Institute Double Take
Drawing a lot of attention because of its architecture, Simmons Hall is one of the most expensive dorms on campus. Unlike other MIT buildings, Simmons always reminded me of a Lego model house. I wanted to create a photograph to capture this aspect of it — the miniature look of a Lego model.
This late-night view of Simmons Hall was photographed from an elevated point. An illusion of miniaturization is created using a tilt-shift lens, which is based on the Scheimpflug principle. The plane of focus is tilted, throwing the top and bottom parts of the scene out of focus. Why does this simulate an illusion of miniaturization? Because of how we perceive apparent depth and scale of objects from a two-dimensional image.
Aperture: ƒ/2.8
Exposure Time: 15 sec.
Sensitivity: ISO 200
Lens Focal Length: 90 mm
Filter: Circular polarizer
Tilt: 8 degrees down