It can sometimes be difficult to get out and do local shoots for myself. If I’m traveling, photography is my focus and I try and make the most of each moment. But, when I’m home, it’s easier to sit back and think “maybe the light will be better tomorrow.” There’s no urgency, and no sense that you may never be back so you’d better get the shot now. There’s always tomorrow.
Every now and then, I try and create my own urgency. In 2015, when the KC Royals won the World Series, I knew that it might be a good time to update my file photos of Kansas City’s Union Station. It was lit blue each night to celebrate the win so it seemed like an opportunity to get something a little different.
The shot above is older — from 2011 — but it shows the station and its surroundings for reference. This is the typical view of KC’s downtown, taken from the Liberty Memorial. For my 2015 shoot, I wanted to focus in more on the station and use the fountain as a foreground.
This is an early shot I took from across the street showing the relationship of the fountain to the building. I didn’t really want the street showing, so I moved closer and eventually got right down on the pool’s edge to maximize the reflections. I was also using a tripod and neutral density filters, playing with long exposures to get the water silky-smooth.
It was early November and, at that time of year, the last rays from the sun just graze the face of the building. It really brings out the architecture of the 1914 Beaux-Arts train station. At the time it opened, KC’s Union Station was said to be the second largest in the US.
I kept shooting as the light died, then waited for the blue illumination to appear.
The lights came on and it was worth the wait, although I really think I like some of the earlier shots — from just before sunset — better. No matter. At least the lights got me out on this night and I had a very enjoyable evening roaming about and trying to see the familiar in new ways.
