As some of you know from my recent “Drab & Color” photo essay, I’ve been hunting for color lately. Last week I had a little time before meeting a friend for dinner downtown Chicago, and as I walked down Michigan Avenue, I was captivated by the color display of the Crown Fountain in Millennium Park. While its two glass-brick towers are not spewing water these days, they change color every few minutes, which makes for a stunning spectacle, especially at dusk.

This interplay of the blue lights on a tree and the fountain’s block of blue in the background initially caught my eye as I emerged from the underground parking garage.

The pictures on the sides where the towers face each other also change. Here it shows a waterfall, and due to the glare of its white light, it almost seems as if there is indeed water misting from the tower. However, there’s no actual waterfall; the glistening wet on the ground is from a recent rain.

Here we’re back to the faces staring at each other as it’s getting darker.

Enough of the blue – here’s some serious red against the blue of the sky. I assure you, this photo is not photoshopped. The yellow in the red even makes it a nice composition of primary colors.

I waited around for this shot because I loved how the red of the fountain is echoed in the skyscraper’s neon red sign, and how it plays off against all the blue.

A closer look as the towers turned green.
A Crown Fountain tower bathed in purple with the backdrop of Michigan Avenue. How’s all this for a cure from this month’s drabness?