Finding Value in the Honeycomb Beyond the Chicago Skyline

How do you try to set yourself apart from the rest? The Honeycomb in Chicago’s Lincoln Park is one of the most popular photo spots in the city. If you check this image online, you’ll be seeing a similar image over and over and over again. It’s a bit disappointing. We’ll explore this popular shot, and how to find value beyond it.

What’s Lincoln Park Anyway?

Let’s start with location. The Honeycomb is in Chicago’s Lincoln Park (also its neighborhood), a 1200-acre park running along Lake Michigan and is five miles from downtown. It’s a popular pathway to ride your bicycle, walk, jog, and even roller blade. The park itself is home to a conservatory, zoo, and lots of statues alongside nature. A popular entry spot is close to the Chicago History Museum. I previously explored a different part of lincoln park as i came across shakespeare’s Statue.

Lincoln Park, the neighborhood, is beautiful whether looking at nature or city. Given its proximity to the lake and park, and viewpoint of the urban skyline, this Northside upper-class neighborhood is incredibly popular. I highly recommend taking a walk simply for the architecture. It’s one of Chicago’s oldest neighborhoods with the architecture to match.

The Honeycomb – The Structure

The Honeycomb is a nickname due to its appearance. Similar to the Bean, the official name of the Honeycomb isn’t typically used among locals. People’s Gas Education Pavilion doesn’t have as nice a ring to it as the Honeycomb.

America’s nonchalant attitude about selling naming rights, while losing historical and cultural significance, has forced locals into a protective move. Perhaps due to Chicago’s heartbreak over the renaming the Sears Tower and Comiskey Park, locals stick to nicknames for popular buildings.

The Honeycomb was created by architecture firm Studio Gang in 2010. It is a popular spot for proposals, engagement photos, and even wedding ceremonies.

The Honeycomb – The Popular Shot

So what is the marvelous shot I’m trying to avoid? Despite the building being an interesting structure for its honeycomb like design, it’s the image through the structure that makes it so popular. As mentioned earlier, the Chicago skyline has a viewpoint in Lincoln Park. When looking at the Honeycomb (perhaps down on one knee), you capture the skyline through the Honeycomb.

Variations include from how far you’re taking the picture. Some like to get the shot from a distance so you’re mostly seeing an outline of the structure with the skyline. Others like to get closer to capture from the midpoint to get a better view of the buildings. And others like to get the Honeycomb interior as the main focus, while still pulling in the Chicago skyline in the middle. It depends how much of the Honeycomb you want in the shot.

Yet, the main shot is always head on. The structure itself is incredibly interesting to see in an image, and I find myself still aiming for the skyline to be distracting. The Honeycomb strong enough to be the only focus of the picture.

Where do you start? Take the popular shot.

Before you start to do anything different, make sure to get the traditional shot. It’s a bit checking-off-a-box, but good to have. Certain shots are sometimes mandatory. But the traditional shot is your starting point, your floor. Never your ceiling. Don’t settle for the popular shot to be the end all. Always keep yourself to a higher standard. Because you’re likely missing out if you’re goal is getting the one shot everyone else is getting. Get that shot, and then capture some more.

I had this exact problem while visiting the uS capitol in washington DC in trying to photography the dome in a way i hadn’t seen before (or as much).

This is it for me, it’s off center. Not sure what the problem was getting centered. I’m sure it was the architecture; this was the best view for me. It still had the curvy interior lines, but no fiberglass. That would’ve been a nice contrast. I took more pictures from the end of the Honeycomb, still aimed at the skyline but the light framing on top didn’t do much for me.

How do you look at things differently?

Look through your camera

Once you get your popular shot, not start taking a look around. This may be challenging to do because people will show up. Wait people out but look around. Both naturally and through your lens. Your kind of trying things out without taking unnecessary pictures when you see through your camera. Also, things may look differently through your lens and you can adjust to see how to frame your images differently.

Turn around or take the picture from the opposite side

In this case, we can go on the opposite side and take the picture from the neglected side of the Honeycomb. What I found was it was easier to focus on the structure itself. Without the skyline as a distraction, or feeling the pressure to incorporate it, I could make better use of what I had to work with. This stunning structure looks different from all angles.

Start Over – Get Exterior Shots from the Front (But at an Angle)

Once you crossed off that magical shot from your list, you can ignore it. If all else fails, you’ve already got it. Start again, front and center. This time, no pressure to capture anything through the structure. Capture what you like. Now, take an angled shot from far left AND far right. This may be the same thing, but get it anyway. Keep in mind, you might have to widen your lens (I did). Now, in a way you’ve given yourself a challenge. Make the best of it. Force yourself to get something interesting. Including aiming up will change things especially using a wide lens. Look through your camera and see what works.

