Very interesting perspective on this shot. I'm getting dizzy just looking up at the sky. And my neck is getting increasingly sore. Lovely colors in the brick and the reflection of the sky from the glass. Do I detect some slight vignetting? A very pleasant posting of Grand Rapids and the more than infamous Ionia Street.

Roger

Fantastic contrasting colours! I have a few shots from this perspective but nothing to striking as this hence why i have not bothered to post! I love the darkening at the edges of the image. Barely perceptable on the first viewing and then you realise there is a very deliberate directing of the eye upwards! Very clever :D

Just a wee bit to the left and this would have been a perfect example of symmetry (just a thought for next time). I've seen plenty of other shots like this, taken straight up the side of a building, but they seldom succeed--this one does. Perhaps it's because you have excellent DOF here, or because of that strong red and blue contrast. The red isn't a harsh, "out-of-the-tube" red, and the blue isn't tempered by strong sunlight. Plus that light blue is reflected in all the windows. That all gives these two colors a similar intensity and therefore they don't fight as contrary colors normally would. The light cloud in the top center and the vignetting around the edges gives it a feel of spotlighting, or even the character of an old daguerreotype (of course, for that, you'd have to remove the color and add a sepia filter). This really is a nice shot, for all the reasons mentioned, plus it's a good capture of the kind of decorative, old architecture that "progress" is rapidly removing from our landscape and culture. We need photos like this because the real thing will be gone in another 50 years. I think you should look around your town and document structures that exhibit various styles. You children (possibly) and your local historical society (certainly) will thank you for it in years to come. Into my favs it goes.

-Nik