Iron Sights

If you have watched episodes of the television series Mr. Robot, there is a good chance you have seen this building. In the series, it is the corporate headquarters of E Corp (mostly referred to as Evil Corp by the characters).

In reality, it is a Post-Modern building in New York City on East 57th street. I took this image a few years ago before seeing it on TV. What I particularly liked about it was the tall, open ring supported by columns in front of the building. The ring ties in with the curved arc of the tower's facade and if you stand underneath, it allows dramatic, framed views through the opening.

The challenge is positioning yourself (and the camera) to capture the symmetry of the two structures. The combination of lines and curves will easily reveal imperfections in the composition, and I knew that just the slightest error in camera angle would be noticeable.

I did not have a tripod, so I shuffled back and forth while looking through the viewfinder trying to find the correct spot to stand and the proper angle for the camera. I have to admit, this was rather difficult and I made several failed attempts at capturing the symmetry I wanted. It felt a little bit like lining up the crosshairs of a large scope. Through trial and error, I was able to hone in on a position/angle combination that I was happy with and pulled the trigger.

The Hub

I spent a few days in New York City last week and was able to visit the new World Trade Center for the first time. Seeing the tallest building in the Western hemisphere was obviously very striking, but I found the grounds, the 911 memorial and this, the Transportation Hub, to be equally impressive. 

This is the Oculus in the Hub…the main arched, elliptical opening approximately 350 feet long. It is a beautiful design with the numerous steel ribs extending upward almost 100 feet to the skylight above.

The main purpose of the structure is to serve 250,000 daily commuters on train and subway lines. As a result, it is usually filled with people coming and going. Actually, it was filled with people when I captured this image. However, by using a little photography magic, I was able to make the people disappear.

Okay, so it is not really magic…it is actually a fairly simple technique used by a lot of photographers. Since I had brought a mini-tripod with me, I was able to take multiple exposures over 10 minutes using the same composition. There were people in each exposure, but as they were moving, they were in different positions in each frame. Once I uploaded the images into Photoshop, I was able to blend the various exposures together and, essentially, make the people disappear. The result is an empty hub allowing the viewer to appreciate the lines and shapes of a beautiful piece of architecture.

Of course I would prefer not to have to use this technique and have the place all to myself. However, unless you somehow find yourself completely alone in NYC, it can prove useful. :)
 

Ascend

One of the things I find myself doing a lot in NYC is looking up. It is hard for me to keep my eyes straight ahead, being surrounded by so many towering structures...I suppose this may be true for most people (at least for those who do not live there).

While I am always impressed at the engineering necessary to erect these buildings, I find it difficult to photograph them in interesting ways. Your perspective and composition at street level is rather limited. 

However, while walking through this semi-circular courtyard I loved the way this group of buildings complimented each other. Facing this direction, the one across the street closes the open-end of the horseshoe, while the taller building behind ascends at a different angle into the sky. The opposing lines, angles and curves work so much better together than as individual parts. 

As a side note, the most difficult part of getting this image was avoiding the numerous Town Cars that were picking-up and dropping-off people inside this courtyard. I had to wait my turn until there was a pause in the car traffic coming through. I thank those drivers who waited (somewhat) patiently, while I clogged up traffic for a few brief moments to capture this.

Apple of My Eye

This was taken at the Apple Store in NYC. I was looking up through the glass cube and thought the perspective was fantastic...so many shapes, lines and curves...all things I love in architectural photography. It was difficult to capture though, with all of the commotion that is typical in an Apple store. People were everywhere, but I was able to get into a position where I could get the symmetry that I wanted.