab a few shots on my camera. This sunset shot of the 900 N. Michigan shops shows the rippled texture of the fog and the vibrance of the sunset.
It had gotten quite late at this point and I had work early the next morning, so we left 360 Chicago and grabbed a cab home, or so we thought. The fog had dropped to street level making quite a scene with the city lights. We stopped the cab, hopped out and continued shooting.
We shot at street level for another hour and finally headed home, exhausted but happy. None of my sunset fog adventures in Chicago have come close to this day. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a long time before we see anything like it. I feel very fortunate we were able to capture it.”