Spiral Staircase

Building:  Student Services
Location:  Ames, IA
Time:  12:12 pm
Composition:  Standing at the top of an oval spiral staircase looking down.  I stood off center from the center of the staircase because there was a white flag holder in the location that blocked the shot.
Process:  Brightened up the floor in the shot because I exposed the camera for the foreground in the image.
Meta Data:  18mm     f/11     SS: 1/20s     ISO: 100

Winter is Coming

Building:  The Campanile
Location:  Ames, IA
Time:  12:24pm
Composition:  Standing on axis with one of the entries to the campanile.  The darkness of the stone strongly contrast the snow, which results in moving your eyes toward the center of the photograph and then to its periphery.
Process:  Bracketed shot +-2.  Because of the low contrast, I converted the photo to black and white.
Meta Data:  18mm     f/5.6     SS: 1/60s     ISO: 100

Vertical Layers

Building:  Curtis Hall
Location:  Ames, IA
Time:  5:26pm
Composition:  Looking upwards from the bottom floor of Curtis Hall.
Process:  None
Meta Data:  18mm     f/3.5     SS: 1/20s     ISO: 500

Ornamental Exit

Building:  Marston Hall
Location:  Ames, IA
Time:  5:35pm
Composition:  On axis with the exit of the building.
Process:  Had to manually white balance this photo because the light that can be seen in the window reflection turned everything a not so lovely yellow color.
Meta Data:  18mm     f/5.6     SS: 1/5s     ISO: 500

Brutalist Entry

Building:  Atanasoff Hall
Location:  Ames, IA
Time:  5:08pm
Composition:    The sidewalk moves the eyes toward the building.  The time of day I took this photo is about as good as it can get, it is just dark enough that the interior lights do not get over exposed but still allows the texture of the building to be visible.
Process:  Converted to black and white in Photoshop.  upped the reds, blues, and greens in the photo to bring out detail in the sky, grass, and textured walls.
Meta Data:  35mm     f/5.6     SS: 1/20s     ISO: 500

Marston Auditorium

Building:  Marston Hall
Location:  Ames, IA
Time:  5:38pm
Composition:   Centered on the central window and the gap between two chairs.  The back wall appears distorted, but it is actually a curving wall. 
Process:  None
Meta Data:  18mm     f/5.6     SS: 1/20s     ISO: 500

Louvered Corner

Building:  Biorenewables
Location:  Ames, IA
Time:  1:02 pm
Composition:  Standing under an extrusion of the upper floors which acts as a awning for an entrance to the building.  I am oriented so that the corners of the building are in line with each other.
Process:  None
Meta Data:  32mm     f/5.6     SS: 1/10s     ISO: 500

Colored Trash

Building:  College of Design external stair way
Location:  Ames, IA
Time:  5:29pm
Composition:  The railing draws the image from the right side of the image to left.  The colorful yarn is a pleasant contrast to the aging rail.
Process:  None
Meta Data:  18mm     f/3.5     SS: 1/40s     ISO: 800

Arches

Building:  Bike rack outside the armory

Location:  Ames, IA

Time:  12:06pm

Composition:  The repeating pattern of the bike rack draws the eye into the center of the image.  I hace been waiting for this bike rack to be empty so that I could get this image!

Process:  None

Meta Data:  18mm     f/11     SS: 1/125s     ISO: 100

Snow Covered Stairs

Building:  Stairs west of the Memorial Union
Location:  Ames, IA
Time:  12:19pm
Composition:  I used the chain fence to lead the eye toward the stairs.  This stair case is a series of layers leading up/down from the street. I used black and white photography again because the scene was low contrast (snow on concrete).
Process:  None
Meta Data:  18mm     f/5.6     SS: 1/100s     ISO: 100

Gradation of Light

Building:  Kocimski Auditorium
Location:  Ames, IA
Time:  5:30pm
Composition:  Facing the west facade of the auditorium at sunset.  The light from the sun is hitting the round surface resulting in a gradation of light from brightest in the center to darker as the corrugation wraps around the building.
Process:  None
Meta Data:  18mm     f/5.6     SS: 1/10s     ISO: 500

