Posts in Category: Landmark
The Capitol Hole (Part 3)
I’m not exactly sure what to call this architectural “thing,” but it’s basically a two story hole in the ground that alerts you of the massive underground network of government floorspace beneath the property of the Texas State Capitol. The Capitol building itself is really just the tip of the iceberg. Center-to-center, this “hole” is about 500 feet from the capitol’s dome. You can see it on Google Maps here. And for those who love Wikipedia, here’s an excerpt from the article about the TSC: “To preserve the facade and historic plaza, the new capitol extension was built as a four-story underground structure, completed during 1993. Though the extension encompasses 667,000 square feet, nearly twice the floor space of the original building, there is little evidence of such a large structure at ground level, except for extensive skylights camouflaged as planter rows.” Conveniently, they forgot to mention the structure seen below. Enjoy!
The Capitol, Part 2
While I was walking around outside the Capitol in between Ryan & Julie’s wedding ceremony and reception, I was looking for a shot with a unique angle. I’d already taken a bunch of pictures straight on, but needed something else. It was just the right time of day where I could get the sun and the building in the shot with my lens set at 12mm. Although I probably should have taken my 5 bracketed shots centered around a higher exposure (maybe +0.7EV or 1EV) due to the camera adjusting exposure based on the sun’s light and leaving the building darker (even in the +2EV image), I think it turned out pretty well. Let me know your thoughts and whether you have any questions!
The Capitol, Part 1
With a new blog URL and a new design, I figured it should be time for a new blog series. Currently, I’m on a social media hiatus, so I’m going to have to rely on my followers/readers to publish this on Twitter and share it on Facebook if you like what you see (shameless plug). Also, while you’re at it, go “Like” my Facebook fan page!
On Saturday, Ryan Ono & Julie Young (now Julie Ono) tied the knot! You might remember them from that really fun Austin engagement photo shoot earlier this year. If you DON’T remember, here’s the link. I was surprised to see how much publicity those engagement photos got at their wedding. They made a guest book with them, framed some of them and put them on the sign-in table, and put a good number of them in their wedding slide show. It was cool to see them printed and appreciated by others.
Anyways, earlier in the week, Ryan & Julie informed me that their wedding photographer, Allen Doberenz, was going to be leaving before their white carriage send-off and asked me to take pictures of this part of this fairy-tale ending. It turns out that he decided to stick around (good call), so I didn’t end up taking any pictures of the actual wedding. BUT… I did take advantage of a little spare time in between the ceremony & the reception to get some good pictures of the Texas State Capitol. It’s not too often that I have all of my gear with me, some time to kill, and I’m in downtown Austin. So, I set up shop and decided to revisit my HDR interests. Each of the pictures in this series is comprised of five separate images: all spaced apart by 1EV (also known as “exposure bracketing”), merged (using Photomatix Pro 3.1), tone-mapped, and edited with Lightroom. If you’re not familiar with HDR photography or how it differs from regular photography, check out the basic explanation on Wikipedia. Feel free to email me with any questions about it. I try not to “over-do” my HDR processing – my goal is to create an image that represents the real thing as closely as possible. Let me know your thoughts on this image (click for larger view), and stay tuned for another 4 pictures of the Capitol! I promise I won’t write as much next time.
