I was working through my Lightroom catalog this morning, working on adding keywords to some images when I came across this picture taken of Hill Auditorium. Hill Auditorium is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan on the campus of the University of Michigan. The architect was Albert Khan. This particular image showcases some of the fine detail work which exists in this building. In particular, this shot shows a tile embedded in the brickwork on the front of the auditorium. The tile was manufactured by Pewabic Pottery in Detroit, Michigan. This image has had minimal processing done to it, some simple curves and sharpening and that’s about it.

This shot was taken in front of Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The front area of the auditorium has a large plaza area, and near the edge of the plaza there are drainage areas. These areas are covered by the decorative metal work you see here. I originally worked with the color version of this image (seen here), but after revisiting, I decided that black and white might be good as well. I liked the color version because it highlighted the rusty color, but I like the black and white version because it focuses more on the geometric pattern.

This is a picture of the State Theatre in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The theater is located in the central campus area of the University of Michigan. The theater was designed by C. Howard Crane, who also designed the Fox Theatre in Detroit, Michigan. The theater was built in 1942. Originally a single screen theater with balcony, it was carved into four theaters in 1979. Later, the bottom two theaters were closed and converted to retail space. The two upper theaters remain, occupying the original balcony space.

One day I was sitting at home when I noticed that some interesting clouds were forming in the sky. I took this opportunity to head in to town and do some architecture shooting. I had been wanting to get some more shots of the new Stephen Ross School of Business building on the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. The building offers some interesting opportunities for architectural photography. There are many different colors, textures and shapes to explore. …

This is a shot of the entrance to the University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA). The building was originally built as Alumni Memorial Hall. A Beaux Arts style building completed in 1910, the building was built as a tribute to University of Michigan graduates who had died or were wounded in the Civil War, the Mexican-American War, and the Spanish-American War. The building became home to the museum in 1946. A new addition to the museum opens this weekend and architecturally is a dramatic contrast to the original structure (but in a good way.)

This is a shot of the marquee on the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The theater has undergone a restoration which took several years to complete. I believe they have at least one more phase to go. Part of the restoration was to install a ‘new’ sign which replicated the sign which was originally installed for the theater. In the 50’s the sign was taken down and a ‘modern’ marquee was installed. With the ‘new’ sign, the theater looks like it did when it was built.

This image is a close up shot of the State Theatre marquee in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The theatre is located in the heart of the campus area of the University of Michigan. The theater itself was designed by famed theater architect C. Howard Crane, who also designed the Fox Theater in Detroit. Built in 1942, the State Theater was the last commercial building to be completed in Ann Arbor after the start of World War II.

This is a shot of an old New York Central Railway Pullman car which is part of Art Train USA. I really like the typography used on these trains, as well as their streamlined design.

This is a somewhat stylized shot of the Greyhound bus depot in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The depot is still functioning, but the sign has seen better days. When I took this shot, I wanted to focus on the details of the sign and it’s current condition. The sign used to have a nice blue background for the lettering. Now, almost all of the blue is gone. When I started working with this image I decided to give it a bit more of a pop art look to it. The filter didn’t really have much effect on the sign itself, but it made the building next to the depot a bit more

As part of a self imposed creativity session, I went out one Saturday with just one lens on my camera. I selected my 70-300mm because I wanted to focus on details, or get a compressed perspective. I use an Olympus E-3 which has a crop factor of 2x, making my 70-300 lens the 35mm equivalent of 140-600mm. The shot above is of a Catholic school in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I had seen this building many times, but I never really looked at the details of its construction. The longer focal length really made me notice the details. The thing that really caught my eye about this building was the intricate brickwork …