Chicago, my ideal city: the captivating photos of Barry Butler

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Who gets up early, the lake helps (Courtesy: Barry Butler Photography)

(CNN Spanish) - An hour and a half before dawn, Barry Butler begins his journey that will take him to take the most impressive photographs of the Chicago cityscape in recent years.

A magical path in Ireland, perhaps the one that uses an elf (Courtesy: Barry Butler Photography)

Born in Ireland and resident in Chicago, from a young age he learned that in life everything comes to his time. His passion is ice hockey and that passion changed his destiny. During a game, 25 years ago, he received a blow that severely fractured his collarbone.

Barry Butler, a fracture changed her life (Courtesy: Barry Butler Photography)

"To great evils, great remedies"

With his collarbone shattered and with eight months unable to do much with one arm, Butler bought a camera and a tripod that would serve as his arm, and thus learned the trade.

Remember that these were times when you had to buy a movie to take pictures. A mistake was expensive and to see the photo you had to wait for it to be revealed.

“It was a good way to start because with film one had to learn to take a picture and do it well. That is why today it is easy for me to take the photo, download the material on the computer and, in about 30 seconds, publish it on social networks for people to enjoy, ”he says.

Thousands of followers of their accounts on Facebook, Twitter (@ barrybutler9) and Instagram (barrybutler) await the photographic surprise of the day. His friends urged him to create a website for the public to enjoy his work.

Butler says he doesn't manipulate the photographs and that he intends to show an authentic version of what he saw and what he photographs.

A whimsical dawn in Chicago (Courtesy: Barry Butler Photography)

American photographer Ansel Adams said: "A photograph is obtained knowing where to stand." Barry Butler learned to know where he would stop when, after an internship on a local radio, he got a job as a traffic reporter that included going to work on board a helicopter.

Chicago, the ideal city

From the heights he learned to understand the geography of Chicago and began to pay attention to the range of colors of sunrise and sunset that illuminate the broken city skyline and Lake Michigan.

The photographs published on social networks at least twice a day are the result of careful planning that begins 24 hours in advance and updates throughout the day.

Who gets up early, the lake helps (Courtesy: Barry Butler Photography)

“I check the weather information. For me, clouds are important because they give texture and personality, winds and all the variables that can make a photo something special, ”he says. And he adds: “I will also explore the place because, especially in the winter, the landscape changes often. I have to make sure what I will find the next day because I don't like surprises. ”

Another factor to consider is coordination because sometimes the image you want to capture takes a long time.

For the photographer, he says, the important thing is to know how to use time.

“I am on site one hour before dawn and I can take photos until half an hour after the sun rises. Taking the photo itself takes only about 45 minutes or less, depending on how the conditions develop. ”

“The most important thing in photography is patience”

“It's like a painter who not only needs to work the painting by putting some colors and removing a little from here or there to do his work. The same goes for photography, I dedicate time for the photo to come out. Once taken, I stay a few minutes because you never know what can happen, ”he emphasizes.

In addition to patience, photography has taught Butler to be flexible because, although he has a prepared plan and knows that in some cases he only has a few minutes to take a photo, an unforeseen may appear that may become an iconic photo.

Be flexible

The stranger who was about to ruin the shot (Courtesy: Barry Butler Photography)

A gentle sunset in the fall of 2013, when he was waiting for the right moment to start taking his photos on the boardwalk of Lake Michigan, a man who walked there crossed the session.

“I had planned this shot, I knew the sun would be at an angle that would illuminate the golden leaves of the tree in the fall, in November. I wanted to show the sheets in the photo. I waited and waited and just when the sun was going to illuminate the leaves, this man appears walking from here to there. He was 15 meters from where I was. I must confess that I thought many swear words because I only had 10 minutes for my shot and this man was going to ruin my picture, ”Butler recalls enthusiastically.

He adds: “I thought he would leave for me to take my picture, but he sat on the bench. I was stunned. He sat in the right place and, quickly, I had to recompose the photo, I zoomed in and took it. Maybe he sat for about 10 seconds and left. It was a single photo. ”

So far, Butler doesn't know who the man was. After taking the picture he saw the viewfinder of his camera and when he looked up, the man had disappeared.

“For me, that moment highlights the importance of being patient and not letting things fall apart. As in photography, you can plan everything you want, but life can give us surprises, but you can face crises, things will be resolved, ”he reflects.

Butler recalls that soon after, the mayor's office changed the entire configuration of the area where he took the photo. He believes that the image is unique and that he feels fortunate to have captured it.

In the same way that Mother Nature in Chicago offers a colorful fall, winters can be raw cold and for some, like Barry Butler, they are paradise.

Good equipment and good clothes to withstand the cold of Chicago (Courtesy: Barry Butler Photography)

Armed with a good photographic equipment that can withstand polar temperatures and special clothing that provides shelter at temperatures of -73 ° C, Butler enjoyed the 2019 polar vortex. Chicago broke low temperature records.

The temperature in Chicago broke records during the 2019 polar vortex (Courtesy: Barry Butler Photography)

"It only lasted three days"

With temperatures that reached 30 ° C below zero and the thermal sensation of 47 ° C below zero, several companies and Chicago schools closed.

“A professional camera allows you to be outside, not to take better photos”

Barry Butler and his camera were out taking stunning images that captured the attention of local and national television stations.

A unique moment Sunrise during the polar vortex, lake steam and a thermal sensation of -47 ° C (Courtesy: Barry Butler Photography)

“The landscape changed every hour. The wonderful steam caused by opposite water and air temperatures. The river and the lake were frozen. It was a really magical moment, ”recalls Butler.

“The mixture of steam rising from Lake Michigan and the rising sun created unusual colors. When I took the picture I loved it, I told myself it was going to be special. When I saw her, the first thing I thought was that she looked like a painting by (Claude) Monet, ”he says.

Patagonia, spectacular

The Perito Moreno Glacier left Barry Butler speechless (Courtesy: Barry Butler Photography)

After the winter of Chicago, Barry Butler traveled to South America for the first time. He maintains that the landscapes of Chilean and Argentine Patagonia are surprising and a challenge for the planning and patience of a photographer because the mountains have their own climate system.

In Argentina, his plan was to photograph the sunset over the Perito Moreno glacier, but the clouds had a surprise.

Butler says: "The cloud was circling, almost like a tornado, suddenly that thing opens and the sun rises through the mountain and a halo appears."

The lenticular cloud was indescribable, he says. And he thought there could be nothing better than that landscape. I had not seen anything like it in the United States or Ireland.

Butler awaits the right moment to start taking the photos in the company of his assistants Ajax and Tuskar (Courtesy: Barry Butler Photography)

Every sunrise and sunset, Barry Butler will be somewhere in Chicago, waiting patiently for the whimsical nature to wear their best and colorful finery for the enjoyment of thousands of people.