Crunch Time

First of all, I just want to say that I hope everyone who celebrates Thanksgiving had a good holiday. For those of you who don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, I still hope you had a good day :).

At this point we are getting down to crunch time on the semester. I’ve been going through my scans and I’ve decided on the 12 photos that I’m going to submit for the final exam. The requirements for the final are as follows:

12 high-quality prints, spot toned where necessary,
contact sheets for the rolls of film from which the print was made,
each print is to be matted on 11×14 mat board,
a self-critique, and,
all prints should have an overall theme.

The theme I decided to go with is the design and architecture of structures in Houston. It could be a park bench, a pool, or a skyscraper. The unifying theme here is that the main elements in the photo are designed and built by men and women to help make the city beautiful. Without further ado, here are the photos I will be submitting for the final. The photos are in order from oldest to newest… I think I can see a progression here :).

Houston Icons 1 – From left: JPMorgan Chase Tower, Penzoil Plaza, and Bank of America Tower

The water wall at Williams Tower – this thing pumps 11,000 gallons of water per hour. It is truly a sight to behold close up.

Williams Tower – At 901 feet this is the third tallest building in Houston (22nd in US) but probably one of the first recognizable skyscrapers in the city.

A Houston Metro bus stop in the Uptown/Galleria area of Houston. This interesting design is only found on the bus stops in this area of town.

Houston Icons 2 – From left: Continental Airlines corporate headquarters, the old Enron corporate headquarters, and a building that I am currently unable to identify.

The Ring – This skyway is a complete circle around the intersection of Smith St. and Bell St. in downtown Houston. The attached building here is the old Enron building.

General Sam Houston sculpture in Miller Park, just south of downtown Houston.

A shot looking north from the side of the reflecting pool in Miller Park.

Halliburton Center(?) just outside Minute Maid Park. Halliburton Center is part of the Minute Maid Park grounds and is located on the Crawford St. side of the stadium. These are the unusual benches that are in this little park.

I forget the name of this Roman Catholic Church, but it is one of the few left in Houston that hasn’t been torn down in favor of a more modern design. This church is located just across Texas Ave from Minute Maid Park.

Another angle of the old Roman Catholic Church. This church was built in 1839.

Bank of America Tower as seen from the veranda of Jones Hall.

Here is my final exam. Let me know what you think as your comments help me grow.