James Turrell's "Twilight Epiphany" Skyspace

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Twilight Epiphany

After seeing James Turrell’s Skyspace multiple times while walking around Rice’s campus I decided to photograph it. I had to visit it twice because the first time I went the light show did not go off (Tuesday’s it doesn’t do it). Check out some of his other work on his website here: http://jamesturrell.com/

University of St Thomas

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The University of St Thomas : Master plan and Campus Mall

The two story exposed steel column and beam campus of the University of St Thomas was designed by Philip Johnson in 1957. Johnson’s design of the campus shares similarities to Mies van der Rohe’s Illinois Institute of Technology which was done about a decade earlier.

The Chapel of St Basil

Nearly 40 years later, the university asked Johnson to design a chapel. The Chapel of St Basil consists of 3 geometric shapes: a cube, a sphere, and a plane. Each element of the chapel was designed with meaning and purpose. Perhaps my favorite detail is the tent-like flap entrance symbolizing the tent the ark of the covenant was kept in. Another unique feature of the chapel is it's use of natural light. The inside of the chapel is lit entirely by strategically placed skylights and windows. There are not any artificial lights. The white stucco walls bounce and soften the lighting inside to the point of it appearing to be lit artificially. To learn more about the chapel visit, the University of St Thomas website here: www.stthom.edu

1400 Smith St. & 1500 Louisiana St.

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1400 Smith St. & 1500 Louisiana St.

Some photos of 1400 Smith St. & 1500 Louisiana St.

Walking around downtown trying to find different angles on these two buildings was a bit of a challenge. 1400 Smith and 1500 Louisiana were both formerly headquarters to Enron. Both buildings are now used by Chevron, with a third planned 50-story, 1.7 million SF tower proposed by Chevron designed by HOK.

1400 Smith was developed Brookfield Properties and designed by Lloyd Jones Brewer & Associates, completed in 1983.

1500 Louisiana was developed by Hines and designed by Cesar Pelli & Associates, completed in 2002.

Contemporary Arts Museum Houston

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Contemporary Arts Museum Houston

Some recent photos from the Contemporary Arts Museum. Designed by Gunnar Birkerts and opened in 1972.

I also did a few “speed edits” to show how I edited a couple of these in Photoshop CC 2019. Videos below. There are a lot of things I could’ve done differently that probably would’ve saved time and been more efficient but I figured these were good enough to test my new-to-me screen recording software (OBS Studio).

Speed edit of a photo I created from the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston

Speed edit of a photo I created from the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston

Wortham Tower - 2727 Allen Parkway

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Wortham Tower

Wortham Tower (formerly called American General Building) designed by Lloyd, Morgan, & Jones was completed in 1965. It’s named after Gus Wortham, insurance tycoon and oil baron who founded American General.

Rice University

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Rice University

Recent photos from Rice University’s campus.

Phillips Exeter Academy

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Phillips Exeter Academy

I made a trip out to Phillips Exeter Academy while in New Hampshire. It’s an old private boarding school dating back to 1781. Phillips Exeter Academy is probably best known for their library designed by Louis Khan in 1971. Here are some photos from my trip.

New Hampshire Barn - Star Timelapse

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New Hampshire Barn - Timelapse

This is my first attempt at an Astro Time lapse. It was shot on a Canon 5D MkIV, 10 second shutter speed, ISO 3200, 15 second intervals. I shot for about an hour and a half totaling around 350 photos. I was surprised how far the stars moved in that time frame.

My first “normal” time lapse of the scene yielded interesting results but the stars were so small and there was nothing in the sky large enough to draw attention (like the milky way) as they moved. Because of this, I decided to put my files into StarStax. StarStax takes all of the photos and layers them with each previous photo added to the next via blend mode. You can adjust the streak lengths and save the files individually in order to ultimately create a time lapse. There’s a lot more StarStax can do but I kept it relatively simple for this.

My finished timelapse is a result of StarStax’s layered streaks, which I think helps show the movement of the stars during that hour and a half I photographed them.

Visit Pixpa’s article A Beginners Guide To Astrophotography for more tips on astrophotography.

The Glassell School of Art

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The Glassell School of Art

Some recent photos of the Glassell School of Art and Museum District. There's been a lot of construction in front of the building on Montrose, so I plan on going back later to shoot the exterior a bit more.

St. John Vianney Catholic Church

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St. John Vianney Catholic Church

Some recent photos from St. John Vianney Catholic Church

Downtown Houston April

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Pennzoil Place, The Bank of America Center, One Shell Plaza, Marriott Marquis Houston