The building that is MOPOP is both an interesting shape and a mixture of finishes. When the light is right, the red metallic section really pops. I took a piano of the building to show the three different finishes. It is an interesting place.
A previous post showed the start of construction of the new stadium in LA. When I was on that trip, my arriving flight had passed right by the construction site but I didn’t have a camera to hand at the time. I made another LA trip more recently and, this time, I had a camera at hand as we made our final approach. Obviously the construction process has moved on a bit but there is still plenty to be done. Maybe I will make some more trips and get further updates in the future.
Wolf Point sits at the place in the Chicago River where it splits into the north and south branches. When I lived in Chicago, it was a park. It sat in front of the a building with a Holiday Inn and the Sun Times located within. It had a great view along the river in all directions. That view was obviously too valuable. The park is gone a some towers are now going up. One was already there when I visited and work is underway on the others. I’m afraid this is a shame to have lost a nice location. Also, if you were in the building across the river that had a view along the main branch, I imagine you are not too pleased to have lost your view and instead be looking at another tower!
A quick trip to Dallas for work was necessary and I took the little camera along for the trip. As we came in towards Love Field, we flew over ares that are in the process of being built up or have recently been so. Seeing plots of land with the street layout showing but the plots not yet built up showed what had been there before in the areas that were now populated. A closer look showed that the houses did have a variety of styles but, from above, the roofs all seemed to be very similar and they were close together. It was almost like someone had grabbed a bunch of houses from a Monopoly set and lined them up next to each other. On the ground it probably looks nice but from above it was very uniform.
When I worked in Oakland, I got some images of the building on Broadway and Telegraph that slots into the narrow wedge shaped plot of land. In my post on that building which you can read here, I talked about the Flatiron Building in New York. Finally, on a work visit, I got to see the original (assuming it was built first). It happened to be right next to the place I was meeting a colleague for dinner. Couldn’t resist taking the camera along for that.
The great thing about old towns is that they have interesting buildings. (They sometimes have interesting people too but that is a separate issue.) Port Townsend was a funky little town to look around. As a port, it has been around for a while and obviously was quite a thriving location. The grand design features of the buildings show that there was plenty of cash around when they were built. If you head up the hill you come to the town hall which is pretty impressive itself so the town has obviously been a center of things for a while.
In the heart of the town, the buildings are of a similar style but are showing their individuality. Getting shots of them is a little inhibited by the excessive number of power lines that are strung along the streets. It would be nice to not have those there but nothing much I can do about that. I imagine plenty of people wouldn’t notice them but they are the sort of thing that really catches my eye. Perhaps I shouldn’t have mentioned it. You might not have noticed them but now I have said something, they will be conspicuous to you too!
There seemed to be plenty of activity in Port Townsend. Lots of shops and restaurants with plenty of variety so I assume that the area is going to be okay. Having lots going on means that a cool town center is likely to survive and thrive. That is good news.
I have been working in the Rotunda building for a couple of years near. Previously we were based in the bottom of the building and I posted some shots of the atrium taken with a fisheye. We recently moved offices to the upper floors and being up near the top of the space gave me the opportunity to explore the views from higher up. For some reason, I hadn’t previously been upstairs to look around.
The top levels are restricted to the tenants of the respective space. However, lower down you can access the space. I figured it was still a good place for the fisheye and it was quite interesting to see what effects you could create. The fun with the fish is choosing where to put the distortion. You can even turn curves into reflex lines by getting them aligned appropriately. It is amazing how much being out of center shows itself when you are using such a wide angle. Something that looks symmetric to the eye results in a clear asymmetry with a fisheye. At least with digital you see the result quickly if you chimp a little.
Before the days of the big hotel chains, towns and cities used to have local hotels. These were in the heart of the city and dealt with travelers passing through or staying for a while. The level of comfort was a function of what you were able to pay but the nicer ones were pretty grand looking structures. If a city has enough traffic, places like this can still survive. They often go way upmarket to justify choosing somewhere different. Otherwise, they have tended to wither away. The buildings can live on though. The Vail Hotel in Pueblo now appears to have been converted for other uses. Some things seem to suggest it is still a hotel but I wasn’t able to verify this. Whatever the use now, a cool looking place has survived. So many of its like have been demolished over the years so it is nice to see that it is still being taken care of.
