MILWAUKEE PUBLIC LIBRARY REVISITED

On Saturday, April 7, I had a chance to return to the central branch of the Milwaukee Public Library.  (See the February 23rd post.)  My aim was to take some shots I had not had time to get the last time and, if possible, to improve on the shots that I took last time.  

I started by taking another shot of the central dome.  As before, I did this by placing the camera face up in the very center of the floor under the dome.  This is a blind shot in that I am not able to compose the shot through camera's viewfinder but, instead, have to rely on the accuracy with which I am able to position the camera.  Here is the shot.

Not really any better than the shot in February.  I really need a true wide-angle lens to capture more of the side walls of the library's foyer.  The camera was positioned relatively well, but I did have to do a little cropping in post production.  

Here is another shot of a portion of the dome.  

This was also taken from the first floor but was taken at tripod height.  Here is a shot of the arches leading up to the dome.

And another shot taken using my lens's widest available angle, 24 mm.

This is my favorite shot from this series, as it gives some hint of the majesty of the architecture.

On this visit, I moved up to the third floor overlooking the foyer and took the following shots.

One thing I learned from the last visit was that I need to be careful in how I position the camera to ensure symmetry in the compositions of the shots.  If the camera is not positioned well, then no amount of cropping adjustments in post processing can fully compensate.  I was pretty pleased with the symmetry I was able to create.  Generally speaking, I don't think I can improve appreciably on these shots without upgraded equipment.