#project365 [day 98] N State St, Chicago

Another great example of residential architecture just outside the centre of Chicago. This building was on my way back to the hotel, and each day I tried to to get a clean photo of the whole facade without any cars parked in front. And I got lucky. This building is comprised of 9 homes with a rather high price tag, it seems to be part of a time when this was a nicer part of town.

-- Gear
Fujifilm X-PRO1
Samyang 8mm f2.8 Fisheye 
-- Post
Lightroom : Initial toning and final crop
Photoshop: Sharpening, colour blending and clean up
NikCollection Color Efex Pro 4: Toning and Detail extraction.

#project365 [day 96] Corner Bakery and Big Bowl

As you walk a few blocks from the center of Chicago, the architecture changes dramatically. Whereas in Manhattan most of the have at least a few scattered skyscrapers, or at least the majority of the buildings is around the 10 stories high, in Chicago the change is more abrupt. All of a sudden the comercial buildings are only one or two stories high, and the residential hardly reach 5.

-- Gear 
Fujifilm X-T1 Fujifilm 
XF18-135mmF3.5-5.6R LM OIS WR 
-- Post 
Lightroom : Initial tone and final crop. 
Photoshop: Clean up and sharpening. 
NikCollection Color Efex Pro 4: Toning and Detail extraction.

#project365 [day 95] Willoughby Tower

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Chicago is known world wide for it's architecture, sometimes being referred to as a living architectural museum. he Willoughby Tower stands tall and proud over the Michigan Avenue cliff, presiding over the parade of unique architecture at its sides. It is also a victim of early 20th century urban planning. The reason for the tall tower is to comply with a former city ordinance which stated that the portion of a building above a certain height could only occupy 25% of its footprint. Thus, the tall tower to maximize revenue and prestige while staying in line with setback laws. It helps distinguish this tower from the majority of buildings in the "cliff" which are all around 280 feet tall. Built in 1929 and designed by Samuel N. Crowen & Associates, its 38 stories reach a height of 134 meters, it sits where, in 1846 the Sisters of Mercy founded Chicago's first convent.

-- Gear
Fujifilm X-T1
Fujifilm XF18-135mmF3.5-5.6R LM OIS WR
-- Post
Lightroom : Initial tone and final crop.
Photoshop: Perspective correction, clean up and sharpening.
NikCollection Color Efex Pro 4: Toning and Detail extraction.

#project365 [day 85] Under the stars at the Grand Central Terminal

The ceiling of the Grand Central Terminal's Main Concourse is , arguably, the most striking feature of this iconic New York station. The astronomical ceiling was conceived in 1912 by Warren and French portrait artist Paul César Helleu, and executed by corps of astronomers and painting assistants working for the Hewlett-Basing Studio. The original ceiling was replaced in the late 1930s to correct falling plaster. In 1957, in an attempt to counteract feelings of insecurity spawned by the Soviet launch of Sputnik, an American Redstone missile was set up in the Main Concourse. With No other way to erect the missile, a hole was cut in the ceiling around the image of Pisces, so the rocket could be lifted into place.Historical preservation dictated that this hole remain (as opposed to being repaired) as a testament to the many uses of the Terminal over the years. By the 1980s, the ceiling was obscured by decades of what was thought to be coal and diesel smoke. Spectroscopic examination revealed that it was mostly tar and nicotine from tobacco smoke. A 12-year restoration effort completed in autumn 1996 restored the ceiling to its original luster. he starry ceiling is astronomically inaccurate in a complicated way. While the stars within some constellations appear correctly as they would from earth, other constellations are reversed left-to-right, as is the overall arrangement of the constellations on the ceiling. Though the astronomical inconsistencies were noticed promptly by a commuter in 1913, they have not been corrected in any of the subsequent renovations of the ceiling.  

-- Gear
Fujifilm X-PRO1
Samyang 8mm f2.8 Fisheye
-- Post
Lightroom : HDR photomerge, initial toning and final crop
Photoshop: Manual layer blending, sharpening and colour blending
NikCollection Color Efex Pro 4: Toning and Detail extraction

#project365 [day 71] up the Helmsley

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Back in day 66 I showed the entrance to this building and wrote about its peculiar location. The Helmsley Building is a 35-story building located at 230 Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, which was built in 1929 as the New York Central Building. Designed by Warren & Wetmore, the architects of Grand Central Terminal, in the Beaux-Arts style. Before the erection of the Pan Am Building – now the MetLife Building – this building stood out over the city's second most prestigious avenue as the tallest structure in the great "Terminal City" complex around Grand Central. Up until now, there is nothing of note about it, but since it sits in the middle of the avenue, in front of the road itself, traffic flows through the building. If you are driving South on Park Avenue, when you reach this junction you will go under the building and then over the Grand Central Terminal, before rejoining the Park Avenue Proper at East 46th Street. Traffic exits and enters the Park Avenue Viaduct through the building, through two portals, one for uptown traffic and one for downtown. 

