Nick Ulivieri

@nuphoto.com

5624 Followers 1174 Following

I'm an architecture photographer and Chicago is my backdrop. I post about weather, science, and urbanism issues, too. ✶ ✶ ✶ ✶ 📩: nick@nuphoto.com https://linktr.ee/nick_ulivieri

AQI reading in our condo showing poor air quality for both VOCs and CO2
A puffy cloud takes up the majority of the scene. Its right edges glow a warm yellow-orange from the low, setting sun. The sky is a deep, saturated blue.
Satellite view of eastern North America showing a large wildfire smoke plume and hazy air mass drifting across the, Midwest and mid-Atlantic United States, extending well across the Atlantic Ocean. Land features including the Great Lakes, Florida, and the East Coast are visible beneath varying cloud cover.
A map of northeast Illinois focusing on the Chicagoland region and surrounding areas showing small clusters of showers and non-severe thunderstorms roaming the area.
A view of the Chicago skyline at night, except it’s nearly completely obscured by wildfire smoke. The most obvious details are light in the mid-ground along the highway
A screen grab from Instagram of one of my photos of a wildfire-filled sky above Chicago. The caption reads: Nothing glamorous about this photo from yesterday morning (June 5th). Simply a look at Canadian wildfire smoke engulfing Chicago and its skyline. Yesterday, the AQI (air quality index) hovered around 160 which is considered unhealthy for everyone (for reference 0-50 is good). Among major cities, Chicago's air quality was one of the worst in the *world.* This is now the fifth year in a row that wildfire smoke from afar - be it Canada, California, or places between - has impacted the air quality here at home. Prior to 2020 I can't think of a time I had to consider distant wildfires as a photoshoot variable. But in the last 5 years, it's something l've often had to factor into when planning summer projects - shoots have been postponed and rescheduled because conditions were unfavorable. Yes it's unhealthy, but it's also ugly. When it's heavy and near the surface, the smoke saps the color and vibrancy from the cityscape. It turns what should be a blue sky into a murky, acrid grey-brown. The sunlight shining through the smoke, even when thin and high in the atmosphere, doesn't look right. The photos are downright eerie. Warming temperatures and drier conditions lead to bigger fires and longer fire seasons. I wish I could say this is just a weird aberration, but I fear this is becoming our new normal. This is also a reminder that seemingly localized effects of climate change can have broader implications for our whole planet.
A near-surface smoke density map for tomorrow at 8:00am showing a massive plume of smoke covering most of Wisconsin and Michigan. The upper NE corner of Illinois is clipped by the plume as is northern Indiana and northern Ohio
A yellow tower crane partially down the side of 400 Lake Shore - a glass-covered skyscraper in Chicago)
View of the crown of 400 Lake Shore. The tower crane, in yellow, is working its way down. On the left of the building the construction skip (red structure) in still up
A straight-on view if 400 Lake Shore detailing the stepped back, and widening terraces of the crown. The backroad behind is a perfectly decorates day with wispy clouds and some blue sky creating a nice contrast between the building and background
A straw sunbathing hangs from a table. It’s surrounded by plants and a chair
A simple map of Chicago showing the three current reservoirs of the TARP reservoir system. The Majewski reservoir by O’Hare is 0% full, The McCook reservoir is 88% full (3.1 billion gallons) and the Thornton reservoir is 93% full (7.3 billion gallons). These levels are current as of July 7th at 8:03pm
A pride flag waving on the bow of a boat with the Chicago skyline in the background
A wide view of a massive lightning bolt dropping onto the Chicago skyline
Severe thunderstorm watch details: SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE FOR WS 451 NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 640 PM CDT FRI JUL 3 2026 SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 451 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 2:00 AM CDT FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS ILLINOIS COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE BOONE BUREAU CARROLL COOK DE KALB DUPAGE FORD GRUNDY HENRY IROQUOIS JO DAVIESS KANE KANKAKEE KENDALL LAKE LA SALLE LEE LIVINGSTON MARSHALL MCHENRY MERCER OGLE PUTNAM ROCK ISLAND STARK STEPHENSON WHITESIDE WILL WINNEBAGO
A metra train streaks by in the foreground while lightning illuminates the clouds behind the Chicago skyline during a nighttime storm.
A screengrab of my Bluesy feed. The post on the top and bottom have photos that won't load. The middle post says "like 80% of the pics on my feed won't load"
A nighttime view of the Chicago skyline with a massive, bright cloud-to-ground lightning bolt dropping in the distance.
