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ctfchallenge | all galleries >> Challenge 180 - It's Your Call >> C180 It's Your Call - Eligible > City Icons 4
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28-FEB-2009 Brent

City Icons 4

The Smith Tower is no longer the tallest building in Seattle. But when it was built in 1914 it was the fourth tallest building in the world and remained the tallest building west of the Mississippi River for almost 50 years. It still creates a distinctive shape marking the southern edge of downtown.


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ctfchallenge03-Mar-2009 03:07
I'm enjoying my tour of Seattle Brent. -Doug
aam1234 02-Mar-2009 03:14
Whatever it is, I just love the bird there.
Rod 02-Mar-2009 01:38
I don't think anything needs doing to this picy as it sits just right for me. Brent wasn't going for an ahrty shot just a very well crafted documentary type picy. Each genre of photography has its poor picys & excellent picys & for the genre this picy I find its excellent. It makes me want to put Seattle on the top of my visit list, I hope its not much further away than Cleveland & Welly point:-)
ctfchallenge01-Mar-2009 17:22
Thanks YB and Aam :-) This is a very long standing Icon of Seattle YB, so I did my best to present it in a nice way. Personally I think this is better than other images I have seen of the building though I admit it has a bit of a "historical archive" look to it. It's not so easy finding icons I haven't posted before in available time and I like the historical perspective this one offered- but I'll keep trying :-)
Yes I have used DPP for RAW conversions Aam. It does a decent job but I prefer Lightroom or ACR and their extended too set. If used properly and with constraint those extra tools (and the right camera profile selected) can be used to make a digital image appear more like the actual scene captured I think.
~Brent
aam1234 01-Mar-2009 12:05
Maybe crop the buildings on the left will enhance the photo. Just a guess.
Guest 01-Mar-2009 09:57
Sorry Brent, but while the building is interesting and its a good picture, but the image doesn't capture my interest. Looking forward to your next entry.

YB
aam1234 01-Mar-2009 09:42
Btw, have you tried DPP for raw conversion before. If not I'd suggest giving it a try and see if you like the results.
aam1234 01-Mar-2009 09:38
Don't have much to add to what others said, but I want to mention that I really like the bird in the photo.

I use ACDSee for sharpening but it gives bad results (too much contrast), so maybe I should use PSE for that task. I'll start a topic in the main thread about it.
ctfchallenge01-Mar-2009 04:26
Thanks much Tommy and Sue Anne ☺ My processing still isn’t very advanced Tommy. I started a Photoshop class at the college recently but had to drop out before I learned anything because I was working too late to make the classes ☹
Rod is right in that it wasn’t too awfully hard to squeeze this one into 150K. I was able to “save as” at 9 quality (I never go below 8) and that ended up being just a few bytes too big. So I posted the “save as” first to exhibit the exif data (wish everyone would do this!) and then reposted a “save for web” that was just below 150K.
I always shoot RAW and in addition to giving lots of control over many things I really think it helps with the overall image quality when images are reduced when compared to Jpegs. My images are usually still in 16-bit mode when I reduce them (might help with quality). I recently noticed PS has three different bicubic methods you can use when resizing and didn’t use the default one on this image but the sharper one that is recommended for reduction. After that I simply sharpened mildly with Smartsharpen @ 58- 0.3 (Gaussian Blur). I don’t always follow with USM but I did here with 113- 0.2- 0. Using only 0.2 radius is very subtle compared to even 0.3- hence the use of 113.
I expect all this is similar to if not as advanced as what you are doing, but hope any of it can be of help. I think what we all need is a 200K size limit!
~Brent
ctfchallenge01-Mar-2009 04:01
Very nice with the snowy mountain in the background.
- sue anne
Rod 01-Mar-2009 03:42
I think with this amount of sky downsizing shouldn't have been too much of a problem a.
ctfchallenge01-Mar-2009 03:15
This is what I was talking about Brent - how you deliver the details without processing artifacts. Care to reveal your basic processing formula from high res to low res? Excellent architectural photograph with the tiny bird and mountains playing their disproportionately essential parts. -tv
ctfchallenge01-Mar-2009 03:14
Thanks Lydia, Rod, Carole and Penny :-) I was really happy with this shot as I had to think things out to get a good vantage point at the right time of day to have no bothersome shadows and a chance to get everything vertical. It really is a neat building. I almost leased an office there when I moved to Seattle in '91 and even got special permission to take my dog on the open cage elevators that were manually operated by attendants. No relation to me Carole :-) But having my business (named Crownsmith Dental Works) in the Smith Tower would have been cool!
Seattle is very hilly Rod as Penny said- much like San Francisco if you have been there. Downtown is mostly rolling hills but is bordered by several steep hills. Even the flat area directly north of downtown used to be a big hill until some crazy buggers blasted it away many years ago. The hills can be a real pain when covered with ice and snow, but add charm most of the time.
This was taken facing west so the mountains you see there are actually the Olympic Peninsula and the open Pacific is on the other side. The Cascade mountains were behind me and Mt. Rainier was just to the left of me.
~Brent
ctfchallenge01-Mar-2009 03:01
PS Brent, any relation to you! :-D CJ
ctfchallenge01-Mar-2009 02:51
Is Seattle a bit hilly? (he he he) that's an understatement!!!
One of the partners in my firm is originally from Seattle -he speaks about this building as a prime example of one structurally sound enough to withstand earthquakes and fire - he also told me that it's one of the only existing skyscrapers to have windows that actually open!! The distant mountains and the bird soaring by give this a very nice touch. Good one. Penny Street
ctfchallenge01-Mar-2009 02:47
I really like old architecture and this one looks interesting. I had to look it up as I had never heard of the Smith Tower but now that I know a little about it, I'd really like to see this beautiful example of art deco architecture. Good shot with the snow covered mountains in the background and the other buildings and trees to show how tall it really is. CJ
Rod 01-Mar-2009 02:09
It's nice to see a high building that has some shape. The mountains help reinforce what a great place Seattle would be to visit. Is Seattle a bit hilly? The hill certainly adds some character to the place. Really nicely done Brent.
ctfchallenge01-Mar-2009 01:57
I like the mountains topped with snow in the BG. !Lydia