And another welcome - we were all newbies once so please don't be afraid to ask. There's no such thing as a daft question

Mag 'flippin nificent

Can we consider this one from a different perspective?
I accept that you pay for the plus membership but the free membership is just that -- it's provided for us by people who nevertheless have to do actual work administering the site, maintaining servers and what not, all with scarcely any down time at all. We really ought to be saying, "Thanks guys!"

Clearly a capable camera and in very capable hands. Lovely portrait.

I find that I can get quite deep dof using a set of bellows with a 135mm on the end and delayed shutter release. Constant light seems better since you are not trying to stop movement and it's not so fiddly. Also, should you need to focus stack, the bellows is absolutely perfect for it.

Thank you for that wonderful collection of explanations. You would never guess what was inside by looking at the outside. At least the prolific decoration is now comprehensible. As to where the bricks came from, try this one link It's equally fascinating.

Leaving aside the various skyscrapers, there are any number of high-rise buildings in New York, dating from the turn of the last century. You would walk straight past this particular one. It is just a pile of bricks and quite boring.

1. Junction of 10th Avenue and West 23rd street



2. One story you are never told is quite where the millions and millions of bricks were made (must look it up)
Now look more closely and notice the ropework in buff brick that separates each bay. It goes right to the top.



3. About 14 stories up, where the average Joe public would rarely, if ever look, the ropework is terminated by a huge sculpted faun that
sits above a gorgeously fashioned plinth, while a narrow and very pretty frieze makes a horizontal punctuation. Also note the textured brickwork.



4. And the sculptures get more fantastic the higher you go. These are around the penthouse, facing 10th Avenue about 19 floors up.


I have no idea what the thing is at the top (it's counterpart to the left, out of frame, is even more weird). The bird might be an auk?
Again, look at the detail of the buff brickwork and the 'normal' brickwork to the right of the bird's pedestal.

5. Moving along W23rd we find another set of huge sculptures at the end of the first bay. This is clearly a pelican. However, its
partner (out of frame, left) is missing ! Did it fall off or was it removed before it got a chance? You can see the gap on photo #1.



6. Going right to the other end of the building - it's a heavy crop, so apologies for the quality - you can see tiers of similar sculptures
going right to the top of the building and also, along the frontage at 'roof' level 1 there are rows and rows of gargoyles that I presume
spew rainwater over everyone below!



So, not such a mundane building after all? It must have been relatively expensive to erect in the first place - and then all that extra stuff
gets added where few people will ever see it. What is its history? What was it/ is it used for? Who was responsible for it?

7. Please feel free to add your thoughts .....


Photo taken from "The High Line" with a K5 and Tamron 28-200.

You tend not to think of photography having much to do with philosophy but that provides a quite fascinating 'point of view'. Thank you Bill.

Envy.............

Faststone picture viewer - free and very user friendly. Afinity photo, about £30 and feature laden, then there are the expensive ones