St Patrick's Day in Chicago: Dyeing the River Green by taffy

St Patrick's Day in Chicago: Dyeing the River Green

A tradition in Chicago for St. Pat's Day is to dye the Chicago River a bright green. People line the streets and bridges between Wabash Street and Columbus Avenue, starting about 8:30 a.m. Police boats patrol up and down, a large tourist boat with bagpipers and dignitaries goes back and forth, and then about 9:45, the two 'star' boats appear. The first one has boatmen dumping a chemical of some sort that starts orange and becomes green. The second one is a skiff that speeds back and forth mixing up the water until the green has spread to cover the area. It's quite festive during the "greening" and then during the parade that follows.
You're seeing the iconic Wrigley Building front and center. I did not increase saturation -- the sun is out!!! The sky is blue! The clouds are fluffy! It's almost 45 degrees F. People are smiling! Scenes behind this end result:
http://365project.org/taffy/special-photos/2014-03-15
So glad Chicago had great weather for this, that green is fabulous :)
March 15th, 2014  
What an amazing event! They must have a lot of Irishmen in the City!
March 15th, 2014  
Fav! I MISS MY CITY!
March 15th, 2014  
Great picture.
March 15th, 2014  
Wonderful composition with the clock facing you and the bridge leading the eye. The green is very vibrant. Fav
March 15th, 2014  
Super fun and funky! Always reminds me of one of my favorite lines from the movie The Fugitive, "If they can dye the river green, why can't they dye it blue the other 364 days of the year?" :P
March 15th, 2014  
wow what an awesome sight to behold..only the Irish eh!! (Ive got lots of Irish blood in my veins)
March 15th, 2014  
Wow, well composed, and the colors are amazing! So glad that Chicago has a sunny day for this fun annual event -- y'all deserve it!!
March 15th, 2014  
I had read about this but have never seen a shot of it. What a great photo! Your detail is amazing and those colors - ahh! Blue skies for you - how wonderful!
March 15th, 2014  
Wonderful shot, beautiful composition and lighting. Good to hear you finally have some decent weather
March 15th, 2014  
Fantastic colour, and you have sunshine, so pleased
March 15th, 2014  
Well I have seen it all now! I hope the dye is harmless to the fish, do you know what they use? It looks fabulous on the large, i Like the composition too. Is it HDR?
March 15th, 2014  
Terrific composition - what an amazing tradition
March 15th, 2014  
@elaine55 Thanks Elaine! Yes, it was three shots because the level of lighting was so different from river to building to sky. Once combined, I just tried to keep it simple and balanced. The stuff they use is not a dye which would cause problems and doesn't seem to have any adverse effect on flora/fauna in the river. We have a very active river conservation group and I think they watchdog carefully. I've never gone down there before as I usually don't get up that early on a Saturday!
March 15th, 2014  
What a fantastic tradition. If I hadn't read your description I would have thought this was photoshopped.
March 15th, 2014  
Vee
That is quite amazing! I don't ever remember hearing about this? Where have I been?
March 15th, 2014  
Awesome picture.
March 15th, 2014  
Congratulations on making Trending. Well deserved.
March 15th, 2014  
Wow! How cool is this. Did not know about this tradition. Wonderful shot of the river and the skyline.
March 15th, 2014  
Honestly, your photo is the best I've ever seen of the green water. Glad Chicago had good weather for the event and the parade.

