Chicago from the Sky

Take a tour of Chicago by drone in this highlight video, which features some of the best footage from the "Chicago from the Sky" collection.  The video includes footage of the Lake Michigan waterfront, the Loop, Navy Pier, the Chicago River, Millennium Park, and more.

Interested in sponsoring the Chicago collection?  As part of the sponsorship package, this compilation video will be re-branded with the sponsor's name, and will be available for use on the sponsor's website and social media pages.  

It is all about the "Art of Endurance" in this amazing drone production. Drone Media Chicago captures the 'Windy City' in all its glory from above.  The video begins with an aerial shot of the skyline from the Navy Pier area and it proceeds to overhead shots of the financial district, aerials of the bridges over the Chicago River and the tracks of the Loop, bird's eye views of Lake Shore Drive, and skyscrapers galore.  This video is nominated in the Cities category for the 2nd annual Drone Video Awards. 

AirVuz contributor Gianlo uses his DJI Mavic Pro drone to give us an unforgettable (and DVA nominated) 60 second aerial tour of the skyline of Chicago, the city which can lay credible claim for having invented the skyscraper.  The video provides epic views of the Windy City's magnificent skyline, still dominated by the 108 story Willis Tower.  You'll also get some great views of other Chicago landmarks such as the John Hancock Building on Michigan Avenue, the Chicago River, and more.  

Drone_America takes us on this terrific aerial tour over the Windy City of Chicago in this amazing drone video.  The footage of all of the city's major highlights is fantastic, but what really sets this video apart is the captioning.  You'll not only see places like Navy Pier, Grant Park, Hancock Center, and the various bridges of the Chicago River, but they are helpfully labeled as such with non-intrusive captioning.  Watch it to gain a better understanding of how the Midwest's largest city "works".  

Top AirVuz contributor Sky Candy Studios brings us this stunning first person view (FPV) drone video from Chicago's fabled Wrigley Field.  The video opens with some shots of the area around the stadium, which lies on the city's North Side.  At about the 1:35 mark, you'll head into the stadium itself, which opened in 1914 and has been the home of Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs since the 1920's.  With current capacity of just over 41k, Wrigley Field was designated a National Historical Landmark in 2020.   

This epic video by top contributor Majestic shows two things: (1) the skyline of Chicago is tough to beat and (2) the new DJI Mavic Pro 2 drone is one amazing aerial video platform, with video quality that holds up well against much more expensive models.  Majestic uses some of the built in hyperlapse functionality of the Mavic 2 to produce some of the best 4k footage of the Chicago skyline anywhere.  The video includes spectacular footage of  the city's skyscrapers, the Lake Michigan waterfront, and more.

Take in these stunning aerial views of Chicago, Illinois, compliments of multiple Drone Video of the Week Finalist New Entertainment Pictures.  The video opens with shots of the twin-antennaed John Hancock Center, now known as 875 Michigan Avenue.  At the :30 mark, there's a nice view of the historic Drake Hotel, followed by Millennium Park.  At the 1:00 mark, you'll see the Outer Drive Bridge over the Chicago River.  Other featured locations include the "El" elevated train line, Lincoln Park (4:00), and more.  

In this highly creative piece, AirVuz contributor and pilot Drone Media Chicago used a DJI Mavic Pro drone to create an aerial story about the great Midwestern city of Chicago and its troubled neighborhoods.  The video includes a mix of ground footage and aerial footage from across the Windy City, all of which is beautifully edited.  With its powerful story told in part through aerial footage, the video was nominated as a finalist for the 2017 AirVuz Drone Video Awards in the Originality category.  

Top contributor New Entertainment Pictures brings us this fantastic drone tour of the great city of Chicago, Illinois which was picked as a DVOW Finalist in July, 2020.  At the :25 mark, you'll see the Outer Drive Bridge, which carries Lake Shore Drive over the mouth of the Chicago River.  Starting at the 1:00 mark, there's a great "reveal" shot of the Wrigley Building at southern end of the Magnificent Mile.  Other highlights include the Cloud Gate sculpture (2:15), Lake Shore Drive and  Navy Pier (4:05), Soldier Field (4:20), and more.  

Former DVOW Winner FrameworkFilms brings us this magnificent drone video from downtown Chicago, Illinois.  Shot largely in timlapse, most of the footage was shot in and around the Loop, the city's central business district (named from the "loop" of commuter train tracks which surround it).  The video opens with a shot of the Willis Tower, the world's tallest building for 25 years.  Other highlights include the Cloud Gate ("bean") sculpture in Millennium Park at the :35 mark ,the Trump Hotel and Tower (1:40), Navy Pier (3:10), and more.  

