One Fine Picture

The Arcade Part #2

black and white, camera settings, day photography No Responses »

Apr 132011

We last left off at the Cleveland Arcade, the first indoor mall in the U.S. and a beautiful Victorian-era structure of two nine-story buildings, fused by a five-story iron and glass annex.

I thought it might be interesting to capture this historic architectural gem in black and white through the eyes of a shopper. My first obstacle was the windows. Windows are tough to shoot and prone to bright glare and countless reflections. I had to keep moving my tripod around to find a clean view. There were 40 other photographers at this field trip so that was a bit of a challenge. (You can see one at the end of the long walkway on the far right in Window #2)

Next up was fun and games with Photoshop. The good thing about digital is that it offers a much greater range of tone or transitions from black to white, than tradition film. The final print has a richness that film can’t rival.

The not so good part is that’s there’s no real science to this other than fiddling with the channel mixer and calculations until you stumble upon the right mix.

Here’s my attempts

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Next up – A nighttime airport visit

The Arcade

camera settings, F-stops, my favorites No Responses »

Mar 152011

The caption beneath the clock read ‘standard time,’ and was built in an era when minutes and hours moved at a more leisurely pace. Kodachrome film ruled the day and would reign for 130 years. It’s hard to imagine what Photoshop will look like in a hundred or even ten years from now.

Today, though, I had to be careful not to linger in nostalgia, crowds were slowly entering the mall and would soon wander in front of all the historic storefronts and ruin my images.

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The site is the Cleveland Arcade, a Victorian-era structure of two nine-story buildings, coupled by a five-story iron and glass annex. This architectural treasure, constructed in 1890 and financed by the likes of John D. Rockefeller and friends, opened on Memorial Day that year, and was the first indoor shopping mall in the United States.

I snapped a few shots at f 16 and different exposures and then blended the varied images in Photoshop to get just the right color and tone. Guess the digital era isn’t so bad

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