Architecture – heath ofee dot com

Into the Mist

Heath OFee — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:10:47 +0000

Ever since I was a kid I’ve loved the fog. Something about how it makes the world feel smaller and seems to make everything just a little more quiet. We were treated with a good dose of fog a couple of days ago and I just happened to be downtown with my camera. Lucky me

Abstract Ribs

Heath OFee — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 13:10:26 +0000

It feels like a long time since I’ve posted an abstract architecture shot, so I figured I’d share this one from the Stephen Avenue Mall here in Calgary. There are about 6 or 7 tall metal ‘tree’ sculptures along one section of the avenue that are designed to break up wind gusts. This is a view looking straight up to the top of one of these sculptures.

Equipment:
– Canon EOS 5D Mark II
– Canon 135mm f/2.0L

No Sleep Till Brooklyn

Heath OFee — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 13:10:24 +0000

As I’m sure most of my readers know by now, I met up with a great bunch of photographers while I was in New York City for a ridiculous day of shooting around the city. The morning began just across the East River in Brooklyn, and as the sun was setting we made our way back to the same spot – but on the Manhattan side. From this long walkway one is afforded great views of both the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges – both of which you can see in the image below.

On a processing note, I decided to go against my usual workflow of Lightroom -> Photoshop -> Phototools -> Lightroom and edited this image exclusively in Lightroom. It was nice not leaving the one interface, and I don’t feel like adding those extra steps would have added anything extra to this image. I may be trying more of this simplified workflow in the future.

Oh, and as for the title of this post – I couldn’t get that song out of my head during that entire day of shooting

Equipment:
– Canon EOS 5D Mark II
– Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L

Hidden Gem

Heath OFee — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 13:10:58 +0000

Last Tuesday my wife and I left for a 5-day trip to New York City – so that’s why my blog has been hopelessly static for the last little while. It was our first time to the big apple, and we weren’t disappointed, although our legs and feet suffered a bit from all of the walking. We had a great few days exploring the city by ourselves and then I had a day and a half of epic shooting with an amazing group of photographers.

I have to send out thanks to Mike Olbinski, Jesse Pafundi, Jacob Lucas, Brian Furbush, Steve Beal, Chris Robins, Brian Matiash, Chris DeAngelis, Scott Wyden and Rich Williams for making this visit to a new city feel like home. I had such an amazing time hanging out and shooting with you guys and I can’t wait to see the amazing images you all post to your blogs!

One of the biggest challenges I found trying to photograph NYC was trying to find unique compositions of oft-photographed locations. I wasn’t always successful and I definitely have a few shots that you’ve likely seen before – but that’s okay. Sometimes you just have to get the shot. The one building I really wanted to find a unique take on was the Flatiron Building. I did my best to explore the entire square that surrounds it to find a shot that may not be quite as common as those you’ve seen before. I hope I succeeded, but either way I’m pleased with this image.

Equipment:
– Canon EOS 5D Mark II
– Canon 50mm f/1.4
– BlackRapid RS-4 Camera Strap

Palliser Detail

Heath OFee — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 13:10:21 +0000

I’ve shared photos of this building from a number of different angles, but I’ve never really showcased it as an abstract. The lines created by the window framing always catch my eye, and the colour of the glass is fantastic.

Monolith

Heath OFee — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 13:10:20 +0000

I think this is my favourite building in Calgary. It’s called Palliser South, and sits just south and east of the iconic Calgary Tower. It’s definitely not the tallest building in the city, nor does it have the most grand foyer, but there’s something about the lines of the exterior that just sucks me in. I find myself staring up at it every time I pass by…which is twice a day since I park just across the street from it. Shooting it from any angle just makes me happy.

I’ve posted much more complex compositions of this building in the past, but today I thought I’d go with something simple.

Grand Scale

Heath OFee — Mon, 23 May 2011 13:10:35 +0000

I’m absolutely fascinated with architectural abstracts. Removing all sense of scale and context and just focusing on an interesting pattern can result in some very visually pleasing images.

Ribcage

Heath OFee — Mon, 09 May 2011 13:10:26 +0000

Another simple architectural composition today.

These interesting design elements are in the brand new Eighth Avenue Place building in downtown Calgary. Between each elevator bank, these rib-like structures stretch from just overhead all the way to the ceiling meters above. I’m not sure if they’re actually functional, but they do kind of look like they form the ribcage of main foyer.

Fujifilm Finepix X100, Fujinon 23mm f/2, 23mm, F 4.0, ISO 200, 1/80 sec

Stone Tub

Heath OFee — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 13:10:14 +0000

Since you all seemed to enjoy yesterday’s shot from the amazing house in Palm Springs, I figured I’d give you another taste.

This huge stone hot tub is right around the corner from the infinity pool and is just outside the master suite patio doors. What I wouldn’t give to be relaxing in that tub with an adult beverage right now…

Canon EOS 50D, Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5, 10mm, F 11, ISO 100

Vegas City Centre

Heath OFee — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 13:55:59 +0000

This is another one of my favorites from our trip to Las Vegas last month. The new Vegas City Centre complex is very cool and I didn’t spend nearly as much time there as I would have liked to (although I have a feeling I would have been given a hard time trying to take photos there with my tripod without permission). This shot was taken from across the street on the busy corner just outside Planet Hollywood. As usual, it was a pretty busy night on the streets of Vegas and there were dozens of people on the corner waiting to cross the street while I was patiently setting up and taking this shot. Before I got there with my tripod nobody was taking the time to snap any photos of this scene…but after I got my gear all set up there were at least 3 or 4 others taking photos with their point-and-shoots of the same scene! Funny how people assume that if some random guy is taking a photo of something with a big tripod setup it must be a good photo opportunity…for all they know I could be the worst photographer in the world! Anyway…let me know what you think of this one:

Canon EOS 50D, Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5, 15mm, F 7.1, ISO 100, 3 Exposures

The details: 3 exposure HDR tonemapped in Photomatix, Lightroom for color, contrast, clarity, spot removal, Photoshop for layer masking and a bit of smudging, Noiseware for noise control.