Hall Commission
Panorama of the South Loop
This print was commissioned by the Halls, a couple local to the South Loop. They want to celebrate the neighborhood, but also highlight the proximity of the lake and downtown proper. The print is currently in progress and I've included below the different stages of development - reconnaissance images, notes and details, as we frame and focus the final image.
Final Print
NOTES: This Multi-Exposure image spans 180 degrees and includes captured imagery from both Friday, 10/1/2010 and Sunday 10/3/2010. I was able to take the best elements from both shoots and combine them into a single image. The bright sunlight and clear air of Sunday produced long shadows, but I was able to compensate for them by applying parts of Friday's more evenly lit ground.
Final Shoot
Rollover to compare captured images from Friday and SundayNOTES: The images in the above rollover are straight captures from the camera. No multi-exposure editing has occurred yet. Due to the strong winds on Sunday, I did not place the camera as high as I did Friday. The closest objects to the camera illustrate a difference in perspective between the 2 shoots.
Location
1620 S. Michigan
NOTES: Initial plans called for a shoot from the roof of 1620 S. Michigan (12 floors). The vantage point, while engaging the neighborhood, is a bit low to establish a relationship with the city as a whole. The skies were beautiful, but we learned that from this location there is very little lake visible. To maintain a neighborhood feel, but gaining some height, meant trying the neighboring building at 1720 S. Michigan (34 floors).
NOTES: Not ideal weather - very windy w/ no clouds. This 180° view from the Northeast corner of the rooftop is very sensitive to the location of the sun. At 10:45am (rollover image) the sun is direct from the southeast, and creates longer, dramatic shadows. It also creates lens flare at the lower right of the image. At 12:30am (static image) the sun is directly behind me, creating more even, but less atmospheric effects - it appears almost staged. This is due in part to the lack of a diffusion cloud layer - the harsh lighting is not indicative of a day we would consider capturing the image for the final print.
NOTES: The image above is the film panorama. Rollover it to view the digital panorama. The digital panorama covers a little more vertical space, but given the perspective, there is a lot of local neighborhood missing from view. I believe we're missing a lot of great detail by omitting the immediate neighborhood buildings. Capturing the panorama digitally would allow me to use a 3 row process and acquire sky and foreground detail that would be impossible to record with a film camera.