There is this great pedestrian mall in the midst of central Guangzhou, China. On one end is the Canton Tower, which looks like an enormous multi-colored Chinese finger trap. On the other end is this nice 10 minute walk through a park. There is activity all around the middle with people relaxing, kids playing, vendors fling light up toys. And you are surrounded on all sides by these futuristic looking buildings. This is the Guangzhou Opera House. I have no idea what a Chinese Opera is like, but I hung around here for a couple hours just enjoying the architecture. Post-processing notes: Complete processes in Photoshop. HDR processed in Camera Raw, followed by multiple luminosity masks to control the bright spotlights on the building.
I consider myself a pretty happy and optimistic person. I smile most of the time. And maybe that's why I love color in my images so much. Fiery orange sunsets, lush green foliage, and frigid blue ice are usually the best way to convey how I felt about a place. But I think the opposite is sometimes true with architecture. What color represents the awe you feel when you stand in front of the tallest tower in the world, the Tokyo Skytree? At night, this tower lights up various beautiful shades from the rainbow. That color helps clearly separate it from the rest of the city, but it makes the tower feel more playful than grandiose. It's beautifully stunning either way, but the stark, simple contrast of black and white captures this place best. Black and white allows the freedom to hide all the distractions of everyday life in Japan. The distraction of blue skies and green grass are gone. All that's left behind in black and white is, for me, the truth. That you feel incredibly small in the face of such an amazing feat of design and engineering. When I look across this river, I don't see anything but the Skytree.
Lumenzia editing contest
