I was scouting some photography locations in the South Loop one Saturday when I spotted a couple of hatchbacks headed toward a popular spot for photos. As a former VW owner, and a current Mazda owner, I instantly noticed the modified cars. I talked to the owners and got a chance to take some pictures with the Chicago skyline.

This location is one of the spots in Larry Chen’s Drift Cars in the Streets of Chicago video. It has become popular with photographers, but I had never checked it out myself. The train yard behind the lot leads to an unobstructed view of the Sears Tower.

The group was pressed for time so I had to work very quickly. I went with a tripod so I could do pictures with slow shutter speeds. The slow shutter helped me avoid grainy pictures and also helped me capture the detail of the buildings in the background. The downside was that it took a lot more time to set up shots and reposition things.

I was happy with the pics overall. I had no time to plan, so I was happy I got a dozen or so nice shots. I think I would switch to handheld shooting at some point the next time. Pushing up the ISO would lead to more grainy pics, but I would be able to get a lot more angles.

Mazdaspeed3: @blue.puu
GTI: @rabbit_mk7