[lats]

Hi all,

I was fortunate enough to come across a second hand K mount 28mm Shift Lens recently.

I'm an Architect and have been lusting after a copy of this lens ever since I heard about them (way back in the 80's)

I spent a couple of hours up at the Museum of Anthropology here in Vancouver on the weekend. It was designed by Arthur Erickson and who is perhaps one of the best known Vancouver based Architects. He passed away in 2009 leaving Vancouver with some of it's most adventurous buildings.

While on the shoot I was lucky enough to meet the Landscape Architect (Cornelia Oberlander) who was showing some friends around. The Reflection pond was in her original landscape design but was removed during the construction process due to budgetary constraints (Sounds like a familiar storey to me). It was added this year much to her joy and to the benefit of the building and its surrounds.

I intend to return to this building during the various seasons over the next year and will continue to post updates as I do so.

I'm going to post a couple of shots below, but you can see an Album of 10 shots (a couple taken with the Sigma 10-20) in my Museum of Anthropology Shoot 1 Album.

I would love any comments and critism on the images from a Photographic point of view. Any C and C from any other Architects in the crowd would also be most appreciated. I'll be shooting work for my office over the next year and the goal is to do the best job I can for them.

Here's a couple of the images. If you go to the Album, you'll be able to see the Metadata for each. I should note that there is minimal PP in these (dust spots etc). My aim is to get it right on site.


IMAGE 1


IMAGE 2


IMAGE 3


IMAGE 4


IMAGE 5

[jva59]

Andrew,

Those are absolutely terrific! There has been a 28 mm shift for sale on ebay that I've been looking at, but the price is just too high for me right now.

[openyourap]

These are very impressive shots, especially the one of the whole facade.

Not so much criticism, but things to try if you're fixated on this one spectacular building:

• Iterations of the one shot every couple of minutes. During this twilight period, the balance of light between the sky and the interior can really change.
• Re-shoot at two more times of the day - dusk/dawn, with the sun casting long shadows and at midday, with a polariser. I imagine that the shadows thrown by the cast concrete would be quite interesting. Catching reflections off the glass curtain walls would also be great.
• Re-shoot when the sky is different - white clouds or brewing thunderstorms can all add to the drama. A polarising filter will accentuate the contrast.
• Try off camera flash/hotlights. A long exposure can give you a good few pops of the flash (with coloured gels, if you're really keen) at various oblique angles, which can really highlight some of the architectural features.
• Mess with the white balance. Adjusted for tungsten, dusk shots can look strikingly different from their daylight adjusted equivalents.

[Ole]

Interesting building and great shots! Good that they finally put in the pond - the photograph of the facade with the reflection is beautiful!

[lats]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the comments.

It is a beautiful building. I only had two hours at the building this time without the opportunity to actually go into the museum - thus I'm aiming to return.

Openyourrap - the light changed drastically and I was really struggling to get the whit balance correct on site - you can see the difference between Images 3/4 and 5.
Thankyou for your suggestions re time of day etc. I'll aim to do that the next sunny day we have (if we get another in the next 5 months )

As I mentioned I'm beginning to work on putting together portfolio and thus any comments on composition and other technical aspects would be fantastic (especially from other Architects).

JVA59. The shift lens is awesome, but be aware, that the 42 mm equivalent FOV really is a little limiting. This lens would be an absolute cracker on a 35mm film camera.

Cheers

Andrew

[Canada_Rockies]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the comments.

It is a beautiful building. I only had two hours at the building this time without the opportunity to actually go into the museum - thus I'm aiming to return.

Openyourrap - the light changed drastically and I was really struggling to get the whit balance correct on site - you can see the difference between Images 3/4 and 5.
Thankyou for your suggestions re time of day etc. I'll aim to do that the next sunny day we have (if we get another in the next 5 months )

As I mentioned I'm beginning to work on putting together portfolio and thus any comments on composition and other technical aspects would be fantastic (especially from other Architects).

JVA59. The shift lens is awesome, but be aware, that the 42 mm equivalent FOV really is a little limiting. This lens would be an absolute cracker on a 35mm film camera.

Cheers

Andrew

It worked superbly for me in Chicago on film. Even then, in Chicago it was at times not wide enough, but it definitely is a keeper lens for anyone into architecture. For me, the trees are never enough out to retain it in the kit, so I sold it off.

[mickeyobe]

Andrew,

The lens is great.
The architecture is breathtaking.
And your pictures are stunning.

Mickey