An Epic Roof Raising

The Roof is on the Ground

The Roof Rests the Ground ©2012 Bo Mackison

Epic Systems has a Roof Raising

How do you build an 11,000+ seat auditorium so that visitors and employees of Epic Systems will be able to walk on the grassy area on the top of the building? You dig a huge hole and build most of the seating area under ground level.

Construction at Epic's Deep Space

Construction at Epic’s Deep Space ©2012 Bo Mackison

But first, you construct a slightly domed roof on concrete supports at ground level, a roof that weighs nearly 10 million pounds. Then on a calm autumn morning, you assemble skilled engineers and construction workers at the site from around the world, and you crank the roof into the air, inch by inch by inch!

I checked on the progress of the roof on  Saturday morning. It was 18 inches from its original resting place.

A Roof Raising - Deep Space at Epic

The Roof is Raised © 2012 Bo Mackison

Auditorium is Aptly Named Deep Space

Twenty four hours later, the roof hovers 80 feet in the air. It will stay there as work progresses to construct the permanent struts underneath. Then the roof will be lowered about 10 feet into its permanent position.

It is hard to imagine the immensity of this auditorium, named Deep Space. It has 1/7th of the number of seats as does Lambeau Field, and its footprint equals 13 football fields. There is still a lot of work to be done, but its completion date is estimated to be less than a year from now.

Beautiful sunny weather and almost no wind provided a perfect setting for the lift. And the roof raising went according to plans. What a lot of work and effort and detailed planning. Wow!

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC.  She has always been fascinated by architecture. How thrilling it was to watch this roof raising!

A Courtyard Full of Trees

All in a Row

Planted All in a Row

Pink Perspective III

Perspective © 2008 Bo Mackison

My first dip into ‘real’ post-processing, or at least post-processing as more than a corrected exposure or a heightened saturation. This is a first, tentative step into manipulation of a photograph, not to fix it, but to actually make it speak a statement.

I have mined this photo several times – first for a study of composition and contrast, then from a story-telling focus. This third attempt – this third perspective – takes me towards a different place.

I did not think I would try this type of post-processing. I thought it more important to work on very basics, and stubbornly to figure it out on my own. Why I insist on re-inventing the wheel, I’m not quite certain.

When I was faced with one of those ‘life-changing experiences’ last fall, I could no longer do the type of visual arts work I had done for the past 25 years. I tip-toed my way into photography, not willing to entirely delete ‘meaning-making’ from my life. Thus far I’ve been ‘taking pictures’ and creating them by eye. This is a foray into the territory of making a photograph by feel.

I cannot pull myself away from the many textures and layers of this photograph. I feel as if I am taking a class on capturing the nuances of this shot. I once considered doing a 100 photo challenge using a single subject. I don’t think the project’s conceiver meant to take a single photograph and work it a hundred ways, but sometimes I see so many ways I want to experiment with this one image. Not a hundred, but more than one or two.

I have no idea where this leads – I think it’s just another avenue to explore and maybe learn something while enjoying the walk.

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Now Open For Business – Pink Perspective II

Taken in a place with no name (See more photos here)

gardengrow.wordpress.com/2008/01/20/green-window/

This time the photo works as a writing prompt with only minor cropping. For me, it opens an imagination bank and makes me want to tell a story. Why is this building “now open” and what is it open for? Do the two men have a part in the story? Why is this building in the center of Nassau’s Main Street, sharing territory with jewelry stores, high-end imports malls and tourist, duty-free liquor stores?

See, it’s definitely a story photo. I have about 5 photos now, both mine and other photographers – from whom I have written permission to use their photos. The photographs are all stored on my private, story-seed blog. I am writing, using the first one and I may post the photo/story combo when it is finished. If nothing else, I think it’s an interesting challenge.

Main Street
Nassau, the Bahamas
January 3, 2008

Green Window – Pink Perspective I

Colorful Building © 2008 Bo Mackison

Colors abound on this tropical island, especially on the multi-pastel buildings. Even on this abandoned hotel, which lingers on Main Street overlooking high-end jewelry stores and perfumeries and, of course, the ubiquitous duty-free liquor stores.

Nassau, the Bahamas, January 4, 2008