Fish on the “L”

Yesterday I went to Chicago to photograph the band Kill Hannah for Kerrang.

These guys wear quite a bit of makeup and I thought it would be interesting to do a “fish out of water” shoot and bring them on the subway (locals call it “the L”).

We shot “guerilla style” and walked to the train while stopping to snap pics wherever I thought it might look good. I had two people holding lights for me and we only stopped traffic and got honked at about a half dozen times.

It was 20 degrees out, but they braved it without any complaints (except for Elias, who lives in Arizona!).

TRAVEL FUN: O’Hare is my least favorite airport in the US. It’s rare when there aren’t flight delays in Chicago and if you have a connection to catch it always seems that you land at gate A3 and have to get to Z48 in 5 minutes.

Yesterday my inbound flight was delayed, but not because of O’Hare. We were waiting for our flight attendant! Ugh.

I was about an hour late to the shoot, but the guys were still in makeup so no harm done there.

Trying to get out of Chicago was a bit tougher. The last Delta non-stop flight from O’Hare to JFK – two of the biggest airports in the country – is at 5:30pm. As we shot throughout the day, it was becoming apparent that I wasn’t going to make that flight – especially if you factor in the two hours of rush hour traffic.

I found a 7pm flight out of Midway airport that would fly me into LaGuardia. I’m gold medallion on Delta so changing my flight should be no problem, right?

First it took over 30 mins to get our car from the valet. I’m pretty sure they couldn’t find it. I spent the entire car ride on the phone with Delta, getting different answers about their ability to change the ticket and what it would cost. The problem was that my ticket was booked through the client’s travel agency in London.

The Delta rep actually took my number and said she would call me back – which she didn’t.

I wasn’t sure we would make it to the airport in time, but thanks to an illegal u-turn at the last minute, my assistant got me there at 6:25 – right before the 30 minute cut-off to check my bags.

I’ve always had more luck getting things done at the ticket counter rather than on the phone, so I ran inside, went to the counter and changed my ticket for $75. No problem. I even got my complimentary medallion first class upgrade. Whew.

The highlight of the evening – by far – was the incredible view as we approached Manhattan. I love the LaGuardia approach, but visibility can vary. This was a perfectly clear night and I could see the entire island lit up as we flew just east of the city. It was breathtaking.

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