The Shutterbugs say: "Here's a different look at Chicago."

My good friend, and former employer Marc Olivier of the BYU French Department is also an accomplished photographer, and as such he started a blog not long ago called Take-Out Photo. It's a great site where he presents monthly challenges and teaches some pro tips for beginners along the way. I think the site is great, first because I always love to learn more about photography, and second because I helped him design and build it.

This month's challenge, or as it is really cleverly named the TOP Monthly Special, is about shooting architectural detail. It really all about taking notice of the little things that make your city unique, whatever the population density is.

So here are our entries to this months TOP Monthly Special:

Britt shot this one as we were adventuring out one day to an art festival in Old Town. We saw a lot of great art there and Britt was inspired. This is actually a shot of the "El" tracks at the station where we waited to catch a train home after the festival. With the iconic "El", the contrast, and the geometry, I think Britt's shot is metaphorical in so many ways to our stay here in Chicago. But I'll let her comment more on that, if she wants, herself.

This is a shot of a bike rack that I took just outside of an "El" station (see, told you the trains were a big part of our lives) where I often wait for the bus. Bike racks are so different here than they were in Utah. They look the same, but the way people are forced to use them is so different. In Utah, you could simply chain your bike to the rack through the frame and it would be fine. Or not even chain it up at all, just leave it in the bike rack. I saw that a few times a BYU. Here though, if you only chained up one part of your bike you might likely find every other part gone when you returned to unlock it. You have to chain the frame, each wheel, and sometimes even the seat to make sure they don't disappear. With all that security needed, it's no surprise to me that this bike rack is usually as it was the night I took this photo - empty.

Hope everyone enjoys the shots. Let us know if you'd like them in huge art prints. ;) And if you haven't already, take a look at Marc's Take-Out Photo it's really a fun blog. I'll leave the link in my sidebar as well.