Morgantown Wharf District

Those of you who have talked to me about Morgantown in recent months know how much I am impressed by what the city is doing in the wharf district.  They have resurfaced the streets, improved existing buildings, built new buildings, and in general upgraded the area from a business district to a more upscale “place to be”.  There is even a new upscale steakhouse now.  If I were to open up a gallery, it would definitely be in the wharf district.  Recently, I spent a few hours taking pictures along the Rail Trail going thru this area of town.  

I started out at the amphitheater beside the Monongahela River walking south.  This bridge which obviously used to carry trains across Deckers Creek had such a nice pattern to the railings.  One of the things that usually catches my eye when I’m looking for something to shoot, are strong patterns that draw focus into the picture.  Be careful with a pattern like this though, because if your not careful, those patterns can lead the eye into and then out of the picture.  That’s why that structural beam on the right side is so important to this picture.  If it wasn’t in the picture, your eye would follow the railing pattern right out of the picture.

 

This picture was taken from the Deckers Creek bridge.  The bricks in Deckers Creek seemed like a very interesting contrast to the green leaves of the tree above it.  I diluted some of the color in photoshop to give it a more surreal look.

 

This is a photo of Clay St.  The buildings shown are a mixture of old and new.  I really like the way they took some of the original bricks from the street and used it as details when the street was paved.  The first building on the right is a new steakhouse that I’m hoping to visit soon.  Maybe a birthday dinner.  Although the small tree in the foreground is not the main subject of the photo, it plays a very important role.  It adds depth to the picture.  If I had taken it just on the other side of the tree, you would have seen more buildings, but it would have felt very flat and uninteresting.  I also want to point out how vivid the colors are.  I used a polarizing filter.  These filters screw on to the end of the lens and are adjustable to reduce reflections.  Depending on the time of day and direction you are taking the picture, it can darken skies, and really brings out color.  Without the filter, there would have been much more glare off of the road, and the sky would have been a very washed out blue.

 

I love murals.  It’s free to see and really gives a feel for local culture.  This one is located near the waterfront amphitheater.  It just shows how much West Virginians love their state.