-- Gear
Fujifilm X-T1
Fujifilm XF18-135mmF3.5-5.6R LM OIS WR
-- Post
Lightroom : HDR merge, initial tone and final crop.
Photoshop: Perspective correction, clean up and sharpening.
NikCollection Color Efex Pro 4: Toning and Detail extraction.

#project365[day 55] 745 Fifth Avenue, NYC

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Located close to the southeast corner of Central Park is a Art Deco masterpiece. 745 Fifth Av. is a stereotypical Art Deco office building skyscraper, designed by Buchman & Kahn and finished by 1931, that is 34 stories high. The entrance is a brass and brushed nickel  grille with intersecting vertical and horizontal lines reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright's glasswork.
This building could easily be the inspiration for a city hall, a police headquarters, or a private detective's office in any number of pre-World War Two comic books.

-- Gear
Fujifilm X-T1
Fujifilm XF18-135mmF3.5-5.6R LM OIS WR
-- Post
Lightroom : Initial tone, final crop and vignette
Photoshop: Minor clean up and sharpening.
NikCollection Color Efex Pro 4: Toning and Detail extraction

#project365 [day 54] the Eagle Warehouse & Storage Co. 1893

Back in day 7 of this #project365 I introduced the main entrance of this building. Located right next to the Brooklyn Bridge, and part of the Fulton Ferry District. The Eagle Warehouse & Storage Company used the warehouse primarily to store furniture and silverware, the latter kept in giant fireproof vaults in the basement. In 1906, Freeman added a six-story extension to the east side, which is "entirely in character" with the original building. Between 1904 and 1928, part of the warehouse was used as the headquarters of the Brooklyn Law School. In 1980, the building was renovated into condominiums by Brooklyn architect Bernard Rothzeid. In 2002, one of the building's 85 apartments was sold for over $600k.

-- Gear
Fujifilm X-T1
Fujifilm XF18-135mmF3.5-5.6R LM OIS WR
-- Post
Lightroom : Initial tone and vignette
Photoshop: Perspective correction, cropping and clean up.
NikCollection Color Efex Pro 4: Toning and Detail extraction

#project365 [day 47] The Little Chapel That Stood

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The St. Paul's Chapel is the oldest surviving church building in Manhattan. It's an episcopal chapel located at 209 Broadway in Lower Manhattan. It was built on land granted by Queen Anne, designed by architect Thomas McBean and, upon its completion in 1766 it was the tallest building in New York.
It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1960, in part by being the oldest public building in continuous use in the city. It also survived the Great New York City Fire of 1776, when a quarter of the city was burned following the British capture after the Battle of Long Island.

-- Gear
Fujifilm X-T1
Fujifilm XF18-135mmF3.5-5.6R LM OIS WR
-- Post
Lightroom : Crop, tone and vignette
Photoshop: Sharpening and clean up
NikCollection Color Efex Pro 4: Toning and Detail extraction

#project365 [day 41] Times Square through a fisheye

This is probably the most filmed square, if not location, in New York. The site of the annual New Years Eve celebration shown all over the world, where a ball of light is lowered to signal the arrival of the new calendar. You can actually see the spot where that happens on the top left part of the image, dating the year of the image. This is not a big square, even for european standards, but the sheer size of the building that surround it, makes you feel tiny. Actually the only way to fully capture the square from ground level is through the use of a fish-eye lens, which thankfully has become one of my trusted travel companions. On the building across the street you can see one of its tourist traps, the Hard Rock Cafe, but on the foreground I wanted to capture a more famous icon of the city, the NYPD. Ubiquitous all around the place in the states is also their flag, here as a big neon sign at ground level. 

-- Gear
Fujifilm X-PRO1
Samyang 8mm f2.8 Fisheye
-- Post
Lightroom : Initial toning and final crop
Photoshop: Sharpening, colour blending and clean up
NikCollection Color Efex Pro 4: Toning and Detail extraction