Snowfall

Building:  Carver Hall
Location:  Ames, IA
Time:  12:33pm
Composition:  Today, I got to experiment with photographing in snowfall.  I think the snow was falling a little too fast for photography.  I believe the black and white looks really good with A) the brutalist architecture of the building and B) the low contrast of the scene
Process:  Used photoshops greyscale tools to bring details of the building
Meta Data:  44mm     f/36     SS: 1/6     ISO: 100

Sunset Silhouette

Building:  Friley Hall in the background
Location:  Ames, IA
Time:  5:35pm
Composition:  Standing at the shore of Lake Lavern at Sunset.  Because the sun is setting, there is no light landing on the east side of Friley resulting in the silhouette.
Process:  None
Meta Data:  18mm     f/5.6     SS: 1/20s     ISO: 500

Revisiting King Pavilion at Sunset

Building:  College of Design and King Pavilion

Location:  Ames, IA

Time:  5:24pm

Composition:  Because I didn't have my camera last time a good sunset came around, I wanted to retry shooting King Pavilion with the sunset behind it.

Process:   I merged three images together to get this shot.  I had been having problems photo merging horizontal images together, so this image is three vertical photos merged together.  I then worked with the burn and dodge tool to bring out detail in the foreground.

Meta Data:  18mm     f/5.6     SS: 1/20s     ISO: 200

Tunnel

Building:  Gilman Hall
Location:  Ames, IA
Time:  11:30pm
Composition:  I stood to the right of the tunnel so that pattern of light and dark on the left of the image would be more dominate than the bland wall on the right.
Process:  None
Meta Data:  18mm     f/3.5     SS: 1/40s     ISO: 200

Raw Space

Building:  Hach Hall
Location:  Ames, IA
Time:  12:37pm
Composition:  I stood in the corner of the room so that I could capture a majority of the space.  What I liked particularly about this image is that the lights create a pattern of light and shadow on the gravel floor.
Process:  None
Meta Data:  18mm     f/3.5     SS: 1/10s     ISO: 200

Design Atrium Space

Building:  College of Design
Location:  Ames, IA
Time:  5:09pm
Composition:  I stood to the right of the staircase so that I could get more of the the first floor in the image.  Unfortunately because of this decision, I noticed after the fact that the office windows on the right are reflecting the space and that could have made a good composition by focusing on the window reflectiom rather than the first floor of the building.
Process:  Photomerged two images together so that I could get the entire atrium space
Meta Data:  18mm     f/5.6     SS: 1/2s     ISO: 100

Figures Reading

Building:  Parks Library
Location:  Ames, IA
Time:  4:38 pm
Composition:  I stood lightly off to the side so that the stairs would be readable.  If I stood directely in front of them, the stairs would read as stripes.
Process:  Used the dodge tool too bring out some details in the stair way.  I also used the burn tool to increase the contrast of the shadows for the two figures.
Meta Data:  22mm     f/5.6     SS: 1/4s     ISO: 100

Great Hall

Building:  Memorial Union
Location:  Ames, IA
Time:  12:48pm
Composition:  Looking up directly under the one of the wooden trusses.  By being under the one truss, the perspective view allows one to see the vernacular cross bracing that helps hold the trusses in place.  I would say more emphasis is put on the vernacular supports and wood detail in the photo rather than the trusses.
Process:  None
Meta Data:  18mm     f/3.5     SS: 1/30s     ISO: 2000

South Ball Room

Building: Memorial Union
Location:  Ames, IA
Time:  12:51pm
Composition:  Standing in the center of the room, on axis with the center row of lights.
Process:  Bracketed the shot because the room is incredibly bright.  Bracketing allowed me to pull detail out of parts of the image where the highlights overpowered the image.
Meta Data:  18mm     f/5.6     SS: 1/2s     ISO: 100

Ministry Ceiling

Building:  Luthern Campus Ministry
Location:  Ames, IA
Time:  12:20pm
Composition: Looking up at the center of the chapel.  All of the lights in the chapel except for the central lights in this image were illuminated.  As a result, the wood on the periphery is more washed out resulting in a stronger contrast between the wood in the center.
Process:  Since I couldn't stand directly under the center of the ceiling to take the photo (an alter was in the way) I used Photoshops transformation tools to adjust the image to make it look like I was closer to being under the central light.
Meta Data:  18mm     f/5.6     SS: 1/4s     ISO: 1000

Bergstrom Commons

Building:  Gerdin Business Building

Location:  Ames, IA

Time:  11:57pm

Composition:  This image was taken from the inside of the main column space that I photographed here.  I stood to the right of the room to open the photograph up to the curved wall and windows.  I also crouched a little when shooting to provide a better view of the ceiling.

