Parasol (Re)Visited
Saturday, June 18, 2011 at 14:37 ;)
Slithering │ GH2 + Lumix 7-14mm F4.0 │ 14mm F5.6 2s ISO160Finally, here are the photos I promised you from on top the Metropol Parasol towering over Seville's Plaza de la Encarnación. Controversial in some circles, there was nevertheless a huge queue to ascend the mechanical clouds to view the sunset over historic Seville. I'll spare you those rather cliché photos.
Instead, these are photos from the undulating walkway that meanders like a roller coaster over the roof of the structure. It climbs and curves around to a viewing platform, before dipping and diving back down into the structure itself.;)
Looping │ GH2 + Lumix 7-14mm F4.0 │ 14mm F4.5 1s ISO160My wide angle zoom was ideal for capturing the curves doubling back on themselves. One photo is able to take in the full sweep of the undulating walkway, the concave roofscape and fragments of the city below.
It was dark, so I wedged my mini tripod against the railing to stabilize the long shutter speeds I was shooting at. Surprisingly, the bigger challenge turned out to be the whole walkway which trembled every time someone walked by. I had to wait for gaps in the steady flow of visitors. When my area was clear, I was able to take a shot. It required some patience to get the shot, but that's a lot cheaper than buying a full frame camera with a giant bazooka of a lens mounted to it. Never mind lugging the thing around all day.;)
Swallowing │ GH2 + Lumix 7-14mm F4.0 │ 7mm F5.6 1.6s ISO160My 7-14mm zoom is very good but doesn't let in that much light. In low light conditions, I always wonder if I'd be better served by a bright, wide angle, prime lens. Olympus is about to announce a 12mm F2.0 lens. Coupled with a higher sensitivity, that would have gotten me into hand holding territory on top of the Parasol. But there's always a trade off. In this case, I would have missed the extra wide angle capability of my 7-14mm zoom. For that all encompassing, super wide angle I'm more than happy to work around the limitations imposed by a starting aperture of F4.0. Having both lenses doesn't make much sense either: for me the whole point of switching to the Micro Four Thirds system was to have a lighter, more travel friendly kit. Having two wide angle lenses with me defeats that purpose.;)
Diving │ GH2 + Leica 45mm F2.8 │ 45mm F7.1 2s ISO160Link to an overall photo of the Parasol from ground level
Reader Comments (4)
Stunning photography of buildings I'd like to see.
Thanks very much, Nina. Nice to hear from you!
Excellent series, feels like you were in a spaceship.
You put the 7-14mm lens to good use here.
Cristian, yes it does feel like being in a spaceship. Especially when there's very little context to bring you "back to earth." The 7-14mm is superb in this kind of setting.