Then & Now Art®: Water Tower - Chicago, IL [1950's/2016]

Then & Now Art®: Water Tower - Chicago, IL [1950's/2016]

Years: 1950's & 2016 = 60+ years in transition.

One of the few buildings to survive The Chicago Fire of 1871.

This image was a VERY fun image to blend together.  There were so many bricks from the buildings that were identical when comparing the two images.  The other interesting part about this blend is that from the original photograph there were no buildings standing behind the Water Tower itself.  If you look closely, you can actually see how the bricks change from black and white to color seamless across the entire image. Blending this image was something that resembles a coloring book.  The black and white area was the blank page and the Now image was my color palette.

Another difficult part of this image was the tree branches that were through the top part of my image. You can see the photoshopping that I did below:

To purchase this image, you can click here: 

https://thenandnowstore.com/collections/chicago-series-collection/products/then-now-art®-water-tower-chicago-il-1950s-2016

Then & Now Art®: Buckingham Fountain - Chicago, IL [1941/2016]

Then & Now Art®: Buckingham Fountain - Chicago, IL 

Years: 1941 & 2016 = 75 years in transition!

This image is really special to me.  I often use this image for a reference when i'm telling a customer about how we photograph our Now photo at the same time as the Then photograph.  When you capture your new photo at the exact same time as the old photo it makes it much easier to blend the image, which its more of an official recreation of the original as well.  

In this image, if you look closely at the two groups of people, you can see that their shadows are falling in the same direction, and also at the same length.  

To buy this image, follow the link below: 

https://thenandnowstore.com/collections/chicago-series-collection/products/then-now-art®-buckingham-fountain-chicago-il-1941-2016

Then & Now Art®: Michigan Avenue - Chicago, IL [1925/2015]

This image went over smoothly.  It was pretty easy to get to, and very easy to tell where the photographer had been standing in the past.  Being able to photograph the iconic lions of The Art Institute was a real treat for me.  Then it was all about the people, and where to place them.  Below you can find a zoomed in version of both photographs of the same area of the photograph.  

A zoomed in comparison of both the Then and the Now images:

Then & Now Art®: Buckingham Fountain - Chicago, IL [1941/2016]

Then & Now Art®: Buckingham Fountain - Chicago, IL [1941/2016]

Years: 1941 & 2016 = 75 years in transition. 

This is one of my personal favorite blended image.  I often use this as an example to show how its important for me to photograph the Now image at the exact time of day as the Then image. 

In the image above you will notice, if you look at the two groups of peoples' shadows, that the shadows are falling the in exact same direction and length.  This is very important, as it allows you to more easily blend the Then to the Now of each image.

To purchase this image, click here: 

https://thenandnowstore.com/collections/chicago-series-collection/products/then-now-art®-buckingham-fountain-chicago-il-1941-2016

Then & Now: La Crosse, Wisconsin - Pearl Street 1939 & 2015

Then & Now: La Crosse, Wisconsin - Pearl Street

Years: 1939 & 2015

Span: 76 Years

Then & Now: Chicago, IL - State Street View (Marshall Fields, Macy's, Chicago Theater)

Then & Now: Chicago, IL - State Street View

Years: 1930 & 2015

85 years in transition!

Then & Now: Chicago, Illinois - Lake Shore Drive

Then & Now: Chicago, Illinois - Lake Shore Drive

Years: 1905 / 2014

In the early 1900s Lake Shore Drive was extremely close to the waters edge of Lake Michigan, as seen here in Lincoln Park, circa 1905. Chicago would end up extending itself eastward with landfill in a counterattack on Lake Michigan's persistent erosion of the shoreline.

"Both a boulevard and one of the nation's first superhighways, Lake Shore Drive arguably showcases Chicago like no other street does. The campaign for a waterfront boulevard occurred in 1899, when Potter Palmer asked for a street improvement in front of his mansion at 1350 N Lake Shore Drive. The Tribune reported, "Mr. Palmer said he would not object to putting a sea wall farther out into the lake and having a strip of land filled."

City fathers considered that newly created acreage ripe for development, but not Montgomery Ward, the merchandising genius who created the mail-order industry. A contemporary of Palmer's, he fought numerous lawsuits to keep the lakefront "forever open, clear and free."The result is a Lake Shore Drive flanked by beaches, parks and athletic fields, instead of the warehouses, piers and industries that line the waterfronts of other Great Lakes cities, such as Milwaukee and Cleveland." - Chicago Tribune