The Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco by Bernard Maybeck.
This national landmark is undergoing repair at this time so the entire area is barricaded. I was flustered as I drove all the way up to the City after work only to realize that fences were put up. As I walked around the area, I saw a trash container. I got up and propped my tripod and I had an even better view. I was almost 10' above the street level ;) People stopped and chatted as they saw me perched on top of the trash can. "Now that's going to be a good shot", said one of the ladies passing by. "I hope so", I replied ;)
I think I'll give Larus and DrAchoo a run for their money ;)
The task of creating a Palace of Fine Arts for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition fell to the architect Bernard R. Maybeck, then fifty years old and known for his innovative ideas. Setting to work on this new project, he chose as his theme a Roman ruin, mutilated and overgrown, in the mood of a Piranesi engraving. But this ruin was not to exist solely for itself to show "the mortality of grandeur and the vanity of human wishes .... " Although it was meant to give delight by its exterior beauty, its purpose was also to offer all visitors a stimulating experience within doors.
Show in RAW and converted with RSE. The shot is pretty much what you see here with minor layer adjustments. I didn't create surreal skies for this shot as I didn't want it to compete with this beauty.
Arrrgh! I hate the fact that we only have 150kb for our entries. The sky is artifacting so bad! Grrrrrr!
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Statistics
Place: 5 out of 281 Avg (all users): 6.9634 Avg (commenters): 7.8929 Avg (participants): 6.8431 Avg (non-participants): 7.1011 Views since voting: 4795 Views during voting: 379 Votes: 191 Comments: 55 Favorites: 9 (view)
Rikki, great minds must think alike as I had gone to shoot the sameplace for the architecture challenge but ended up only getting a ticket from one of those photo tickets for running a traffic light while trying to get there. then realized it was all blocked off and went home. Way to put in the extra time and get the shot.
First impression (before reading anything about it): Very nice! Actually, excellent! Except for... the lost details of what appears to be blown out part of the rotunda where there are some indiscernible creatures. I wish I could see what those were! Oh well, one of the DPC limitations, so I won't take away from the image because of it. There is a plenty of other details to enjoy here in this photo.
Now, after reading your comments and seeing the details - I appreciate your efforts to take a good shot. The compression artefacts are visible, but I'm so used to them that I do not ever score a photo down for them (unless something that could obviously have been fixed).
What I like about it even more is the fact that you did not post-process it to death, but that this is your great find! Congratulations on the 5th place!
Feel free to PM me with any questions - I'm just being honest.
Aw crap! You completely destroyed me! Next time there is an Architecture challenge I am coming over buddy, Icelandair flies directly to San Fran so beware! :)
Nice finish Rikki. You story made me laugh b/c I went to the Palace of Fine Arts as my first choice for this challenge, but saw the fences and thought, "well, I guess its plan B". So I headed over to the Golden Gate and entered a shot from their instead. I guess I should have gotten up on a trash can b/c people like the Palace much better than the bridge according to score :).
Great shot Rikki. Yeah, I was there a couple of weeks ago and had a hard time getting a shot without all the fences. Love the composition and the few stars. Congratulations on fifth!
I really like the lighting and reflections in this shot, and the story that goes along with it just proves the lengths will go to get the perfect shot. Well done.
A very hard image to get just right. The blown out lights and the black brush, are very difficult to adjust without making them overly done. I think I find the reflexion more apeasing to the eye. Nice job overall.
Rikki I presume! Great shot! The reflection is an awesome addition! I'm wondering if a second less exposure would have saved the blow out from the dome lights?
Great night capture of the Palace of Fine Arts. I never really understood why it was built but makes a great photo opportunity and backdrop for zillions of movies.
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