Showing posts with label kc skyline. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kc skyline. Show all posts

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Fall Photo Forgotten


Fond memories of cooler times. This photo, which I forgot about, was taken last fall and shows the skyline view from the northeast. Pretty clouds that day.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Moon Rise From Kaw Point

Friday night was the last time the moon would be full-full... from now on it will start losing its roundness. Above is the dusk view of the skyline with the relatively newly installed metal sculptures of Lewis and Clark. The Kaw River is on the right and the Missouri is on the left. Both are high and moving fast from all the spring rains.
It's a view that lends itself to black and white as well as color... above and below the skyline just after sunset.

Above...taken at 9:45pm..... the moon rose at 9:44pm and made its first appearance (below) at 10:10... preceded by a decided glow around the building. Fortunately what few clouds there were dissipated before moonrise.

The moon is very bright in relation to its "surroundings" and the only way to get detail in it is to sacrifice outlines and shapes in the buildings.... above is such a shot.
All these shots, except the last one, were taken with the 70-200 f2.8 zoom at F16... I varied only the shutter speed in capturing the images and it ranged from 2 seconds to 8 seconds at ASA 800 on the Nikon D3. A tripod and cable release were used to make sure everything was perfectly steady.


Fiddled with the color balance on the one above. Others are pretty much as seen by the naked eye.




Above shot was taken with same settings as before but using the 24-70mm zoom... it was a parting shot on the way back to the parking lot. The park is easy to find... just take the Lewis and Clark Viaduct (appropriate) west and take the Fairfax exit... then look for a sign on the right with an arrow saying "Kaw Point". You travel through a shipping yard parking lot to get to it... just follow the signs.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

One Ballroom, Many Lives

This downtown Kansas City building has more lives than a cat. Originally it was to be a hotel but construction was begun in 1912 but not completed. The Kansas City Athletic Club then bought the unfinished structure and completed it in 1923. It remained the club until bought by the Continental group which converted the structure to a hotel.... the Athletic Club remained in the building until the 60s or 70s when it moved to Kansas City Kansas. During the Continental period the Kansas City Playboy Club was on the 22nd floor. Purchased again the building was refurbished for office space and is now known as the Mark Twain Tower. Now under new management several new leases have been signed.

The elegant room shown below was the ballroom for all the buildings incarnations. Today it is the Sawyer Room and is popular for weddings and other events. Each of the windows in the room has a unique design/logo in the center. I'm assuming those date to the Athletic Club Days and are logos for different teams.... although if someone knows for sure help me out!

President Truman used the club regularly before, during and after his Presidency. He was very keen on physical fitness.

Remnants of the old club facilities remain and the current management hopes to restore some to their former glory.

Below is first the exterior of the building at 11th and Baltimore. Then the entryway. The Ballroom takes up the fifth and sixth floors.

More pictures later including rooftop views (if we EVER get warmer weather). The building is the 20th tallest building in Kansas City at 24 floors.

Many thanks to Dawña the building manager who allowed me to photograph this treasure!














Sunday, October 25, 2009

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Behind Ponaks


Love Ponaks.... as does daughter.. everytime she's home on a visit it's a must stop... this was taken on her last visit mid-April.