I was driving south on Lake Shore Drive one afternoon and noticed that the top of the Palmolive Building (formerly the Playboy Building; also formerly the Palmolive Building) had turned on its spotlight. Thanks to a strange combination of snow and fog in the air, the Palmolive’s spotlight could actually be seen reflecting off the water particles. I quickly retraced my steps, parked at the North Avenue Beach–under 15 minutes is free–grabbed my tripod and camera and headed out. 16 minutes later, I exited the parking lot.

One problem that can arise when shooting water at night, especially if you’re interested in getting a reflection in said water, is if something disturbs it. When I arrived at this location, the water couldn’t have been more glassy. The reflection was almost a mirror image of the skyline. Immediately after I took my first picture, several geese started swimming in my general direction. Realizing that if they got much closer they’d disrupt the water, I did the only thing I could think of: I started throwing snowballs in their general direction to get them to turn around. They did and everybody went home happy.