Top AirVuz contributor Drone Media Chicago put together this supererb drone reel showing the breadth of their aerial video work, most of which was shot in and around the great city of Chicago.  The video opens with an excellent shot looking north towards the Willis Tower, with the skyscrapers of Michigan Avenue and Streaterville beyond it.  Then you will be treated to some excellent views of the "L" commuter trains, the Chicago River, the Lake Michigan waterfront, Navy Pier, amd more, including some spots outside of the city.

Here's a haunting aerial view of the city of Chicago in a state of near-shutdown during the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic in late March, 2020.  The video includes rush hour footage from the Loop district and Michigan Avenue as well as nighttime footage from the Wrigleyville and Boystown neighborhoods.  As the city began to emerge as one of the first non-coastal USA "hot spots", officials from Chicago as well as from the state of Illinois adopted increasingly stringent measures to effect social distancing. 

AirVuz contributor davetke2002 used a DJI Air 2 drone to create this excellent aerial wintertime tour of Chicago, Illinois.  At the :24 mark, there's a great shot of Navy Pier, followed by a nice view of Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower), the city's tallest building and the tallest in the world for a quarter century.  At the :58 mark, you'll see the Field Museum, with Soldier Field in the background.  Other highlights include the John Hancock Center (1:18), the Chicago River (1:38), Millennium Park (2:54), and more.  

Chicago winters can be hard, and the January gusts off Lake Michigan can be downright ugly.  Which makes the arrival of Spring in the Windy City that much more wonderful and worth the wait.  Top AirVuz contributor Drone Dood flew a DJI Inspire 2 Drone with a Zenmuse X7 camera over the city at the beginning of Spring, 2018 to create this marvelous piece.  Watch it to get a bird's eye view of America's Second City as the thoughts turn from winter coats and snowstorms to Cubs baseball and boating on Lake Michigan.  

A small drone like the DJI Mavic Pro is the perfect travel accompaniment for a trip to a city like Chicago.  The Loop and the Lake Michigan lakefront are not located in Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) no fly zones, so capturing great aerial footage with this compact drone is quite feasible on a weekend trip.  AirVuz contributor and drone pilot Bill Drones did just that, treating us to this amazing aerial tour, with shots of Buckingham Fountain, Navy Pier, Chicago Harbor, and epic skyscrapers! 

Chicago became the metropolis it is due to its location relative to the USA's agricultural resources and transportation systems.   This was manifested first and foremost in the massive stockyards which once ringed the city and employed thousands, where animals fattened by grain from the country's farm heartland were converted into consumable meat for shipment east where most of the USA's mouths were located.  Heyheyyoushould gives us a brief but enlightening aerial look at the old stockyard district.

Check out this drone video of one of the most storied stadiums in American football, compliments of Nick McGee.  Soldier Field is situated on the Lake Michigan waterfront of Chicago, Illinois.  Opened in 1924, it's the home of the Chicago Bears, one of the oldest teams in the National Football League.  Soldier Field underwent a substantial renovation in the early 2000's, when most of its interior was demolished.  It currently seats about 61.5k fans, making it one of the smaller stadiums in the NFL.  

The title of this video doesn't lie; watch it to get an awesome bird's eye perspective of two of the most important Chicago landmarks.  Grant Park is a giant public area on the Chicago waterfront, between the Loop district of Downtown and Lake Michigan.  Its centerpiece is Buckingham Fountain, one of the world's largest, which was completed in 1927.  Navy Pier, north of the park, sits to the east of the Magnificent Mile area.  The pier is the single largest tourist destination in the USA's Midwest.

For a 60 second aerial tour of downtown Chicago, it's hard to beat this video by top content creator and drone pilot Reel Aerials.  Shot with a DJI Phantom drone, the video is packed with epic bird's eye views of the skyline and lakefront of this most American of major cities.  You'll be amazed and delighted by the top-down shots of the canyons of the Loop and Wacker Drive, the Interstate highway spokes leading into the city, and the stunning Lake Michigan lakefront.  The USA's best skyline?  You be the judge.

This video of Chicago by Troy Walsh was a finalist at the 2016 Interdrone Film Festival.  The video features amazing aerial perspectives of some of the most prominent landmarks in the downtown area, such as Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower and until recently the tallest in the USA), the Lake Michigan lakefront, and the Loop District at the core of downtown Chicago.  It also provides some amazing views of sites outside the city center, such as United Center, home of the multiyear NBA champion Chicago Bulls.  

The Windy City, aka Chicago, Illinois, is known for its cold temperatures and frigid windchills. Sitting off Lake Michigan, the "lake effect" snow and wind is no joke in the winter! Aerial Visual Chicago makes a little fun of their home city by combining Chicago with the infamously cold region of Siberia in the title, dubbing it Chi-beria. This piece was shot in -22F temperatures. Yes, it looks cold, but the smoke stacks, rising sun, and frozen water also leaves the city looking magical. 

