Walt Disney Hall Los Angeles - #6

I guess you could think of this part of the building to be like the curled up edges of the pages of a musical score.

Camera: Canon EOS 20D
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1250)
Aperture: f/7.1
Focal Length: 18 mm
ISO Speed: 400

Walt Disney Hall Los Angeles - #5

How did they manage to build a structure like this? It sure must be expensive to build something with curved surfaces like this. Of course, curves are a feature of Frank Gehry's architecture.


Camera: Canon EOS 20D
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1250)
Aperture: f/7.1
Focal Length: 25 mm
ISO Speed: 400

Walt Disney Hall Los Angeles - #4

This is the photo you saw in the previous post. I didn't boost the contrast in this one as I did in the high contrast image of the previous post.

Camera: Canon EOS 20D
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture: f/7.1
Focal Length: 18 mm
ISO Speed: 100

Walt Disney Hall Los Angeles - #3

No, not actually a night shot. I increased the contrast of this photo to give emphasis to the light and dark areas. Because of the very reflective nature of the stainless steel skin of the Disney Concert Hall it's a perfect photo for high contrast effects. Now it looks like a night shot in a Hollywood movie with the very dark blue sky. Photo #4 is the same photo without the high contrast adjustment.


Camera: Canon EOS 20D
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture: f/7.1
Focal Length: 18 mm
ISO Speed: 100

Walt Disney Hall Los Angeles - #2

What a coincidence! Tonight's edition of Huell Howser's "Downtown" series on the LA PBS station KCET featured the Walt Disney Concert Hall. After watching this show, I now know I have to go back again, and not just for a concert. I had walked up some side stairs to a garden level to the left of the concert hall, but it happened to be the intermission for the concert that was taking place yesterday and the garden was filled with concert-goers enjoying the autumn sunshine. With my camera in tow I felt intrusive and didn't linger for very long, but having seen tonight's Huell Howser show I now realize that this is a public space, and not only that, but there are walkways built into the outer skin of the building that Frank Gehry intended for the public to use to clamber over over the exterior of the building! It was a fascinating show, and as I said, I'll have to go back. (Huell Howser's website)

If you live in the LA area and haven't yet been to see the concert hall, make a point of going. You don't even have to go for a concert to have a ton of fun. There are free tours that will take you all over the outside of the building, and much of the inside too, but probably not the concert hall itself unless you have a ticket to a show. It seems that during the season from October to June, there are concerts night and day.


Canon EOS 20D
Exposure: 0.01 sec (1/100)
Aperture: f/20
Focal Length: 25 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Walt Disney Hall Los Angeles - #1

Designed by architect Frank Gehry, Walt Disney Concert Hall, is home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and is designed to be one of the most acoustically sophisticated concert halls in the world. The curved exterior of the building is constructed in stainless steel and makes for an impressive sight that captures the light in a fantastic display. This view is taken from across Grand Ave so that you can get an overall view of the building. Following photos will capture the building up close.

Canon EOS 20D
Exposure: 1/2500 sec
Aperture: f/4
Focal Length: 25 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Getty Center Fountain at Night

I've been to the Getty Center many times, but a recent visit there was the first time I've been there at night. Of course that afforded some new and unique opportunities for my camera, like this shot of the fountain in the main plaza area. Got some nice reflection on this.

Canon EOS 20D
70-300mm lens at 75mm
1 sec at f/13 ISO 800

Fullmoon Over Rene and Henry Segerstrom Hall

Photo of Rene and Henry Segerstrom Hall

The Rene and Henry Segerstom Hall has only been open about a year now. It is a magnificent building and concert hall. Just like its exterior, the interior surfaces are characterized by being curved rather than flat. This is now the home of the Pacific Symphony and I recommend going there for one of their concerts to experience not only a great conert, but also this magnificant venue.

Canon EOS 20D
0.8secs at f/10
ISO800
18~55mm lens at 27mm

Full Moon Over South Coast Rep #2

Nighttime Photo of South Coast Repertory with Full Moon

This shot of the fullmoon over South Coast Repertory includes the pink floodlit marquee tower.

Canon EOS 20D
5secs at f/20
ISO800
18~55mm lens at 25mm

Imperial Bank Walkway in Color

Imperial Bank Walkway at Night in Color

Here's the same photo as the previous post but in its original color. What do you think: better in color or better in black and white? Post a comment.