Vibrant cities are constantly changing. It is over ten years since I left London so it is no surprise that the skyline has changed a bit. The City is always prone to change. The architecture of the new buildings is always supposed to be distinctive and the buildings get names that reflect their appearance. I’m sure the Swiss Re building did not intend to be known as The Gherkin but it is. The tallest of the new buildings has embraced its shape. When first conceived it was known as the Shard of Glass. Now it is just The Shard.
I first saw The Shard a couple of years ago when taking a helicopter flight over the city. I blogged about that trip in this post. At that point I was looking at the building from an elevated position. On this trip we wanted to check it out from up close. Like any really tall structure (and it is currently the tallest in Europe) there is a market for people to go to the top and see the surrounding view. We met up with my brother to see what it was like.
We visited at the end of the afternoon. This meant the light to the east was very nice but the view towards Westminster was a little compromised by looking into the sun through the usual London haze. This wasn’t a problem but it did limit some photographic opportunities. Then again, the layers of glass are not great for avoiding reflections anyway.
A few years ago I was on the roof of the Sears Tower for sunrise and got to watch the shadow of the building move across the landscape. I wrote about that here. We were able to do something similar this time. The shadow of the Shard is a neat point which, while we were there was pointing straight at Tower Bridge. A nice effect!
London is a city that is built around railway lines. They weave through many parts of the city and London Bridge station is directly below The Shard. In the evening light, the tracks reflect the sun in a way that makes them very visually interesting. Only when the trains come along do you remember why they are there. From that height you can see several of the different rail routes into the city. Even though it was Sunday evening, there was still plenty of traffic moving along the tracks. Weekday mornings are very different of course.
A high vantage point gives such a different perspective on what would otherwise appear large. The various buildings in the City are all below you. Tower Bridge looks like a toy. The Tower is dwarfed by the buildings around it. Monument is easily missed in amongst the multitude of large structures that came after the calamity it recalls. The London Eye – previously one of the best spots to view the city from – is well below you.
If you look further afield, you can see the old Maritime School at Greenwich or the Olympic Stadium in one direction or Wembley in another. To the south you can see Crystal Palace and on to the North Downs. (Yes, they are south of London but at least they are north of the South Downs!). You can see small housing areas squeezed in between the commercial buildings. Even small parks and sports grounds show up. There was even a tall ship coming up the river under sail. I was curious as to whether it would come up to the Pool and have Tower Bridge raised or not be we didn’t have enough time to wait and find out.
It took a while for us to work out that there is a second level to the public area. We went up the stairs to the area that is open to the air. It was quite interesting that they had this spot without enclosure. Sadly, apparently people do try launching stuff out of the gap. Not sure what piece of brilliance they think this will achieve but there you go. Having the fresh air is a nice feature though.
Once we were done we headed off to dinner. I couldn’t resist getting a few extra shots as we went away. Once it was dark, I took a few more because it looks pretty dramatic in the dark. Overall, a cool addition to the city I think.
In previous posts about the federal building memorial in Oklahoma City, I talked about how it is lit at night and that I wanted to go back. This I have now managed to do. I showed up around sunset and walked around the whole memorial. I was traveling light so no tripod, only a GorillaPod. This worked fine for most things. I was interested to discover text on the end of the memorial which lit up at night. I had thought it was a blank wall previously.
The subtle lighting across the memorial was very nice. As the sky color faded, I got a bunch of shots, some with quite long exposures which helped to blur out the other visitors of which there were plenty. The gentleness of the scene was what I wanted to convey since it was even more apparent in the dark than during the day, even though it is a calm place then too. That the place feels so peaceful while remembering such a violent event is a tribute to those who created it and maintain it.
