Harrisburg Parking Garage Tour

Annette and I did not know what to expect, but whatever vague notions we had in our minds did not match what happened.  We were not mentally prepared.

The Harrisburg Camera Club had a photo shoot today.  The description of the shoot just said Downtown Harrisburg and the meeting location.

So when Annette and I got out of the car, we didn't want to lug around all of our gear so we both agreed that we would just take our cameras with the short lenses.  I guess we thought we were going to walk around the streets and shoot people or architecture.

We saw the Camera Club Group starting to walk away from the meeting place, so we ran to catch up.  That was when we learned that we were going to the top of a parking garage!

So up we go.  But from that perspective, a wide angle lens is not what you need.  You need a telephoto lens to zoom in on details of buildings or on far away buildings and sights.  So the first parking garage was a little bit of a bust!  But, I left that vantage point early and went back to the car and got our long lenses and tripods, both of which came in very handy!

In total, we went to the top of four parking garages in downtown Harrisburg!

Here are some of the pictures that I took.

 In the picture above I liked the G for Garthwaite and I liked the lion/gargoyle.  Do you think I should get rid of that drain?

 I liked the strong lines of this building to the left and the contrast between the colors and the contrast between the straight and rectangular features of the building and the more chaotic features of the leaves.

Similarly, I liked the straight and angular aspects of the building contrasting with the organic shapes of the tree.  The black of the building helped the yellow leaves to "pop".

The two pictures to the left are two different pieces of the same parking garage.  This garage was actually the third one that we climbed.  We were late getting there because we had a little detour.

Annette, Clara and Cheryl and I got off of the elevator one floor too soon.  We ended up at the Starbucks at what I guess to be the back of the Whitaker Center.  The girls had to have a coffee.  Clara wanted to buy but couldn't because she left her purse at home!  But it's the thought that counts!

While we were there, one of the Whitaker Center employees saw me standing with Annette's camera and my camera.  She asked if we did weddings.  I said, "Yes."  She asked, "Do you charge a lot?"  I said, "Yes."  But she was still interested in talking to us about shooting her wedding.  So we gave her a card and told her to look at other weddings we had shot and see if she liked our work.  Maybe we will hear from her.  Maybe we won't.

 I was just a little too late for this shot to the right.  Earlier in the day the sun was creating more interesting shadows on this white wall.  So, the lesson for both me and you is this:  Shoot it when you see it!  Don't wait!

We stayed until almost 5:00 p.m.  It was dark enough at that point for cars to have their lights on and I was able to get this picture with the streaks of red lights from the tail and brake lights.

Oh, well.  That was enough for us.  We had been shooting for four hours and we were ready to go home.

But still, it was a great day.  The weather was beautiful and we had the company of fellow photographers!