At some point, I’ll have a post about why I love not just aerial photography but just flight, sitting in a window seat, staring at everything I can. There’s a psychological thing there and I recently learned it has a name.

In the meantime. In February 2018 I went to Austin to see some bands and some friends, and both flights were pretty awful trudges. But on the return trip, I had scored a super cheap upgrade to first class. We were late to board the plane, and I sat down in the first seat I saw, 3A. I was actually supposed to be sitting in a window seat on the other side, but whoever had seat 3A must have just shrugged.

As we flew over the lakeshore toward the lake, I got some really nice pictures of the South Loop and Museum Campus area. A couple of those will turn up here eventually. But, as we started to turn, those of us on the left realized what was going on across the entire field of view.

In this photo, the lakeshore runs from the Far South Side to the Far North Side. I’ve tried to figure out those streets on the north, converging into the distance; I think they’re Irving Park Road, Montrose Ave., Lawrence Ave., and Foster Ave.

But it isn’t hard to see why I love this photo; it’s just that knowing how this chance came after two long flights, each delayed by weather, returning into bitter cold, but there was the sunset lighting up both the clouds and the frozen lake. It will take a while, but there are other photos from this flight and approach that will turn up here.

February 11, 2018. Samsung S8+ cell phone, 4.25mm focal length (35mm equivalent: 26mm), f/1.7, 1/160, ISO 125.