Inside the newly renovated Atlanta Central Library (opening in the fall) is such creative use of natural and artificial lighting. From above this shot, there are these circular sky lights (domes from the outside on the patio above), which you can witness in the upper right area of this photograph (it was an intermittent cloudy day with pops of light changing each shot I took within seconds of each other). At the top of the stairs, you see an interconnected series of ring lights, and in this room, they are not as bright as in other rooms, and then there are the linear lights we might recognize in typical industrial settings. The stairs are cement, but textured here and there with something akin to wood knots, and finally, you have the solid wood handrails. I was so glad I decided to travel with my tripod for this shoot. My back cannot handle all my lenses anymore with the tripod in tow (as I did 6 years ago on a trip to Bali and Japan)--I also don't have the ability to bend down low (even with a tripod), so it reinforces my desire for a new mirrorless camera where I can have a flip screen and, perhaps, some lighter gear. For this trip, I took my Bowers manual wide angle lens and my 24-70mm 2.8 Tamron. I had hoped to take my 35 Sigma art lens (way too heavy) and my all around 16-300 Tamron. In the end, I chose the two best for my purposes, with the 24-70 for quality in focus and the Bowers for wide angles I normally cannot get.
I have to say I can't look at stairs ever again the same. My brother's spinal stroke makes me ever more aware of how stairs are an obstacle for people who are walking impaired. Fortunately, this library is equipped with wide-berths and very large elevators for movement from floor to floor, with architecturally enhance ramps that also welcome a visitor to any room.
But stairs. They are sometimes a thing of beauty and a thing of burden.
