Madison Avenue Skyscrapers

madison-avenue-skyscrapers

This is a look up Madison Avenue from the corner of 54th Street.  The light gold/cream/yellow building is the AT&T building completed in 1984.  Actually it is the Sony Building now, but I tend not to keep up with these changes.  When built, its style, including the pediment which you can sort of see in this shot, was somewhat controversial, signalling a return to somewhat more traditional post-modern style.  I never saw the big deal, I just liked it.  This is not the best way to show it off so I expect I will come back to it.  In fact, I took several sets of brackets from this corner, each just slightly different and I might even show more of them in the future.

I’d love to tell you how I processed this but I am afraid I forgot.  I know I tried several variations and did not love any of them, but when I came back to look at them I liked this one the best.  Unfortunately, by that time, I also lost track of what I did to each image.

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This Post Has 8 Comments

  1. Viveca Koh

    1 Nov 2010

    I like that tilt-shift effect, and the icy blue tones, works really well.

  3. Heath O'Fee

    1 Nov 2010

    I absolutely love this shot, Mark. Very compelling composition with most of the buildings just leading out of the frame, and the focus on the one warmer building is fantastic. Love the play of warm and cold in this one.

  4. mark

    1 Nov 2010

    Thank you both.

  5. Preeti

    2 Nov 2010

    Some kind of tilt-shift effect? I really like it. It looks surreal.

  6. mark

    2 Nov 2010

    Thanks Preeti. It is actual, real world tilt-shift. Made in the lens not in post. This was my first trip out with it and I was experimenting, but I liked the effect here. Besides the dreamy aspect you noted, it disguised, in a very practical fashion, some signs for Yoga class in the windows of the building in the lower left corner that I thought were distracting. I could have cropped, but I like the building’s look w/o the signs.

  7. Preeti

    5 Nov 2010

    Ahh, I see. I’m noticed the lights for the signs now that you mentioned it. Wow, a tilt-shift lens! So awesome. Did you rent it or buy one? Those are pretty expensive, aren’t they?

    1. mark

      7 Nov 2010

      Preeti, yes, they are a bit pricey, but photography is about the only thing I spend money on, and compared to other possible purchases, high quality lenses tend to hold their value. Unless I mistreat it, or something unexpected happens to the used lens market, I can probably sell this lens several years from now for only a few hundred less than what I paid for it (assuming I want to), making it arguably a better deal than renting it several times over the same period.

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