A photo of a tall thunderstorm cloud. Subtle sunbeams illuminate shafts of rain falling from high in the sky
A yellow Kestrel weather meter showing a heat index of 101.1°. The chicago skyline is is out of focus in the background
A Kestrel weather meter showing a heat index of 90.9° at night (11:30pm). The Chicago skyline is out of focus in the background as the city lights sparkle
Kestrel weather meter showing a heat index temperature of 107.8°
A close-up shot of a bookshelf at a 3/4 angle. The shelf is warm-toned wood with well curated shelves filled wt books, a music speaker and plants. In focus in the image is Lee Bey's book 'Southern Exposure' on a small easel.
A yellow handheld weather meter showing a heat index temperature of 98.4°. The Chicago skyline is in the background.
Covered bike parking at the Obama Canter. Approximately 5-6 racks are on the right side of the frame with a view to the outside on the left of the frame
Randy Marsh from South Park in his tights whiteys, looking beat-up and getting hauled away by police saying "I'm sorry, I thought this was America"
A photo of a Pride flag waving in front of a building in Chicago. A Pride colored Chicago flag is in the background. The flags exhibit motion blur due to a slow shutter that helps blend the colors of the rainbow.
A video showing all of the flag photos I shot. This is a video screengrab in which I quickly scroll through all 1,300 frames
A screengrab from Adobe Lightroom showing approximately 80 small images surrounded by grey boxes. This is just a small % of the photos I took
Screengrab of a pepper cannon order showing the costs and a field to add a coupon code
A close crop of the top of Sears Tower's antenna masts in the clouds
An ominous shelf cloud moves over the Chicago skyline. The leading edge of the dark cloud is so low it almost obscures the top of Sears Tower.
A person walks with their bike on one of the walking paths at the Obama Presidential Center
close-up of the parking racks on the west side of the building.
diagram with arrows pointing to the parking pedestrian entry
Another aerial view of the Obama Center grounds showing suspected bike parking entrances. Pink and aqua circles
A close-up of the frosted glass panes and garage flooring with white line marking that match the ground-level, interior photo
An aerial view of the Obama Center with a magenta circle denoting where the covered bike parking may be.
An aerial view of Jackson Park from a helicopter on a summer day. Lush greenery, lagoons, and park space dominate the frame. The Chicago skyline and Lake Michigan are in the background while the Obama Center and the Museum of Science and Industry are in the mid ground.
A close-up look at the New Hampshire "tapestry" granite that clads the Obama Presidential Center. The stone had swirled, twisted patters that feature grey and sand colored veins folded and layered together.
A photo of the Obama Presidential Center during the day reflected in Jackson Park’s west Lagos as if it were a reflecting pool
A green filter applied to a guys face who looks like he just work up. Often used in association with Chicago dyeing the river on St. Patrick’s Day with the caption “fish waking up in the Chicago River on St. Patrick’s Day”
Mark Bradford’s 'City of the Big Shoulders' is a massive, colorful mixed-media painting enveloping the 3-story west wall of the Our Story Atrium in the Museum. This lower level is public.
A video of the Chicago skyline at night with lightning reflecting in a puddle in the foreground
A massive lightning bolt arcs over the Chicago skyline. As if it were a jump rope
Photo of Tom Skilling smiling in his home office
Radar showing a large, strong complex storm system along the northern Iowa/Illinois border
Severe Weather Outlook: NOAA places the Chicago area in Moderate (Level 4 of 5) for severe thunderstorms Thursday, with the potential for damaging winds, large hail, and isolated tornadoes.
RRFS model run showing a complex line of storms sweeping across the midwest and arriving in Chicago around 7pm
A radar return showing storm activity moving SW away from Chicago, but with rain moving into the area on the north side of the storm.
A timelapse of a shelf cloud rolling over the Chicago skyline. The sky starts cloudy then gets darker as the turbulent cloud slides over the city and drops rain
Screengrab of the same radar from the above post, but showing the area is now in a Severe Thunderstorm Watch until 10pm
A radar screengrab showing a long line of strong storms reaching from south-central Wisconsin to central Illinois.
The HRRR model showing storms covering Northern Illinois and nicking Chicago at 10:00pm
An architectural photo of the Inland Steel Building Chicago with its distinctive green glass
A photos of turbulent storm clouds at night. A visible tendril of lightning stretches between parts of the cloud, illuminating other, bubbling areas of the storm from within
A tryptic of images from inside the Obama Presidential Library museum tower. Each image features different areas of the tower with people populating the space.