This looks so unreal in it's clarity. No I am not accusing you of faking or doctoring. It is just ver very well done. If it pops like this on my monitor, the original must sing.
Thanks for the kind remarks. This is difficult to print but the finished print just glows. It is one of my favorite b&w prints... quality-wise. The negative could have used a stop more exposure because there is no detail in the tree areas but that doesn't seem to matter that much in the print. It also might have benefitted by N-1 development. The steps had to be flashed to bring up detail. Without flashing, they were totally blank. But the final print is one of my favorites and this scan doesn't do it justice. The detail in the real print is incredible.
Truly awesome. I echo Leon's words. The trees help leading into the picture, but they certainly don't need detail. The important part is your vision and the quality of the print, which is really very fine.
Ditto to all the positive comments above. I'm a couple of hundred miles away, but I get to the Chicago area several times a year. What focal length lens did you use. Would a shorter or longer lens work? The shadows suggest that this is the south elevation of the building we are seeing; is that correct? Are there other good shooting positions surrounding the building?
It has been quite a while since I made this picture but I am guessing that I shot it with a 180mm lens. I could have shot it with a different lens, of course, but I chose this composition.
As for the shooting position.... I can picture exactly where I took it from but I am not sure if I remember the direction I was facing for sure now, but it seems to me that it was from the south or southeast side. I wouldn't be surprised if I am not correct about that, though. I think it was the best vantage point that I could find for this type of formal and symmetrical shot. I did shoot other pictures in 35mm color that day, with flowering tree branches in the foreground framing the composition. But I think this viewpoint was the only straight-on" shot, if I remember correctly. I have since seen very similar shots as this one published in magazines and newspapers. It must be a popular vantage point.