Lafayette College, Easton, PA

BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
I shoot in Easton a lot, and while I've ventured off to the campus of Lafayette University before I haven't spent a great deal of time shooting there. On Saturday morning I decided it was time to change that and wandered off hoping to find some fall colors as well.

I've got lots of shots to weed through, so I'll be posting more over the course of the week as I have time to process them.

First up is a trio of shots around a sculpture called Transcendence, commissioned to honor the college's first African-American graduate. The first is a 3-shot HDR, which was the only hope I had to capture the gorgeous blue sky while the sun was coming up and shooting straight at me.

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BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
My Heart's Always In The Wrong Place, Farinon Student Center stairway.

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Was so excited to see these stairs because I was hoping to find a shot like this. At the bottom was a huge pile of garbage bags I needed to maneuver through, then when I looked up there's this green balloon in my shot. LOL Made the most of it.
 
BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Those last two photos are anything but Rockwell. That said, as I typed your critique today, @hark, I was transported back to the Fisheye shot of the ceiling. There was only one other person in the place that morning, a cafeteria worker who'd already scared the crap out of me. I wondered what she thought as I made minor movements forward and back, left and right, twisting until I was in the perfect center of the place. LOL

And btw, I did the same thing lying on my back as students wandered past. That extra 5 feet bought me nothing but more signage that I didn't want ... but it was practicing good habits!! LOL
 
hark

hark

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BackdoorHippie said:
Those last two photos are anything but Rockwell. That said, as I typed your critique today, @hark, I was transported back to the Fisheye shot of the ceiling. There was only one other person in the place that morning, a cafeteria worker who'd already scared the crap out of me. I wondered what she thought as I made minor movements forward and back, left and right, twisting until I was in the perfect center of the place. LOL

And btw, I did the same thing lying on my back as students wandered past. That extra 5 feet bought me nothing but more signage that I didn't want ... but it was practicing good habits!! LOL
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In their own right, these two photos are just as artistic as a Norman Rockwell painting. They are just captured with your signature style rather than his. ;)

I am especially captivated by your 2nd shot, Jake. Was it taken with a circular fisheye (probably not). I've got to brush up on the differences between fisheye lenses. It isn't simply a rectilinear lens though, is it?
 
BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
hark said:
In their own right, these two photos are just as artistic as a Norman Rockwell painting. They are just captured with your signature style rather than his. ;)

I am especially captivated by your 2nd shot, Jake. Was it taken with a circular fisheye (probably not). I've got to brush up on the differences between fisheye lenses. It isn't simply a rectilinear lens though, is it?
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Both are fisheye shots (look for the bent lines), but neither are circular, which would produce a large black area around the shot.

As for "signature" styles, if nothing else I'm a brilliant forger. :)
 
hark

hark

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BackdoorHippie said:
Two more shots from the interior of the student center.

View attachment 121189
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I have trouble wrapping my head around this image. When I look at the top half of the photo, it appears as though you shot straight on, but when I look at the bottom half of the photo, it looks like you aimed the lens downwards. I know it must be from the perspective distortion of the fisheye coupled with its being an ultrawide lens, but it reminds me of a trick photo (if you know what I mean). Scroll so only half of the photo appears on your screen. Don't get me wrong...I LOVE the image...it's captivating in an unusually good way. :)
 
BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
hark said:
I have trouble wrapping my head around this image. When I look at the top half of the photo, it appears as though you shot straight on, but when I look at the bottom half of the photo, it looks like you aimed the lens downwards. I know it must be from the perspective distortion of the fisheye coupled with its being an ultrawide lens, but it reminds me of a trick photo (if you know what I mean). Scroll so only half of the photo appears on your screen. Don't get me wrong...I LOVE the image...it's captivating in an unusually good way. :)
Click to expand...

Best guess on camera angle, if you're looking at a fisheye shot, is to look dead center in the frame and see where that stands in relationship to what you'd believe to be eye level. In this case I'm aimed down from the landing towards the back of the lower floor (eye level is where you can no longer see the tops of the steps). My goal was to capture the entire stairway as well as give a feel for what's above and beneath it, so I just panned down a touch.

Fisheye shots benefit a lot from minor movements, up & down, and also closer and farther away. This one has a nearly 180 degree view along the diagonal, so where precisely you put the corners can change a lot in the photo.
 
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