4,612 ft. Photo | TrekEarth

Photographer’s Note

Detroit's Renaissance Center was decorated for baseball's All-Star Game. This Chevrolet advertisement of a baseball smashing through the glass is about 80 feet (25 m) tall. As with the distance marks in the stadium this advertisement also has one letting the All-Star batters in Comerica Park know that they will have to hit a ball 4,612 ft to break into the Renaissance Center. You can see the view from the outside of Comerica Park in the workshop.

Baseball's All-Star game pits the best of the American League against the best of the National League. As I'm writing this the game has just ended with a 7-5 victory for the American League.

The All-Star Game is just one of a series of events the city has courted in an effort to improve its long abused image. This is the fourth time it has been here and the first time in the Detroit Tiger's new stadium.

The city has also courted the NCAA for its Final Four tournament which is the big championship of collegiate basketball. In addition to the annual North American International Auto Show and other smaller events the city has been trying to reverse an image the media still tries to portray of Detroit as a crime infested no-man's land. The biggest chance to reverse this image will come in February of 2006 when Detroit hosts Super Bowl XL, the biggest sporting event in the United States.

snuggleaphagus, eza1701, wilkinsonsg, nwoehnl, Tue, laurak83, elihesamian, bertolucci, sergecross, papagolf21, kajenn, orme, gsgeorge, turkamerikali, ChristianS, danielswalsh, rudymalou, ChrisJ, devimeuxbe has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

devimeuxbe (55853) 2005-07-13 1:28

hI pAUL
Nice POV here with this metalic composition.
Beautifull light
Bertrand

eza1701 (3343) 2005-07-13 2:50

Great shot Paul, the position you've taken the shot from emphasises the structure of the buildings against an impressive sky. I also liked the workshop, showing the advertisement from a distance.

billabongx (1561) 2005-07-13 4:01

...great photo with many things to view!
the shadows on the windows, the buildings, the sky....
everythings is perfect and I like the GM building.
great colors....
byebye
daniele

wilkinsonsg (8646) 2005-07-13 12:28

I must admit my ignorance on the finer points of baseball - like rounders is it not ;)

You have captured a very impressive skyline here - the buildings have a metallic sheen - almost like tin cans.

snuggleaphagus (4138) 2005-07-13 14:01

What a fantastic point of view. the composition is amazing. The graphics on the tower are great and you captured them so well.
The sky refkections are great too

nwoehnl (118) 2005-07-13 15:06

Hi Paul. Very good use of the wide angle to fit all these details of the shiny architecture into your frame. Good geometry provided by the modern architectural elements, and the huge ad on the GM Tower sure adds interest. I like the WS photo a lot, too, it conveys the atmosphere around the ballpark in a great way. Interesting notes; I join you in hoping that hosting this streak of popular spectator sports events will boost Detroit's image.

Tue (25608) 2005-07-13 16:11

Hi Paul,
Great capture of those buildings and excellent POV! During the European Championship Soccer in 2000 in Holland and Belgium, we had the same sort of advertisement on a skyscraper in Rotterdam with one of our most famous soccerplayers shooting a ball through the building. :-)
Very good work, thanx for sharing!
Groetjes,
Lars

elihesamian (26091) 2005-07-14 16:44

Great shot again from Detroit,with a nice perspective and and a fine composition with managed the building in the frame a bit symmetrically,I like it,great note as always.
Clear,sharp and beautiful with attractive colors,specially the blue.
Thanks for posting it,Paul!
Best Regards
M

[2]

bertolucci (11976) 2005-07-15 8:53

Hi Paul, this is a very powerful one! I love the perspective distortion, it really strengthens the raw verticalism of this building wonderfully. I like the strong contrast and strong lines here. And the refelections too. Great graphism and again a fine note - giving us a good feel about the how and why of this building! The WS gives xcellent info about the urban context.
Regards from Rotterdam, Bert.

sergecross (3438) 2005-07-15 13:16

Paul, great one. Nice architecture inside the picture. I want to go to that city, very nice point of view and colors.
Congratulations!
Sergio

cgrindahl (6109) 2005-07-16 15:59

I love this image Paul with all that shimmering glass and the converging lines created by perspective. It is also quite humorous with that baseball "shattering" the glass of the tower. Great fun, especially for a baseball fan! The Tigers seem to be doing quite a bit better this year than last. My A's are beginning to play exciting ball, which makes the last half of the season much more interesting than it might otherwise have been.

Your well composed image, as always, is flawlessly prepared with fine sharpness and well rendered colors. Your point of view with none of the vertical lines truly vertical creates a lovely tension in the image, especially when contrasted with the curves at both top and bottom. Very nicely done.

