The Nancy And Rich Kinder Building At The MFAH
The Nancy and Rich Kinder Building is the latest addition to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) campus. Completed in November, 2020 the Kinder Building increased the overall MFAH exhibition space by nearly 75 percent. The distinctive architecture includes a façade of vertical, translucent-glass tubes. As a result, the building stands out from all of the other buildings in the area.
Direct view of the building is blocked in most areas by trees between the street and the building. However, since the building is primarily white in color it peaks out through the foliage. Visually, this creates a sense of mystery that makes you want to see it even more. While the sense of mystery is nice visually when in person, it does present challenges when trying to take a photo. However, if you do a bit of exploring you can find a good vantage point.
The Scene
Fortunately, I was able to set up near the entrance to the underground parking garage. This gave me a view down the drive that includes most of the main façade. This also gave me some nice morning light filtered through the trees. As I do for many architecture shots, I used a tilt-shift lens to keep the vertical perspective straight even though I was shooting from a low angle.
Sometimes when you go out shooting, something unexpected and wonderful happens. That day it certainly did. As I was taking shots, a young couple holding hands came strolling past. They added a fantastic “human element” to the scene. As if made to order, they were wearing light-colored shirts that helped make them standout against the darker background. Additionally, the woman was wearing a big light-colored wide-brimmed sun hat that really added to the scene. Sometimes you just get lucky.
The Processing
Processing this photo was a bit tricky. It has a wide dynamic range of light ranging from the bright, white façade to the foliage in shade and everything in between. As a result, it took a lot of work to get the tones the way I wanted. There were a lot of starts and stops and do-overs. Included in all this, were a number of detailed selections with individual adjustments for each. It was a lot of work, but in the end it was fun.
Leave A Comment And Share
Do you have any favorite photos where luck played a major role in the composition? I’d love to hear your comments and feedback. Please leave a comment in the comment box below.
Also, if you like this post please share on Facebook and Twitter.
