Centre Block & Peace Tower

[Manfred M]

This is another shot I took this morning wandering around downtown Ottawa just after sunrise (20 minutes after sunrise to be more precise). This is the very first time I've been there where I saw absolutely no one except for the security officers. Not seeing any visitors was definitely a first. Security was a lot tighter since the last time I was here; no doubt as a result of a gunman attacking here last fall.

The is the Centre Block of the Canadian Parliament Buildings (there is also an East Block and West Block) and the tall clock tower is called the Peace Tower; which in addition to the bells that chime, also has a 53-bell carillon.

Parts of the building are undergoing restoration and these are surrounded by scaffolding and in places their are large white sheets of plastic to protect the work crews from the elements. Some Photoshop surgery was performed to remove these distracting elements. I took this shot with a Nikkor f/3.5 24mm PC-E lens (shift / tilt perspective correcting lens), so the "lack" of keystoning comes from using this lens, rather than trying to correct in Photoshop.

[Digital]

Manfred, nice pic. You mentioned pic was taken 20 minutes after sunrise; then mentioned sunset. Which did you mean?



Bruce

[Manfred M]

Manfred, nice pic. You mentioned pic was taken 20 minutes after sunrise; then mentioned sunset. Which did you mean?




Bruce

Thanks for the catch Bruce; it should have said sunrise; I've corrected that. Sunset is still a few hours from now...

[Mike Buckley]

This is terrific, Manfred. I remember your winter shots of the complex. The cloudless sky adds to the minimalist style of the image. I used the uploaded size of the file to look for signs of digital removal of the white plastic and couldn't find anything. Well done!

[Digital]

Manfred, did you use a tripod for this shot?



Bruce

[Shadowman]

Very nice.

[Manfred M]

Manfred, did you use a tripod for this shot?



Bruce

Yes I did Bruce. The camera has to be level to prevent keystoning, so I have a tripod with bubble level that I set up before shooting. I would say virtually all my shots with my shift / tilt lens are taken with a tripod.

[Manfred M]

This is terrific, Manfred. I remember your winter shots of the complex. The cloudless sky adds to the minimalist style of the image. I used the uploaded size of the file to look for signs of digital removal of the white plastic and couldn't find anything. Well done!

Here's the SOOC image (shrunk down and changed to sRGB).



You can see some scaffolding on the left and the white tent on the roof on the right. I had to move the chimney and tower that are under construction using an identical one on the left side of the building and flipping it horizontally. A tiny bit of painting to cover up where the sun hit in the left hand tower and couldn't possibly hit on the right hand tower.

[Stagecoach]

Great detail on this one Manfred, but we see that on all your buildings.

What I would like to see is a 0.2 degree rotation ACW, I reckon they would of used plumb-lines in those days for building verticals, achieving greater accuracy here than with the horizontals (unless they had clear plastic tubes with water in then)

[Stagecoach]

I think the problem Manfred will always be what you consider should be level. When I checked this using guidelines the top of the ridge tiles of the farthest left and right blocks are spot on but the tower 0.2 out?

I gather there are concerns regarding the tower of UK parliament leaning due to age.

[Manfred M]

Great detail on this one Manfred, but we see that on all your buildings.

What I would like to see is a 0.2 degree rotation ACW, I reckon they would of used plumb-lines in those days for building verticals, achieving greater accuracy here than with the horizontals (unless they had clear plastic tubes with water in then)

You'll notice that this is an issue with the SOOC jpeg and was corrected in the first image I posted.

I have a bubble level (in fact a couple) on the tripod and I was "on bubble" before I started to shoot. I didn't check at the end of the shots, so the tripod must have shifted. I did drop guidelines on the image in Photoshop during the edit and straighted it to the guidelines.

As for the building not being straight, that is a distinct possibility; as it is going through an 18-year (2002 - 2020) restoration. This whole part of the country was once part of a vast inland sea known as the Champlain Sea. This means a lot of clay in the subsoil, and in fact a lot of a particularly problematic clay, Leda clay, which is inherently unstable, is around. Other buildings in the area of similar age have had to be stabilized (i.e. pilings driven into the bedrock), there have been issues with roads, etc.

Another issue is that most of Centre Block burned down in 1916, and the current building was erected where the old one had stood. Again this could have resulting in post-construction settling.

I still tend towards operator error...

[TonyW]

This is a very nice photo. I thought perhaps that the SOOC version looked better than the one first posted because of the colour of the sun hitting the building even though there was less detail showing. But then I looked at the version on Flickr and saw that in full resolution it had both. I also found a photo of the building taken in 1868 which makes an interesting comparison.

It's also an interesting contrast to the more modern style Australian parliament building, which I don't especially like (not because it is modern).

[IzzieK]

This is such a beautiful place, Manfred...something out of a tourist catalouge.

[Sailorstu]

Beautiful Manfred...I hope to take photos of Parliament of this quality some day!

[Manfred M]

Beautiful Manfred...I hope to take photos of Parliament of this quality some day!

Honestly, the hardest part is doing it when there are no people around. I've been there so many different times and there were always people in my shot (if there aren't too many, there are techniques of removing most if not all of them). I don't mind so much if they are facing the camera, but usually, it's a shot of Centre Block + rear end of tourists....

[Barbara Ponder]

Very nice as is usual of your work!

[Texas Dave]

A very handsome building and photo.