As footnote, I have to say I'll be cheering just a bit for the Lions in the coming football season. Steve Mariucci was always a favorite when he was in San Francisco. He got a bum rap... our loss was your gain. Go Lions!

john_c (24635) 2005-07-16 20:10

Hello Paul,
A well composed cityscape with an excellent POV. I like the shadows and reflections here. Good framing and tight cropping have produced an excellent effect, and I particularly like the manner in which you have angled in the foreground glass section and the white wall. Did you use an extra wide angle lens for this one? Very well captured.
John

jhm (82201) 2005-07-17 6:43

Hi Paul,
What a great point of view, almost a symetric image, but the building in the middle is absolutely the most beautiful. Excellent composition Paul,
Greetings,
John.

papagolf21 (56159) 2005-07-17 14:53

Bonsoir Paul,
Comme d'habitude, la note est toujours aussi détaillée et intéressante.
Nous avons le vertige à l'envers en regardant ces tours qui veulent toucher le ciel, du moins les nuages blancs !
Un cadrage excellent. J'aime beaucoup les reflets.
Merci du partage.
Philippe

kajenn (2325) 2005-07-17 19:21

It's a great shot, Paul - in composition, colors and clarity - of a unique and very appealing decoration, which really catches the eyes in this creative POV of yours. This is the image of a city 'on the go' and I really hope these events will help in improving Detroit's image. And the Super Bowl in 2006, that's something! The WS photo really sets perspective to the distance and to the ad itself, at the same time showing the ballpark crowd and surroundings as well as the nice weather. Very well done!

Due to serious computer problems – go to my intro page for further information – I've not been able to upload or critique as much as I'd like. In an effort to rectify this, I'll do my best to catch up on your shots – but will probably not be able to write a comment on all of them. I hope you understand.

Rinie_Hoff (9332) 2005-07-18 18:13

Hi Paul, strong strong verticals with a lot of perspection. I'm glad you did not take the symmetry that is available in the position.
The baseball is very nice.
We had a picture here in Rotterdam on the highest building of a soccer player, entering the building on one side, and leaving it on the other side.
I know Strangiato has uploaded a picture of it on TL, I will try to find it, here it is.

jrzufferey (7249) 2005-07-19 14:26

Excellent, tu profites de la déformation des lentilles pour nous faire ce magnifique bouquet de building. Bravo c'et beau. Amitié/jr

gsgeorge (756) 2005-07-19 18:23

Great! The low angle makes the RenCen look especially towering, although I would maybe eliminate the slightly distracting elements at the bottom of the frame. Great colors and reflections, and wonderfully exposed. Nice work! Great note, too--any non-Detroiter would be dutifully educated.

orme (6746) 2005-07-21 3:09

This is a wonderful architecture shot, Paul. Beautiful colours. I like how the colours of the sky seem to be reflected in the 'circular pillars'. Excellent reflections. Well seen and framed.

Stepan (27175) 2005-07-21 14:00

Such an urban atmosphere !
Very well captured and done.
Stéphane

premels (2400) 2005-07-23 6:59

Hi Paul, You pictured a giants family, did you. Two heavy buildings framing their frail child. The dark brown facades are amazing. They must be 'old' already (1960 or 1970). Today we are more used to the cold blue ones. Maybe some human presence would have given a better sense of the dimensions. Here we have to count the floors ... :)

turkamerikali (4772) 2005-07-24 18:18

Wooow Awesome Building and nice capture Paul.
I like the sharpness,POV,focus,vivid colors and great blue sky.Nice Note.TFS
CT of Chicago

ChristianS (2997) 2005-07-25 6:11

Hi Paul, very nice shot of these towering buildings. What I like most is the almost symmetrical composition and the upward perspective which results in the towering effect, feeling the buildings almost inclining towards the viewer; all these elements convey imo a feeling of constrained space, being trapped at the bottom of this composition, only being able to raise the eye towards the buildings and the sky. Nice colours and exposure. Very well done!

Regards, Christian

yannick (1469) 2005-07-25 14:21

Nice picture!
I like the impression that the central cylinder is protected by the two wings. Good perspective, and nice colours.
Yannick

danielswalsh (13306) 2005-08-03 1:48

I like it Paul;

Now that's "IMPACT" marketing!
Hat's off to the marketing company that came up with that one!
You managed a great shot as well Paul. Perfect exposure to capture both the building and the sky well.

Cheers!
- Dan

ChrisJ (70019) 2005-08-08 3:44

Hi Paul

I like the complimentary perspectives of the 3 high rise buildings. Good pov, & excellent sharpness & color. Well done!

sn00zie (2384) 2005-08-25 14:00

whoa! nice pov... nice effect on the building

Merline (6574) 2007-11-04 9:28

Paul,
though your note is very informative, I do not manage to get interested in baseball:-)
But in your pics, yes, and very much!
An original and creative composition, good that you did not go for the easy choice here, but also showing the lower part that make a great foreground and give depth to it. Wonderful sharpness and details, lovely reflections. Superb management of light, great work, I love it very very much.

TFS
Michèle