This past Sunday, I got out and took a photo walk through one of the campuses of our local community college. (I am glad that I went out when I did. Monday, the temp dropped 35 degrees in 1.5 hours, and it isn't supposed to get above freezing for the next several days. It started snowing a bit this morning. But it was gorgeous out on Sunday). I was out around 4:30pm, so I ended up with a lot of shadows at odd angles. That, however, gave me a chance to try a few HDR shots on a few images. (All of the HDR's were shot with multiple exposures and the stacks were processed in post). I shot over 300 images, and I haven't gone through all of them yet, but here are a few of them.
The "newer" entrance to the Biology Building.
The "Experimental Theater", although, I have no idea what is so experimental about it.
One of the music buildings. (There is an opera house on the other side of those windows. That is the reception area). During the summer, they have a June Jazz concert series every Tuesday night during June they will have a different local Jazz band setup on that area in front of the windows. People can come and sit on the steps or on the grassy longer steps and watch the bands play. (It's free). It's kind of cool, actually. Sometimes, they will setup a projector and speakers and show movies on that big all to the right. (They haven't done that in a while though).
This shot was my first HDR. (5 exposures, stacked in post, not in camera)
Another HDR (5 exposures, stacked in post)
Another HDR (5 exposures, stacked in post).
The rail to the right overlooks the area in the last two images. The building to the right is where the music classes are held. The building straight ahead is the Amarillo (College) Museum of Art.
This walkway is one of the ways to get from the "pit" (the grassy steps) to the upper walkway where the music building the art museum are. It doesn't actually look this ratty and dilapidated, but the conversion to B&W sort of brought that out. I kind of liked it.
Another HDR (6 exposures, stacked in post). This thing was in horrible shadows. This is a sculpture called "The Talon Sweep". It has been at AC for 25 years, easy. I think everyone and their dog has taken pictures of it. It is funny to watch at the beginning of each semester when the new photography students flock to it (and a few of the other outdoor sculptures). This one, though, is probably the most photographed object at AC. It has some sort of weird iconic status. It has been moved around about 4 times now. I thought I had heard rumors that it got dropped during one of the moves and had to have some sort of repair work done on it. Having never taken a photo of it, I had to do it so that I could say that I did. (Actually, I think that I did take a shot of it on film back in '89, but it didn't turn out well at all).
Dorky tree shot
More stupid trees
More stupid trees
Same stupid trees, tighter crop
Another HDR (5 exposure, stack processed in post)
HDR (5 exposures, stack processed in post)
HDR (5 exposures, stack processed in post)
I still have a lot more to go through. I spent a few hours there, and I kind of went nuts. I was having a great time, and I got a bit carried away.
I shot this whole walk with a 24-70mm f/2.8. Great lens, but it takes some getting used to. It distorts things at certain distances if it is backed all the way to 24mm (it's wide angle focal length). All of my shots were level, but some of them look all askew. I love the lens, but I am going to have to work with it some more. It's a great focal length range though. I really like it. The 105mm almost found its way onto the camera more than a few times, but I wanted to work with the 24-70mm all day. I had to make myself do it. (I really love my 105mm).