gaetanocessati
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Contest Finalist in Skyscrapers Of The World Photo Contest
Winner in Timeless architecture Photo Challenge
Staff Winter Selection 2015
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gaetanocessati
December 10, 2015
Hi eyeboggle, sorry for the late reply. Yes i did, I've corrected the lens distortion in Lightroom, then I've used the perspective tool in Photoshop!
A_B_digital
February 19, 2016
This is a stunning composition and a worthy winner of the Timeless Architecture challenge. Very well done!
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
The photo was taken in Milan, in Porta Nuova district, where many new skyscrapers have been built in the last few years. The city is changing rapidly its aspect and several futuristic building are popping in many different areas. This one is called “Bosco Verticale”, that means “vertical forest” and is designed by Stefano Boeri.Time
I took this picture early in the afternoon, around 3:00 PM, it was April and, as every photographer knows, it was not the best time of the day for shooting outdoor. But it was this strong and flattening light that made me look at this building in a different way: I saw the skyscraper as a gaming background, like the one of Super Mario Bros. I just had to stop and capture it.Lighting
Because of that hard light, I just had one possibility to obtain a good photograph, and it was by focusing on contrasts between geometries, trees and the modern materials of the skyscraper. That allowed me to create this pattern out of this award-winning skyscraper.Equipment
This was shot on a Canon 5D mark II, with a Canon EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM, hand-held. I did not use any other equipment.Inspiration
My aim was to create an iconic image of this building, as it is the most beautiful skyscraper of the world, as established the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat promoted by the Illinois Institute of Technology of Chicago. I saw many pictures of it and I just wanted to find another point of view to represent it. The light of this April day gave me the idea of this close-up, frontal image. As said by Monica Corcoran, director of Your Shot blog of National Geographic “The tight composition keeps the viewer guessing for just a minute about what they are looking at. The repeating patterns of windows, balconies and plants are visual clues that help them figure it out.”Editing
As I shot this picture from the ground, I had to fix the perspective in order to make it look exactly frontal, using Lightroom for this purpose. I then used Photoshop to bring out the contrasts on each balcony and on each tree, using the dodge and burn technique.In my camera bag
I always have a backpack with me, filled with my inseparable Canon EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM, because this lens is easy to use and cover a wide range of situations. I never forget my 85 mm f/1.8 prime lens too, because it works great also with low light, it is amazing for portrait (and there is always someone telling you “oh, you are a photographer, take me a good photo please!”). It is not heavy too and that is definitely another plus. The body camera I work with is a Canon 5D mark II. Another buddy I usually take with me is the Canon EF70-200 mm f/2.8 L IS II USM lens, simply the best buy I did. I also carry a Canon speedlite 430ex II.Feedback
Architectural photo need post-production, so be prepared to use it, as lens distortion is a fact. To have clear idea on the wished result helps a lot in taking the right shot and to have the right ”base” to work on. Breaking the common way to look at something you can see every day, normally works quite good.