Process:  Fixed verticals in photoshop

Meta Data: 18mm     f/5.6     SS: 1/25s     ISO: 100

Light well

Building:  Jischke Honors Building
Location:  Ames, IA
Time:  12:24pm
Composition: Looking up into a raised ceiling that allows natural light to enter the second level of the building.  The gradation of shadows in the composition is what captured my attention.
Process:  None
Meta Data:  18mm     f/5.6     SS: 1/80s     ISO: 100

Des Moines Skyline

Building:  South to northeast sky line of Des Moines
Location:  Des Moines, IA
Time:  5:49pm
Composition:  Taken from atop the 5th Avenue apartments I photographed earlier [Lit Stairway].  I wanted to but a focus on the flatness of the city and how a small portion of the city (the oldest part) is taller than the rest.
Process:  Used a tripod to capture 8 photos of the city.  I stitched them together in photoshop.  Finally, I used the burn and dodge tools to bring out some details in the city buildings.
Meta Data:  29mm     f/5.6     SS: 4s     ISO: 100

Ice Rink

Building:  Brenton Skating Plaza
Location:  Des Moines, IA
Time:  5:44pm
Composition:  While the building is important at the plaza, the ice rink is really the main feature.  I chose to to use the ice rink to guide the eye toward the building rather than focus directly on it.
Process:  Bracketed shot to bring out detail of building.
Critique:  I took the photo later than I hoped so the sky was completely black.
Meta Data:  18mm     f/5.6     SS: 1/2     ISO: 100

Snow Drifts

Building:  No focus in particular.  801 Grand is the most notable building in the photo

Location:  Des Moines, IA

Time:  4:58pm

Composition: I used the rail to guide the eye into the photograph.  My focus in this was more on the foreground.  I was interested in the movement of snow in the drifts.  I also wanted to call attention to this area of the city that is not filled with buildings.

Process:  None

Meta Data:  18mm     f/5.6     SS: 1/1250s     ISO:  100

Dart

Building:  Dart Buss Terminal
Location:  Des Moines, IA
Time:  5:22pm
Composition:  Photographing the terminal at the end of the day as the last bus leaves to take people home.  This is somewhat of a context shot because the EMC building can be seen in the background and many of the workers there use this terminal.
Process:  Bracketed the shot +/-2.  Then combined images in photoshop.
Meta Data:  18mm     f/5.6     SS: 1/2s     ISO: 100

Courthouse

Building:  Polk County Court House
Location:  Des Moines, IA
Time:  5:20 pm
Composition:  Standing on axis with the south facade.
Process:  Straightened verticals in Photoshop
Meta Data:  24mm     f/5.6     SS: 1/2s     ISO: 100

Lit Stairway

Building:  5th Street Apartments
Location:  Des Moines, IA
Time:  5:33pm
Composition:  This stairwell caught my attention when driving home.  The stairway is heavily lit while the rest of the building sits in darkness.  I cropped the photograph this way to accentuate the verticality of the stairway.
Process:  I bracketed this shot
Meta Data:  88mm     f/5.6     SS: 1/6s     ISO: 100

Framing the Tower

Building:  801 Grand
Location:  Des Moines, IA
Time:  4:44pm
Composition:  I used the white building and tree to frame a view of 801 Grand.
Process:  none
Meta Data:  92mm     f/5.6     SS: 1/1000s     ISO: 100

Welcome to Iowa

Building:  Iowa Visitor Center at Living History Farms
Location:  Urbandale, IA
Time:  5:10pm
Composition: Photographing one wing of the welcome center. 
Process:  None
Meta Data:  40mm     f/5.6     SS: 1/30s     ISO: 100