Spotlight Pic: “College Station Medical Center”

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“College Station Medical Center” was created by Mark Sykes, Cr.Photog., CPP of College Station, Texas. The image was commissioned by the hospital to produce an updated building shot, but Mark wanted to create more than just another snapshot of the building by producing an image that was warm, and inviting. The problem was the building was surrounded by other structures that needed be eliminated or de-emphasized, while showing off the hospital’s iconic curved roof over the portico. After walking the parking lot, Mark picked his spot for the perfect angle and waited. As luck would have it, a storm blew through the area the night before the shoot which seems to always create dramatic sunsets in this area the following night. Mark set up his camera just inches from the ground using his Tamron 14-30mm f2.8 superwide angle lens to shoot up at the building, giving the short 3 story building greater height and stature. After photographing the image, Mark gave the building a make over by re-painting the curbs, removing oil and tire marks on the driveway, dodging and burning certain areas of the building to create more light direction, and making all of the windows match since only a couple of the upper floor rooms were lit. Lastly Mark increased the overall warmth of the image by increasing the saturation and by placing a solid color layer in soft light mode over the entire image using a warm color from the sunset. The image scored 92 at Texas PPA Summerfest Image Competition.