Chicago became the most important North American transportation hub in the 19th century on the strength of its water connection both to the Great Lakes as well as to the Mississippi River.  The latter connection is through the Chicago River, which once emptied into Lake Michigan but whose flow was reversed in the mid-1800's to connect to a series of different canals which provided a link to the Mississippi.  In this drone video by FoxFlight 2020, you'll fly along stretches of the Chicago River, which flows through the heart of downtown.  

Drone Media Chicago put together this highly cinematic one minute tour of Chicago, the great American city on the shores of Lake Michigan.  In just 60 seconds, you'll see some of the most well known sights of the Windy City, for decades America's second largest.  In just 60 seconds, you'll be transported from the canyons of the Loop district to the Chicago River, from Soldier Field to the great freeways which feed traffic into the city center, and from Adler Planetarium to the foot of the Magnificent Mile.  

Prepare to be amazed by this outstanding aerial demo reel by top AirVuz contributor and commercial drone pilot Drone Media Chicago.  Most of the footage is shot around their hometown, the Windy City of Chicago.  You'll see amazing bird's eye views of a very frozen Lake Michigan, the fog-covered lakefront, the Chicago Harbor Lighthouse, timelapse shots of the Loop area at night, and even a yoga session on the lakefront.  It's also got amazing action sequences, some incredible footage from Ireland, and more.  

Located on the shores of mighty Lake Michigan, Chicago Illinois is one of the top-five largest cities in America. Check out its gorgeous skyline as the sun sets in this FPV video by ilya_fpv. He’ll check out the skyline from the lake and give us a view of the Shedd Aquarium, an indoor public aquarium with some 32,000 odd animals. He’ll also show us the home of the Chicago Bears since 1924, Soldier Field, which at 61,500 person capacity is the third-smallest stadium in the NFL.  This was an FPV Pilots to Watch pick in October, 2019.

The Adler Planetarium is one of the landmarks of Chicago's waterfront on Lake Michigan.  Opened in 1930, it was the first planetarium in the United States.  It's situated at the northeastern tip of Northerly Island, which is technically not an island but a man-made peninsula which is now part of the city's Museum Campus.  Adler Planetarium both educates the public and also has research operations.  Check out this architectural treasure in this drone video by AirVuz contributor willryan042.  

For well over a century, the center of the USA's grain trade has been Chicago, and in particular the Chicago Board of Trade.  In the earlier years, when a large proportion of futures contracts was settled with physical delivery, the city became the repository of vast stores of grain.  In this drone video by 60 seconds, you'll get an aerial view of one piece of this infrastructure, largely unneeeded now: the Damen Silos, a now-abandoned grain elevator and storage facility on the outskirts of downtown.  

Today's top first person view (FPV) pilots can tackle even the tallest skyscrapers, creating footage that would be literally impossible to otherwise capture.  Case in point is this fantastic piece by ilya_fpv.  He managed to FPV dive one of the world's most famous skyscrapers: Chicago's Willis Tower.  Once known as the Sears Tower, the 110 behemoth was the world's tallest building when it opened in 1973.  With an architectural height of 441 meters (1.45k ft.), it remained the USA's tallest building for over four decades.

Among the reasons for Chicago's success as a city are its two world-class universities: Northwestern University and the University of Chicago.  In this drone video by mavictraveler, you'll get a bird's eye view of the Northwestern campus in Evanston, about 20 km (12 miles) north of downtown.  Founded in 1851, the private research university has an enrollment of about 21k, about 40% of whom are undergraduate.  It ranked #10 amongst national universities in the 2019 US News & World Report college rankings.  

Check out this drone video of Chicago's Wrigley Field, one of the USA's most storied baseball stadiums.  It's the home field of the Chicago Cubs, the Windy's City's National League team.  Opened in 1914 as Weegham Park, it took on its present name in 1927 in honor of the team's then-new owner.  Located on the city's North Side, the park seats about 41.6k fans.  Famously, Wrigley had no night games until 1988.  In 2016, the park hosted Games 3-5 of the World Series, which the Cubs ultimately won to end a 108 year Championship drought.  

There’s nothing quite like a cold day in the Windy City of Chicago, Illinois.  In this drone video by top AirVuz contributor and pilot Drone Dood, you will see the great Midwestern city on Lake Michigan at its coldest: during a record cold snap in January, 2019.  The video features excellent footage of Chicago’s frozen skyline, including the Willis Tower (once known as the Sears Tower, the tallest building in the world for a quarter-century), the Trump International Hotel & Tower, and more. 

