NIGHT LIGHTS

Sometimes a photographic outing works better than anticipated, such as the night photography along the river in downtown Milwaukee I did a few weeks ago.  Other times, probably more often, things don't work out so well.  The latter was the case the other night when I again went downtown in the evening, this time with the idea specifically of shooting buildings that are lit up at night.  In any case, this is some of what I got.

First up was the home office of Northwestern Mutual, a classic late 19th century building.

These are not bad shots for what they are, just not very inspiring, I'm afraid.  This second image as originally shot featured a large amount of perspective distortion, as I was standing at street level and the upper portion was farther away than the lower.  However, in post processing I was able to "rectify" this distortion nicely.  Even though my primary objective was the lighting of the classic pillars, I have learned that I need to ground the image by including ground level in the shot.

I also took a photo looking up at one of the ornate windows of what is now the building housing the local offices of the Northern Trust Company.  The building originally was home to another insurance company, in this case Northwestern National.

There is a carved face in the upper center of the shot that appears just a little ominous in the "up-lighting."  At best, a so-so shot.

I then made my way to the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts.  This was a Saturday night and there was a concert underway in the open air Peck Pavilion venue on the south side of the Center.  Here is a shot, not of the concert but of the south facade of the Center.

I retained this shot because I liked the way in which the lighting on the wall was juxtaposed against the Center's trademark diamond-shaped pillars.  I wish the individuals in the lower left had not been there, but I did want to wait for them to leave.

The Performing Arts Center is indeed lit up in the evening and the colors are a bit off-putting to my aesthetic sensibilities.  Here are a couple of photos of that lighting, which, you will note, is selective as to which facets are colored and which are not.

If nothing else, perhaps the lighting makes for an interesting abstract.

John