Appreciate your time and comment shared on my Nest picture.
March 16th, 2014  
Awesome tradition and the composition and colours are great.
March 16th, 2014  
How amazing!
March 16th, 2014  
so colourful - I knew about this - fun shot capturing it
March 16th, 2014  
Wow what a wonderful tradition! I have never heard of this before. A fabulous capture of the overlooking buildings and that green is just spectacular! Fav!
March 16th, 2014  
That must have been a fun sight! Beautiful shot. The processing makes it look like a post card!
March 16th, 2014  
The green really gives the feel of St Patrick's Day.
March 16th, 2014  
Wow, how cool is that. Excellent shot, Taffy.
March 16th, 2014  
This is such a cool shot!! Amazing colors!!
March 16th, 2014  
oh man! that is really GREEN! very cool... how does it "wash" out?
March 16th, 2014  
@northy It basically is gone within about 2 hours. It was already fading as I was walking along the river to catch the subway home.
March 16th, 2014  
Happy St Paddy's day to you !
Love the green river and buildings in the background.......glad the weather co-operated!
March 16th, 2014  
An excellent view of the amazing color, and I'm glad you included the buildings as part of the overall scene.
March 16th, 2014  
Some day I would love to see that
March 16th, 2014  
Thanks for the image and the background. Both your image and your stories are a great ambassador for Chicago.
March 16th, 2014  
I would love to see this in person but glad I got to see it through your gorgeous picture anyway! Amazing colors!
March 16th, 2014  
Oh, fun. I've always wanted to see water dyed green. We missed it in Indianapolis last year because we couldn't find the canal they dyed. Will have to check to see if they do it in Boston.
March 16th, 2014  
Wow...so cool!
March 16th, 2014  
I just saw this on our news channel this morning. Never heard of it before.....but what a cool idea! Nicely processed Taffy!
March 16th, 2014  
With the green water and beautiful clouds, it's looking like Spring in Chicago! Awesome shot! Had no idea about the tradition of dying the waters green.
March 16th, 2014  
AC
Great capture of a wonderful tradition.... Postcard/travel book quality and then some!
March 16th, 2014  
You're a strange bunch - Nice capture though
March 16th, 2014  
what an unusual idea. I thought it was funky processing and then read your write up. nice to get a shot documenting this tradition (especially such a good one!)
March 16th, 2014  
Great view, Taffy, very neat and clear detail. Strange light but very interesting. Are there so many Irish people in Chgo that you have to pay this tribute to St Patrick?
March 16th, 2014  
Happy St Patrick's Day to you! Great composition, lovely image
March 16th, 2014  
Wonderful shot and view. Thanks for the info. - very interesting. Enjoy the festivities.
March 16th, 2014  
Great capture... I've always heard about it but have never seen it. thanks!
March 16th, 2014  
Very cool - nice capture
March 16th, 2014  
Wonderful shot!
March 16th, 2014  
Great processing.
March 16th, 2014  
Wonderful shot Taffy!
March 16th, 2014  
Fabulous capture, we normally go to Ireland for St Pat's, my wife is from Limerick and its my Birthday also on St Pat's Day...Fav
March 16th, 2014  
What a fun celebration! I have heard of the river being dyed green but have never seen a photo of it. This is a great capture of it with a beautiful skyline. Enjoy the festivities and the warmer weather!
March 16th, 2014  
what a fantastic sky
March 16th, 2014  
Gorgeous!!!! :)
March 16th, 2014  
Lovely fluffy clouds, thanks for sharing this with us and telling us about it.
March 16th, 2014  
Wow, what a spectacle. Very nicely captured.
March 16th, 2014  
Gorgeous !!!
March 16th, 2014  
Wow! So cool
March 16th, 2014  
so cool - i've heard about this but never seen an image of it
March 16th, 2014  
@mara19500 There is a large population of Irish that settled here -- not necessarily in terms of percentage, but in terms of raw numbers. This has always been a huge holiday celebration here, with a few different parade areas and the river greening.
March 16th, 2014  
I had heard of this before but never seen an image of it a cool capture I bet a few people were out on the river bank for this one. How long does it stay green for.
March 16th, 2014  
Wow! Amazing sight and capture!
I wondered about the effect that might have on the river and its fauna and flora. Having read your comment above it's good to know that it's closely monitored. Great to have such fun if it's harmless.
March 17th, 2014  
@briggsy @dulciknit
Thanks David and Alison! It is harmless -- we have a very active river preservation group which is a good thing, and it only lasts about 2 hours or so, starting its fading within about an hour. David, you actually can't get down to the riverbank for this as it's roped off except for the ones who are orchestrating it. But the river bank is generally the cement wall except at kayak/canoe put in points where this all takes place.
March 17th, 2014  
Very cool and wonderful capture!
March 17th, 2014  
Fantastic capture! Nothing says St. Patrick's Day like this event. Fav!
March 17th, 2014  
What a fantastic shot. Love the green and the detail of the buildings that you captured. I saw this on the news. Nice to see it in a photo. Glad it does not last that long. Sounds like they know exactly what they are doing. FAV
March 17th, 2014  
this is gorgeous Taffy - I love the colour and the processing is brilliant
March 17th, 2014  
@annied Thanks Annie. The color was really awesome all morning which was such a treat after our long winter.
March 17th, 2014  
When I was young, it was a tradition to jump off the bridge and swim to shore; seeing lack of people on bridge, I wonder if this tradition is no longer! (Yes, everyone knew the water was too cold, but risked it anyway.)
March 17th, 2014  
Love the green and somehow it does not strike as unnatural at all
March 17th, 2014  
Fantastic shot
March 17th, 2014  
Great processing,a super capture!!
March 17th, 2014  
@francoise So interesting! Was this in Chicago? The police were not allowing anyone to stand on the bridges -- people and traffic could move back and forth but if anyone stopped to take photos, they were moved along.
March 17th, 2014  
@taffy Definitely in Chicago... A kid in my high school skipped school and tried to call it in as excused, but got caught because a photographer's fabulous shot of him leaping off the bridge ended up on the front page. I think the State Street bridge was the favorite place to jump. It's probably wisely been decided that it's not the greatest idea to allow drunken fools leaping into an icy river.
March 18th, 2014  
@francoise So interesting to read this!
March 18th, 2014  
This is such an amazing capture! What a bright shade of green!! Fav!
March 18th, 2014  
It's picture perfect Taffy, like all the lines in the photo. This would also make a great HDR image. would like to see the lines vertical. fav.
March 18th, 2014  
Awesome shot
March 18th, 2014  
It has so many touches of signature Taffy from the clouds to the very crisp focus of the buildings. Then your expert processing of the color. I've always wondered what it would be like to see this event. I think they do it in Savannah as well. I swam that river in August for a Tri event and I did not like it. Maybe if it had been green? Hope St. Patrick's Day was fun! We O'Hares really love it. ;)
March 18th, 2014  
This. Is. Amazing!
March 18th, 2014  
@darylo Thanks Daryl -- your comment made my day!
March 18th, 2014  
Fantastic capture, so surreal. Wonderfully edited as per usual.
March 18th, 2014  
What a great tradition. St Patrick's Day is hardly celebrated outside of the Irish community in England, so it has been really interesting for me to to see shots from the USA.
March 20th, 2014  
I'll admit that at first I thought you processed it! So cool that they dye it green, my fav color!!
March 27th, 2014  
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