It’s always worth it to spend time focusing on your target alone. Then take pictures incorporating the environment into it. If outside, this can be nature or other buildings.

Exterior Shot – but from the side. What the heck does this thing look like anyway?

I strangely don’t find a lot of exterior shots of the structure itself. Outside the popular shot, there are some interior shots. The exterior side, albeit less pretty, is largely ignored. Which is strange since you can easily contrast the interior with exterior as I did below.

Make sure you have a clear idea what you’re looking at. Can you imagine finding the popular shot years, or decades later, and wondering what it even looked like in the first place? Or how it looked against its environment? It might seem uninteresting now but does feel like a miss to forget something so basic.

Now Peek In – Exterior to Interior

We have an opening, so let’s use it. The design is sleek and just seeing it as a frame provides an intimate touch. But being able to peek into the interior, opens up the world. These were filtered to go black and white, and not my usual reason of trying to fix or hide anything. This is mentioned in When You Take a Bad Camera to New York. It’s a beautiful design and looks even better in greyscale. The lines are even more pronounced.

Peek Fully for a Whole New View

If you ever have an opening, we have the option of ignoring the exterior frame and just getting a full interior shot from the side. This is probably the same thing as taking a side shot from inside the structure. The benefit here is it’s easier to move around and go even lower without running into the structure itself. So there are less limitations and concern of bumping into things. You can also angle up higher or even completely without getting in the shot.

Get the Inside Scoop – from One End to Another

Now we can get interior from within and choose how much of the structure to focus on. We can also go from one end to another. Make sure to start from one corner at an angle. Due to the curves in the design and going at an angle, the structure is both framing and main target. I have a close-up on the wood vertically, and able to capture the difference in ceiling and walls at a distance. Without forcing the skyline into the picture, I can easily focus on the structure itself.

Keep Your Head Up!

This is a good general rule, although not used in this example. Looking back, I took three picture of the ceiling and didn’t couldn’t make it significantly different. But when taking pictures, it’s good to look at all angles. Not everything is a winner, but a good habit to have. Especially if you’re running out of ideas at a landmark.

Don’t Forget to look down – eye on the details!

Again, look at all directions, including down. This could also work for exterior shots by going to higher or lower ground, if that’s an option. At this location, I thought I got everything until I looked at the metal brackets. This might be my favorite image on the Honeycomb. There’s not too much to it but I like showing how large the designs are and the neat row of brackets. We also see the design open in the foreground and seeing the park. Once it’s in the distance, you still get the light in the shapes.

Look Outside from Within

Since we are inside a structure with an opening, look outward, similar to the main shot. However, I didn’t have anything. I’m up for a challenge and curious to see this again to confirm I didn’t missing anything. There’s a pond next to this structure and buildings covered by trees in the distance.

Get Your Target from a Distance

Similar to incorporating the environment into your target, you want to see your target from a distance. You can look for a clear shot or capture from behind nature. Or can you find accessories? For instance, this sign can be seen overlooking the target. At this angle, we can also get the skyline again but differently. Or are there other buildings? Anything else you can add to this image?

Time Matters

The same images can look different between day or night. The Honeycomb is lit at night and offers a dramatic look. You can still get the skyline in the view, lit up as well. However, the dramatic lighting might force people to focus on the structure more. Golden hour, whether morning or evening, offers a different view as well.

On my post, When You Come For One View…, I mention a target of the Canal St. Bridge at sunrise. While waiting for the sun, I walk around and was shocked to find a great view of the skyline. There’s value to taking time to explore areas beyond the main attraction. It’s easy to think if anything else is worthwhile, people would already be talking about it. And that’s how great shots are missed by everyone.

Beyond time in a day, time of year also brings different images. An interesting difference during winter, whether it’s snowing or just wind blowing around the snow, the winter shots sometimes white out the skyline from the center. Snowy Chicago offers a softer, more romantic look.

What Else is there? Look Around.

Go the extra mile and walk around the area. I previously visited lincoln park and came across statues of literary figures, Finding Schiller & Shakespeare in lincoln park. it’s a quick walk from the honeycomb. or heading in a different direction, you can find even more sights to explore. i’ll be exploring more sights at lincoln park. below are part of a monument that will be featured on a future post.