Old reflected in new

File under: "Keep your eyes open."

BU technology services staffer Judy Ohl walked out of her office in Ben Franklin Building and saw the building reflected in the windows of Hartline Science Center across the street. She noticed. And she took the photo, which I think is a cool contrast of the turn early 20th century style of Ben Franklin and the early 21st century style of Hartline.

Ohl cropped the photo (left) very deliberately to emphasize the contrast of the wavy reflected architecture with the clean grid of the window surrounds. The uncropped photo is below.

Click on any photo to make them larger.

A place of business

Bloomsburg's renovated Sutliff Hall is in the process of reopening and it's gorgeous. Formerly, it was a low-slung building without a clear entrance that looked like an afterthought.

Now, besides being one floor taller, the building has a very clear visual structure that I think will help it function better as well. The interior is just as striking as the exterior.

One thing that sticks with you after a walk-though ... the geometry of the spaces is visually interesting, and also, I think inviting. Hallways have destinations, openning into public areas that can be used.

Most, if not all, of these photographs, were taken with the Tokina 11-16 with a variety of camera settings. The lens is unique in the speed of it's aperture and the manageable levels of distortion compared to lenses with a similar focal length. You will however, see elongation of foreground objects at the edge of the frame.


The campus has had a number of major additions and renovations over the past several years: including Hartline Science Center, Centennial Hall and McCormick Center. Each one is different, but they all work and the all complement each other. IMHO the university's planning and construction staff who work with the architects and contractors have really nailed them all.

From top to bottom: The exterior on a February afternoon at about 5:30 p.m.; blue data wires snake through the hall in front of the trading floor lab before being installed; the public space on the second floor; arched desktops in a tiered classroom smile at you.

— EGF

Click on any image to see it larger.

Sky effects

I'm not a winter person. I don't like the cold and I don't like that it's dark so much. However, evening skies in the winter and the lighting at sunset can be really interesting and beautiful. Here's a few seasonal examples. These are uploaded at 1920 by 1200 pixels, but substantially compressed. Feel free to download for your personal (non-business) use.

Notes:

Shot 1 (top) and 2( top right):  This is Carver Hall, the university's signature building. Bloomsburg's first president (before it was a university), Henry Carver, laid bricks for the building in 1866-67. These shots were taken several years ago with a Canon XTI (shot 1) ISO 400, 1/15th; Sigma 24-70 at f/2.8; (shot 2) ISO 800, 1/50th, f/4.

Shot 3 and 4 are of the extension to McCormick Center for Human Services. I think this is one of the most interesting pieces of architecture on campus. Every time I walk past the building, I stop and look. To my eye, it looks great from every angle, but that's a personal preference. Canon 7D (shot 3) ISO 800, 1/80th; Canon 50mm at f/4; (shot 4) ISO 500, 1/4000th; Tokina 16-50@41 mm, f/4.5 (didn't have time to switch ISO lower here).

Shot 5 (below): I know, this is a winter snow shot and not a sky shot. But it seems appropriate to the season. I took a similar one several years ago. Walking past the ornamental grasses (last year I think), I took it again. The shape of the reminds me of the famous Hokusai print. 7D, ISO 100, 1/800th; Tokina 16-50@35 mm, f/4.