I had the tremendous experience of working in this literary (and digital) edifice for a bit more than a year. The staff, the responsibilities, the opportunities and the environment combined to make each day wonderful "job" which was far more fun than toil.
I continue to attend a meditation group in the building once weekly; daily I walk past it en route from my parking garage to my current building. Each time I take in this structure with affection, and consider it "mine" despite my deportment to another college (budget games).
Naturally, given my fond memories and continued connection, I've photographed the library several times, and have been deeply honored by having some of my imagery used by the university staff for various business needs. Still, it'd been awhile since I turned my camera in this direction so last week with premeditation I decided to record some night exposures.
My original intent was to produce a mildly-alternative interpretation of the scene by means of a digital technique known as HDR, which is frequently employed to surrealist effect. However, once I loaded the raw files onto my computer I realized that with proper tweaking of the HDR output, combined with some judicious layer mask work, I could instead "develop" a photograph closely resembling a realistic canvas of the scene despite the extremely wide range of lighting conditions. (In particular I wanted to capture the fog/mist-shrouded sky, which greatly enhances the sense of depth, while also preserving the details of the very bright interior lighting contrasted with the exterior surroundings.)
By pursuing this effort at "painting with light" in a new vein, combining five of the images taken, I taught myself some fresh techniques. Not only I am quite pleased with the result, but I am also rather excited at having enhanced my technical skills considerably. (I rarely allow myself to experiment!)
Even so, I consider this submission but a preliminary effort: I have some greatly refined strategies for further recording this beautiful model under similar conditions, to ever better presentations for your viewing pleasure.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Library, #s 3243-3436 (composite)
© 2011 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.
(click image for larger version)
Details: Januray 13, 2011; Canon 20D; f/4 @ 2.5 - 4.5 sec; ISO 100; 20mm.
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WoooooWWWWWWWWWWWWWW !!!!!!!!!!!....Awesomessttt !!!
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