Wild on the track(s)

Getting immersed into the spectacular architecture of the Liège-Guillemins railway station, I could not – of course! – resist the urge to slap my fish-eye lens on the camera and go for the wild views. Things rapidly start moving into a different ‘perspective’, and spaces and shapes take on new dimension.

Getting lost in the big(ger) picture…

Follow my lead

A fish-eye lens also invites you to try out unusual camera positions that introduce all kinds of visual effects and references:

Beam me up, Scotty!

Transflection

The previous picture was shot lying flat on the ground, close to one of the glass elevator ‘towers’ on the platforms, aiming straight up towards the station’s glass-and-concrete dome. Transparency and reflection were lining up perfectly resulting in an abstract composition.

To close, an outside shot where the fish-eye’s distortion of the ground echoes the curves of the station’s canopy roof. 

 A leaf in the night

Now there’s a kind of lens that I could hardly live without…

Gear notes: D700, 16/2.8D

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Upstairs, downstairs

Modern railway stations are often multi-level constructions. There is of course the tracks and platforms, but also – specifically near the larger cities – a collection of coffee shops, sandwich bars and other sundries stores. Add to that a (preferably monumental) entrance hall, public transportation and parking areas… That means the public transportation customer will have to find his/her way along stairs and escalators of all kinds and shapes.

It is no different in Liège-Guillemins. There’s mainly two levels: one for the trains, and one to enter and take care of shopping. But with the grand architecture (and as the station is built against a rolling hill) there’s access to surrounding walkways and balconies as well.

At night, colorful lights come complement striking shapes – all that much to the delight of the patient photographer.

  
Gear notes: D700, 17-35/2.8, 24-120/4.0VR

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Follow the lines

A modern architectural masterpiece like Santiago Calatrava’s Liège-Guillemins railway station is an explosion of lines, curves and shapes.

Perfect subject matter to go abstract, and (almost) black&white.

   
Gear notes: D700, 24-120/4.0VR, 70-300/4.5-5.6VR

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Under cover

If you have been following this blog, you will know that railway stations usually inspire me (witness the many posts on Antwerp Central station). This time a Belgiumdigital Shooting Day brought me (and some 50 photo buddies) to Liège, Belgium’s third largest city and the main railway hub for the eastern part of the country.

The city’s new main station, Liège-Guillemins, was designed by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava and officially opened in September 2009. The monumental structure made of steel, glass and white concrete is 410 meters long and 160 meters wide. The building costs were € 312 million.

At its heart, a breathtaking arch - 200 meters long and 35 meters high – covers 9 tracks and 5 platforms. In addition to national traffic, Liège-Guillemins welcomes high speed connections to Brussels, Paris, Aachen, Cologne and Frankfurt. All the tracks around the station have been modernized to allow high speed arrival and departure.

 
At all levels and from any angle, this site offers spectacular vistas full of lines and curves – and at night, exploding in color.

Stay tuned for more pictures from this fantastic location in posts to follow.

Gear notes: D700, 17-35/2.8, 16/2.8

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