Check out this drone video of the University of Chicago campus by contributor mavictraveler.  Situated about 8 km (around 5 mi) south of the Chicago Loop on Lake Michigan, the UofC is one of the world's most prestigious research universities.  Founded in 1890 with a grant by Standard Oil titan John D. Rockefeller, the school ranked #5 amongst national universities in the 2019 US News & World Report college rankings.  Its enrollment of about 16.4k students is roughly 40% undergraduate.  

Here's an excellent drone video of Guaranteed Rate Field, home of the Chicago White Sox Major League Baseball team.  Opened in 1991, the 40.6k stadium replaced Comiskey Park, the home of the city's American League team for the prior 81 years.  Sometimes called Comiskey Park II, it's located just off the Dan Ryan Expressway on the city's South Side, across the street from its now-demolished predecessor.  On October, 2005, the stadium hosted Games 1-2 of the World Series, which the White Sox went on to win for their first Championship since 1917.

Top AirVuz contributor New Entertainment Pictures created this excellent piece from the Windy City of Chicago, Illinois.  Most of the footage was shot along North Michigan Avenue, the office and shopping district north of the Loop.  The "star" of the show is 875 North Michigan Ave., formerly known as the John Hancock tower, which stands 344 meters or 1.1k ft. tall.  When completed in 1969, the 100 story tower was the world's second-tallest building; as of 2019, it's Chicago's fourth-tallest. 

Chicago is generally considered the cultural capital of the Midwestern United States.  In this drone video by Nick McGee, you'll get an aerial view of one of the Windy City's best known cultural landmarks: the Field Museum of Natural History.  Located on the Lake Michigan waterfront just south and east of downtown, it's considered one of the world's top natural history museums.  Established in 1893 in connection with the great Columbian Exposition, the current structure dates to the 1920's.  

See Chicago, Illinois from above in this outstanding drone video tour of the Windy City by hankstahlecker.  The video was shot from a takeoff and landing point on Oak Street Beach, which is the closest to the Downtown area of the city's Lake Michigan beaches on Chicago's north side.  At the :24 mark, there's a marvelous shot looking south towards the John Hancock Center, and at :39 there's a nice view looking north towards North Avenue Beach.  The video concludes with a pull-out shot from Oak Street Beach looking to the southwest.   

Check out this unbelievable first person view (FPV) video from Chicago based pilot and top AirVuz content creator Ilya_fpv, which was picked as the FPV Video of the Month for March, 2020.   His crazy creative flight over the empty canyons of the Chicago "Loop" gives us a unique perspective from the heart of the Windy City.  The highlight is probably the footage of the Ceres statue atop the Chicago Board of Trade building. This video was also selected for inclusion in our FPV Pilots to Watch list.  

Chicago is defined in large part by its geographic centrality.  For decades its O'Hare Airport was the world's busiest, and it occupies a similar position with respect to the USA's rail and interstate highway networks.  Not surprisingly, it's home to the country's largest convention center: McCormick Place.  Seen here in this drone video by nick mcgee, the complex just south of the Loop offers 250k square meters (almost 2.7 million square ft.) of floor space.  It was opened in 1960 and has been expanded multiple times.    

AirVuz contributor and pilot Santiago brings us this fantastic drone video of Chicago Harbor Light, one of the most famous inland lighthouses.  It's located at the entrance to the Chicago Harbor from Lake Michigan, just east of Navy Pier.  Originally displayed at the 1893 Columbian Exposition on the city's south side, it was moved to its current location in 1919.  Automated since 1979, the tower stands 20 meters tall or about 66 ft.  The structure has been listed on the USA's National Historic Register since 1984.  

Top contributor Drone Dood created this marvelous winter montage of Chicago, Illinois, the great Midwestern city on the shores of Lake Michigan.  The video opens with a nice aerial view of the Chicago Harbor Lighthouse, which protects boats and ships entering the city's (mostly recreational) harbor.  From there you will be taken over Navy Pier, the Adler Planetarium, and Lake Shore Drive.  It includes some beautiful shots of the city's epic skyline, one of the world's best-known.  

For an urban jetskiing backdrop, it's hard to beat Chicago's Lake Michigan waterfront.  The southernmost of the Great Lakes turns into a playground in the summer for yachts, motorboats, sailboats, and yes, jetski's.  In this video, top AirVuz contributor and pilot Drone Dood used a DJI Inspire 2 drone to film a couple of jetskiers shooting across the lake, with the epic skyline of the (not so) Windy City in the background.  As you'll see, the lake is amazingly calm and the jetskiing looks amazingly fun.

When the Chicago Cubs won baseball's World Series in 2016 after a nearly century long hiatus, Chicago erupted like no city in modern memory.  Millions of fans turned out to watch the Cubs victory parade.  Top AirVuz contributor Sky Candy Studios traveled to the Windy City on that historic October day with a drone to film the parade with a drone.  While his access was somewhat limited, the video is still quite remarkable in what it captures from this historic event in Chicago and baseball history.