Imperial Bank Walkway in Black and White

Black and White Photo of the Walkway In Front of the Imperial Bank

In front of the Arts and Theater District in Costa Mesa is the Imperial Bank Building. The walkway in front of the building is made of these stainless-steel columns that have a light at the bottom. At night it all looks very cool with a lighted grid cover overhead as well. The lights came out like twinkling stars.

Canon EOS 20D
4secs at f/20
ISO800
Lens 18~55mm at 54mm

Full Moon Over South Coast Repertory

Full Moon Over South Coast Repertory

I did mention when I created the first post for this series that it was the night of a full moon; a "blue moon", in fact. Well here it is finally, shining brightly from behind the Plaza Tower and above the South Coast Repertory. What a typically sparkly night it was! Actually, when I first moved to Southern California one of the things that struck me was that you'd see the complete lunar cycle replayed over and over again because of the consistently clear skies. In my native New Zealand it would be rare to have months on end of cloudless sky. In fact, come to think of it, it was rare to have a cloudless sky!

Hamlet at the South Coast Repertory

Photo of the South Coast Repertory at Night

There are three buildings that comprise the Theater and Arts District at South Coast in Costa Mesa. The South Coast Repertory has two stages dedicated to the staging of theatrical works. On the night I took this photo, a season of Hamlet was in full-swing.

Canon EOS 20D
0.5 secs at f/16
ISO800
18~55mm lens at 27mm

Plaza Tower by Night #2

Nighttime Photo Series

Here's the west side of the Plaza Tower where you can see its curved front. As you can see, it is quite a different looking building from this side. Contrast it with this photo of the back-side of the Plaza Tower.

As you can see, there's also this "groovy" artwork on the lawn in front of the tower that really caught the light nicely.

Plaza Tower 1

Nightime Photo Series

Last Friday night (June 30) there was a "blue moon". A blue moon is the second full moon that falls within the same month. So I packed up my camera and tripod and headed over to the area around the Orange County Performing Arts Center to take some shots.

I've often thought when I've been over there for shows that it would be a great location for a shoot on the night of a full moon. There are many spectacular buildings in the area, and lots of good architectural features to try and make something of for a good architectural photo.

So here we go. This is the first of the series, a photo of the spectacular Plaza Tower. I don't know what the exterior of this building is, but it's a shiny silver in the daylight. On the back (eastern) side of the building, it's a typical flat surface, but on the front side (west) it's curved. Coming south down the 405 S. freeway at sunset you get some spectacular sights of the sunset being reflected from the building's surface. This is one of my all-time favorite buildings.

This photo is taken from the north-eastern corner.
Canon EOS 20D
30 secs at f20
ISO 800
18-55mm lens at 18mm

Jack Langson Librarary UCI #2

Jack Langson Library Building UCI

Although architecturally characterized as being of "Brutalist" style, the strong vertical lines of the Jack Langson Library are broken by a curved concrete vignette which gives the impression of pleated fabric.This photo focuses on these gracefully curved vignettes on the sides of the building. This feature breaks the strong linear lines of the building that run from this point to the roof. Something about this feature has an Art Deco flavor to it in my mind, although the building is an example of Brutalism.

Jack Langson Librarary UCI #1

Jack Langson Library University of Irvine

The Jack Langson Library at UC Irvine is one of the eight original buildings on the campus, designed by architect William Pereira in 1965. The Langson Library contains the collections and services that support research and teaching in the Arts, Humanities, Education, Social Sciences, Social Ecology, and Business & Management. The exterior of the building features strong linear vertical lines and its architecture is classified as belonging to the "Brutalist" style. “Brutalism” comes from the French phrase “béton brut,” meaning “raw concrete.” Buildings in the Brutalist style were often characterized by an unfriendly appearance. Most Brutalist buildings did not have many doors or windows

Architectural Photography

Architectural Photography

Taking photos of buildings can be quite a challenge as you have to be able to bring out some point of interest in what might otherwise turn out to be simply a "nice photo of a building". I try to capture interest by focusing on intersecting lines and angles, or interesting architectural features of the building, rather than the building in its entirety. All in all, I think architectural photography is one of the hardest things to pull off in a way that will bring interest to the viewer.

Go here for my architectural photography