Weather or Not: Bridging Clouds and Sun

I recently received an assignment from University of Pennsylvania's alumni magazine, The Pennsylvania Gazette, to photograph a new pedestrian bridge on campus. The Weave Bridge is part of Penn's expansion of their campus towards the Schuylkill River. It crosses a major railroad line and connects distant sports fields with the main campus.

I scouted the assignment on a cloudy day, and returned when it was sunny to shoot final photos. In general most buildings and structures photograph better when it is sunny and the sky is blue. In this case when the sun is out, shadows compete with the strong visual design of the Weave Bridge. Whereas on an overcast day, the pattern of the bridge's floor is less confused.

This poses a dilemma and illustrates the reality that sunny is not always the perfect shooting condition.

On the other hand the below photos of a warehouse clearly illustrate the standard idea that a blue sky and strong sun beats clouds and snow.

Expanding Small Spaces

Space is at a premium in New York City. Architects have the challenge of making small spaces functional, livable and beautiful. Photographers, in turn, have the challenge of making these small spaces read well in photographs.

Photographing a renovated Manhattan condominium for architect Laurence Tamaccio of Design Destinations, challenged me to capture relatively small spaces and have them appear spacious and inviting.

The view from the dining room to the kitchen takes advantage of natural light spilling in from the windows.

The panoramic view of the living room and dining room features well placed floral arrangements and other props to keep your eye moving through the image.

To show a small powder room, I used a very wide lens, a 14mm lens. Any lens wider than this would be a fisheye lens, which is great for photographing skateboarding, but not for architecture. Hiding lights in small spaces is difficult, so the existing ambient lights were used and post-production Photoshop work helps reclaim detail in the darkest and lightest parts of the image.

Frank Connection

This is a continuation of my writing about Robert Frank. In 1981 or so I shot a photo of a hot dog cart on the streets of Philadelphia. A sign reading "Roberts Franks" appeared prominently in the photo. It was my visual pun on a Robert Frank street photograph. At the urging of a friend who taught photography, Arno Minkkinen, I sent a copy of the photo to Robert Frank. At the time Frank's address was simply his name and Mabou, Nova Scotia, Canada. Along with an 8x10 of my photo, I wrote a short letter in which I asked about his knowing Jack Kerouac, and Kerouac's death from alcoholism in his 40s.

Frank wrote back to me, and in commenting on Kerouac's life, he wrote, "every life has its tragedies, think of that Philadelphia hot dog vendor."

I need to rummage through my attic archives and find the original letter and the photo of "Roberts Franks".